The Best Horror Books of All Time
Horror books have been part of the literary world for years, but it seems like horror in all its mediums has been on the upswing in recent times. Maybe people are realizing just how satisfying it is to settle into a scary story, feel the rush of adrenaline, and then close the book, turn off the movie, or walk away from that haunted house at the end. To help you on your own hair-raising journey, we’ve put together a list of the best horror books of all time. What was our criteria? The staffers here at Penguin Random House loved these books, and we think they deserve a place on the list that’s pretty much it. You would think with so many picks, we would hit all your favorites, but it turns out that there are A LOT of good horror stories out there. So, we hope you find some of faves here, but that you also discover some new-to-you books to add to your list. Now get reading!
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Add to BookshelfAt the Mountains of Madness
by H.P. Lovecraft
It’s virtually impossible to discuss modern horror without mention of H.P. Lovecraft. The brand of cosmic horror he created one premised on the inconsequentiality of man in the face of otherworldly beings of unimaginable power has influenced countless authors who follow in his considerable wake. At the Mountains of Madness serves as ground zero for much of the mythos Lovecraft created and centers around an arctic expedition gone horribly wrong after the discovery of a lost extraterrestrial race known as Elder Things. Unfortunately, no discussion of Lovecraft should be had without acknowledging his particularly virulent xenophobia, racism, and adherence to white supremacy.
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The Bad Seed
by William March
Originally published in 1954, The Bad Seed was an instant bestseller and finalist for the National Book Award. It’s eerily plausible and a wholly disturbing portrait of a seemingly innocent little girl named Rhoda, who always seems to be at the center of terrible accidents. Her mother’s realization that Rhoda may actually be the cause of the so-called accidents and her own potential hand in that sits at the novel’s controversial and unsettling center. The Bad Seed implacably builds toward its shocking climax in a way that few other similar novels have matched.
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Beloved
by Toni Morrison
It’s difficult the crushing emotional weight and deep-seated sense of dread that comes with each page of Toni Morrison‘s Pulitzer Prize winner. At its base, Beloved is a classic ghost story centering around a former slave beset by otherworldly torments tied to a long-buried and horrifying secret. In a larger sense, it is an examination of guilt, the lengths desperation can push an individual, and the psychological trauma of slavery. Beloved is a novel of singular and devastating power.
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The Bloody Chamber
by Angela Carter
Shirley Jackson gets a lot of (well-deserved) love and respect these days as a major talent in midcentury horror and mystery, but we should spare a thought for the criminally underappreciated Angela Carter. The Bloody Chamber is her best-known work and a natural starting point: a collection of unsettling fairy tale retellings that highlight women’s rage, sexuality, and the often-monstrous nature of love and desire. The titular story is based on the traditional French folktale of “Bluebeard;” other stories in the collection draw from “Beauty and the Beast,” “Puss in Boots,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” These tales vary in length and tone, but you can count on Gothic elements, body horror, and strong, unflinching female characters throughout.
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Clive Barker’s Books of Blood 1-3
by Clive Barker
Clive Barker‘s particular brand of wholly bleak horror positioned him as one of contemporary horror’s most influential voices. It all began with the Books of Blood, a six volume collection of short stories. The first volume garnered a World Fantasy Award and laid the template for Barker’s style tales of everyday people caught up in horrifying and unapologetically grotesque situations far beyond their control. If you’ve never experienced Clive Barker, this is the place to start.
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The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories
by H. P. Lovecraft
A detective tale turned horror story, “The Call of Cthulhu” follows an investigator who is unwittingly pulled into an underworld of forbidden cults, madness, and horrors at sea. A snapshot of a world on the edge of chaos, this tale illustrates the pan-psychic horror of Lovecraft’s ancient gods better than any other tale he wrote, and gives the reader a taste of what is to come when The Stars Are Right.
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Carrie
by Stephen King
There are many incredible Stephen King novels, but Carrie was his first and remains our favorite. The best part is that the true horror of the novel isn’t what Carrie can do it’s what she endured before it finally overwhelmed her. And it has the added bonus of the most memorable dance scene of all time.
