Horror Reads for Adults

Updated August 5, 2024
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The shining
King, Stephen, 1947- author.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF TIME'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME * In this masterpiece of modern American horror that inspired Stanley Kubrick's classic film, Jack Torrance takes a job as the caretaker of the remote Overlook Hotel. As the...
House of leaves
Danielewski, Mark Z.
Paper Book
THE MIND-BENDING CULT CLASSIC ABOUT A HOUSE THAT'S LARGER ON THE INSIDE THAN ON THE OUTSIDE * A masterpiece of horror and an astonishingly immersive, maze-like reading experience that redefines the boundaries of a novel. ''Simultaneously reads like a thriller and like a...
The haunting of Hill House
Jackson, Shirley, 1916-1965.
Paper Book
The greatest haunted house story ever written--the inspiration for the hit Netflix horror series! 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...
Mexican Gothic
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "It's Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird."--The Guardian   ONE OF TIME'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME * WINNER OF THE LOCUS...
Ghost camera
Coates, Darcy
Paper Book
"Coates ratchets up the ghostly manifestations till you can't imagine there are any more stops to pull out-though of course there are." - Kirkus Reviews for Gallows Hill When Jenine finds an abandoned polaroid camera, she playfully snaps a photo without a second...
Horror movie a novel
Tremblay, Paul
Paper Book
Instant New York Times bestseller! A chilling twist on the "cursed film" genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and The Cabin at the End of the World. In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, ...
Out there screaming an anthology of new Black horror
Peele, Jordan, 1979- editor.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling...
The trees grew because I bled there collected stories
LaRocca, Eric
Paper Book
"The stories collected here are by turns confident, brutal, and breathtaking... must-read horror" The New York Times A beautifully crafted, devastating short fiction collection from the Bram Stoker Awards® finalist and author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke....
Episode thirteen
DiLouie, Craig, 1967- author.
Paper Book
Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts. Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal...
Just like mother
Heltzel, Anne
Paper Book
"I tore through this urgent, timely, and deeply disturbing tale."--Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here Spine-chilling and sharp, Anne Heltzel's Just Like Mother is a modern gothic from a fresh new voice in horror, and...
Mary an awakening of terror
Cassidy, Nat, 1981- author.
Paper Book
Nat Cassidy's highly commercial, debut horror novel Mary: An Awakening of Terror, blends Midsommar with elements of American Psycho and a pinch of I'll Be Gone in the Dark. Best Horror of 2022--Esquire, Paste...
Other terrors an inclusive anthology
Liaguno, Vince A.
Paper Book
An anthology of original horror stories edited by Bram Stoker Award® winners Vince A. Liaguno and Rena Mason that showcases authors from historically excluded backgrounds telling terrifying tales of what it means to be, or merely to seem, "other" Offering new stories from some of the...
This thing between us
Moreno, Gus, 1985- author.
Paper Book
"A surreal excursion into heartache and horror narrated by a man undone by grief . . . Along with allusions to Rod Serling and The Exorcist, there are shades of H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, zombie literature and, at least once, A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . . . You don't...
Tiny nightmares very short stories of horror
Michel, Lincoln.
Paper Book
A collection of horror-inspired flash fiction, featuring over 40 new stories from literary, horror, and emerging writers-edited by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto, the twisted minds behind Tiny Crimes- Very Short Tales of Mystery and Murder In this playful, inventive...
Carrie
King, Stephen, 1947- author.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY MARGARET ATWOOD *  Stephen King's legendary debut, the bestselling smash hit that put him on the map as one of America's favorite writers * In a world where bullies rule, one girl holds a...
The exorcist
Blatty, William Peter.
Paper Book
"What an excellent day for an exorcism..." Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist remains one of the most controversial novels ever written. A literary phenomenon soon after its release, it spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, seventeen consecutively at number...
Misery a novel
King, Stephen, 1947- author.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller about a famous novelist held hostage in a remote location by his "number one fan." One of "Stephen King's best...genuinely scary" (USA TODAY). Paul Sheldon is a bestselling novelist who has finally met his number one fan. Her name is...
Horrorstör
Hendrix, Grady
Paper Book
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires comes a hilarious and terrifying haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting: a furniture superstore. Something strange is...
The graveyard apartment
Koike, Mariko, 1952- author.
