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Horror books worth the nightmares
59
items Not jump-scare horror — the kind that gets under your skin and stays there a few days later. If you've ever checked a closet after finishing a book, you know the feeling I'm picking for.
Sections
8
Best Stephen King books
Spooky books for Halloween
Horror in the style of Stephen King
Haunted house books
Serial killer thrillers
Scary stories you can't unread
Best Stephen King books
If you're wondering where to start with King, start here. These are the ones I'd put in your hands myself, from the big scares to the quietly creepy.
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 16+
A group of childhood friends reunite decades later to face the ancient evil that once terrorised their town.
Massive and relentless — one of the most feared books in modern horror for a reason.
A group of childhood friends reunite decades later to face the ancient evil that once terrorised their town.
Massive and relentless — one of the most feared books in modern horror for a reason.
It - by Stephen King
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 17+
A family discovers a burial ground behind their new home that can bring the dead back — wrong.
Considered one of King's most genuinely disturbing books, by his own admission.
A family discovers a burial ground behind their new home that can bring the dead back — wrong.
Considered one of King's most genuinely disturbing books, by his own admission.
Pet Sematary - by Stephen King
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 17+
An author is rescued from a car crash by his self-proclaimed biggest fan — who has no intention of letting him leave.
Claustrophobic and relentless — one of the most purely frightening premises in horror.
An author is rescued from a car crash by his self-proclaimed biggest fan — who has no intention of letting him leave.
Claustrophobic and relentless — one of the most purely frightening premises in horror.
Misery - by Stephen King
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A shy teenager buys a rusted-out 1958 Plymouth Fury and slowly becomes possessed by the car’s murderous, jealous will.
One of King’s stranger, pulpier premises — genuinely unsettling once it gets going.
A shy teenager buys a rusted-out 1958 Plymouth Fury and slowly becomes possessed by the car’s murderous, jealous will.
One of King’s stranger, pulpier premises — genuinely unsettling once it gets going.
Christine - by Stephen King
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A bullied teenager with telekinetic powers is pushed too far at her high-school prom.
His first novel and still a quick, nasty, unforgettable read.
A bullied teenager with telekinetic powers is pushed too far at her high-school prom.
His first novel and still a quick, nasty, unforgettable read.
Carrie - by Stephen King
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 16+
A friendly St. Bernard is bitten by a rabid bat and a mother and son are trapped in a car with him.
Pure claustrophobic dread — hard to put down.
A friendly St. Bernard is bitten by a rabid bat and a mother and son are trapped in a car with him.
Pure claustrophobic dread — hard to put down.
Cujo - by Stephen King
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
After a horrific accident, a man moves to a Florida island and finds his new paintings seem to come true.
Atmospheric and creepy, with a slow-burning haunting.
After a horrific accident, a man moves to a Florida island and finds his new paintings seem to come true.
Atmospheric and creepy, with a slow-burning haunting.
Duma Key - by Stephen King
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 16+
A little girl who can start fires with her mind is hunted by a secret government agency.
Fast-paced and easy to get into.
A little girl who can start fires with her mind is hunted by a secret government agency.
Fast-paced and easy to get into.
Firestarter - by Stephen King
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 17+
A family takes on the job of caretaking a remote hotel for the winter, and the hotel has other plans.
Slow, creeping dread that builds to a genuinely terrifying final act.
A family takes on the job of caretaking a remote hotel for the winter, and the hotel has other plans.
Slow, creeping dread that builds to a genuinely terrifying final act.
The Shining - by Stephen King
Spooky books for Halloween
My October pile: gothic classics, eerie favourites and a couple of properly dark newer reads. Light a candle, make a hot drink and settle in.
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 12+
A girl discovers a door to another world that looks like home, except everyone there has buttons for eyes.
Genuinely creepy for a book this short — Gaiman never underestimates young readers.
A girl discovers a door to another world that looks like home, except everyone there has buttons for eyes.
Genuinely creepy for a book this short — Gaiman never underestimates young readers.
Coraline - by Neil Gaiman
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 13+
A sinister travelling carnival arrives in a small town offering to grant everyone's darkest wishes.
Genuinely eerie without a drop of graphic content — horror built entirely on atmosphere.
A sinister travelling carnival arrives in a small town offering to grant everyone's darkest wishes.
Genuinely eerie without a drop of graphic content — horror built entirely on atmosphere.
Something Wicked This Way Comes - by Ray Bradbury
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
A collection of eerie, atmospheric short stories about small-town strangeness and quiet dread.