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The Case Against Satan
by Ray Russell
Two priests are called in to examine a girl who might be possessed by the devil. The Exorcist, right? Nope, it’s Ray Russell‘s The Case Against Satan, a novel of theological horror that beat William Peter Blatty’s book to print by eight years. The Case Against Satan is as much the story of a crisis of faith as it is a supernatural tale, and readers looking for a nuanced take on both should give it a try.
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The Changeling
by Victor LaValle
Apollo Kagwa’s excitement to become the father he never had to his own newborn son transforms into a parent’s worst nightmare when his wife and child are torn away and Apollo becomes determined to bring them back. LaValle brings a piece of classic Western European folklore to the modern day, a cautionary fairy tale and a stunningly creepy horror story all in one.
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Come Closer
by Sara Gran
At some point in your life, you’ve likely done something and then forgotten about it later. So begins Sara Gran‘s odd and eerie novel, Come Closer, as she’s called in to her boss’s office to explain a series of quite offensive insults written on a report she submitted to him. Later that night, a quiet but persistent tapping is heard throughout her and her husband’s home. What follows is a series of events that will keep you up late at night, turning page after page as the dread sinks into your bones.
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The Devil in Silver
by Victor LaValle
Following a run-in with the police, a regular working guy named Pepper finds himself committed to a psychiatric hospital. His rebellious nature gets him in trouble with the staff and many of the patients alike, some of whom believe that a monsters stalks the hospital’s halls. Pepper dismisses their stories at first, but that changes the night he sees the thing for himself. Now Pepper has a choice between going along with the program, or doing something about a terror the staff seems all too willing to ignore.
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Dracula
by Bram Stoker
It’s been well over a century since its publication, but this novel has lost none of its bite. Dracula is the definitive vampire tale, but it’s so much more than that, too. It’s a story of modern technology versus ancient superstition, Victorian mores versus barely sublimated sexuality… the list goes on and on. If you’ve never read Dracula, then it’s probably time you should.
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Drawing Blood
by Poppy Brite
Trevor McGee had a rough childhood, you could say — when he was just five years old, he woke up one morning to find that his father had murdered his mother and his younger brother, and then hanged himself. Twenty years later, McGee returns to the house he grew up in, but it seems the demons that drove his father to insanity may not have left…
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The Drowning Girl
by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Caitlin R. Kiernan is an expert at incorporating mental illness into her books in a sensitive, non-sensational way. She’s also masterful when it comes to the art of sustaining the strange and surreal and frightening and atmospheric for the full length of a novel. The Drowning Girl is part ghost story, part character study, part… something else, and is absolutely not to be missed.
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Fever Dream
by Samanta Schweblin
Samanta Shweblin’s Fever Dream is an unsettling nightmare that will haunt you for days. While Amanda lies dying in bed, the child David — not her child — sits beside her, questioning her to find out “the exact moment when the worms come into being.” What follows is an urgent, twisted tale of ghosts and souls, toxins, and the desperate lengths that family will go for each other.
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Fiend
by Peter Stenson
Peter Stenson’s Fiend is a zombie apocalypse novel unlike any you’ve ever read before. The protagonists are crystal meth junkies whose habit immunized them against a mysterious something that turned the rest of the world into zombies. Now, scoring more meth has become a matter of life and (un)death. Author Peter Stenson dealt with a meth habit in his past, and knows as good as anyone the damage the drug can do. Fiend is as good a metaphor for addiction as anything I’ve ever read.
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The Fifth Child
by Doris Lessing
This contemporary Gothic horror story is set in late 1960s England and centers on a baby named Ben who is born to Harriet and David Lovatt, the happy parents of four other children. Gruesomely goblin-like in appearance, insatiably hungry, abnormally strong, and incredibly violent, Ben is not your typical infant not by a long shot. As he grows older, Ben’s parents grow increasingly fearful of his outbursts. Deemed a dangerous monster who will never be accepted anywhere, they exile him to an institution where he suffers alone. A meditation on humanity and parenthood, this book will haunt you until the last page.
