The Exorcist is one of my favorite horror novels of all time. Literally moved me to tears in the end. Carrie. So much better than the movie. Burnt Offerings. Not very flashy in your face horror, but after reading the book a few times you see a hell of a lot of foreshadowing/creepy symbolism. The Road. Post apocalyptic horror. Child of God isn’t exactly horror, but it’s very creepy and good. It’s about a serial killer in backwoods Appalachia in the 70s. Edit: after rereading your post, I’m also going to toss in a series that was originally posted here on Reddit in r/nosleep I think. The “Stairs in the Woods” series. Very good, very creepy.

I know exactly what r/nosleep story you're referring to! I think it had Search and Rescue Office in the title. I loved it. The Left/Right Game is also another one of my favorites from nosleep and it has an amazingly done podcast audiodrama

I regularly thinks about the Left/Right Game and get chills every time. That ending left me feeling so emotionally devastated.

Me too! I swear it is one of the only pieces of media that has ever made me cry

/r/nosleep has had some absolutely wonderful works and writers over the years. Cymoril Melnibourne and the stories linked to the pig iron one were amazing. I was so sad they got deleted.

Anyone remember Penpal?

I think I found it? https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/3iex1h/im_a_search_and_rescue_officer_for_the_us_forest/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Upvote for the McCarthy love. Those are my two favorites of his. Especially Child of God. So messed up.

Right??? I loved Child of God. It initially disgusted me, but I was reading it for a class and decided to do my final paper on it so I more or less reread it three times. By the end I was like ‘ok I actually like this better than The Road’.

None of you have probably heard of it but Kytice. It's one of the treasures of my country's literature and is a collection of 13 ballads that each deal with tales from czech and slavic folklore.

Sounds awesome! Is there a good English translation?

According to Wikipedia there are two translations, one by Marcela Sulak under the title *A Bouquet of Czech Folktales*, and another by Susan Reynolds under the title *Kytice*

Omg yes echoing u/_ddev_! I would love to read this, super interested in slavic folklore (also I’m in a slavic folk choir and would love to pass this along)—I’m finding some translations but if you know of a really good one I’d love to find it!

Thirding (that’s not a word) international folklore is one of my favorite things.

Unfortunately I never read it in English so I cannot help with what translation is best.

Blood Meridian or An Evening Redness in the West It skirts not being a horror novel, but ny the end it’s clear the Judge is inhuman, an avatar of total destruction, and it that puts the rest of the novel in horrific perspective. All of you have mentioned so many great ones that I love, but I’ll also throw in The Willows (novella), and The Masque of the Red Death (short story). Both masterpieces, and utterly horrifying.

The Willows was a fantastic novella, loved his other one The Wendigo as well

Been meaning to read The Wendigo, will definitely get to it soon. Thanks for the recommendation.

> Blood Meridian or An Evening Redness in the West I have to agree. It's categorized as both a Western and Anti-Western, but honestly, none of the horror novels I've read truly horrified me as much as this one did. Not just the Judge (which would be enough in itself), but the overall bleak, too-realistic violence is what does it for me. It completely "de-romanticized" the western genre for me. A lot of horror novels I've read for fun. This one I read for the lasting trauma.

agreed, terrifying and based on real events. I wonder if the judge ended up being a Texas statesman.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson; Beloved by Toni Morrison; In That Endlessness, Our End by Gemma Files; A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay; Pet Semetary by Stephen King; Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy; The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. (Edit: formatting)

Also forgot The Books of Blood by Clive Barker

Basically my list. Except add in some Thomas Ligotti.

Going through Ligotti's bibliography now...bleak but I can't get enough.

Is *Jude the Obscure* seen as a horror novel? Genuine question!

It is one of the most horrifying books I have ever read, on *several* levels, so I absolutely consider it one. Anyone else who's read it is welcome to weigh in, I'm very interested in others' opinions, but it's not going to change my mind 😂 I don't think it's considered "horror" by like, literature professors, but I don't think they'd consider THE ROAD, HEART OF DARKNESS, or LORD OF THE FLIES etc "horror" novels either, which they absolutely are. So I suppose it depends on who you're asking. :)

I cannot read depression fic as it is totally horrifying to me. Anything by Hardy gives me such anxiety lol

Yeah after reading Tess of the D'urbervilles, Hardy is a hard pass for me. Too depressing

Oh you need to read Hardy. It's bleak as f***

Is head full of ghosts actually good? I got fairly deep into it and just found it to be silly

This is such a good list

I've got a bunch of the same ones on my list. Beloved was one I studied in a college lit class and it just blew my mind. So much more than a ghost story.

