69 Horror Books That Will Make Your Jaw Drop in Fear

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Any passionate reader will tell you: horror books can be just as scary as horror movies. You may not have jump scares reading a short story or novel, but you'll feel that overwhelming sense of dread, the disgust from gory descriptions of body horror, and unexpected twists that'll rival any horror movie you watch this year.

Plus, many of horror's main tropes and creepy creatures come, originally, from literature. Vampires, zombies, Frankenstein's monster, and plain old hauntings have graced the pages of classic horror writers for centuries. Contemporary writers are adding more entries to the horror monsters hall of fame, like Stephen King with his many, many novels adapted into films and television shows, his son Joe Hill, Chuck Wendig, Victor LaValle, and others. If there's one thing for certain, it's this: no matter what's going on in the world around us, humans will always love scaring themselves for a bit of a thrill. Horror isn't going anywhere any time soon, so any time is the best time to get into the genre.

And even when things are doing so great, horror is the perfect genre to turn to. Sometimes dipping your toe into the macabre and dark can bring a sense of relief. Even better if there's a character or two you can root for through all the terrible moments. It shows us there's always a light in the darkest of times.

Below we have some of the best horror books to read, whether you're a casual fan of the genre or a dedicated reader of everything spooky. We might not have all your favorites, but we've got classics, modern twists on said classics, plus brand new voices we think are pushing the horror genre into new and exciting directions. At least one of these reads will give you the fright you're craving.

The Exorcist

One of the best horror movies of all time is based on William Peter Blatty's book of the same name. The book follows a possessed eleven-year-old, and two priests who attempt to exorcise her.

The Shining

Stephen King is is household name of the horror genre, in no small part due to his prolific productivity–he's written and published more than 70 books–and how many of his short stories and books have been adapted into television shows and movies. The Shining is the most famous of his adaptations, especially since the critically-acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick directed it. King isn't a fan of the film version, which is all the more reason you should read the original and compare for yourself.

Carrie

Stephen King's debut novel, Carrie's longstanding popularity is no doubt due to the gruesome 1976 film starring Sissy Spacek. The chilling tale of a bullied teenager with telekinetic powers pushed to the brink is one you hear once and never, ever, forget.

NOS4A2: A Novel

Joe Hill (Stephen and Tabitha King's son) is also a notable modern horror writer in his own right. One of his best-known books is the vampire novel NOS4A2, which had a brief television adaptation starring Zachary Quinto. The story follows a vampire who abducts children and takes him to a place he calls "Christmasland".

The Other Black Girl: A Novel

This debut novel focuses on the only Black woman at a publishing company. When another Black woman is hired, she expects to find an ally, but instead finds an adversary. Fans of books which touch on poignant topics–like representation in media and publishing–will enjoy this unsettling book.

Tender Is the Flesh

This dystopian novel imagines a world where all animal meat is contaminated due to a virus, so the consumption of human meat becomes legal. A human meat supplier is the narrator, and we see how he grapples with the ethic of his reality.

Woman, Eating: A Literary Vampire Novel

How does a vampire survive in the modern world? That's what Woman, Eating examines. Lydia, a mixed-race vampire, struggles to take care of her ailing (vampire) mother while also exploring her identity–and if she even enjoys being a vampire at all.

A Certain Hunger

This dark novel follows a food critic. She loves everything about food, and is eagerly willing to try just about any delicacy. So when she murders a man, she can't resist taking a piece of him with her and serving it up for dinner.

Bunny: A Novel

Mona Awad's Bunny is a Mean Girls-esque horror story about a graduate student who loses herself in a mysterious clique. The book has various twists, so much that it's hard to say much about the book without spoiling it. It's perfect for dark academia fans.

Devil House: A Novel

This horror novel is a mediation on the genre, while also creating a new scary story at the same time. A true crime writer decides to purchase the house where two grisly murders occurred. As he explores the town and learns more about the house's background, he also examines his own life and career.

The Hunger

Inspired by the story of the Donner Party, The Hunger is a fictional novel following the Donner Party, not just as they face starvation and harsh weather, but as they realize something is making members of the party disappear.

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories

Carmen Maria Machado's short story collection is not only a chilling read, but a beautifully written one. This incredible group of stories is full of memorable ideas, like a salesclerk who discovers a secret in the seams of prom dresses or a recreation of various episodes of Law and Order: SVU, which is even better than you can imagine.

Mexican Gothic

Anyone who enjoys Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak will love Mexican Gothic, which follows a young woman who visits a mansion where her married cousin lives and tries to get to the bottom of the strange family who owns the property. There's horror, romance, and intrigue. It's an exciting book from an incredible voice.