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Fledgling
by Octavia E. Butler
Just about every Octavia Butler work is a horror story on some level, but Fledgling‘s tale of Shori, by appearance a young Black girl with severe amnesia and in reality a vampire genetically modified to survive in sunlight, explores ignorance, bigotry, and the horror wrought by humans themselves with a timelessness that remains relevant today.
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The Frangipani Hotel
by Violet Kupersmith
The Frangipani Hotel is a lyrical and thought-provoking collection of ghost stories that delve into the painful legacy of the Vietnam War. In these tales, the past is often intruding on the present, and the supernatural is always just around the corner. This is the perfect book to curl up with on a rainy day for a little spooky introspection.
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Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
by Mary Shelley
The power of a novel can be seen in its longevity. Frankenstein is powerful indeed. While it has long been considered one of the first science fiction works, it also features terrifying ideas of the macabre and horrific, posing questions about life and death and life again.
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Frankenstein in Baghdad
by Ahmed Saadawi
A finalist for the Booker Prize, Frankenstein in Baghdad reimagines Mary Shelley‘s genre-defining tale in American-occupied Baghdad, where bombings are a daily occurrence and the death toll climbs astronomically. Hadi, a local eccentric, collects body parts from the city streets and stitches them together, intending the finished creation as a political statement, an outcry against the wasteful death that surrounds him. But when the creation disappears and a wave of horrific murders sweeps Baghdad, Hadi realizes that he’s created something much darker.
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From Hell
by Alan Moore
The author of V for Vendetta and Watchmen turns to the mystery of Jack the Ripper in this graphic novel illustrated by Eddie Campbell. Their version of Victorian London features secret societies, magic, royal intrigue, amoral doctors and a dogged investigator looking for the truth. The kernels of truth amidst the dark fiction just make the work more horrifying.
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Ghost Story
by Peter Straub
Of all Peter Straub‘s novels, this sprawling tale may be his best. Part conspiracy-laden horror, part clever homage to “Night of the Living Dead”, Ghost Story is a slow burn and atmospheric story that likely isn’t what you expect it to be. The story follows a group of old men who call themselves the Chowder Society in a sleepy New York town. After the death of one of their number, the men are forced to reckon with a horrific accident that occurred years earlier and has haunted the men ever since.
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Gothic Tales
by Elizabeth Gaskell
What horror list would be complete without Elizabeth Gaskell‘s Gothic Tales? In this weighty collection of spine-tingling stories, Gaskell weaves local lore with reworked fairy tales, social surrealism with a touch of Salem, threading in too the experiences of women in the 1800s. Here indeed is Elizabeth Gaskell at her spookiest.
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The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
A parapsychologist looking for proof of the supernatural takes a group of young volunteers for a stay in Hill House, a creaky old mansion with a tragic history. Is the house really haunted? Jackson amps up the terror very slowly, and by the time you realize just what’s going on, it’s too late to leave. A masterpiece of subdued horror!
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The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
The Turn of the Screw is on practically everyone’s list of favorite ghost stories, and it damned well deserves it. The story of a governess hired to look after the niece and nephew of a wealthy man, The Turn of the Screw seems at first to be a classic Gothic horror set-up, but there’s a lot more going on than it seems. James never makes it entirely clear whether the governess is experiencing something supernatural or is mentally ill, and people are still arguing about it to this day.
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Horrorstor
by Grady Hendrix
It’s somewhat rare for something as overdone as a haunted house story to both surprise and scare me, but Grady Hendrix pulled that off. Horrorstor deftly leans into the tropes of the genre in some ingenious ways by setting his traditional haunted house tale in an IKEA like-furniture store called Orsk. With a bit of knowing humor and some genuine frights, Horrorstor is both unexpectedly clever and surprisingly gruesome.
