72 of the Best Horror Books, According to Horror Authors
Who better to get your horror recommendations from than an expert in the field? Goodreads interviewed nine horror authors — Johanna van Veen, Paul Tremblay, Gretchen Felker-Martin, Ananda Lima, Monika Kim, Josh Malerman, Chuck Tingle, Stephen Graham Jones, and Gabino Iglesias — about their favorite horror authors as well as the upcoming horror releases they’re most excited about.
They also talked about their newest horror book and answered the question, “What is something that you find scary that other people would not?” So, be sure to click through to read their full interviews. In the meantime, here are 72 books that nine of the buzziest new horror authors recommend to add to your summer reading plans.
A few authors are recommended by multiple people, so if you’re looking for a shortlist, Gerardo Sámano Córdova, Shirley Jackson, Victor LaValle, Mariana Enríquez, and Junji Ito seem to be horror writers’ writers!
Johanna van Veen, author of My Darling Dreadful Thing
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
The Dark Between the Trees by Fiona Barnett
The Unsuitable by Molly Pohlig
Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein by Anne Eekhout
Orpheus Builds a Girl by Heather Parry
Paul Tremblay, author of Horror Movie
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
The Fisherman by John Langan
Big Machine by Victor LaValle
Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances by Eric LaRocca
The Garden by Clare Beams
Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney
The Militia House by John Milas
Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Cuckoo
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
Wilding by Melanie Tem
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson
Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
Invaginies by Joe Koch
Ananda Lima, author of Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
Bunny by Mona Awad
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez
Forgotten Sisters by Cynthia Pelayo
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
Mouth: Stories by Puloma Ghosh
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno
Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch by Emily C. Hughes
Monika Kim, author of The Eyes Are the Best Part
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Bora Chung
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima
My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen
The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee
The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Josh Malerman, author of Incidents Around the House
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
They Lurk by Ronald Malfi
Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan
Tomie by Junji Ito
Children of the Dark by Jonathan Janz
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
I Can See Your Lies by Izzy Lee
Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram
I Died Too, But They Haven’t Buried Me Yet by Ross Jeffery
THEM by W.H. Chizmar
Chuck Tingle, author of Bury Your Gays
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Sundial by Catriona Ward
Gyo by Junji Ito
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
American Rapture by C.J. Leede
First Light (Night’s Edge #2) by Liz Kerin
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
The Skin You’re In: A Collection of Horror Comics by Ashley Robin Franklin
Stephen Graham Jones, author of I Was a Teenage Slasher
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
Burn the Negative by Josh Winning
Benny Rose, the Cannibal King by Hailey Piper
Curse of the Reaper by Brian McAuley
Security by Gina Wohlsdorf
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede
Shutter by Ramona Emerson
Mean Spirited by Nick Roberts
Nestlings by Nat Cassidy
Gabino Iglesias, author of House of Bone and Rain
Recommended reads from favorite horror authors:
The Hunger by Alma Katsu
Last Days by Brian Evenson
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Tinfoil Butterfly by Rachel Eve Moulton
Recommended reads from new and upcoming horror authors:
Woodworm by Layla Martínez
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima
Check out the full list and complete interviews at Goodreads.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
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