It: A Novel

Stephen King's It is a horror novel exploring themes of adolescence and adulthood. A dark spirit terrorizes a group of children by appearing in a physical form of their worst fears—particularly a clown named Pennywise.

Cujo: A Novel

Stephen King loves to tap into various childhood fears–bullying, clowns–and in Cujo, he focuses on dogs. A mother and child are terrorized when a neighborhood dog becomes a monster.

Carmilla

Dracula gets props for being the vampire book, but Carmilla deserves its flowers. Not only does it predate Bram Stoker's novel, but it features a not-so-subtle relationship between two women; the lonely Laura, and the mysterious Carmilla. If you're a fan of vampires and want to delve into the history of the genre, read Carmilla.

Dracula: Unabridged and Fully Illustrated

A book which needs little introduction, Dracula has forever impacted the way we view undead cannibals who can turn into bats. The gothic novel helped craft the image of vampires as mysterious yet fascinating creatures, a precursor to the seductive interpretation books, films, and television shows would present vampires as years later. Part of the reason Dracula has persisted all these years (beyond his prevalence in just about everything) really is because of just how good the book is. We promise it's worth the read.

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, like Dracula, has stayed in the public consciousness for so long on account of its thrilling story, but also an overwhelming inclusion of the monster in various media. A young scientist creates a sentient creature in a strange experiment, ultimately wreaking havoc on the world around him.

The Changeling: A Novel

A man searches for his wife when she vanishes into thin air, after committing a terrible act. Apple TV+ is adapting the book for television, with Lakeith Stanfield set to star and executive produce.

The Island of Dr. Moreau

H. G. Wells is one of the major science fiction/horror writers of the 19th century. Truth be told, we could probably put most if not all of his work on this list and call it horror. The Island of Dr. Moreau is just one notable work out of many. When a shipwrecked man is saved, he discovers he's landed on an island owned by a mad scientist who creates humanoid beings through cruel experimentation on animals.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a relatively quick read, but it's a novella that will leave an impression long after you complete it. Two men happen upon Dr. Jekyll, a man who transforms himself into Mr. Hyde when he wants to give into his worst urges.

The Ballad of Black Tom

H.P. Lovecraft had a real impact on the modern horror genre (You know Cthulu? That was him), but even for his time, his rampant racism was hard to ignore. The Ballad of Black Tom gives us a way to appreciate Lovecraft's contributions (it's based on the story "The Horror at Red Hook") with a contemporary point of view. LaValle sets the novella in 1920's Harlem and focuses on a Black hustler who meets a reclusive millionaire who enlists him in a dark scheme.

The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson is undoubtedly a major influence on the horror genre. The Haunting of Hill House is one of her best known works and follows a supernatural investigator and his associates as they experience strange phenomena while staying at the Hill House mansion. Netflix recently created a series based on the novel, created and directed by Mike Flanagan.

The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story

When a young lawyer comes to a small English town to settle the affairs of a reclusive widow, he discovers the town is being haunted by a spirit called the Woman in Black. In 2012, the story was adapted into a horror film starring Daniel Radcliffe.

Beloved

Toni Morrison is without a doubt one of the greatest writers of our time. While many see her as a literary writer, Beloved actually falls into the category of what readers would consider horror. A former slave struggles with the grief of losing her first child years ago...only for her firstborn to appear one day out of nowhere.

The Bad Seed

Before the horror movie Orphan, there was The Bad Seed. Written by William March, the book follows eight-year-old Rhoda, who is secretly a murderous sociopath. Unlike Orphan, there's no twist; just a creepy little girl hellbent on getting her way.

Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3

The collection which catapulted author Clive Barker to fame, Books of Blood contains six volumes of fiction anthologies in its entirety (the edition included here only has the first 3). Barker's short stories cemented him as a titan of the horror genre.

The Book of Accidents: A Novel

Chuck Wendig's The Book of Accidents starts off like most horror novels and movies do; a young family moves to a new home hoping to improve their lives. But the longer they stay and get to know the house and some of the locals, the family finds there's sinister elements afoot.

Come Closer

Architect Amanda hears a strange noise in her apartment. After, she begins to hear voices in her head...voices telling her to give into her worst urges and harm her husband. Amanda finds a book on demonic possession and realizes her problems are of the supernatural variety.

Fledgling

This vampire novel follows a 53-year-old named Shori–who appears to be 10 years old due to her vampirism. When she's picked up by a construction worker and ingratiates herself with local townspeople, she does her best to protect the humans she cares about.

Frankenstein in Baghdad: A Novel

A wartime spin on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Saadawi's book follows a junk dealer who stitches together body parts which then inhabits the spirit of a bomb victim.