Poetic and unsettling — horror as mood rather than gore.
A collection of eerie, atmospheric short stories about small-town strangeness and quiet dread.
Poetic and unsettling — horror as mood rather than gore.
The October Country - by Ray Bradbury
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 15+
Two sisters live in isolation in their family home, shunned by the village after a family tragedy.
Unsettling in a way that creeps up on you rather than jumping out.
Two sisters live in isolation in their family home, shunned by the village after a family tragedy.
Unsettling in a way that creeps up on you rather than jumping out.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - by Shirley Jackson
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 17+
Four Native American men are hunted years after an act they committed as young men on a hunting trip.
Genuinely frightening and emotionally devastating — modern horror at its sharpest.
Four Native American men are hunted years after an act they committed as young men on a hunting trip.
Genuinely frightening and emotionally devastating — modern horror at its sharpest.
The Only Good Indians - by Stephen Graham Jones
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
A young solicitor's visit to a remote Transylvanian castle unleashes an ancient vampire on England.
The original vampire novel, and still creepier than most of what it inspired.
A young solicitor's visit to a remote Transylvanian castle unleashes an ancient vampire on England.
The original vampire novel, and still creepier than most of what it inspired.
Dracula - by Bram Stoker
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
A scientist's creation turns into a monster that begins hunting down everyone he loves.
Less about jump-scares, more about dread — a genuinely unsettling gothic classic.
A scientist's creation turns into a monster that begins hunting down everyone he loves.
Less about jump-scares, more about dread — a genuinely unsettling gothic classic.
Frankenstein - by Mary Shelley
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
A respectable London doctor and a violent stranger keep turning up in the same circles, and a lawyer slowly works out why.
Short, sharp and still unsettling — the original split-personality story.
A respectable London doctor and a violent stranger keep turning up in the same circles, and a lawyer slowly works out why.
Short, sharp and still unsettling — the original split-personality story.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - by Robert Louis Stevenson
★★★★★ (5/5) — Ages 15+
A shy new bride moves into her husband's estate and finds herself haunted by the presence of his first wife.
Atmospheric and slow-burning — the dread creeps in until you can't stop reading.
A shy new bride moves into her husband's estate and finds herself haunted by the presence of his first wife.
Atmospheric and slow-burning — the dread creeps in until you can't stop reading.
Rebecca - by Daphne du Maurier
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado and more — dread in a few pages.
Where so much modern horror started. Read one at night and you’ll see.
The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado and more — dread in a few pages.
Where so much modern horror started. Read one at night and you’ll see.
The Complete Tales of Edgar Allan Poe
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
A masked genius haunts the Paris Opera House, obsessed with a young singer.
Darker and stranger than the musical, with real gothic menace.
A masked genius haunts the Paris Opera House, obsessed with a young singer.
Darker and stranger than the musical, with real gothic menace.
The Phantom of the Opera - by Gaston Leroux
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A beautiful young man wishes his portrait would age instead of him, and watches what that wish costs him.
Elegant, witty and quietly horrifying by the end.
A beautiful young man wishes his portrait would age instead of him, and watches what that wish costs him.
Elegant, witty and quietly horrifying by the end.
The Picture of Dorian Gray - by Oscar Wilde
Horror in the style of Stephen King
If King is your comfort-scare, start here. Small towns, family secrets and something old and wrong underneath, from his own books to the writers who learned from him.
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
A family’s decision to film their teenage daughter’s apparent possession for a reality show spirals into real, inexplicable horror.
Smart, unsettling modern horror that keeps you guessing to the last page.
A family’s decision to film their teenage daughter’s apparent possession for a reality show spirals into real, inexplicable horror.
Smart, unsettling modern horror that keeps you guessing to the last page.
A Head Full of Ghosts - by Paul Tremblay
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
A woman creates an AI influencer with millions of followers, then makes a dark bargain to become her.
Unsettling, very modern horror about identity and obsession.
A woman creates an AI influencer with millions of followers, then makes a dark bargain to become her.
Unsettling, very modern horror about identity and obsession.
Incarnate - by Alma Katsu
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
After a storm, the people of a Chesapeake Bay town grow obsessed with strange things washing ashore, and one boy senses the town turning into a single hostile mind.
Classic small-town horror from a modern master.
After a storm, the people of a Chesapeake Bay town grow obsessed with strange things washing ashore, and one boy senses the town turning into a single hostile mind.