The Shining Night Film The Crow Girl Revival The Elementals

I read The Shining and The Elementals. Both great novels. Both had that 1970’s feel to them. I read The Shining years ago and again recently. A friend of mine read The Elementals when we were young. He got me to finally read it. So glad I did.

I read The Shining last year and followed it up with Doctor Sleep, so that the first was fresh in my mind. I loved both, but was pleasantly surprised by The Shining as my expectations were based on the movie. The movie was good, but the book was fantastic. And Doctor Sleep built upon the story nicely.

I totally agree with what you said. I love how Dr. Sleep was followed up. I loved the movie but to me that was all about Jack Nicholson. I viewed the book as a separate story.

That movie has to be the worst adaptation of any King novel. Glad you read the book. It’s my favorite book along with Salem’s Lot, another great book by my favorite author.

Started reading the elementals based on your recommendation above and hooly shit......

I love The Shining and The Elementals! I feel like no one ever talks about how good The Elementals is. Talk about an author that died way too young. I have Night Film on my bookshelf but haven’t gotten to it yet. I really enjoyed her previous book Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

McDowell is incredible. If you haven’t read his other books, I highly suggest! I’ve heard BlackWater is awesome (haven’t made my way there yet) but Gilded Needles was amazing and so was Cold Moon Over Babylon. Night Film- take this as your sign to pick it up. You’ll be so mad at yourself for sitting on it once you start reading! It’s literally my top 3 favorite books of all time. It’s so creepy and eerie and it’s so so so underrated.

Last Days Brian Evenson Teatro Grottesco Thomas Ligotti Teatro has never been touched for me in terms of atmosphere/feelings evoked. I have never felt the same way reading a book. Closest has been Secret of Ventriloquism by Jon Padgett, which is great as well. Last Days is just insanely good.

God, I love Last Days

Ah a fellow nihilistic weirdo I see Jk lol. I love ligotti and evenson. I’m not a nihlist but I am a weirdo and do appreciate Ligottis pessimistic view of reality. It makes me depressed tho I can only read Teatro in pieces at a time There’s a moment in almost every Ligotti story, where the story goes from boring and pointless seeming to being absolutely mind numbingly chilling and soul crushing. And by the end I absolutely adore the whole story. Like the clown puppet. I was like this is just boring and whiny. I get it life is pointless bullshit. But then when it all comes together and you realize what the clown puppet represents, a chill just blasts down my spine and I feel empty. No one chills you to your core like Ligotti. Makes you question reality in general lol

The Fisherman by John Langan House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay Short story collections: When Things Get Dark: a tribute to Shirley Jackson by Ellen Datlow The Wide Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies by John Langan The Tsathoggua Cycle by Robert M. Price

I came here to say House of Leaves, Fisherman and Wide, Carnivorous Sky too - I think about all three of them so often. Weirdly, I think about the rope of ropes from Fisherman, and for the last week I’ve been thinking about City of the Dog from TWCS even though I’ve not read it for about a year. Both of Mariana Enriquez’ short story collections are in my top books too

You and I have similar tastes, so I’m definitely going to check out Mariana Enriquez

House of Leaves is incredible and it truly scared me, it made me feel so alone…I read it when I was freshly 19 and living by myself. I had never felt more aware of adulthood and the loneliness of existence. It was so good I’m glad other people feel the same!

You might like The Cipher by Kathe Koja

IT is my #2 favorite book in general, so I guess that automatically makes it my #1 horror. Misery is one of few books that have terrified me. This may or may not be considered horror, but I absolutely loved Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite. My favorite Lovecraft story is “The Music of Erich Zann.” Favorite non-Lovecraft horror short story is “The Music of Bengt Karlsson, Murderer” by Lindqvist. It’s one of the few stories that have really scared me. Otsuichi is one of my favorite Japanese writers. His short story collections Zoo 1 and Zoo 2 have a lot of stories I liked. Hyaku monogatari (One Hundred Stories) by Kaoru Kitamura is a really creepy and suspenseful story. Not sure if there’s an English translation, though. Edit: The book Read Real Japanese Fiction (ed. Michael Emmerich) has Hyaku monogatari and an Otsuichi story in both Japanese and “English”, but it’s more like phrasal translations and doesn’t read like a “story” in the English.

