The Scariest Books Of All-Time
Below you will find 231 of the scariest horror novels of all-time. There are scary books for children, scary books for adults, and books for anyone looking to stay up late into the night second guessing every shadow and creak. There were 15 top horror novel lists we looked at with 66 books appearing multiple times. We counted down the top 36 with book covers and links below. The remaining 200ish additional scary horror books, along with the article sources are listed at the bottom of the page.
So grab your safety blanket, protection slippers, defense hot chocolate, immunity night light, and lay back with one of the following books.
Happy Scrolling!
#36-20
(Appear on 3 Lists Each)
Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
Lists It Appears On:
- Huffington Post
- Men’s Journal
- Paste Magazine
“Detective Gabriella Versado has seen a lot of bodies. But this one is unique even by Detroit’s standards: half boy, half deer, somehow fused together. As stranger and more disturbing bodies are discovered, how can the city hold on to a reality that is already tearing at its seams?
If you’re Detective Versado’s geeky teenage daughter, Layla, you commence a dangerous flirtation with a potential predator online. If you’re desperate freelance journalist Jonno, you do whatever it takes to get the exclusive on a horrific story. If you’re Thomas Keen, known on the street as TK, you’ll do what you can to keep your homeless family safe–and find the monster who is possessed by the dream of violently remaking the world.”
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Lists It Appears On:
- Horror Novel Review
- Paste Magazine
- Shortlist
“When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.
But there’s another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.”
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Publishers Weekly
- Refinery29
Geek Love is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out–with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes–to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There’s Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious–and dangerous–asset.
Hell House by Richard Matheson
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Shortlist
“Rolf Rudolph Deutsch is going die. But when Deutsch, a wealthy magazine and newpaper publisher, starts thinking seriously about his impending death, he offers to pay a physicist and two mediums, one physical and one mental, $100,000 each to establish the facts of life after death.
Dr. Lionel Barrett, the physicist, accompanied by the mediums, travel to the Belasco House in Maine, which has been abandoned and sealed since 1949 after a decade of drug addiction, alcoholism, and debauchery. For one night, Barrett and his colleagues investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townfolks refer to it as the Hell House.”
IT by Stephen King
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Paste Magazine
“Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real.
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers.”
Naomi’s Room by Jonathan Aycliffe
Lists It Appears On:
- Buzzfeed
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
Tormented by grief after his four-year-old daughter is murdered, Charles hears sinister whispers as he tries to discover the truth about Naomi’s death. But long-buried secrets threaten to take Charles to a place where he could lose his very soul. Aycliffe is a pseudonym for Daniel Easterman, the bestselling author of Brotherhood of the Tomb.
Penpal by Dathan Auerbach
Lists It Appears On:
- Buzzfeed
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you’ll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him. If you’ve ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you’ve ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt you, if you remember the first friend you ever made and how strong that bond was, then Penpal is a story that you won’t soon forget, despite how you might try.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Neardist
- Paste Magazine
“Are you brave enough for Scary Stories?
Some boys and girls were at a party one night. There was a graveyard down the street, and they were talking about how scary it was.
“”Don’t ever stand on a grave after dark,”” one of the boys said. “”The person inside will grab you.””
“”A grave doesn’t scare me,”” said one of the girls. “”I’ll do it right now. . . .””
Welcome to the macabre world of Scary Stories. Inside, you’ll find alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and the supernatural, with spine-tingling illustrations by renowned artist Brett Helquist.”
Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Publishers Weekly
Something flashes in nine-year-old Swan’s brain, telling her that trouble is coming. Maybe it’s her mother, fed up with her current boyfriend and ready to abandon their dismal trailer park and seek a new home. But something far worse is on the horizon. Death falls from the sky—nuclear bombs which annihilate American civilization. Though Swan survives the blast, this young psychic’s war is just beginning.
The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Mashable
- Paste Magazine
The classic and terrifying story of one of the most famous supernatural events–the infamous possessed house on Long Island from which the Lutz family fled in 1975.