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House of Leaves
by Mark Z. Danielewski
It’s likely you’ve never read a novel quite like House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski‘s startlingly original debut. It is an epistolary novel. It is a story within a story (within a story). It’s a haunted house tale. But more than any of that, it is a literally labyrinthine reading experience all centering around the central conceit of a house that is vastly larger on the inside than it appears from the outside. House of Leaves is claustrophobic, unnerving, and entirely original.
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The House with a Clock in Its Walls
by John Bellairs
With a film adaptation released, there’s no better time to check out John Bellairs‘ Gothic horror story about a young boy learning magic from his uncle while becoming embroiled in an old fight against an enemy who threatens not just his family but the world.
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The Hunger
by Alma Katsu
Alma Katsu’s standalone historical horror novel based on the true story of the Donner Party is a treasure. Drawing on werewolf tales, Wendigo folklore, and more, Katsu manages to create a sense of strangling claustrophobia in the doomed wagon train, even as it crosses expansive prairies. The interpersonal dynamics within the wagon party are key here too power struggles among the travelers, suspicion cast on beautiful, quiet Tamsen Donner, and personal secrets that were meant to be left back east. Add in monstrously hungry creatures lurking just beyond the firelight, and you’ve got an absolutely gripping tale.
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Interview with the Vampire
by Anne Rice
Serving as the canon for modern vampire mythology, Anne Rice‘s debut novel uses the rich settings of New Orleans and Paris to tell a tale of loss, desire and the price of immortality. Framed as the vampire Louis telling his tale to a young reporter, the novel would go on to serve as the launch of a wildly popular gothic horror series and the basis for a fantastic adaptation starring Brad Pitt and Val Kilmer. Editor’s note: Don’t miss the latest book in the Vampire Chronicles; Blood Communion tells the tale of Prince Lestat’s journey to rule the vampire world!
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The Last Werewolf
by Glen Duncan
Werewolf Jacob Marlowe has spent the last two centuries chasing what pleasures he can between moonlit murder sprees, and now he’s ready to call it a night. He’s got a plan to commit suicide by monster hunter, but there are a few loose ends he needs to wrap up first. This wonderfully urbane yet unflinchingly gruesome novel does for werewolves what Interview with the Vampire did for vampires, but be warned: It isn’t for the faint of heart.
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The Lesser Dead
by Christopher Buehlman
The Lesser Dead is one of the most brutal vampire stories that we’ve ever read. Set in seventies New York, it’s the story of a perpetually adolescent bloodsucker and a clan of monsters who make their home in the city’s subway system. There’s absolutely nothing good or redeeming about these creatures, either. They’re unabashed killers who have nothing to fear… until they do. If there’s something to take away from this book, it’s that even monsters have their monsters.
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The Library at Mount Char
by Scott Hawkins
When Caroline was a girl, she and several other American children were taken in by Father, taught ancient secrets in his library and given access to some of his power. When Father goes missing, a whole cosmos of mysteries and monsters spills out into the normal world, vying for control of what Father has left behind. What follows is simultaneously horrific and humane, a gripping and beautiful story of ancient powers and one young woman figuring out what it means to be human and if she wants it, anyway.
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The Little Stranger (Movie Tie-In)
by Sarah Waters
Sarah Waters‘ The Little Stranger is an homage to classic Gothic horror. Its finely cultivated sense of mounting fear and keen sense of haunting and claustrophobic atmosphere make this one of the best horror novels of the last decade. Set in a crumbling Georgian mansion, The Little Stranger places readers in the shoes of a man named Dr. Faraday as he attempts to unravel a potentially supernatural mystery one that could have deep ties to his own history.
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Maplecroft
by Cherie Priest
Take a bit of historical fantasy, an infamous real-life murder, a bit of the Gothic supernatural, and a dose of Lovecraftian mythos and you end up with Cherie Priest‘s Maplecroft. The first book in The Borden Dispatches picks up the story of Lizzie Borden who, although still suspected of the murder of her parents, has moved into the seaside mansion of Maplecroft. But, a malevolent evil emanating from the depths of the ocean begins to plague the nearby community.