Audition

A single father decides to start dating again, but the woman he becomes infatuated with has a dark past that threatens not just their relationship, but the father's life.

Bird Box: A Novel

The inspiration for the popular Netflix film, Bird Box follows a woman and her three children as they try to survive in a world with a deadly creature they can only escape by blinding themselves. Sandra Bullock starred in the film adaptation.

John Dies at the End

The first in a ongoing series, John Dies at the End is a comical horror novel following two friends who become paranormal investigators after a strange night at a party introduces them to an evil force known as the Shadow Men.

Rebecca

Similar to Jane Eyre, Rebecca proves there are few things scarier in real life than realizing your happily ever after isn't as happy as you thought it would be. When a woman marries a rich widower, she finds his late wife still haunts her husband and their house. Hitchcock fans will also recognize Rebecca, which had an Academy Award-winning adaptation in 1940.

Heart-Shaped Box

Joe Hill's debut novel follows an aging rock star with a peculiar hobby: buying morbid memorabilia. When the protagonist buys a dead man's funeral suit, he discovers the suit is haunted...and determined to kill him and anyone close to him. Heart-Shaped Box won the 2007 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.

The Turn of the Screw

This horror novella is one of the best known in the genre, plus a staple of Gothic literature. Netflix also adapted the work recently in The Haunting of Bly Manor. When a young governess moves to an estate to take care of two children, she begins to believe the mansion is haunted–and threatening the lives of the children under her tutelage.

House of Leaves

For fans of weird–and possibly difficult–fiction, House of Leaves is a horror novel like no other. This lengthy and complex book primarily follows a family who moves into a new home, only to discover a mysterious door leading to a seemingly endless room. The book varies between the story of the family and that of a man who discovers the story of the family, since turned into an obscure documentary.

Interview with the Vampire

Anne Rice's famous book series centers on a vampire who tells his life story to a reporter. The book increased in popularity following the publication of multiple sequels, plus a notable film adaptation starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. AMC also now has a popular reimagining of the series as well.

Ring

The basis for the popular horror movie franchise of the same name, Ring follows a reporter who discovers a cursed video tape which kills anyone who watches it within a week. Horror movie fans might not know it, but the book is also the first of a trilogy.

The Road

This post-apocalyptic novel is more existential dread than horror, but it's still a harrowing read. A father and son band together to survive a barren wasteland, where violence and chaos reign. The book won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into a 2009 film of the same name.

The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories

You can't talk about horror without mentioning one of the major influences for much of American horror and Gothic literature: Edgar Allan Poe. This collection includes eight of the author's stories and is the perfect introduction for anyone interested in classic literature or just exploring more of the horror genre. Mike Flanagan—who is behind Netflix's Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and Midnight Club—will be tackling a series inspired by Usher and more next.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Much like the best horror movies, horror books are rife with vampires, ghosts, and of course, zombies. This epistolary novel tracks the lives of various people living in the midst of a zombie plague over a period of years. The book's success spawned both a movie starring Brad Pitt, and a video game.

Zone One

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead's novel Zone One is the perfect blend of horror and literary fiction for readers who want to mix their love of words with their love of genre. As the world rebuilds from a zombie plague, one of the survivors of the apocalypse recounts how he stayed alive.

Things We Lost in the Fire

Part of the joy of reading horror is that each country and region has its own folklore and mythology which influences the local modern horror scene. This short story collection explores Argentine Gothic literature and has everything any American horror fan will love; demons, haunting, and spooky stories you'll want to read with the lights on.

Those Across the River

A writer moves with his wife to his family's old estate–a plantation–and plans to recount the horrors that took place there. But the more he ingratiates himself with the townspeople, the more he learns about the sinister secrets the Georgia town holds.

White is for Witching

A house owned by a family for generations turns sinister in this novel from talented author Helen Oyeyemi. When a woman's mother passes away, she begins to experience strange symptoms which ultimately come to a head when she brings a friend home one night.

The Yellow Wallpaper

Although Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story–not a novel, like most of the additions on this list–it still deserves a mention as a horror book for its impact on feminist literature. When a couple stays in an old mansion for the summer, the husband relegates his wife to an upstairs nursery. The longer the woman stays, the more terrifying her imprisonment becomes.

The Shining Girls

A time-traveler has to murder "the shining girls" to continue his travels. When he fails to murder one of the women, she sets out after him in this Depression-era novel. Elisabeth Moss stars in an AppleTV+ adaptation.