The Cipher by Kathe Koja
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
A hole of living black… A promise of revelation… A journey into the eye of darkness… THE CIPHER: Nicholas is a would-be poet and video-clerk with a weeping hole in his hand–weeping not blood, but a plasma of tears… “IT WANTS ME, NAKOTA. IT WANTS ME.” It began with Nakota and her crooked grin. She had to see the dark hole in the storage room down the hall. She had to make love to Nicholas beside it, and stare into its secretive, promising depths. Then Nakota began her experiments: First, she put an insect into the hole. Then a mouse… “REACH IN, NICHOLAS. REACH IN…” Now from down the hall, the black hole calls out to Nicholas every day and every night. And he will go to it. Because it has already seared his flesh, infected his soul, and started him on a journey of obsession–through its soothing, blank darkness into the blinding core of terror…
The Collector by John Fowles
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Huffington Post
Hailed as the first modern psychological thriller, The Collector is the internationally bestselling novel that catapulted John Fowles into the front rank of contemporary novelists. This tale of obsessive love–the story of a lonely clerk who collects butterflies and of the beautiful young art student who is his ultimate quarry–remains unparalleled in its power to startle and mesmerize.
The Damnation Game by Clive Barker
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Paste Magazine
- Publishers Weekly
There are things worse than death. There are games so seductively evil, so wondrously vile, no gambler can resist. Amid the shadow-scarred rubble of World War II, Joseph Whitehead dared to challenge the dark champion of life’s ultimate game. Now a millionaire, locked in a terror-shrouded fortress of his own design, Joseph Whitehead has hell to pay. And no soul is safe from this ravaging fear, the resurrected fury, the unspeakable desire of…
The Ritual by Adam Nevill
Lists It Appears On:
- Buzzfeed
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect with one another. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise. With limited experience between them, a shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, Luke figures things couldn’t possibly get any worse. But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the dry floors. The residue of old rites and pagan sacrifice for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. As the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation, they learn that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees . . .
The Shining by Stephen King
Lists It Appears On:
- Horror Novel Review
- io9
- Paste Magazine
Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote . . . and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Lists It Appears On:
- Complex
- Horror Novel Review
- io9
The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition’s leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape. A haunting, gripping story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
Now a major motion picture by Lynne Ramsay, starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly, Lionel Shriver’s resonant story of a mother’s unsettling quest to understand her teenage son’s deadly violence, her own ambivalence toward motherhood, and the explosive link between them reverberates with the haunting power of high hopes shattered by dark realities.
#19-12
(Appear on 4 Lists Each)
Books of Blood by Clive Barker
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- io9
- Paste Magazine
With the 1984 publication of Books of Blood, Clive Barkerbecame an overnight literary sensation. He was hailed byStephen King as “the future of horror,” and won both the British and World Fantasy Awards. Now, with his numerous bestsellers, graphic novels, and hit movies like the Hellraiser films, Clive Barker has become an industry unto himself. But it all started here, with this tour de force collection that rivals the dark masterpieces of Edgar Allan Poe. Read him. And rediscover the true meaning of fear.
Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
Lists It Appears On:
- Complex
- Horror Novel Review
- io9
- Paste Magazine
Haunted is a novel made up of twenty-three horrifying, hilarious, and stomach-churning stories. They’re told by people who have answered an ad for a writer’s retreat and unwittingly joined a “Survivor”-like scenario where the host withholds heat, power, and food. As the storytellers grow more desperate, their tales become more extreme, and they ruthlessly plot to make themselves the hero of the reality show that will surely be made from their plight. This is one of the most disturbing and outrageous books you’ll ever read, one that could only come from the mind of Chuck Palahniuk.
Horns by Joe Hill
Lists It Appears On:
- Complex
- Horror Novel Review
- Mashable
- Paste Magazine
Joe Hill’s critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning debut chiller, Heart-Shaped Box, heralded the arrival of new royalty onto the dark fantasy scene. WithHorns, he polishes his well-deserved crown. A twisted, terrifying new novel of psychological and supernatural suspense, Horns is a devilishly original triumph for the Ray Bradbury Fellowship recipient whose story collection, 20th Century Ghosts, was also honored with a Bram Stoker Award—and whose emotionally powerful and macabre work has been praised by the New York Times as, “wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty…a Valentine from hell.”
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Lists It Appears On:
- Horror Novel Review
- Neardist
- Shortlist
- The Telegraph
“When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son—and now an idyllic home. As a family, they’ve got it all…right down to the friendly car.
But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth—more terrifying than death itself—and hideously more powerful.”
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Neardist
- Publishers Weekly
A teenage girl is held captive and brutally tortured by neighborhood children. Based on a true story, this shocking novel reveals the depravity of which we are all capable.