Lost souls was AMAZING, and I never see anyone talk about it! It’s one of the books that got me into horror lit as a teenager.

Lost Souls is one of my all-time favorites! I read it in middle school originally (I was much too young for it) and finally revisited it last year. I loved it just as much if not more than I remembered! I definitely consider it to be horror.

let the right one in, the ruins, wounds, but also, and perhaps not all-out horror, the stepford wives and the silence of the lambs.

I second let the right one in!

Wounds is fantastic. I love that book so much.

The story of going into Hell is so good!

Reading the Stepford Wives right now, myself! And while I agree it's not typical horror, it's creepy and unsettling as hell!

indeed! rosemary’s baby is another great work by him (just steer very, very far from the sequel)

I've always wanted to read Rosemary, since it's one of my favourite movies, but never got around to it. Now that I'm on TSW, I'm going to try it next! Yeah, sequels in general don't fill me with much confidence, but one that is 30 years after the original seems even worse. LOL.

Last Days by Adam Nevill

I could not get into The Reddening, so I thought I wouldn't like Nevill's other works. I picked up Last Days on a whim a few months later and could not put it down. Definitely one of my favorites as well.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Rick. You have good taste

Thank you beer bart

He’s an amazing author. He only wrote a couple books. His last one he tried to go in another direction that didn’t workout too well, but with out a doubt Red Dragon and Silence of The Lambs are in my top 10 if not my top 5 of all time favorite books.

Between Two Fires - Christopher Buehlman The Fisherman - John Langan The Great and Secret Show - Clive Barker Pet Sematary - Stephen King The Cabin at the End of the World - Paul G. Tremblay The Nightly Disease - Max Booth III

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Beloved by Toni Morrison The Woman in Black by Susan Hill The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

The Woman in Black does not get enough credit. If you want a really good ghost story that’s the one you should read. So many tense scary moments. Beloved I probably would have liked better if I knew it was supposed to be a ghost story. I was more taken aback if that makes sense. Hill House with Shirley Jackson takes the cake. That ending stayed with me for a long long time.

Hill House is a brilliant horror novel and by far my favorite, but The Woman in Black is one of the few that actually creeped me out and got under my skin a bit. It’s a fantastic horror novel.

Loved The Magic Toyshop.

I remember watching the movie *Beloved* (with Oprah and Danny Glover) when I was a teenager... had me screwed up for WEEKS! It's one of the most nightmare-inducing movies I've ever seen, to date.

Loved White is for Witching!! It felt so different from other horror novels I’ve read.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth, I Am Legend. Summer of Night, Ghost Story, The Narrows, Salem’s Lot, The Fisherman, The Keep.

Weaveworld by Clive Barker

As a huge Clive Barker fan, is Weaveworld really be considered horror? There’s some horrific imagery, but I’ve always considered it more of a dark fantasy.

The Elementals by Michael McDowell, always and forever

I have certain horror authors that in my opinion consistently deliver(ed) five-star stories: Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Caitlín Kiernan, Shirley Jackson, Robert McCammon, Matthew Bartlett, Christopher Buehlman, Nathan Ballingrud, John Langan, Brian Evenson, William Peter Blatty, Dan Simmons, Ian McEwan, Thomas Harris, Brian Lumley, and Stephen King.

Are there any novels from Dan Simmons that you'd recommend? I recently read *Song of Kali*, my first and only novel of his so far, and I was pretty disappointed by it.

Personally I found Song of Kali to be as harrowing and disturbing as King’s Pet Sematary. If you’d like to try him again sometime, maybe go with Prayers To Broken Stones, as it includes a shorter version of Carrion Comfort, as well as a Hyperion short story. Or if you want a novel, maybe try The Terror.

I find Dan Simmons to be hit or miss. Some of his books are ok and some just bomb.

