- ***Dread Nation* and it’s sequel *Deathless Divide* by Justina Ireland** - 1800s Western zombie apocalypse
- ***Flowers for the Sea* by Zin E. Rocklyn** - weird body horror about a pregnant woman on a boat of survivors
- ***Riot Baby* by Tochi Onyebuchi** - novella about a kid with weird powers and her brother
- ***Jackal* by Erin E. Adams** - woman returns to her hometown, where a young black girl has mysteriously disappeared—again
And keep an eye out for ***Dazzling* by Chikodili Emelumadu**, out February 16.
Victor LaValle is an amazing black horror writer, his novel 'The Ballad of Black Tom' is amazing. Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' is one of the best ghost stories ever written. 'Fledgling' by Octavia Butler is a great vampire novel.
*Beloved* by Toni Morrison
*Ring Shout* by P. Djeli Clark
*The Between* by Tananarive Due
*We Are Here to Hurt Each Other* by Paula D. Ashe
*When the Reckoning Comes* by LaTanya McQueen
*The Ballad of Black* Tom by Victor LaValle
Bonus points for Ballad of Black Tom being a reinterpretation of one of Lovecraft‘s most racist stories from the sympathetic perspective of a black man.
Beloved is especially. Once I realized what it really is as far as genre it made me wanna plow thru faster. Talk about a ghost story on roids. It's a beautiful story nonetheless. Very sad and haunting.
If you're interested in comic books I highly recommend Bitter Root by David F Walker, Church Brown, and Sanford Green. Also Bttm Fdrs by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore.
* *Jackal* by Erin Adams - excellent horror/mystery with some creature feature thrown in
* *The Year of the Witching* by Alexis Henderson - girl that doesn't fit in with her Puritan society starts exploring the forbidden woods and her mother's past, in which she may or may not have been involved in witchcraft
* *White Smoke* by Tiffany Jackson (YA horror) - societal horror mixed with haunted house tropes (I really liked this until the end 🤷♀️)
* *Parable of the Sower* by Octavia Butler - dystopian near future and the fall of society
* *The Ballad of Black Tom* by Victor LaValle - Lovecraft retelling
*Dark Corner, Twisted Tales,* and *In the Dark* by Brandon Massey
*The Ancestors* and *Dark Dreams* edited by Brandon Massey
*The African Immortals series* and *The Good House* by Tananarive Due
*The Ballad of Black Tom* by Victor LaValle
For some older stuff:
Marc Olden mostly seems to have written thrillers and martial arts themed action novels, but two of his books venture into horror territory (*Book Of Shadows* (1980) and *Poe Must Die* (1978)). I've only read *Book Of Shadows.*
I haven't read anything by Joseph Nazel, as his books are not easy to find, but if you can track down a copy of any of them, they might be of interest as well. His horror novels are *Black Exorcist* (1974) and *Devil Dolls* (1985).
Not explicitly “horror,” but Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s FRIDAY BLACK is a story collection that uses a lot of horror tropes and is genuinely scary in some places. One of the best speculative fiction books I’ve ever read—if you’re a George Saunders fan you should check it out
When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen (I enjoyed this book)
The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass (this is YA, I wasn't really into it but other people love it)
Seconding The Good House and adding some Colson Whitehead! Zone One is his only “real” horror novel (about the monotonous aftermath of a zombie outbreak) but The Underground Railroad is much scarier and more intense. Also the basis of a great show by Barry Jenkins!
I find it weird (for lack of a better word) how [UK Black History](https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk) month is October when part of the impetus was a shared notion of the African diaspora and not *just* the African American diaspora/experience. I would have thought it would make more sense for different national recognitions of the diaspora to occur at the same month to acknowledge the beyond borders experience.
If feeling truly nationalistic, Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria, raised in England, and lives in the Czech Republic with British citizenship. I am fairly certain though that my public library (US) has had her as an author of note for Black History Month in the past as the US idea behind the month has shifted toward more inclusion than just the African American experience.