Classic small-town horror from a modern master.
The Hive - by Ronald Malfi
Haunted house books
Creaking floors, locked rooms and houses that don't want you to leave. I'd read these with the lights on.
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A woman inherits the house her family fled twenty years earlier — the same house her father wrote a bestselling horror memoir about.
Twisty haunted-house horror with a satisfying reveal.
A woman inherits the house her family fled twenty years earlier — the same house her father wrote a bestselling horror memoir about.
Twisty haunted-house horror with a satisfying reveal.
Home Before Dark - by Riley Sager
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
A young solicitor is sent to settle a dead woman's estate in a remote house haunted by a vengeful spirit.
Old-fashioned ghost story dread, done exactly right.
A young solicitor is sent to settle a dead woman's estate in a remote house haunted by a vengeful spirit.
Old-fashioned ghost story dread, done exactly right.
The Woman in Black - by Susan Hill
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 15+
A governess becomes convinced that the two children in her care are being haunted by malevolent ghosts.
Ambiguous by design — you're never sure what's real, which is exactly what makes it so unnerving.
A governess becomes convinced that the two children in her care are being haunted by malevolent ghosts.
Ambiguous by design — you're never sure what's real, which is exactly what makes it so unnerving.
The Turn of the Screw - by Henry James
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A country doctor becomes entangled with a decaying manor house and the family convinced something is haunting it.
Slow, creeping dread rather than scares — genuinely unsettling by the end.
A country doctor becomes entangled with a decaying manor house and the family convinced something is haunting it.
Slow, creeping dread rather than scares — genuinely unsettling by the end.
The Little Stranger - by Sarah Waters
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
A nanny takes a high-paying job at a remote smart-home estate, only for strange things to start happening almost immediately.
Modern gothic dread with a genuinely unsettling smart-home twist.
A nanny takes a high-paying job at a remote smart-home estate, only for strange things to start happening almost immediately.
Modern gothic dread with a genuinely unsettling smart-home twist.
The Turn of the Key - by Ruth Ware
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 16+
After a terrible act, a student flees to his late father’s house in Japan, and connects across time with the samurai’s daughter who lived there in 1877.
Bloody, atmospheric gothic horror steeped in Japanese history.
After a terrible act, a student flees to his late father’s house in Japan, and connects across time with the samurai’s daughter who lived there in 1877.
Bloody, atmospheric gothic horror steeped in Japanese history.
Japanese Gothic - by Kylie Lee Baker
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 16+
Four strangers stay in a notoriously haunted house to study it scientifically, and the house starts studying them back.
Nothing graphic happens for most of the book, and it's still one of the most unsettling things ever written.
Four strangers stay in a notoriously haunted house to study it scientifically, and the house starts studying them back.
Nothing graphic happens for most of the book, and it's still one of the most unsettling things ever written.
The Haunting of Hill House - by Shirley Jackson
Serial killer thrillers
Dark, fast and hard to put down. These are the ones that got into my head.
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 17+
An FBI trainee consults an imprisoned cannibalistic killer to help catch an active serial murderer.
Tense and genuinely unnerving — the source of one of fiction's most iconic villains.
An FBI trainee consults an imprisoned cannibalistic killer to help catch an active serial murderer.
Tense and genuinely unnerving — the source of one of fiction's most iconic villains.
The Silence of the Lambs - by Thomas Harris
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
A killer leaves handmade chestnut figures at each crime scene, tying a new murder to a case everyone thought was long closed.
Tense, twisty Scandinavian crime fiction.
A killer leaves handmade chestnut figures at each crime scene, tying a new murder to a case everyone thought was long closed.
Tense, twisty Scandinavian crime fiction.
The Chestnut Man - by Søren Sveistrup
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
A father and son moving to a new town find themselves caught in the pattern of a killer long thought caught — or not caught alone.
Atmospheric and genuinely unsettling, with real heart underneath.
A father and son moving to a new town find themselves caught in the pattern of a killer long thought caught — or not caught alone.
Atmospheric and genuinely unsettling, with real heart underneath.
The Whisper Man - by Alex North
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 18+
A police diver investigating a severed hand found in Bristol harbour is pulled into a case involving witchcraft and ritual mutilation.
Dark, visceral crime fiction with a genuinely creepy edge.
A police diver investigating a severed hand found in Bristol harbour is pulled into a case involving witchcraft and ritual mutilation.
Dark, visceral crime fiction with a genuinely creepy edge.
