19 of the Best Horror Novels: Classic to Contemporary

I am an avid reader of all things creepy and strange, and October is the best time of year to embrace atmospheric books that make the world look a little bit more ominous. I’ve rounded up some favorites, old and new, to inspire some mood-reading – whether it be by fire-light or lamp-light (or, you know, a properly lit room to protect your eyes).

Dracula by Bram Stoker

This classic has inspired a wild slew of vampire content – though myths about vampires have abounded for centuries, Dracula brought us the modern sense of drama and – dare I say – sexiness. Epistolary and spread out, Dracula is a tale of the far-reaching impacts and wild misunderstandings of what, exactly, is happening at the castle.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

This is one of my very favorite books of all time. It kick-started my deep love for science fiction and horror. Frankenstein, or, A Modern Prometheus is moody and asks the question of what it means to progress – what it means to create life – and explores when science goes too far. Also, this classic is much more accessible than many of the threatening tomes brandished against us in our youths.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Creepy, moody, and romantic? Jane Eyre is our homely protagonist whose life is a series of unfortunate events. At last, though, she finds a place with Mr. Rochester when she goes to work for him as a governess. Dour, However, he has skeletons in his closet – rather, his attic – that will disrupt both of their hopes for a peaceful life.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

A witch, her sister, an unwelcome cousin, and a dead family. Who was it that poisoned the sugar bowl? How did the rest survive? The Blackwood family has lived secluded from their village for 6 years, but the arrival of Charles disturbs their carefully kept peace. At once strange and allegorical, We Have Always Lived in the Castle has intense relationships and strong characters in their enclosed world.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Haunted houses, ghosts, and home. This gothic horror novel follows an odd mix of individuals as they try to confirm – with science – the existence of the supernatural in Hill House. Eleanor is a young woman tired of caring for her demanding mother and eager to finally live her own life – despite the strange events that have followed her throughout her life – and so she eagerly accepts Dr. Montague’s invitation to Hill House. This novel raises many more questions than answers as you experience the unreliable experiences of the people tasked with proving the impossible.

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

This is an indigenous werewolf coming-of-age novel. This book follows a boy and his Aunt Libby and Uncle Darren as they criss-cross the south, narrowly avoiding disaster and the law. However, it is unclear if the boy will be like his family – or if he will be something else entirely. The close examination of his feelings – of longing and fear for his grisly inheritance and what it means if he does not, actually, fit in with the heritage he’s been shown - provides a gripping, emotional story still full of grit and anxiety.

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

Moody vampire grapples with mother, self, and boys. Also hunger. And Art.

This is an atmospheric look into the life of young vampire Lydia. She is torn between the allure of human life (and her fathers Japanese heritage) and the preoccupations of her immortal one. Her mother, a vampire with dementia, bestowed a deep sense of self-loathing in Lydia that she works to counteract as she comes-of-age.

What are you hungry for?

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Four Indigenous men are haunted by an entity bent on revenge following a grisly event from their youth. No matter how far they run from the reservation, they aren’t safe from the truth of their actions.

This is a gorgeous, intense novel that will linger in your mind for a very long time. It’s inventive and violent and compelling. If you read one horror novel this year, let this one be it.  

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

This is a fun romp of a horror novella, clocking in at 136 pages. Stephen Graham Jones uses and disturbs classic horror tropes – a teen prank goes wrong, and it’s anybody’s guess just how disastrous the night can be.

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

A fun and sharp retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” this novella breathes creepy new life into the classic tale. This is spooky and all of the characters are given much more depth than could fit into the original short story.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

This is a GRISLY piece of dystopian horror. Due to a virus that has contaminated all animal meat, cannibalism has become legal. Marcos, a middle-man in the incredibly normalized process of human-meat industrial agriculture, is “gifted” a first-generation woman bred in captivity for cannibalism. This novel is horrifying and turns your expectations on their head at every chance. 

The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun

The horror of this grows as the novel progresses – Oghi wakes up from a coma induced by an accident in which his wife died. Paralyzed, he is left in the care of his grieving mother-in-law. This novel proliferates feelings of claustrophobia and invites the reader into its unnerving world as the narrator is forced to reflect endlessly on his life and what led him here.

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

This is an experimental memoir and the only nonfiction on the list – but it’s here for a good reason. Machado pulls apart her abusive relationship like looking through the windows of an eerie dollhouse in which she had been trapped.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

This is an INCREDIBLE series of short stories. The tropes and stories from TV and childhood are made horrific as the reality of what it means to be a woman – in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Law & Order: SVU, or in the hospital giving birth– sets in. How far does bodily autonomy extend? How much control do we have over the stories we tell about ourselves and the stories others tell in our place?

Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth

Abby, desperate for a mother figure after her own difficult childhood, has high hopes when she and her husband move in with her mother-in-law. Her hopes are quickly dashed by her MIL’s cruel behavior, culminating in a suicide that leaves her presence more strongly felt than ever before. This is very psychological horror as Abby deals with the realities of her haunting and also the parts of herself she’d rather not confront.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

This novel is horrifying in a very real sense – after leaving her toddler alone in the house out of overwhelming anxiety, Frida Liu is subjected to increasingly intense repercussions that keep her from her daughter. In order to qualify as a responsible parent again, she is inducted into a new, state-sanctioned “school for good mothers” where she will be re-educated – with a “practice” child.

House of Leaves by Markus Z. Danielewski

House of Leaves is practically a cult classic. A story told in bits and pieces, this is a blend of epistolary/found content. It relies on unreliable narrators and defies genre expectations. The text is a labyrinth as much as the events are disorienting, moving between perspectives, priorities, and realities. The story diverges into footnotes, appendices, footnotes of footnotes, and on – it’s on the reader to piece together.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Horrorstör combines the overwhelming regularity of a box furniture store, Orsk, “an all-American furniture store in Scandinavian drag,” with the tradition of the haunted house. Contained in a sleek softcover binding, Horrorstör presents its tale as a catalog of horrors as the staff volunteer for an overnight shift to discover what, exactly, is terrorizing the many display homes they have to peruse. Funny and creepy, this book earns bonus points for increasingly demented product descriptions interspersed with the chapters.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-García

In this contemporary gothic horror novel, Noémi investigates her cousins fear that her husband is trying to kill her. She goes to their home, isolated in the mountains, and is immediately taken by the oppressive atmosphere. Things become stranger and stranger as she investigates the dark, traumatic history of their family. She experiences odd dreams and visions as she tries to save both her cousin and herself from the gloom of this ancestral family home and those within it. Creepy and atmospheric, this is an absolutely fabulous fall read before you go foraging in the woods.