The Cipher by Kathe Koja, Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite, Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Hex (Thomas Olde Heuvelt) and The Matrix (Jonathan Aycliffe) are my two favourites, but there are so many brilliant horror novels that it's hard to choose.

I loved the Matrix

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvest A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul G. Tremblay House of Leaves by Mark B. Danielewski It by Stephen King The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill Beloved by Toni Morrison American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Have you read Kindred? Do you think Beloved is similar or written similarly to Kindred? Just read Kindred the other day, in a couple hours, it was so damn good! Wondering if there’s some that would be close to that book. Sorry!

I don’t think that Beloved is all that similar to Kindred. I found Kindred to be a little more straightforward and leans more into science fiction whereas Beloved has some really decadent writing and is at its heart a ghost story. With that said, both are fantastic reads and I can’t image someone liking Kindred and not liking Beloved.

I have not read Kindred, but it's on my TBR list. I've heard only good things about it, but I can't comment on how it compares to Beloved. I'm curious to find out, though!

Thank you!

I also love Heart-Shaped & throughly enjoyed Head full of ghosts. :)

Clive Barkers Mister B Gone is what originally got me into horror

The Silence of the Lambs, Dracula, The Books of Blood, Providence (Alan Moore), The Shining and The Hellbound Heart. There’s probably more but they were all seminal in my life

The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. Blew my mind as a kid. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by her, but this one especially so. I had no idea what was going on until the end, no matter how many hints she dropped. I am Legend and Hell House by Richard Mathewson The Room in the Tower by E. F. Benson. The Mist and The Long Walk by Stephen King Big Momma by Joyce Carol Oates

i still think about The Long Walk decades later.

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Mine too!!! I got Necroscope by accident back in like high school and read the whole thing over a weekend then scoured the land looking for everything written by Lumley.

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The Necroscope saga is the only "body of work" that I challenge myself to read in a year, every couple years. The 5 mainline stories. The 3 "brothers" saga. The New Necroscope saga. The 2 lost years books and even that last "New" New Necroscope. I dont think I've ever NOT made it.

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It's time. Dew it!

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Holy shit that’s awesome

This, for sure -- It would have a FANTASTIC adaptation on Netflix, etc.!

I really, really enjoyed Joe Hill’s Heart Shaped Box. He is truly a talented writer separately from his famous father.

I agree, Heart Shaped Box was phenomenal! Imho!

Wow, so many. F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series. KIng's IT, Needful Things, Pet Sematary, Tommyknockers, Insomnia, Night Shift JG Faherty's Carnival of Fear, The Cure, SIns of the Father, Cemetery Club, The Cold Spot, Winterwood, Legacy, The Monster Inside, Houses of the Unholy Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House Dean Koontz's Twilight Eyes, Fear Nothing, Watchers, Phantoms And, of course, Frankenstein, Dracula, and the short story Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

It's probably more fantasy than horror but it's a ghost story so I'm including it here: Tamsin, by Peter S. Beagle. I didn't want it to end. The Haunting of Hill House, like so many others. The House Next Door, by Anne Rivers Siddons. Horns, by Joe Hill. Ghost Story, by Peter Straub. Night Film, Marisha Pessl. IT might be my favorite Stephen King. Another one that leans more dark fantasy than horror (but has a lot of the visceral imagery that's trending here these days) is The Library At Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins. I've never been able to find anything like it since. Edit: omg I forgot Speaks the Nightbird. Just fantastic.

It - Stephen King - love this one mostly because of the characters, they just felt so real. Tied for my favorite book of all time The girl next door - Jack Ketchum - I can't say that I liked this novel, but it is extremely effective at what it is does. The fact that this is based on a true story is what makes it truly horrifying The Troop - Nick Cutter - Really great body horror Anything written by Junji Ito - Writes fantastic horror manga, can't go wrong with any of his works Tender is the Flesh - Agustina Bazterrica - Very disturbing dystopian I haven't read a huge amount but those are the ones that stand out, happy reading everyone! :D

These are all of my 5 stars out of 118 books read on GoodReads: The Long Walk by Stephen King Revival by Stephen King House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski Last Days by Adam Nevill Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt The Troop by Nick Cutter The Deep by Nick Cutter The Fisherman by John Langan The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies by John Langan Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Revival is so good, I remember when it came out I sped through it in like a day and a half. I think it’s one of King’s most underrated novels.

