If you’re looking to take a break from a marathon of creepy flicks or a slew of spooky shows, you could turn to spine-chilling, hair-raising and blood-curdling books for frights that’ll feel oh so real.
That’s why we asked the folks at Goodreads for the top horror books that have been popular with their book-loving members throughout this year. These books have vampires who bite and mysterious witches, along with enough twists to be thrilling. A few have even made it to our monthly “Most Anticipated Books” guide that Goodreads also helps us curate.
Truth may be stranger than fiction, but in these strange times, lots of us have been searching for fictional spooks. There’s an essential pandemic reading list from Vulture. Electric Literature picked out books about plagues back in March. Even The New York Times has the “Quarantine Reader” featuring authors Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King.
“As we all learned to navigate the uncertainty and loss of normalcy that this year has brought us, we saw readers flock to horror novels, propelling tales of terror to the top of our most popular lists,” said Cybil Wallace, a senior editor at Goodreads. “And the genre was ready for the extra attention, with some very compelling and terrifying reads.”
If you’ve been looking for a horror book that you won’t be able to put down, Goodreads gave us their scary suggestions based on books that were published in the last year and have at least a 3.5-star rating from members. Maybe these popular picks will help you escape from this world for a little while.
As always, you should check to see if a nearby independent bookstore has these titles in stock. That’s why we’re linking the books below to Bookshop. You can find all 10 books on Amazon as well.
If you don’t know, on Bookshop you can opt to have all the profits from your purchase go to a local bookstore that you choose. Or your order can contribute to a fund that’s split between different independent bookstores.
No spoilers, so you’ll have to see the list down there for the top scary stories that Goodreads members have been devouring this year. Just make sure you’re not reading these in the dark.
Check out the most popular horror picks on Goodreads this year:
"Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
"The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires" by Grady Hendrix
"If It Bleeds" by Stephen King
"The Year of the Witching" by Alexis Henderson
"The Only Good Indians" by Stephen Graham Jones
"Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre" by Max Brooks
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