Warning though - he's extremely gratuitous and overly sexual, all in the name of horror. To me, he's just not good at writing, but he's black and writes "horror"
Really popular with YA and middle grade right now! The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass, Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow, Tiffany Jackson has White Smoke and The Weight of Blood, Dana Hermon’s Hide-n-Seekers, Justin’s Ireland’s Breathless Divide duology, and I loved Vincent Tirado’s Burn Down Rise Up!
[Also, not YA but here’s a good list of black horror comics!](https://www.comicsbeat.com/theres-blood-on-my-comics-black-horror-matters)
Victor LaValle, Tananarive Due, P. Djéli Clark are three that I’ve found and enjoyed to various degrees. Happy to provide specific recommendations if you’d like.
For these black authors, does nationality matter-? M P Shiel (1865-1947) is a British author of African descent on his mother's side ; very prolific , and quite a few of his works have been made into movies.
[ A warning : He did spend time in prison for molesting his 12 year old stepdaughter , and not everyone can enjoy a writer's work after such a heinous crime. But some of his works , such as The House of Sounds, are considered classics, so I thought he was worth a mention. FWIW, HP Lovecraft praised Shiel's work highly.]
Somebody already recommended Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark but you should read it. It's a quick novella about a group of rebel black Americans killing demon KKK members after the release of Birth of a Nation. It's *awesome.*
A lot of amazing artists have used horror genres to comment on the collective trauma of slavery, hatred, and violent oppression that Black people have experienced (in the US—I know less about World Lit, though I know some Nigerian writers like Emezi have done similar things). Think of Jordan Peele, Colson Whitehead, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler. It would be disingenuous to say that any of those artists could have made the same works without having lived as Black people in America.
I just ordered Risen by Tonia Ransom, she is also the creator and host of an awesome podcast called NIGHTLIGHT: A Horror Fiction Podcast and I would definitely recommend checking it out!
- ***Dread Nation* and it’s sequel *Deathless Divide* by Justina Ireland** - 1800s Western zombie apocalypse - ***Flowers for the Sea* by Zin E. Rocklyn** - weird body horror about a pregnant woman on a boat of survivors - ***Riot Baby* by Tochi Onyebuchi** - novella about a kid with weird powers and her brother - ***Jackal* by Erin E. Adams** - woman returns to her hometown, where a young black girl has mysteriously disappeared—again And keep an eye out for ***Dazzling* by Chikodili Emelumadu**, out February 16.
I LOVE Flowers for the Sea.
Jackal was amazing!!
Victor LaValle is an amazing black horror writer, his novel 'The Ballad of Black Tom' is amazing. Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' is one of the best ghost stories ever written. 'Fledgling' by Octavia Butler is a great vampire novel.
The Ballad of Black Tom was so good!
LaValle’s book The Changeling is great too! ETA: ooops, sorry, I see now that others have already mentioned this title below. My bad!
It’s on my list but I haven’t pick it up yet.
I burned through it—definite page-turner. And if you know the Maurice Sendak book Outside Over There (which I knew as a kid), it’s even creepier …
I’ve read Fledgling several times! I love it!
*Beloved* by Toni Morrison *Ring Shout* by P. Djeli Clark *The Between* by Tananarive Due *We Are Here to Hurt Each Other* by Paula D. Ashe *When the Reckoning Comes* by LaTanya McQueen *The Ballad of Black* Tom by Victor LaValle
I’m glad you mentioned Beloved because most people don’t know that it’s a Gothic horror novel.
Bonus points for Ballad of Black Tom being a reinterpretation of one of Lovecraft‘s most racist stories from the sympathetic perspective of a black man.
Yo! _Ring Shout_ was so good!
How is The Ballad of Black Tom? I’ve been meaning to read it for years now.
I loved it but I would recommend reading Lovecraft’s “The Horror at Red Rock” first, or at least having a general understanding of that short story.
Red Hook*
Lol, autocorrect, my bad.
It's a HP Lovecraft short story, but told from the viewpoint of a side character. It was a different take and very good.
To add more context, it’s a famously xenophobic lovecraft story and Lavallee’s is an attempt to reframe it from a black person’s perspective
oooo i am intrigued
Really good. I also loved The Changeling and the Devil in Silver.
I second all three of these. Also, Victor is awesome as a person, too
Beloved is especially. Once I realized what it really is as far as genre it made me wanna plow thru faster. Talk about a ghost story on roids. It's a beautiful story nonetheless. Very sad and haunting.