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Meddling Kids
by Edgar Cantero
Over a decade after solving their final case in a small mining town, the surviving members of the Blyton Summer Detective Club return to investigate—and face—the old mansion that continues to haunt them in adulthood, only to discover something not even remotely like a man in a rubber mask. Lovecraft meets Scooby-Doo in Cantero’s horror standalone that reads a bit like Stranger Things set ten years after the first encounter.
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Night Film
by Marisha Pessl
Night Film is the sort of novel that lingers long after the final page. It is a gripping puzzle-box of a novel that’s as clever as it is haunting. The novel centers around a journalist named Scott McGrath who becomes obsessed with the bizarre death of troubled young girl, the daughter of an infamous and reclusive horror filmmaker. McGrath is pulled into a twisting and surreal mystery that is much darker and deadlier than he could have imagined.
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Pandemonium
by Daryl Gregory
With his debut novel, Daryl Gregory puts a new spin on the possession subgenre by imagining an alternate timeline where random possessions have routinely occurred since the 1950s. A cadre of demons possess an individual, wreak havoc, then jump to a new host. Del Pierce was possessed as a boy and believed he was exorcised. Years later, he realizes the demon remains and desperately wants control. What follows is a terrifying page-turner that’s equal parts pop culture and pathos; Pandemonium is one of the more original horror novels in recent memory.
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Parasite Eve
by Hideaki Sena
This Japanese novel about a doctor obsessed with reincarnating his wife is absolutely chilling — in part because it’s a biological horror story written by a microbiologist.
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The Passage (TV Tie-in Edition)
by Justin Cronin
A fine example of taking a long-standing horror trope and creating something wholly new. Cronin takes vampires and introduces them in a world-ending scenario that rivals Stephen King’s The Stand in size and scope. Powerful characterizations alongside fantastic prose. Can’t recommend enough.
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Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier
Daphne Du Maurier‘s Rebecca is a landmark of Gothic suspense. It’s a well-hewn blend of romance, obsession, and subtle horror. From its evocative first line (“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”) to the unnamed narrator’s growing obsession with the mystery of the death of her husband’s first wife, Rebecca is a stunning puzzle-box of a narrative that will keep you guessing until the final chilling moments. For bonus points, check out Alfred Hitchcock’s Oscar-winning adaptation; it’s arguably Hitchcock’s best film.
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Ring
by Koji Suzuki
After four teenagers suddenly lose their lives to heart failure, Asakawa a determined journalist and uncle to one of the teenagers doggedly tracks and investigates the circumstances that led to their incomprehensible and untimely deaths. His search leads him to a place of unimaginable horror as he stumbles upon a mysterious videotape that threatens anyone that dares to view it with death… unless an unspecified act is completed. Koji Suzuki’s masterful story of terror and suspense has spawned adaptations in film, television, and print across the globe. Consider it a must-read of the horror genre.
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The Road
by Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy‘s Pulitzer Prize winner is a post-apocalyptic tour-de-force. Built on a simple premise an unnamed father leading his son across a desolate America toward a potential safe haven the unrelenting horror of The Road slowly seeps into the reader as father and son stumble from one terrifying situation to the next. It is an examination of parental love and dedication, but also the darkness and brutality of man. The Road is a grim and a haunting masterpiece lifted by McCarthy’s characteristic sparse and elegiac prose.
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The Ruins
by Scott Smith
This one’s not for the squeamish. A group of friends on spring break in Cancun venture out for a day trip into the jungle, but when they stray too far into the forest, they find themselves trapped by something unimaginable. An all-time great in the “killer plants” canon.
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The Silent Companions
by Laura Purcell
Ready for something slow-burning and deliciously atmospheric? This tale follows Elsie, a young, pregnant widow whose husband died tragically soon after they were married. Now living in her late husband’s home with only his awkward cousin and the servants for company, Elsie feels isolated from the world. But beyond a locked door in the house, she finds a painted figure who looks remarkably like her… and its eyes seem to follow her. This story builds the tension slowly, but the climax is well worth the wait.