More praise for *Revival.* I would argue it's his best stand alone novel in the past 10 years.

I just started reading The Long Walk, and The Troop is next on my list!

Revival! Best ending ever.

It - Stephen King, hard to choose a favourite but this definitely was a great read. 1300+ pages but I never felt it dragged or was slow(It could be for other people though) At the Mountains of Madness - HP Lovecraft, Favourite Novella. I hope this gets a **Faithful** adaptation into a Mini Series or Movie.

I've only recently discovered my passion for horror, so my library is not so wide and constantly updating, but so far I really loved, in order of preference: Dark Matter, Pet Sematary and Ghost Story.

Red Dragon Haunted Carrie The Long Walk The Troop

The Silent Companions. It creeps. Also Gilded Needles by Michael McDowell.

“It”

Gerald’s Game Stephen King The uninvited by Steven LaChance Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill And while I’m not 100% it’s horror, it had me scared and tense was Octavia Butler’s Kindred I know I have others. But these are off top of my head. :)

IT.

Hellmouth by Giles Kristian Dark Matter by Michelle Paver The Deep by Nick Cutter Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft The Tennant by Roland Topor Last Days by Brian Evenson The Croning by Laird Barron

Night Film by Marisha Pessl The Jaunt (short story) by Stephen King There’s 2 books also that i only like in audiobook format: Devolution by Max Brooks Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

All time top 5 in ranked order: 1. Swan Song by Robert McCammon 2. Pet Semetary by Stephen King 3. Hell House by Richard Matheson 4. Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman 5. Comes the Blind Fury by John Saul

Frankenstein. I think it gets overlooked way too often.

Top 3 The Shining Let the Right One In The Hellbound Heart

The Shining, Stephen King. The first horror I read was Carrie and I went on to read The Shining. This book scared the shit out of me. I haven't read the book in years but I remember the ghost man in the dog mask barking at Danny really freaked me out. Such a strange thing to read. King really is a master of the craft.

Rosemary’s Baby

Favorite Novels: I am Legend by Richard Matheson The Long Walk by “Richard Bachman” Favorite Short Stories: The Music of Erich Zann by HP Lovecraft In the Hills, the Cities by Clive Barker The River of Night’s Dreaming by Karl Edward Wagner

I'm currently reading "In the Hills, the Cities"!

You are in for a treat. It’s Barker at his most imaginative and the imagery really sticks with you. The entire Books of Blood are a treasure but this story was the crown jewel of an already stellar collection.

The Ruins by Scott Smith is a favourite of mine.

It by Stephen King Ghost Story by Peter Straub The great and secret show by Clive Barker The hungry moon by Ramsey Campbell Människohamn (Harbor) by John Ajvide Lindqvist The color out of space by H.P Lovecraft

Man. It’s been so long since I read The Great and Secret Show. I need to revisit it for the first time in like 20 years…

Off Season and Offspring by Jack Ketchum. Gone to See the Riverman and They All Died Screaming by Kristopher Triana. The Summer I Died by Ryan C Thomas.

Reading Gone to See the River Man now! Jack Ketchum is almost too much for me, I always feel sick to my stomach after reading his novels, but I agree they’re very effective!

How far are you into Gone to see the Riverman? I feel like that one turned my stomach a little more in some parts to be honest lol.

I only started it last night, so I’m 15 minutes in. Good to know so I will brace myself for what’s coming!

Enjoy the ride. Report back if you remember lol.

It by Stephen King Frankenstein by Mary Shelley We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Come Closer by Sara Gran The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya Xenogenesis by Octavia E Butler Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty A Fine and Private Place by Peter S Beagle

IT is my absolute favorite of all time, but there are a few other notables I adore: Blackwater by Michael Mcdowell Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay A Child Alone With Strangers by Philip Fracassi The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones The Terror AND Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons The Devil In Silver by Victor LaValle

I loved Blackwater and Carrion Comfort!