The Ruins by Scott Smith
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Complex
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
Trapped in the Mexican jungle, a group of friends stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine.Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation–sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site . . . and the terrifying presence that lurks there.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- The Telegraph
A classic ghost story: the chilling tale of a menacing specter haunting a small English town. Arthur Kipps is an up-and-coming London solicitor who is sent to Crythin Gifford–a faraway town in the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway–to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of a client, Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. Mrs. Drablow’s house stands at the end of the causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but Kipps is unaware of the tragic secrets that lie hidden behind its sheltered windows. The routine business trip he anticipated quickly takes a horrifying turn when he finds himself haunted by a series of 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, most terrifying of all, a ghostly woman dressed all in black.
World War Z by Max Brooks
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Complex
- Horror Novel Review
- Paste Magazine
The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time.World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
#11-5
(Appear on 5 Lists Each)
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Paste Magazine
- Shortlist
In American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis imaginatively explores the incomprehensible depths of madness and captures the insanity of violence in our time or any other. Patrick Bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980s Manhattan. Young, handsome, and well educated, Bateman earns his fortune on Wall Street by day while spending his nights in ways we cannot begin to fathom. Expressing his true self through torture and murder, Bateman prefigures an apocalyptic horror that no society could bear to confront.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Paste Magazine
- Shortlist
- The Telegraph
Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread undead curse, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. The novel touches on themes such as the role of women in Victorian culture, sexual conventions, immigration, colonialism, and post-colonialism. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, he defined its modern form, and the novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film and television interpretations.
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Paste Magazine
- Publishers Weekly
- The Telegraph
“In the sleepy town of Milburn, New York, four old men gather to tell each other stories—some true, some made-up, all of them frightening. A simple pastime to divert themselves from their quiet lives.
But one story is coming back to haunt them and their small town. A tale of something they did long ago. A wicked mistake. A horrifying accident. And they are about to learn that no one can bury the past forever…”
Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Complex
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Paste Magazine
“It is autumn 1981 when inconceivable horror comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenager is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last—revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.
But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door—a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .Sweeping top honors at film festivals all over the globe, director Tomas Alfredsson’s film of Let the Right One In has received the same kind of spectacular raves that have been lavished on the book. American and Swedish readers of vampire fiction will be thrilled! “
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- io9
- Paste Magazine
- Shortlist
It remains one of the most controversial novels ever written and went on to become a literary phenomenon: It spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, seventeen consecutively at number one. Inspired by a true story of a child’s demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty created an iconic novel that focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. A small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals must rescue Regan from her unspeakable fate, and the drama that ensues is gripping and unfailingly terrifying.
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Paste Magazine
- Shortlist
“As part of the search for a serial murderer nicknames “”Buffalo Bill,”” FBI trainee Clarice Starling is given an assignment. She must visit a man confined to a high-security facility for the criminally insane and interview him.
That man, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, is a former psychiatrist with unusual tastes and an intense curiosity about the darker corners of the mind. His intimate understanding of the killer and of Clarice herself form the core of Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs–an unforgettable classic of suspense fiction.”
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- io9
- Paste Magazine
- The Telegraph
The Turn of the Screw, originally published in 1898, is a gothic ghost story novella written by Henry James. Due to its original content, the novella became a favourite text of academics who subscribe to New Criticism. The novella has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive. Many critics have tried to determine the exact nature of the evil hinted at by the story. However, others have argued that the true brilliance of the novella comes with its ability to create an intimate confusion and suspense for the reader.
#4
(Appears on 6 Lists)
John Dies At The End by David Wong
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Complex
- Horror Novel Review
- io9
- Neardist
- Paste Magazine
“You should not have touched this book with your bare hands.
NO, don’t put it down. It’s too late.
They’re watching you.
My name is David Wong. My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours.
You may not want to know about the things you’ll read on these pages, about the sauce, about Korrok, about the invasion, and the future. But it’s too late. You touched the book. You’re in the game. You’re under the eye.
The only defense is knowledge. You need to read John Dies at the End, to the end. Even the part with the bratwurst. Why? You just have to trust me.”