Paper Book
One of the most popular writers working in Japan today, Mariko Koike is a recognized master of detective fiction and horror writing. Known in particular for her hybrid works that blend these styles with elements of romance, The Graveyard Apartment is arguably Koike's masterpiece....
Dead eleven a novel
Juliano, Jimmy
Paper Book
"An ominously slow burn...Keep the lights on for this one."--A PEOPLE MUST-READ FOR SUMMER "Very creepy...you've been warned."--R.L. STINE "Gripping."--ANA REYES On a creepy island where everyone has a strange obsession with the year 1994, a...
The nightmare man a novel
Markert, James, 1974- author.
Paper Book
Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of New Haven. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book's...
Carmilla
Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan, 1814-1873
Paper Book
Predating Bram Stoker' Dracula, Carmilla is the ultimate gothic vampire tale--stylish, menacing, sensual, and spellbinding You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever. When a mysterious carriage crashes outside their castle home in Styria,...
Near the bone
Henry, Christina, 1974- author.
Paper Book
A woman trapped on a mountain attempts to survive more than one kind of monster, in a dread-inducing horror novel from the national bestselling author Christina Henry. Mattie can't remember a time before she and William lived alone on a mountain together. She must never make him...
Feed
Grant, Mira.
Paper Book
Feed is an electrifying and critically acclaimed novel of a world a half-step from our own that the New York Times calls "Astonishing" -- a novel of zombies, geeks, politics, social media, and the virus that runs through them all -- from New York Times bestseller...
The eyes are the best part
Kim, Monika
Paper Book
"Violent, smart, gruesome and wildly original, this novel pulls readers into a horrific world of murder and cannibalism while also critiquing misogyny, exploring Asian fetishization and stereotypes, sharing what it's like to navigate two cultures and telling a touching story of a family in...
Devolution a firsthand account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre
Brooks, Max
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The #1 New York Times bestselling author of World War Z is back with "the Bigfoot thriller you didn't know you needed in your life, and one of the greatest horror novels I've ever read" (Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and ...
The queen of the cicadas = ;la reina de las chicharras
Castro, V.
Paper Book
NOMINATED FOR A BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL 2018 - Belinda Alvarez has returned to Texas for the wedding of her best friend Veronica. The farm is the site of the urban legend, La Reina de Las Chicharras - The Queen of The Cicadas. In 1950s south Texas a...
NOS4A2 a novel
Hill, Joe
Paper Book
The spine-tingling, bone-chilling novel of supernatural suspense from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Horns--now an AMC original series starring Zachary Quinto, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Ashleigh Cummings. "A masterwork of horror."-- Time Victoria...
The last house on needless street
Ward, Catriona
Paper Book
"The buzz...is real. I've read it and was blown away. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end." --Stephen King A World Fantasy Award and August Derleth Award Finalist!An Indie Next Pick! A LibraryReads Top 10 Pick!<...
Tinfoil butterfly
Moulton, Rachel Eve, 1975- author.
Paper Book
"A brutal, incredibly bizarre exploration of insanity, guilt, love, and the darkness inside all of us . . . This novel is a hybrid monster that's part Lovecraftian nightmare and part literary exploration of evil." --Gabino Iglesias, NPR Emma is...
Chasing the boogeyman a novel
Chizmar, Richard, 1965- author.
Paper Book
The acclaimed New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling novel of small-town evil that "is genuinely chilling and something brand-new and exciting" (Stephen King) and "unforgettable" (Harlan Coben). In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing...
The children of Red Peak
DiLouie, Craig, 1967- author.
Paper Book
Bram Stoker Award-nominated author Craig DiLouie brings a new twist to the cult horror story in a heart-pounding novel of psychological suspense. David Young, Deacon Price, and Beth Harris live with a dark secret. As children, they survived a religious group's horrific last...
Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851.
Paper Book
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World' 'That rare story to pass from literature into myth' The New York Times Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley on Lake...
Hidden pictures
Rekulak, Jason
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER · OPTIONED FOR NETFLIX BY A PRODUCER OF THE BATMAN GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD WINNER "I loved it." --Stephen King From Edgar Award-finalist Jason Rekulak comes a wildly inventive spin on the supernatural thriller...
A dowry of blood
Gibson, S. T.
Paper Book
THE DARK FANTASY BOOKTOK BLOCKBUSTER! In this dark, fantasy sensation, S. T. Gibson spins the gothic, seductive tale of Dracula's first bride, Constanta. This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a...