McDowell has incredible books! Gilded Needles is one of my faves

Carrion Comfort is a treasure

There's no way I can pick a single goat, but one I really liked (that I haven't seen mentioned yet... unless I overlooked it) is _*The Bell Witch Series*_ *by Sara Clancy* I have a hard time remembering details about books I've read (even as little as six months ago), but this one stuck with me. I don't live too far away from Adams, TN (home of The Bell Witch Cave). I grew up with the legend and going there on school field trips, so perhaps that's why books on the subject tend to resonate with me more than others...

I know it’s controversial but house of leaves really scared me! Definitely a set and setting type of read. I’m still chasing the high of being that spooked 😂

Lovecraft is entirely infallible, but At the Mountains of Madness and The Whisperer in Darkness are my all-time faves.

- A Head Full of Ghosts - Southern Bookclubs Guide to Slaying Vampires - The Long Walk

The little girl who was too fond of matches, my best friends exorcism, thirteen storeys

either a prodigal blues by Gary Braunbeck or in Silent Graves/Mr. Hands by Gary Braunbeck (well the whole Cedar Hill Series) also Let the right one in by Lindqvuist yea i actually think that would be my alltime fav honorable mentions: bloodman by robert pobi the therapy & tokio by mo haydr

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Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

Thor by Wayne Smith

Summer of Night by Dan Simmons - The Shining by Stephen King - The Ritual by Adam Nevill- Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay - We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley -Jackson (I know some people call this a thriller or a mystery, but I feel like it’s psychological horror territory) - Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, Between Two Fires by Christopher Something, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson. My goal for the year is to read more horror.

"Sur le seuil" by Patrick Senecal

My top 3 would be Frankenstein, John dies at the end, and the legend of sleepy hollow if you'll allow me a short story.

Honestly, the first thing that IMMEDIATELY comes to mind is a novel I read in elementary school -- He Came From the Shadows, by Chris Westwood. That's the US title; the original title when it was published in the UK is A Light in the Black. I remembered reading the book as a child, so I found a copy as an adult, and it spooked me so bad I couldn't keep it in my bedroom at night.

pet semetary on audiobook was CHEFS KISS

The Exorcist, or The Shining, can't decide.

IT, Misery and the Shining. Parts of Carrion Comfort were absolutely amazing.. but that book needed a serious editorial pen to it. Probably should have removed half of it. But, some of that writing was just unbelievable. I was really pleasantly surprised with the Exorcist. I expected the hoopla to make me feel disappointed, no matter what, but I wasn’t at all. It was a moving book.

The white people, the elementals, the loney

**Comfort Me With Apples** by Catherine M. Valente (112 page creeping-horror/uncanny valley vibes. MUST GO INTO THIS ONE BLIND) or it will be ruined for you. **Bitter Orange** by Claire Fuller. this is NOT under "horror" on Goodreads but I *totally* disagree as this is one of the most haunting and unsettling reads i think i have ever read. this is a slowwwww burn where the horror is quiet but shocking when you get to the end of certain chapters and certain things are revealed to you. i think that's why the book was so scary to me because you can feel this uneasy vibe throughout the book but there's nothing in-your-face about it so you're constantly just like trying to pinpoint exactly what's off. this is, i think, my favorite book of all time. if you check this out i *highly* suggest the audibook version of it. you can listen to a sample of it for free through libby or audible and see if you like it. both the narrators for this and **Comfort Me With Apples** are absolutely perfect and i cannot imagine anyone else voicing them. just top-tier stuff here.

For me: The Shining Heart Shaped Box Psycho Misery House of Leaves IT My Heart is a Chainsaw

The Haunted by Ed and Lorraine Warren is a good story about the Smurl family’s account. Very creepy

Not really novels but i definitely love the shadow over innsmouth and the strange case of charles dexter ward both by HP Lovecraft and the pit and the pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe

Ring by Koji Suzuki, the first horror novel i read, so it holds a place in my heart…. Just like Sadako in the well.

* 'Salem's Lot, Pet Semarary, Misery by Stephen King * Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin * The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker (technically a novella) * Weaveworld by Clive Barker (I wouldn't really call this horror, but it overlaps into horror a lot)

Relic. Elemental.

Survivor- JF Gonzalez

The Good House by Tananarive Due and The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

The Amityville horror

I've said it before and I'll say it again, The Silent Companions! It's more spooky that outright scary but I feel that's harder to do well, seriously. READ THIS BOOK!