#3-2
(Appear on 7 Lists Each)
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Complex
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Neardist
- Paste Magazine
- The Telegraph
Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals…a used hangman’s noose…a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is widely known. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, a thing so terrible-strange, Jude can’t help but reach for his wallet.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- io9
- Mashable
- Men’s Journal
- Paste Magazine
- The Telegraph
First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
The Scariest Book Of All-Time
(Appears on 9 Lists)
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Buzzfeed
- Complex
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
- Neardist
- Paste Magazine
- Refinery29
- The Telegraph
Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth — musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies — the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children.
#37-66
(Appear on 2 Lists Each)
1984 by George Orwell
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
A Choir Of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Complex
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Lists It Appears On:
- Mashable
- Buzzfeed
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Lists It Appears On:
- Shortlist
- Flavorwire
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Paste Magazine
Dawn by Octavia Butler
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
Don’t Look Now, by Daphne du Maurier
Lists It Appears On:
- Refinery29
- Men’s Journal
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Lists It Appears On:
- Shortlist
- Paste Magazine
Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry
Lists It Appears On:
- Complex
- Horror Novel Review
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M.R. James
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- The Telegraph
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Paste Magazine
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Refinery29
Incarnate by Ramsey Campbell
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Lists It Appears On:
- Shortlist
- Flavorwire
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
Lists It Appears On:
- Complex
- Buzzfeed
Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
Lists It Appears On:
- Complex
- Paste Magazine
Piercing by Ryu Murakami
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Flavorwire
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Horror Novel Review
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft
Lists It Appears On:
- io9
- The Telegraph
The Elementals by Michael McDowell
Lists It Appears On:
- Publishers Weekly
- Horror Novel Review
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Shortlist
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Refinery29
The Light at the End by John Skipp and Craig Spector
Lists It Appears On:
- Publishers Weekly
- Horror Novel Review
The Missing by Sarah Langan
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Complex
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Men’s Journal
The Rising by Brian Keene
Lists It Appears On:
- Neardist
- Complex
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Shortlist
The Walking by Bentley Little
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Horror Novels
- Complex
Under The Dome by Stephen King
Lists It Appears On:
- Complex
- Best Horror Novels
White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
Lists It Appears On:
- Flavorwire
- Men’s Journal
#67-231
(Appear on 1 List Each)
| 1Q84 | Haruki Murakami | Shortlist |
| A Cold Season | Alison Littlewood | Horror Novel Review |
| A Dark Matter | Peter Straub | Complex |
| A Head Full of Ghosts | Paul Tremblay | Buzzfeed |
| A Scanner Darkly | Philip K. Dick | Shortlist |
| A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson | Horror Novel Review | |
| A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons | Horror Novel Review | |
| At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft | Horror Novel Review | |
| Beloved | Toni Morrison | Men’s Journal |
| Bethany’s Sin by Robert R. McCammon | Horror Novel Review | |
| Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk | Ben Fountain | Shortlist |
| Blind Date | R.L. Stine | Huffington Post |
| Blindness | Jose Saramago | Shortlist |
| Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon | Horror Novel Review | |
| Bubba-Ho-Tep by Joe R. Lansdale | Horror Novel Review | |
| By Reason of Insanity by Shane Stevens | Shane Stevens | Horror Novel Review |