Ritual - by Mo Hayder
Scary stories you can't unread
Once you've read these, they stay with you. Some creep in slowly, some hit hard, and all of them come back to you at 2am.
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
A man pieces together a string of unsettling childhood memories into a slow, dawning realisation of just how closely he was once watched.
Started as a Reddit series and became a cult favourite, with dread that creeps up slowly.
A man pieces together a string of unsettling childhood memories into a slow, dawning realisation of just how closely he was once watched.
Started as a Reddit series and became a cult favourite, with dread that creeps up slowly.
Penpal - by Dathan Auerbach
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 16+
True accounts of real conspiracies, human experiments and historical horrors that sound too terrible to be real.
Non-fiction that reads like a horror novel.
True accounts of real conspiracies, human experiments and historical horrors that sound too terrible to be real.
Non-fiction that reads like a horror novel.
This Really Happened - by Douglas Whitmore
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 17+
Four standalone stories of body horror, urban legend and cosmic dread, from a night-shift clean-up crew to a cursed book that teaches you a name you shouldn’t say.
Short, sharp indie horror that lingers.
Four standalone stories of body horror, urban legend and cosmic dread, from a night-shift clean-up crew to a cursed book that teaches you a name you shouldn’t say.
Short, sharp indie horror that lingers.
Horror Mode - by Phillip Garr
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 17+
A short collection of scary stories and strange tales.
Quick, creepy reads for a dark night.
A short collection of scary stories and strange tales.
Quick, creepy reads for a dark night.
New Scary Stories to Read in the Dark - by Ryan J. Lawrence
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 17+
Five escalating stories of body horror and cosmic dread, from an organised rat infestation to a beauty treatment that won’t stop rebuilding your face.
Intense indie horror for strong stomachs.
Five escalating stories of body horror and cosmic dread, from an organised rat infestation to a beauty treatment that won’t stop rebuilding your face.
Intense indie horror for strong stomachs.
Tales from the Hollow Place - by Patrick Wells
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 18+
The most brutal execution methods and atrocities in recorded history, every one of them real.
History at its most horrifying, and not for the squeamish.
The most brutal execution methods and atrocities in recorded history, every one of them real.
History at its most horrifying, and not for the squeamish.
Darker Than Fiction - by Winston Thomas
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 17+
A collection of unsettling horror stories centred on death, decay and things better left buried.
Verify content before publishing.
A collection of unsettling horror stories centred on death, decay and things better left buried.
Verify content before publishing.
Tales from the Bone Orchard - by J.L. Hood
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
Renovating a derelict house, a couple find a carved warning and children’s bodies hidden in the attic.
Dark domestic suspense from a master of the shocking premise.
Renovating a derelict house, a couple find a carved warning and children’s bodies hidden in the attic.
Dark domestic suspense from a master of the shocking premise.
Keep It in the Family - by John Marrs
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
In 1899, a scientific illustrator takes a job drawing a reclusive entomologist’s insects, and discovers his experiments with flesh-burrowing parasites.
Skin-crawling body horror with Kingfisher’s trademark wit.
In 1899, a scientific illustrator takes a job drawing a reclusive entomologist’s insects, and discovers his experiments with flesh-burrowing parasites.
Skin-crawling body horror with Kingfisher’s trademark wit.
Wolf Worm - by T. Kingfisher
Gory horror books
Not for the squeamish, and I mean it. Blood, body horror and monsters you can’t unsee. These made me put the book down, walk around the room, then pick it up again anyway.
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 18+
A father and son walk across a devastated, post-apocalyptic America, holding onto each other as the only thing left worth protecting.
Bleak, spare and devastating, and impossible to forget.
A father and son walk across a devastated, post-apocalyptic America, holding onto each other as the only thing left worth protecting.
Bleak, spare and devastating, and impossible to forget.
The Road - by Cormac McCarthy
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
Four old university friends take a shortcut through a Swedish forest, and something ancient starts hunting them.
Brutal folk horror with some of the most disturbing imagery in the genre.
Four old university friends take a shortcut through a Swedish forest, and something ancient starts hunting them.
Brutal folk horror with some of the most disturbing imagery in the genre.
The Ritual - by Adam Nevill
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
Two widowed fishermen head to a remote creek where a man once tried to bring back his dead family, and something vast is waiting under the water.
Slow-building cosmic horror that turns properly terrifying.
Two widowed fishermen head to a remote creek where a man once tried to bring back his dead family, and something vast is waiting under the water.
Slow-building cosmic horror that turns properly terrifying.
