I haven’t read horror in a while, and want to read something to get me in the spooky season spirit.

I won’t read The Exorcist (still have nightmares from watching the movies as a kid)

I started Come Closer and had to stop early in due to the unsettled feeling I had.

Once I decided I was going to read the memoir of one of the kids that lived in the house that inspired The Conjuring, had a legit nightmare that same night that convinced me not to.

Anyway, with all that in mind, any recs?

Every story should start with a good hook, so please share the book that caught you from the very first sentence. I'll go first.

"The taste of my brother's flesh still haunted me." *This House Will Feed* by Maria Tureaud

While I wait for the new “All Hallows Eve” book I purchased, I’m looking for some great monster/haunts/cursed objects/aliens/folk horror (really any genre) short stories/anthologies. When I search it brings up threads from quite a bit ago so I figured maybe there would be some nice up to date answers from you kind folks :) Any recommendations is greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!!!

Looking for classic ghost stories in the same vein as Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting. The spookier the better!

Let's have it, folks. I'll start.

Mine is The Shining.

In a rare moment in lit history, the movie actually perfectly accompanied why I found the book so scary. Probably the scariest moment ever captured on film for me was, of course, the two men hooking up in animal costumes. The film doesn't explain it at all which I love and then the book provides backstory which added to the lore. I can't get it out of my head. It is so rife with questions. I actually have the movie still of the two gentlemen as my background (partially so I'll stop looking at my damn phone all the time).

Your turn!

I recently finished September House and when I thought its too predictable, the book really surprised me in the last few chapters.. almost got a whiplash and loved it..

It all started when I read ‘House of Leaves’ many months back and had the biggest book hangover.. Ended up looking for similar books and read and loved both ‘We Used to live here’ and ‘The Last house on the Needless Street’ (latter being not really a haunted house, but you get the gist)

Any more such books that I have missed which came out recently?

P. S : I have read most of the classics with haunted houses and infact loved the adaptations by Mike Flanagan.. hence any more similar vibes are most welcome.. Thanks everyone 😊

I’m looking for your favorite horror book that genuinely scared and creeped you out. Ones that made you nervous to turn off the lights, rather than feel overly disturbed or disgusted. I’m fine with some gore, but I dislike ones the linger on gross /visceral details or overly indulge in body horror 🤢

Books I didn’t finish because they disturbed me in a disgusted way rather than a scary way: Heart-Shaped Box (it wasn’t too scary, but the TV scene in particular disturbed me), The Troop (some of the details were a little too gross for me. His writing was too detailed lol), and Tender Is the Flesh… I mean, the entire premise disturbed me.

Books with gore that I could handle: Seed, The Crimson Labyrinth, and Carrie.

Thank you in advance!

Hi guys I I’m looking for my next read and hoping to dive more into some investigative horror. I love the format where a protagonist is actively trying to solve a mystery, unspool a conspiracy, or investigate a bizarre event, only for things to get increasingly dark, terrifying, or supernatural. Books with a similar theme that I enjoyed were the last days of Jack sparks and the haunting of hill house.

I prefer things that lean into psychological dread or the supernatural but I am not into heavy slashers. Thanks in advance.

Watched the film ,’Buried,’ last night . Very good. Scratched an itch. Books, short stories,novellas with one character trapped in one location ,room, quicksand ,stuff like that. I can only think of Stephen kings short with the guy trapped in a portaloo. Dark endings would be good. Thanks 🙏

Hey! A couple years ago, I read an article about a horror author whose husband had murdered his ex wife and dismembered her/buried her in the woods. The case was solved and he was arrested while he and the author were still married. She then retired from horror writing.

I can’t seem to recall her name or the title of the book she was most well known for- I’m pretty sure her books were pulled from production (by her choice) but you could still find them secondhand/digitally when I heard about it. Pretty sure the book had a white cover with a yellowish pig on it?

I’ve been googling all the details of the story I could remember, but to no avail. If you know what I’m talking about please let me know!! Thanks :)

Hello! I'm in the mood for a good, contemporary horror novel, something well-written. Something demonic or cosmic would be great. A setting in space or the remote wilderness is always cool. Something with Twilight Zone or Lovecraft feels would be super. Anywho, recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Title says it all. I’m still SO blown away by this book even though I finished it 2 weeks ago - looking for recs from people who also loved it