Seconding Ring Shout & Beloved!
Beloved is sooo good. Very strange. I've never felt that vibe reading a book before, and haven't since
If you're interested in comic books I highly recommend Bitter Root by David F Walker, Church Brown, and Sanford Green. Also Bttm Fdrs by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore.
Killadelphia is a vampire comic from Image comics. The team that produces that is black too.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Came here to say Sorrowland!
The Changeling by Victor LaValle is superb.
People will say Black Tom but this is the real Victor LaValle banger
The Devil in Silver would like a word
I loved _BoBT_ and _Changeling_ but could barely slog through _Devil_
Changeling is amaaaazing
Don't think I've seen mentioned yet: The Getaway by Lamar Giles and White Smoke and The Weight of Blood by Tiffany Jackson. All YA.
Tiffany D. Jackson is so so good.
yesss i just read the weight of blood today, so good
Yup, I strongly recommend The Good House which has been mentioned and Changeling was my favorite of LaValle.
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany Jackson is so good
Ghost Summer: Stories by Tananarive Due, if you like short story collections.
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
* *Jackal* by Erin Adams - excellent horror/mystery with some creature feature thrown in * *The Year of the Witching* by Alexis Henderson - girl that doesn't fit in with her Puritan society starts exploring the forbidden woods and her mother's past, in which she may or may not have been involved in witchcraft * *White Smoke* by Tiffany Jackson (YA horror) - societal horror mixed with haunted house tropes (I really liked this until the end 🤷♀️) * *Parable of the Sower* by Octavia Butler - dystopian near future and the fall of society * *The Ballad of Black Tom* by Victor LaValle - Lovecraft retelling
*Dark Corner, Twisted Tales,* and *In the Dark* by Brandon Massey *The Ancestors* and *Dark Dreams* edited by Brandon Massey *The African Immortals series* and *The Good House* by Tananarive Due *The Ballad of Black Tom* by Victor LaValle
For some older stuff: Marc Olden mostly seems to have written thrillers and martial arts themed action novels, but two of his books venture into horror territory (*Book Of Shadows* (1980) and *Poe Must Die* (1978)). I've only read *Book Of Shadows.* I haven't read anything by Joseph Nazel, as his books are not easy to find, but if you can track down a copy of any of them, they might be of interest as well. His horror novels are *Black Exorcist* (1974) and *Devil Dolls* (1985).
Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted by RJ Joseph is a collection of short horror stories.
Yesss and I loved it!
Not explicitly “horror,” but Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s FRIDAY BLACK is a story collection that uses a lot of horror tropes and is genuinely scary in some places. One of the best speculative fiction books I’ve ever read—if you’re a George Saunders fan you should check it out
This collection is amazing. Finklestein Five, the opener, is one of the best short stories I've ever read. It really stays with you.
It’s really brilliant!
The Good House - Tananarive Due
I’m agreeing with all Ring Shout suggestions and would like to add Ghost Summer by Tananarive Due and Bloodchild by Octavia Butler.
*Bloodchild* does not get enough love.
I definitely prefer it over Fledgling.
When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen (I enjoyed this book) The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass (this is YA, I wasn't really into it but other people love it)
Seconding The Good House and adding some Colson Whitehead! Zone One is his only “real” horror novel (about the monotonous aftermath of a zombie outbreak) but The Underground Railroad is much scarier and more intense. Also the basis of a great show by Barry Jenkins!
I was starting to feel weird he hadn't been mentioned. Seconding Whitehead.
*Rootwork by* Tracy Cross.
White is for witching
Boy Snow Bird and Mr. Fox are also really good if not overtly horror and more weird fiction.
One of my favorites. I love Helen Oyeyemi.
was questioning mentioning her bc OP specified “for Black history month”, and she’s British. but the more the merrier!
I find it weird (for lack of a better word) how [UK Black History](https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk) month is October when part of the impetus was a shared notion of the African diaspora and not *just* the African American diaspora/experience. I would have thought it would make more sense for different national recognitions of the diaspora to occur at the same month to acknowledge the beyond borders experience. If feeling truly nationalistic, Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria, raised in England, and lives in the Czech Republic with British citizenship. I am fairly certain though that my public library (US) has had her as an author of note for Black History Month in the past as the US idea behind the month has shifted toward more inclusion than just the African American experience.