The reformatory a novel
Due, Tananarive, 1966- author.
Paper Book
*Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner * New York Times Notable Book * Locus Award Finalist * Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award * "You're in for a treat...one of those books you can't put down...Due hit it out of the park." --Stephen King ...
Never whistle at night an Indigenous dark fiction anthology
Hawk, Shane, editor.
Paper Book
" A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: "Are you ready to be un-settled?" Featuring stories by: Norris Black · Amber Blaeser-Wardzala · Phoenix Boudreau ·...
Something wicked this way comes
Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012
Paper Book
One of Ray Bradbury's best-known and most popular novels, Something Wicked This Way Comes, now featuring a new introduction and material about its longstanding influence on culture and genre. For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic...
It a novel
King, Stephen, 1947- author.
Paper Book
Stephen King's classic #1 New York Times bestseller and the basis for the massively successful films It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two as well as inspiration for HBO Max's upcoming Welcome to Derry--about seven adults who return to their hometown to...
When the reckoning comes a novel
McQueen, LaTanya
Paper Book
"LaTanya McQueen's When The Reckoning Comes is so deliciously uncomfortable there were moments where I had to put the book down, take a deep breath, and like Mira, its protagonist, urge myself to go further. This is a novel, like Octavia Butler's Kindred, that reminds its...
Maeve fly
Leede, CJ
Paper Book
A USA Today bestseller! Winner of the Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award * Winner of the Splatterpunk Award for Best Novel * A Bram Stoker Award Nominee * One of Esquire's Best Horror Books of the Year * An Indie Next Pick!...
Let the right one in
Ajvide Lindqvist, John, 1968-
Paper Book
Already sold in ten countries, Let Me In introduces a startling new talent from Sweden whose work is creating an international sensation. John Ajvide Lindqvist has been compared to such top horror writers as Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Whitley Strieber, and last but certainly not...
Interview with the vampire
Rice, Anne, 1941-
Paper Book
The spellbinding classic that started it all, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author--the inspiration for the hit television series "A magnificent, compulsively readable thriller . . . Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and...
NOS4A2 : a novel
Hill, Joe.
Paper Book
The spine-tingling, bone-chilling novel of supernatural suspense from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Horns--now an AMC original series starring Zachary Quinto, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Ashleigh Cummings. "A masterwork of horror."-- Time Victoria...
The Sun Down Motel
St. James, Simone
Paper Book
Upstate NY, 1982. Viv Delaney knows something isn't right at the Sun Down motel, where she works as a night clerk, and she's determined find out what. Upstate NY, 2017. Carly Kirk has always been fascinated by her aunt Viv who disappeared from the Sun Down before Carly was born. Using a small...
Bird box
Malerman, Josh
Paper Book
"A book that demands to be read in a single sitting, and through the cracks between one's fingers. There has never been a horror story quite like this. Josh Malerman truly delivers." -- Hugh Howey, New York Times bestselling author of Wool Written with the narrative tension of...
Intensity a novel
Koontz, Dean R. (Dean Ray), 1945- author.
Paper Book
Chyna Shepherd is a twenty-six-year-old woman whose deeply troubled childhood taught her the hard rules of survival, and whose adult life has been an unrelenting struggle for self-respect and safety. Now rare trust has blossomed for Chyna into friendship with the woman whose family home she is...
World War Z an oral history of the zombie war
Brooks, Max.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Prepare to be entranced by this addictively readable oral history of the great war between humans and zombies."--Entertainment Weekly   We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by...
Odd Thomas
Koontz, Dean R. (Dean Ray), 1945-
Paper Book
Now a major motion picture starring Anton Yelchin, Willem Dafoe, and Addison Timlin, and directed by Stephen Sommers "The dead don't talk. I don't know why." But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Odd Thomas thinks of...
A head full of ghosts
Tremblay, Paul
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2015 BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL A chilling thriller that brilliantly blends psychological suspense and supernatural horror, reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shining, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and William Peter Blatty's The...
The only good Indians a novel
Jones, Stephen Graham, 1972- author.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From USA TODAY bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones comes a "masterpiece" (Locus Magazine) of a novel about revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition....
The hollow places a novel
Kingfisher, T.
Paper Book
A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle's house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel from the author of the "innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling" (Mira Grant, Nebula Award-winning author) The Twisted Ones. Pray they are...

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