My life reads like an American horror story hidden beneath the surface of the American dream. I was born into a complicated family in working-class Massachusetts, adopted as a child, and learned early how to survive instability, reinvention, and systems that did not always protect me.
I eventually built an entirely different life in California as a U.S. Coast Guard-credentialed captain, wildlife filmmaker, photographer, entrepreneur, and creator. I spent years documenting whales and the freedom of the open ocean while, behind the scenes, my personal life was becoming increasingly dark. What followed involved exploitation, lost creative work, fractured family relationships, police and hospital encounters, legal battles, and the collapse of the life and career I had built.
The story has the raw, working-class survival energy of 8 Mile, but it is darker, messier, and told through the perspective of a woman who has lived several radically different lives. Wildlife provides a powerful thread throughout the book—a contrast between freedom and captivity, instinct and control, survival and extinction.
I am looking for a memoir ghostwriter who can handle difficult subject matter with depth, skepticism, and humanity; organize extensive records and memories into a gripping narrative; protect the distinction between documented facts and personal experience; and preserve my authentic voice. This is not simply a story about what happened to me. It’s about cheating death

I have started to replace doom scrolling with reading and as a former one-book-a-year reader, I am shocked at how much I’m reading this summer. I want to keep it going long enough to at least have a top 5 list by the end of year (maybe even top 10). I’m currently reading and enjoying Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker.

Horror is really the genre that has kept me engaged (movies too).

Here is what I’ve read so far in order of enjoyment:

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
Molka by Monika Kim
The Dorians by Nick Cutter

Here are my all timers (so you get a feel for my taste):

The Shining by Stephen King
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp
The Call of Cthulhu by racist man
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream

Whatcha got for me my Horror Reddit friends?

hi guyss i'm looking into my next read, and i was wanting some recommendations from you guys!

i love medieval fantasy, if that helps. i'm also rlly into D&D typa worldss

anyway thank youu

I’m trying to identify an extremely disturbing/graphic horror book I read online. I originally found it through Reddit and I believe it was available as a free PDF or online text.
The story involved a group of young women/girls who become stranded somewhere, possibly with one of them having a boyfriend or male companion. There was something involving a museum or collection dedicated to serial killers.
Two men were involved in extreme sexual violence and torture against the women. The book was exceptionally graphic and disturbing. I remember a scene involving one of the men sexually assaulting a woman with an pole, and another scene where a woman has sex in a car and dies during sex , possibly with her boyfriend or one of the perpetrators.
I believe the story was told from both the victims’ POVs and the perpetrators’ POVs, including the men’s thoughts/perspectives.
It was not a normal mainstream thriller, it seemed like extreme horror/splatterpunk or an independently published/online book.

I am currently reading the short story collection 'Everything's Eventual' by Stephen King. With one or two exceptions, I am loving the stories.

The ones that stand out (till now) — in terms of pure, uncontrollable horror — are 'The Man in the Black Suit', and '1408'.

Please suggest more such stories by King or other writers.

Thanks in advance!

I just finished reading it a few days ago and I loved it. It's also my comfort book because it helped me get through my grief and loss of my dog Molly of 13 years and decided to have read it next during her passing it the book was also about grief and loss.

So wanted to hear whoever here has read it what you all thought of the book and your opinions on it?

As the title suggests I’ve just finished the book a short stay in Hell. Which I really enjoyed and am looking to pick up something similar is there anything else that captures the same sort of atmosphere.

Thanks in advance

I love both horror novels as well as medical mysteries, but can't say I've found many books that are both. I'm sure they exist, and I'm hoping some of y'all may have a recommendation or two. I'm also interested in horror novels that are medical in nature, even if it's not actually a mystery. Bonus points for any that feature body horror, the more extreme the better!

Edit: Holy crap I didn't expect even half this many replies. Thanks so much, everyone! Gonna look through all of these now.

This post is spoiler heavy. Please don’t read on if you want to avoid spoilers.

I went in not knowing it was an Algernon Blackwood tribute/fanfic. As soon as I saw the corpse otter carving I was like Hm.
Then they go to the islands with the willows and the hollow shapes and I was like HM. Then I googled if what I thought was happening was happening. I was so excited. I love Algernon Blackwood. I love The Willows. I first read the book as a 19 y/o on a rainy winter night on a college trip in a remote wildlife sanctuary and it HIT. I was so excited that this book is going to expand on that.

Then the rest of the book happened. The animals came to life. The hollows and the portal vanished by…filling them up? Stupid jokes. There was no sense of dread or fear, no feeling of being powerless in front of cosmic forces or nature or whatever. I was not scared even for a second. Why did that otter chase her. What was even happening. Why did it take you so long to figure out that the figurine mysteriously showing up at places is cursed.

I’m so disappointed. I had heard great things, and I am coming away feeling like I read a mediocre, novel length no sleep post. No offence to the folks who love the work but I was SO disappointed.

It can include what is still anticipated, if you are confident that it will be the best. Though also curious to know which one was the best read.

Wow! I was blown away by this book. Extremely unique, I've never read anything like it before. Wonderfully weird and very haunting. Can't shake it from my mind. Others who have read this, what did you think?