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Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
by April Genevieve Tucholke
More than a dozen YA authors came together for this collection, which includes stories about defending a high school from zombies and a particularly disturbing riff on Alice in Wonderland. The writers share their inspiration for each story, providing a glimpse at their creative process and ideas for what to read and watch next.
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The Stand
by Stephen King
Arguably one of the most important novels in horror. King writes an epic horror tale of world devastation after a plague has wiped out 99.4% of humanity. The novel comes to life though through its multiple point of view characters, each one dealing with this horrific new world and the evil that still pervades it.
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The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales
by Edgar Allan Poe
While tragically unappreciated in his own time, Edgar Allan Poe‘s unsettling poetry and short stories have since become required reading in many schools and secured him as a place as one of America’s most famous and influential authors. If you haven’t read his works yet, this collection serves as a fine introduction containing classic stories of murder and madness including “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado.”
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Things We Lost in the Fire
by Mariana Enriquez
Mariana Enriquez’s surreal and macabre short story collection blends together the horror of the supernatural with that of the inequality and violence of contemporary Argentina. From haunted houses to black magic and satanic rituals, these tales are bound to stay with you long after you’ve closed the book.
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Those Across the River
by Christopher Buehlman
Christopher Buehlman‘s debut novel is set in a small town with a strange tradition of sending pigs running into the forest across the river before every full moon. When hard times lead the town to save their meat, they learn that there was a very good reason for keeping that ritual alive. The gruesome tale combines Southern legend and history for a monster story with a particularly amazing ending.
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Three Moments of an Explosion
by China Miéville
Not every story in this collection is horror, but the scary stories here are among the scariest I’ve read, particularly “Säcken,” which could have come out of any Laird Barron or Clive Barker collection. Miéville is an inventive and formally flawless writer, and every story here is a gem.
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White is for Witching
by Helen Oyeyemi
There is something strange about Miranda Silver’s home. It’s been in the family for four generations which should make it a place of solace and protection for its owner. But this ancestral dwelling possesses an energy of its own and emerges as a key player along with Miranda, her twin brother Eliot, her mother Lily and her father Luc. When Lily dies suddenly, Miranda starts to suffer from bizarre physical, emotional and mental disorders. Is it all in her head or are there more sinister factors at play? Immerse yourself, if you dare, in this beautiful, eerie tale of hauntings, family legacies, and race.
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The Woman in Black
by Susan Hill
Now a major motion picture starring Daniel Radcliffe, this classic ghost story thriller follows Arthur Kipps, a thriving London solicitor, who is sent to a small town to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of a client. After his arrival, Arthur begins to witness mysterious sounds and images a rocking chair in a deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child’s scream in the fog, and, of course, a woman dressed all in black. Nothing could have prepared Arthur for the horrors hidden within the house walls, and as long-buried secrets unfold, he realizes he may never be able to escape.
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World War Z
by Max Brooks
Max Brooks‘ World War Z has done more to popularize the zombie horror genre than any novel that came before it, or has arrived since. Presented as a series of interviews with survivors of the zombie apocalypse, World War Z takes a B-movie staple and turns it into a globe-spanning epic that is just about impossible to put down.
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The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“The Yellow Wallpaper” seems like such a simple premise: a postpartum woman is ordered by her doctor to stay confined in a room to help relieve her depression. But the longer she stays trapped within those walls, the more desperate she becomes to get out, and the deeper into madness she descends.
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Zone One
by Colson Whitehead
Set during the reconstruction period after a zombie apocalypse, Colson Whitehead‘s exquisitely-written novel (part horror, part satire, part meditation) follows Mark Spitz, our unreliable narrator. Spitz is part of a sweeper unit in lower Manhattan tasked with exterminating the straggler dead, and the narrative is interspersed with his memories of the events of the apocalypse, by turns absurd and horrifying. There’s a sequence set in the subway tunnels under New York harbor that is hard to shake — read it above-ground if at all possible.
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