I have always preferred horror books over movies. Books cannot resort to cheap jumpscares or gore. Books have to work hard to build anticipation, to weave a web that will leave the reader tense and fearful of what will come next, but so drawn in that they won’t just close the book and put it away. Truly good horror is found in books, and if you’re looking to explore the horror genre, here are some of my recommendations.
Before horror functioned as its own formal genre, there were the Gothic novels. Some of the most famous, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, are excellent options if you want to go back to the beginning of the genre, as not only are they enticing, well-written novels, but they laid the groundwork for future horror tropes and features.
One also cannot talk about horror books without talking about Stephen King. He was a pioneer of the horror genre in the 1970s and 80s, when it was also becoming more popular in film. While all of his books are worth reading, I recommend Carrie, because of how most of the cruelty throughout the book is neither supernatural nor uncommon, it is horror that is perpetrated by people every day, which makes it all the more terrifying.
My personal favourite subcategories of horror, however, are cannibalism and medieval horror. My all time favourite cannibalism book is A Certain Hunger, by Chelsea G. Summers, a feminist text that explores the intricacies of ambition and desire, and is witty and quick-paced. In terms of medieval horror, Mere by Danielle Giles is a truly beautiful book that skillfully builds tension and characters, so that you are unable to pull away until the very end.
Happy reading and happy Halloween!
“dracula book of great vampire stories” by cdrummbks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