The Fisherman - by John Langan
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
Climbers find what may be Noah’s Ark in a cave on Mount Ararat, with a horned corpse inside, and people start dying as a blizzard traps them.
Claustrophobic, bloody and relentless.
Climbers find what may be Noah’s Ark in a cave on Mount Ararat, with a horned corpse inside, and people start dying as a blizzard traps them.
Claustrophobic, bloody and relentless.
Ararat - by Christopher Golden
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 15+
A gifted ten-year-old infected with a flesh-eating fungus flees a ruined military base with her teacher and the scientist who wants to dissect her.
Gory, clever and unexpectedly moving zombie horror.
A gifted ten-year-old infected with a flesh-eating fungus flees a ruined military base with her teacher and the scientist who wants to dissect her.
Gory, clever and unexpectedly moving zombie horror.
The Girl with All the Gifts - by M.R. Carey
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 15+
A small Japanese town falls under a curse of spirals that twists its people’s minds and bodies.
Manga body horror that is genuinely hard to unsee.
A small Japanese town falls under a curse of spirals that twists its people’s minds and bodies.
Manga body horror that is genuinely hard to unsee.
Uzumaki - by Junji Ito
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 15+
Something is loose in New York’s Museum of Natural History, killing people on the eve of a huge new exhibition.
Fast, gory creature horror.
Something is loose in New York’s Museum of Natural History, killing people on the eve of a huge new exhibition.
Fast, gory creature horror.
Relic - by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 15+
Years after a zombie outbreak, two sibling bloggers follow a presidential campaign and uncover a deadly conspiracy.
Smart, tense zombie thriller with a gut-punch ending.
Years after a zombie outbreak, two sibling bloggers follow a presidential campaign and uncover a deadly conspiracy.
Smart, tense zombie thriller with a gut-punch ending.
Feed - by Mira Grant
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 15+
In 1888 New England, an orphaned apprentice helps an obsessive scientist hunt a pack of headless, man-eating monsters.
Gory, gothic and brilliantly written monster horror.
In 1888 New England, an orphaned apprentice helps an obsessive scientist hunt a pack of headless, man-eating monsters.
Gory, gothic and brilliantly written monster horror.
The Monstrumologist
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
Cloned dinosaurs break loose on an island theme park, and the visitors become prey.
Far bloodier than the film, and every bit as gripping.
Cloned dinosaurs break loose on an island theme park, and the visitors become prey.
Far bloodier than the film, and every bit as gripping.
Jurassic Park - by Michael Crichton
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
Two sisters arrive in a small mountain town to find its people dead or vanished, and something ancient still waiting.
Relentless, gruesome creature horror.
Two sisters arrive in a small mountain town to find its people dead or vanished, and something ancient still waiting.
Relentless, gruesome creature horror.
Phantoms - by Dean Koontz
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
Secret biotech tests on a small town’s teenagers turn them into blood-hungry killers, and one girl has to survive the night.
A breakneck body-horror thriller that never lets up.
Secret biotech tests on a small town’s teenagers turn them into blood-hungry killers, and one girl has to survive the night.
A breakneck body-horror thriller that never lets up.
The Loop - by Jeremy Robert Johnson
Books so scary you'll wish you hadn't read them
The big names, the ones everyone warns you about. Read them in daylight, and don't say I didn't tell you.
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A family moves into a house where a mass murder took place a year earlier, and disturbing events begin almost immediately.
Claustrophobic and relentless — one of the books that shaped the modern haunted-house genre.
A family moves into a house where a mass murder took place a year earlier, and disturbing events begin almost immediately.
Claustrophobic and relentless — one of the books that shaped the modern haunted-house genre.
The Amityville Horror - by Jay Anson
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
Told as an oral history after the fact, survivors from around the world describe how humanity barely made it through a zombie war.
Smarter than the genre usually gets credit for, and genuinely unnerving in places.
Told as an oral history after the fact, survivors from around the world describe how humanity barely made it through a zombie war.
Smarter than the genre usually gets credit for, and genuinely unnerving in places.
World War Z - by Max Brooks
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 17+
Something outside drives anyone who sees it to violence, so survival now means going everywhere blindfolded.
Tense in a way that's hard to shake — the blindfold conceit does a lot of work.
Something outside drives anyone who sees it to violence, so survival now means going everywhere blindfolded.
Tense in a way that's hard to shake — the blindfold conceit does a lot of work.
Bird Box - by Josh Malerman