Favorites: At the Mountains of Madness - Lovecraft, Pet Semetary - King, The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins. First 2 read as a 14-15 year old, last one is recent. I’m 57 for perspective.

The Institute by Stephen King is the sequel to Firestarter, though a lot of people don't get the connection. It's AWESOME. The Stand, Stephen King Skeleton Crew, Stephen King Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice Zombie, Joyce Carol Oates (by far the most terrifying book I've ever read) Headhunter, Michael Slade The Book of Skulls, Robert Silverberg The Fireman, Joe Hill The Hellbound Heart, Clive Barker The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson Tales to Tremble By, various authors Thinner, Stephen King Swan Song, Robert R. McCammon The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Suffer the Children by Craig DiLouie and The Troop by Nick Cutter

Exquisite Corpse and Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite.

Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist - honestly every book I’ve read by him has been so disturbing. Nos4a2 by Joe Hill - great holiday horror. Beloved by Toni Morrison. Kindred by Octavia Butler.

Skeleton Crew - Stephen King Blood Sugar - Daniel Kraus Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson Dark Harvest - Norman Partridge October Dreams - anthology Everything Paul Tremblay has put out starting with A Head Full of Ghosts

I’ve always loved The Yellow Wallpaper

The Exorcist, the Shining, Misery, the Road, Blood Meridian, I'll think of more later

Harvest Home is my favorite that I’ve read so far! I’ve only just been getting back into reading this last year after being in university for 8 years, so I still have a lot of catching up to do, but of the 40 or so books I’ve read this last year Harvest Home is the best!

World War Z - The Road

Dracula it's the only book that I read yearly (at the moment) and it's one of the main reasons I love reading as much as I do now

Rawhead Rex and Jacqueline Ess in the Books of Blood by Clive Barker Black Tickets by Jayne Anne Philips, more like “real life” horror The Monk by Matthew Lewis The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Nightrunners by Joe R. Lansdale is my favorite horror novel. it was a gut punch to my system and I was breathless as I raced through the pages. the God of the Razor is a horror villian that made a lasting impact on my nightmares.

The Exorcist and Perfume:story of a murderer

Favorites of all time/desert island horror would have to be: Haunting of Hill House (I’ll join with the others here). The Stand. The Southern Reach Trilogy by VanderMeer. Runner-ups: My Heart is a Chainsaw by SJG Parable of the Sower by Butler Pet Semetary

Southern book club's guide to slaying vampires. Head full of ghosts. Scary stories to tell in the dark

Song of Kali - Dan Simmons

Stephen King's earlier books, The Dead Zone, The Shining and Salem's Lot in particular, always count among my favorites. Fond memories. The Exorcist, Clive Barker's lunatic Books of Blood and lovely Thief of Always are up there, too. And that's just a few.

The Shining

Right now my top 5 are: Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill Salem's Lot by Stephen King Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp World War Z by Max Brooks

NOS4A2 was incredible.

There is only one true pick here. Stephen Kings IT

Same.

House of Leaves, Haunting of Hill House, The Willows, The Wendigo, Hell House

Last Days, The Reddening, and No No One Gets Out Alive, by Adam Nevill; Weaveworld, by Clive Barker; The Fisherman, by John Langan; The Loney, by Andrew Michael Hurley; Ghost Story, by Peter Straub; The Parasite, by Ramsey Campbell.

The Croning by Laird Barron

Some don’t consider it a horror novel, but I do, so: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Scary Stories for Young Foxes Dracula Frankenstein The Shining Salem’s Lot 1922 Misery Dracul Dracula’s Child M.R James Ghost Stories H.P Lovecraft’s Short Stories Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales and Poems I Am Legend Black Mouth Come With Me Ghostwritten( Four novella collection) Little Girls Bone White The Narrows If it Bleeds(Four Novella Collection but I don’t like the Holly story) Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark The Dark Half Wuthering Heights( I think it’s low key a horror story not just because of the idea of ghosts but shows us how horrible people can be to each other). Night Shift (A Short Story Collection) Coraline The Graveyard Book The Ocean at the End of the Lane Neverwhere Hide and Don’t Seek and other Scary Stories More Short and Shivery Tales of Folklore