| Child of God | Cormac McCarthy | Men’s Journal |
| City Infernal | Edward Lee | Publishers Weekly |
| Cock & Bull | Will Self | Shortlist |
| Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker | Horror Novel Review | |
| Communion | Whitley Strieber | Buzzfeed |
| Dark Harvest | Norman Partridge | Complex |
| Dear Daughter | Elizabeth Little | Refinery29 |
| Diary | Chuck Palahniuk | Huffington Post |
| Disgrace | J.M. Coetzee | Shortlist |
| Dominion | Bentley Little | Neardist |
| Drood | Dan Simmons | Complex |
| Dweller by Jeff Strand | Horror Novel Review | |
| Edge of Dark Water by Joe R. Lansdale | Joe R. Lansdale | Horror Novel Review |
| Enter Night | Michael Rowe | Publishers Weekly |
| Evangeline by E.A. Gottschalk | E.A. Gottschalk | Horror Novel Review |
| Every House is Haunted | Ian Rogers | Publishers Weekly |
| Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite | Horror Novel Review | |
| Floating Dragon by Peter Straub | Horror Novel Review | |
| Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi | Horror Novel Review | |
| Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews | Horror Novel Review | |
| Full Tilt | Neal Shusterman | Buzzfeed |
| Ghoul by Brian Keene | Ghoul by Brian Keene | Horror Novel Review |
| Girl Next Door | Jack Ketchum | Paste Magazine |
| Gothic Tales | Elizabeth Gaskell | Buzzfeed |
| Grimm’s Fairy Tales (unedited tales by Wilhelm and Jacob) | Horror Novel Review | |
| Grimscribe | Thomas Ligotti | Men’s Journal |
| Handling the Undead | John Ajvide Lindqvist | Mashable |
| Hemlock Grove | Brian McGreevy | Huffington Post |
| Horrorstör | Grady Hendrix | Buzzfeed |
| I Am Legend by Richard Matheson | Horror Novel Review | |
| Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice | Horror Novel Review | |
| Invasion by Robin Cook | Horror Novel Review | |
| Invisible Man | Ralph Ellison | Shortlist |
| Johnny Got His Gun | Dalton Trumbo | Flavorwire |
| Joyland by Stephen King | Horror Novel Review | |
| Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton | Horror Novel Review | |
| Lady, | Thomas Tryon | Refinery29 |
| Last Days | Brian Evenson | Men’s Journal |
| Let’s Go Play at the Adams by Mendel Johnson | Mendel Johnson | Horror Novel Review |
| Lightning by Dean Koontz | Dean Koontz | Horror Novel Review |
| Lisey’s Story | Stephen King | Complex |
| Little Star | John Ajvide Lindqvist | Paste Magazine |
| Lord of the Flies by William Golding | Horror Novel Review | |
| Maplecroft | Cherie Priest | Buzzfeed |
| Misery | Stephen King | Best Horror Novels |
| Miss Pergrine’s Home For Peculiar Children | Ransom Riggs | Mashable |
| Monster Island | David Wellington | Neardist |
| Mouth Sewn Shut by Greg Slap | Horror Novel Review | |
| Naked Lunch | William Burroughs | Shortlist |
| Needful Things by Stephen King | Horror Novel Review | |
| Night in the Lonesome October by Richard Laymon | Horror Novel Review | |
| NightWhere by John Everson | John Everson | Horror Novel Review |
| NOS4A2 by Joe Hill | Horror Novel Review | |
| October Country | Ray Bradbury | Paste Magazine |
| Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz | Horror Novel Review | |
| Off Season by Jack Ketchum | Horror Novel Review | |
| Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | Patrick Süskind | Best Horror Novels |
| Pollen | Jeff Noon | Shortlist |
| Pretty Monsters | Kelly Link | Huffington Post |
| Psycho by Robert Bloch | Horror Novel Review | |
| Rebecca | Daphne du Maurier | Shortlist |
| Red Dragon by Thomas Harris | Horror Novel Review | |
| Requiem For A Dream | Hubert Selby Jr. | Shortlist |
| Salem’s Lot by Stephen King | Horror Novel Review | |
| Seven Gothic Tales | Karen Blixen | The Telegraph |
| Sharp Objects | Gillian Flynn | Complex |
| Slaughterhouse-Five | Kurt Vonnegut | Shortlist |
| Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury | Horror Novel Review | |
| Song of Kali | Dan Simmons | The Telegraph |
| Songs of a Dead Dreamer | Thomas Ligotti | Men’s Journal |
| Suffer the Children | John Saul | Buzzfeed |
| Summer of Night | Dan Simmons | Neardist |
| Swamp Monster Massacre by Hunter Shea | Hunter Shea | Horror Novel Review |
| The 120 Days of Sodom | Marquis de Sade | Shortlist |
| The Association by Bentley Little | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Bell Witch: An American Haunting | Brent Monahan | Buzzfeed |
| The Best of H. P. Lovecraft | H.P. Lovecraft | Flavorwire |
| The Bighead by Edward Lee | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Coldest Girl in Coldtown | Holly Black | Mashable |
| The Complete H.P. Lovecraft | H.P. Lovecraft | Paste Magazine |
| The Complete Tales and Poems | Edgar Allan Poe | Flavorwire |