The Silence of the Lambs

Hannibal Lecter is a modern staple of the horror and thriller genres of television and movies. The cannibalistic serial killer got his start in Thomas Harris' Red Dragon series. His most notable entry is The Silence of the Lambs, in which a rookie FBI agent enlists an incarcerated Lecter's help in catching another serial killer. The book was famously adapted into a feature film starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins.

Hell House: A Novel

A physicist, his wife, and two mediums walk into a haunted house...It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it's the terrifying premise for Hell House. As the investigators get to know the house, it begins to play off their deepest fears, and turn the guests against each other.

Coraline

Neil Gaiman's Coraline is for children. Still, it's worth a read for people of all ages. The story follows a girl who finds a world where she has different parents, but soon finds the perfect world she's discovered is not all it seems.

The Only Good Indians: A Novel

Jordan Peele fans will enjoy this horror book full of fright, but also social commentary. When four indigenous men discover they're being haunted by a vengeful spirit from their youth, they must band together to stop it.

The Night House: A novel

Famed crime writer Jo Nesbø's his first ever horror novel is The Night House. When a 14-year-old witnesses his classmate disappears in a telephone booth. After a second student goes missing, the kid must find a way to prove his innocence.

The Only One Left: A Novel

For horror fans looking for no shortage of twists and turns in their books, check out The Only One Left. When a woman begins caring for an elderly patient, she learns the woman was accused of murdering her parents and siblings. As the secrets behind their deaths become clearer, the truth behind the family's grisly murders threatens the present day equilibrium.

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror

Famed horror director Jordan Peele takes on literature in this new horror anthology consisting of Black writers. The book features a mix of acclaimed writers and newcomers and is filled with scares.

A Head Full of Ghosts

A young girl exhibits symptoms of severe mental illness, but her family comes to believe she's possessed by demons. Strained by finances, they star in a reality television show, displaying their daughter's struggles to the world. Years later, the girl's younger sister reflects on her strange childhood.

Let the Right One In

Be warned: this book is not for the faint of heart, even if you're a horror fan. This Swedish book follows the relationship between a 12-year-old boy and a vampire child named Eli.

The Monk (Penguin Classics)

This 1796 classic novel is a great text for anyone interested in the Gothic horror genre. The book describes the corruption of a monk as he is seduced by a demon-in-disguise. It also weaves in a romance plot between a man and a nun.

The Taking: A Novel

A couple joins a small town in a terrifying fight against an alien invasion in this mysterious horror novel. Rather than sit around and wait to meet the ominous figures, the couple decides to venture out and save who they can.

The Black Spider (New York Review Books Classics)

This 19th century novel depicts a small town suffering under the cruel rule of a knight. Seeking to corrupt the town, the Devil appears offering his aid. But despite the citizen's attempts to refuse him, eventually he manages to wriggle his way into the town, causing fantastical events to occur.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

This 2003 novel takes the perspective of a mother who comes to realize her son isn't a normal teenager, but is actually a vicious murderer. To cope, she writes letters to her son's father, detailing past events and trying to make sense of where she went wrong.

The Other (New York Review Books Classics)

Set in 1935, this novel follows the relationship between two identical 13-year old boys, one of which is a sociopath. A year after the book's debut, it was adapted into a 1972 film.

Geek Love: A Novel

This 1989 novel follows a traveling carnival run by a family, whose daughter writes the family's history for her own daughter. When the business begins to fail, the parents decide to create their own freak show, experimenting on their children to make them more interesting attractions.

Ghost Story

This twisty novel kicks off with four elderly men who tell each other ghost stories as they're all plagued with nightmares. The horror of their stories begins to bleed into their real lives, as the four become embroiled in strange supernatural happenings.

Carrion Comfort: A Novel

Winner of multiple horror and fantasy awards, this 1989 novel follows a small group of humans with incredible psychic powers called "The Ability." It's revealed they've used their powers throughout major points in human history, committing atrocities and controlling various people. A group of non-psychic investigators set out to stop them.

The Bloody Chamber: And Other Stories: 75th-Anniversary Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

If you love fairy tales, but want a grittier, darker interpretation, The Bloody Chamber reimagines famous fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast and Puss in Boots and delivers her spin on the well-known stories.

The Midwich Cuckoos

This 1957 novel may surprise you with just how dark it goes for a mid-century horror book. When all women in an English village become pregnant from parasitic aliens, they end up giving birth to strange powerful beings. As investigations begin to try and understand the children, the town has to figure out how to get rid of the children, while saving the town.

Something Wicked This Way Comes: A Novel

Ray Bradbury's books are fun reads for both children and adults. Something Wicked This Way Comes follows two 13-year-old friends who experience a terrifying traveling carnival in their hometown.

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