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Original poster

Any horror books that are a must read?

87 replies

squareyedannie · 19/09/2023 18:19

I read a lot of horror in 90s. King, Koontz, Herbert, Barker etc

I've just started reading the genre again with Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt.

Does anyone have any other authors that they could recommend, please?

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MariedunnAuthor · 26/11/2023 16:30

Heres a Horror to Scare Your Senses:
Head Over To Amazon

Any horror books that are a must read?
MaudGone · 26/11/2023 12:46

Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen & EF Benson for short stories. Less well known than Lovecraft or James, but still classics.

CalmConfident · 25/11/2023 06:51

BBC sounds has a good selection of horror /supernatural audio recordings books and plays. I listened to Starve Acre on there! The Sink, The Hotel and Deadhouse are really different. Lots of classic MR James too

ALittleTeawithmilk · 24/11/2023 08:14

I’m just posting this so I can find the thread more easily when at the library. Lots of great reading suggestions thanks.

eandz13 · 24/11/2023 08:08

Making my way through the books I hadn't read on this thread - Hex and Dark Matter in particular are fantastic!! Very psychologically thrilling.

Owlcat42 · 19/11/2023 22:40

I really enjoyed A cosmology of monsters by Shaun Hamill, it has a lot of heart in that way that Stephen King’s books do.

The book that has freaked me out the most though is House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski. It really got under my skin (in a good way).

Billi80 · 19/11/2023 22:21

Rosemarys Baby is excellent!

CheerfulBunny · 19/11/2023 22:16

Jonathan Aycliffe has been mentioned quite a bit. I read The Matrix (nothing to do with the film!) in halls at Uni and I couldn't sleep afterwards. I might get it for my Kindle and see if it still scares. It's amazing that words on a page can have so much power.

Ambertonix · 19/11/2023 22:12

The Ragdoll trilogy by Daniel Cole. Gruesome but gripping!

Potterurotter · 19/11/2023 22:03

Hidden pictures by Jason rekulak best book in ages

AnxiousPangolin · 15/11/2023 19:42

Jonathan Aycliffe.

Second the mention of John Connolly’s Charlie Parker books. There’s a strong supernatural thread running through most of them but the earlier books definitely have a horror tone. Also, his novella The Fractured Atlas which is in the Nocturnes anthology is superb, a genuine creeping dread read.

FromMilanToMinsk1 · 15/11/2023 19:38

PammieDooveOrangeJoof · 15/11/2023 19:32

I read Hex off the back of this thread and bloody loved it! Thought it was the scariest thing I’ve read in years.

I loved that one too. I absolutely love small-town vibe horror. His next book was quite weird but all right, and he's got another one out early next year - I've got it on preorder.

PammieDooveOrangeJoof · 15/11/2023 19:32

I read Hex off the back of this thread and bloody loved it! Thought it was the scariest thing I’ve read in years.

Screamingabdabz · 15/11/2023 19:31

Some of my faves have already been mentioned but I’d just add the Felix Castor series by Mike Carey.

orangelotus · 15/11/2023 19:24

The silent companions - very creepy

MaudGone · 14/11/2023 23:58

Shirley Jackson - "The Haunting of Hill House". Very influential & much imitated.

"The Magician" by Somerset Maugham.

QueenBitch666 · 14/11/2023 23:48

cassiatwenty · 19/09/2023 18:22

I'd recommend Susan Hill's "Woman in Black" if you hadn't read it.

This. It's sitting in my car at the moment as I don't want it in the house 😳

OuiOuiMonAmiJeMappelleLafayette · 14/11/2023 23:33

Darkness Tell Us by Richard Laymon

FizzingAda · 14/11/2023 23:17

Dracula, the original by Bram Stoker. Get past some of the language of it’s time, and it is a tale par excellence.

MariedunnAuthor · 14/11/2023 22:02

Twisted Souls - New Horror Book that's set to be a best seller. If you like grappling with the paranormal and love having a rollercoaster of emotions flooding you then this is the book for you. Due to graphic content its 18+.Twisted Souls Amazon Link

Any horror books that are a must read?
millypeggyandpandora · 08/10/2023 17:04

Have any of you read the Haunted series by Lee Mountford? Really scary 😧 i

WhoWants2Know · 08/10/2023 16:51

pointythings · 06/10/2023 19:35

I like early Phil Rickman - Candlenight, Crybbe, December, the Man in the Moss.

I love these too.

pointythings · 06/10/2023 19:35

I like early Phil Rickman - Candlenight, Crybbe, December, the Man in the Moss.

ManAboutTown · 06/10/2023 07:53

Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go

Described as the worst horror story ever because the characters don't know they are in one and you don't realise it's a horror story until a long way in

WhoWants2Know · 05/10/2023 13:20

CocoPlum · 19/09/2023 19:41

Not a big horror reader but I enjoyed Gallows Hill by Darcey Coates. One particular scene <shudders>.

I just downloaded this one 🤞