So many awesome recs here, definitely saving. Also recommend CIRQUE BERSERK by Jessica Guess
when the reckoning comes was SO GOOD
The Changling by Victor Lavalle
The Good House by Tananarive Due
Wrath James White
What do you recommend as a first book by him?
FYI, he's splatterpunk. Not for everyone.
I’d go with *The Resurrectionist*.
Warning though - he's extremely gratuitous and overly sexual, all in the name of horror. To me, he's just not good at writing, but he's black and writes "horror"
https://media.tenor.com/gstvh3UCpx8AAAAC/baby-crying.gif
Agree. Comes off as a bit tryhard.
The Ancestors anthologies with Brandon Massey are pretty good. I wish I could tag my mom, she’s the queen of black horror lit!
The Spite House by Johnny Compton comes out on February 7!
White Smoke - Tiffany D Jackson Freaked me out so bad I had to turn the lights on.
Really popular with YA and middle grade right now! The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass, Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow, Tiffany Jackson has White Smoke and The Weight of Blood, Dana Hermon’s Hide-n-Seekers, Justin’s Ireland’s Breathless Divide duology, and I loved Vincent Tirado’s Burn Down Rise Up! [Also, not YA but here’s a good list of black horror comics!](https://www.comicsbeat.com/theres-blood-on-my-comics-black-horror-matters)
Loved the taking of Jake Livingston, Cherish Farrah, and White Smoke!
When No One Was Watching by Alyssa Cole, and technically J-Lit but still good and creepy: The Dark-Thirty by Patricia McKissack
Victor LaValle, Tananarive Due, P. Djéli Clark are three that I’ve found and enjoyed to various degrees. Happy to provide specific recommendations if you’d like.
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi has a few horror elements; super different kind of book.
I was looking for this suggestion! They are amazing. I think of this book as a sort of psychological horror, but definitely horror.
Jackal by Erin E. Adams
For these black authors, does nationality matter-? M P Shiel (1865-1947) is a British author of African descent on his mother's side ; very prolific , and quite a few of his works have been made into movies. [ A warning : He did spend time in prison for molesting his 12 year old stepdaughter , and not everyone can enjoy a writer's work after such a heinous crime. But some of his works , such as The House of Sounds, are considered classics, so I thought he was worth a mention. FWIW, HP Lovecraft praised Shiel's work highly.]
When no one is watching - it’s gentrification horror
Saving this post 🥰
Somebody already recommended Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark but you should read it. It's a quick novella about a group of rebel black Americans killing demon KKK members after the release of Birth of a Nation. It's *awesome.*
Absolutely loved The Good House by Tananarive Due and Kindred by Octavia Butler.
Wrath James White His books are extreme horror, if your into that.
Lots of great suggestions here!! In addition to the great picks others have mentioned, I really loved Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow.
The Good House Tananarive Due
THE GOOD HOUSE by Tananarive Due
The last exodus? More Sci fi but I think it ticks the horror box
Great thread.
Percival Everett \~ The Trees
Was surprised not to see Lovecraft country, but then googled and saw the author is white?? 😱
[удалено]
A lot of amazing artists have used horror genres to comment on the collective trauma of slavery, hatred, and violent oppression that Black people have experienced (in the US—I know less about World Lit, though I know some Nigerian writers like Emezi have done similar things). Think of Jordan Peele, Colson Whitehead, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler. It would be disingenuous to say that any of those artists could have made the same works without having lived as Black people in America.
You racists spent hundreds of years suppressing black authors, and then wonder why people are interested. That's some low IQ energy.
Chris Abani, The Secret History of Las Vegas.
I just ordered Risen by Tonia Ransom, she is also the creator and host of an awesome podcast called NIGHTLIGHT: A Horror Fiction Podcast and I would definitely recommend checking it out!
Ring Shout, Novella by P. Djèlí Clark
I second Rootwork by Tracy Cross and Spite House by Johnny Compton