Looking for some horror books? Browse through our expert recommendations to find the best grisly thrillers and scary stories, even the best books on zombies. We have several competing lists for the five best horror books—Darryl Jones, Kim Newman and Ramsay Campbell have all recommended the five best horror stories. We also have an interview with best-selling novelist Sarah Perry on Gothic fiction.
-
1
'The Same Dog' in Cold Hand in Mine
by Robert Aickman -
2
'Home' in Dark Tales
by Shirley Jackson -
3
'Animals' in You Should Come With Me Now
by M. John Harrison -
4
'The Book' in The Virago Book of Ghost Stories
by Margaret Irwin -
5
'Blind Man's Buff' in The Oxford Book of 20th-Century Ghost Stories
by H. Russell Wakefield
The Best Ghost Stories, recommended by Will Maclean
The Best Ghost Stories, recommended by Will Maclean
If you love to get scared silly then we have reading recommendations for you. Will Maclean, author of the unsettling new novel The Apparition Phase, selects the best ghost stories to read at Halloween, including writing from the queen of screams Shirley Jackson, and a four-page, pitch-black nightmare that might just be the perfect ghost story.
The Scariest Books, recommended by Xavier Aldana Reyes
Whether you’re scared most by graphic body horror, the uncategorisable, or the blurring of boundaries between supernatural menace and psychological unraveling, this list will have something for you. Reflecting on the complex nature of fear, Xavier Aldana Reyes surveys the best modern horror and explores whether the genre might offer consolation as well as terror.
The best books on Zombies, recommended by Greg Garrett
Zombies have returned with a vengeance in recent years, the secret to their undying popularity lying in their ability to embody many different kinds of menace, from social unrest to pandemics, financial insecurity to international terrorism. Greg Garrett, author of Living with the Living Dead, recommends five books to help you prepare for the zombie apocalypse
The best books on The Gothic, recommended by Nick Groom
‘The Gothic’ can refer to ecclesiastical architecture, supernatural fiction, cult horror films and a recent subculture. Here, Nick Groom—who is professor in English at the University of Exeter and is also known as the ‘Prof. of Goth’—recommends five of the best books on the Gothic, showing how this term remains central to the way we think of our identities today.