20 Must-Read Horror Stories

Saga Press

‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

There are truthful galore Stephen King books that should beryllium added to your TBR database if you’re a large fearfulness fan, but Salem’s Lot is a classic. Ben Mears spent his puerility successful the small, idyllic municipality of Salem’s Lot, and memories from his past inactive haunt him. When helium returns to Salem’s Lot to constitute his adjacent book, thing genuinely evil is waiting for him. Salem’s Lot is King’s 2nd published novel, but it remains 1 of his champion and 1 of his astir widely-read fearfulness stories.

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

The Silver location is the ancestral location of the Silver family. Now Miranda Silver, her duplicate member Eliot, and their begetter are surviving there, hoping to person it into a furniture and breakfast. But there’s thing unusual astir the home, which seems to beryllium particularly unwelcoming to outsiders. Miranda feels that the location is driving her to person unusual hungers. This profoundly unsettling caller incorporates galore fearfulness elements to face however the effects of grief and loss, intelligence illness, and radical authorities connected 1 household implicit generations.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson’s classical haunted location communicative The Haunting of Hill House tells the communicative of 4 radical who get astatine the unwelcoming Hill House looking for grounds of ghosts. At first, the location feels simply eerie, but the longer the guests stay successful the dark, foreboding home, the much the terrors of the location commencement to marque themselves known. The location is gathering its powers, and soon it volition take 1 of the impermanent to assertion arsenic its own.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beloved is a chilling shade communicative that digs heavy into the horrifying effects of trauma. Eighteen years aft Sethe escaped slavery, she inactive does not consciousness free. She is haunted by images of the spot she near down and the horrifying things that happened there. And she is haunted by the representation of her baby, who died nameless with thing connected her tombstone but the connection “Beloved.” When a mysterious teen miss shows up astatine Sethe’s home, claiming her sanction is Beloved, the horrors of Sethe’s past travel crashing into her present.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein is often considered the archetypal subject fabrication novel, but it’s besides 1 of the archetypal existent fearfulness novels. Shelley starting penning her now-classic communicative erstwhile she was 18, successful an effort to constitute a scarier fearfulness communicative than her person Lord Byron and then-lover Percy Bysshe Shelley. Even if you haven’t work this one, you’re astir apt acquainted capable with the story. A idiosyncratic tries to make beingness but finds helium is incapable to power his creation. The communicative is truthful scary due to the fact that it says truthful overmuch astir the quality of humanity and of beingness itself.

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Alma Katsu is an writer who does a beauteous occupation of weaving supernatural fearfulness into existent humanities events. But The Hunger is 1 of her astir fashionable fearfulness stories. This caller tells the chilling existent communicative of the Donner Party but imagines that the radical was destroyed not simply by 1 different but by immoderate dark, supernatural extracurricular unit that aimed to instrumentality them each down, 1 by one.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Tender is the Flesh is a disturbing dystopian fearfulness caller successful which an infectious microorganism has made each carnal nutrient poisonous. And truthful the authorities has sanctioned the depletion of quality nutrient — oregon “special meat.” People who are raised to beryllium eaten arsenic nutrient are seen arsenic thing little than human, and idiosyncratic interaction with them is strictly forbidden. Marco’s matrimony has fallen isolated and his begetter is suffering from dementia, truthful erstwhile helium comes into interaction with a unrecorded specimen, helium is amazed to find a quality transportation with her.

Ring by Koji Suzuki

Before Ring was turned into a ace frightening movie franchise, it was a publication bid from Japanese writer Koji Suzuki. Ring, the archetypal caller successful the series, introduces the communicative of a mysterious videotape that warns the spectator they volition dice 7 days aft watching. After 4 teenagers dice from watching the tape, writer Asakawa investigates the unusual phenomenon. What helium uncovers is acold much disturbing than thing helium could person imagined.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Technically, Dracula wasn’t the archetypal vampire novel, but it’s surely the astir famous. The communicative each starts erstwhile Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to assistance Count Dracula bargain a location successful London. But what starts arsenic a sojourn astir existent property turns into a fearfulness communicative rapidly aft Harker makes immoderate disturbing discoveries astir his host. And that’s conscionable the opening of Harker’s spine-chilling travel with the count.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mexican Gothic is a gothic fearfulness caller acceptable successful Mexico successful the 1950s. After receiving a distressing missive from her newlywed cousin, Noemí Taboada leaves her beingness arsenic a socialite successful Mexico City to find retired what has happened to her cousin. But erstwhile she arrives astatine her cousin’s caller location — High Place, a acheronian and distant mansion successful the state — she finds unsettling mysteries astir each corner. The mansion is falling apart, her cousin’s caller household is eerily strange, and determination are whispers successful the adjacent village.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones is simply a prolific fearfulness writer who has written truthful galore large must-read fearfulness books. The Only Good Indians is 1 of his best. This caller follows 4 Blackfoot Indian men who, astatine a young age, spell connected a hunting travel that goes very, precise wrong. Now, years later, there’s an evil tone hellbent connected revenge, and she’s hunting the men down 1 by one.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

Speaking of fearfulness authors who support penning hits aft hits, Grady Hendrix is an writer you person to adhd to your TBR if you emotion horror. But 2016’s My Best Friend’s Exorcism is inactive my favorite. Abby and Gretchen person been champion friends since 5th people and they cognize everything astir each other. So erstwhile Gretchen starts acting weird, Abby notices, and she knows her person is nether demonic control. Even if nary 1 other believes her.

Cabin astatine the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay’s Cabin astatine the extremity of the World was precocious adapted into a movie by M. Night Shyamalan. But arsenic you tin imagine, the publication is precise antithetic from the movie, and it’s a must-read! In this fearfulness story, Eric and Andrew instrumentality a relaxing abrogation to a distant compartment connected the water with their young girl Wen. One day, Wen is catching grasshoppers erstwhile a alien approaches her and says, “None of what’s going to hap is your fault.” Then 3 much strangers arrive, saying that they request Andrew, Eric, and Wen’s assistance to prevention the world.

The Last House connected Needless Street by Catriona Ward

The Last House connected Needless Street is a disorienting intelligence fearfulness caller that volition often person you questioning your ain grip connected reality. While it’s champion to spell into this 1 knowing arsenic small arsenic possible, you should cognize that this communicative is acceptable successful a creepy boarded up house. In that location lives a antheral who has a achromatic feline named Olivia and many, galore secrets. What happens successful that location is thing similar what you’re expecting.

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

Earthlings is a caller that explores galore horrors, immoderate of them existent and immoderate much surreal successful nature. Ever since she was a child, Natsuki has felt different. She thinks she mightiness beryllium a witch oregon an alien from different planet. She conscionable knows she doesn’t beryllium with anyone astatine schoolhouse oregon with her family, and they cognize it too. As an adult, Natsuki lives a quiescent beingness with her asexual hubby and unneurotic they bash their champion to unreal to beryllium normal. But acheronian shadows from Natsuki’s past are coming to haunt her, and she doesn’t cognize if she tin unreal overmuch longer.

The Good House by Tananarive Due

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

House of Leaves is a fearfulness caller that is present a classical and is highly influential. And yet nary fearfulness communicative that’s travel earlier oregon aft this 1 is thing similar it. The communicative follows a young household that moves into a tiny location connected Ash Tree Lane. But erstwhile they get there, things astir the location don’t marque sense. And their location is overmuch bigger connected the wrong than it is connected the outside.

The Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

Lakewood by Megan Giddings