| The Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Dead | Mark E. Rogers | Best Horror Novels |
| The Demonologist | Andrew Pyper | Buzzfeed |
| The Devil in Silver | Victor LaValle | Men’s Journal |
| The Doom That Came to Sarnath | H. P. Lovecraft | Refinery29 |
| The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Face that Must Die by Ramsey Campbell | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Fall of the House of Usher | Edgar Allan Poe | The Telegraph |
| The Ghost Stories | Edith Wharton | The Telegraph |
| The Girl with All the Gifts | M.R. Carey | Buzzfeed |
| The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo | Stieg Larsson | Shortlist |
| The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Great God Pan | Arthur Machen | Flavorwire |
| The Grin Of The Dark | Ramsey Campbell | Complex |
| The Horus Heresy | Many Authors | Best Horror Novels |
| The House That Dripped Gore by Dan West | Horror Novel Review | |
| The House That Jack Built | Graham Masterton | Buzzfeed |
| The Illustrated Man | Ray Bradbury | Huffington Post |
| The Keep by F. Paul Wilson | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Killer Inside Me | Jim Thompson | Flavorwire |
| The King in Yellow | Robert W. Chambers | io9 |
| The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Lost | Jack Ketchum | Complex |
| The Lottery | Shirley Jackson | Buzzfeed |
| The Metamorphosis | Franz Kafka | Paste Magazine |
| The Monk | Matthew Gregory Lewis | Buzzfeed |
| The Montauk Monster by Hunter Shea | Horror Novel Review | |
| The One That Got Away | Simon Wood | Buzzfeed |
| The Painted Bird | Jerzy Kosinski | Flavorwire |
| The Passage, | Justin Cronin | Complex |
| The Penguin Book of Witches | Katherine Howe | Refinery29 |
| The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Replacement | Brenna Yovanoff | Mashable |
| The Resort by Bentley Little | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Road | Cormac McCarthy | Best Horror Novels |
| The Secret of Crickley Hall | James Herbert | The Telegraph |
| The Stake by Richard Laymon | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Stand by Stephen King | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin | The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin | Horror Novel Review |
| The Store by Bentley Little | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Store, | Bentley Little | Flavorwire |
| The Stranger | Albert Camus | Shortlist |
| The Supernatural Enhancements | Edgar Cantero | Buzzfeed |
| The Throne of Bones | Brian McNaughton | Best Horror Novels |
| The Totem by David Morrell | David Morrell | Horror Novel Review |
| The Town | Bentley Little | Buzzfeed |
| The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer | Michelle Hodkin | Mashable |
| The Wasp Factory | Iain Banks | Flavorwire |
| The Way Some People Die | Ross Macdonald | Refinery29 |
| The Witches | Roald Dahl | Shortlist |
| The Witches of Worm | Zilpha Keatley Snyder | Huffington Post |
| The Wolfen | Whitley Strieber | Flavorwire |
| The Woman By Jack Ketchum | Horror Novel Review | |
| The Woman in the Dunes | Kobo Abe | Men’s Journal |
| They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon | Horror Novel Review | |
| Threats | Amelia Gray | Huffington Post |
| Three | Ted Dekker | Best Horror Novels |
| Tropic of Cancer | Henry Miller | Shortlist |
| Twilight | William Gay | Men’s Journal |
| Velocity by Dean Koontz | Horror Novel Review | |
| Voices in the Night | Steven Millhauser | Huffington Post |
| Walkers | Graham Masterton | Buzzfeed |
| War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells | Horror Novel Review | |
| Watchers by Dean Koontz | Horror Novel Review | |
| We | Yevgeny Zamyatin | Shortlist |
| Source | Article |
| Best Horror Novels | Best Modern Horror Books |
| Buzzfeed | 23 Underrated Horror Books You Have To Read ASAP |
| Complex | The 25 Best Horror Novels Of The New Millennium |
| Flavorwire | The 50 Scariest Books of All Time |
| Horror Novel Review | The 100 Scariest Horror Novels of All Time |
| Huffington Post | 10 Scary Books That Will Seriously Keep You Up At Night |
| io9 | 10 Novels That Are Scarier Than Most Horror Movies |
| Mashable | 9 Books Scarier Than Any Horror Movie |
| Men’s Journal | The 12 Best Horror Books: Truly Terrifying Works of Fiction |
| Neardist | TOP TEN FAVORITE HORROR NOVELS |
| Paste Magazine | The 30 Best Horror Books of All Time |
| Publishers Weekly | The 10 Best Horror Books You’ve Never Read |
| Refinery29 | 11 Of The Scariest Books Of All Time |
| Shortlist | The 30 Scariest Books Ever Written |
| The Telegraph | 15 scary books to terrify you this Halloween |
