Spooky season is here and book lovers can rejoice, because there is no shortage of suitable reads. Whether you’re just dipping your toe into horror for the first time or are a long-time fan of all things creepy, there is a sub-genre that’s perfect for you. Take my latest novel, FIEND: it should appeal to fans of Succession, but is there such a thing as corporate horror? Browse the following recommendations (though by no means all the sub-genres of horror popular today) to find your perfect Halloween read.
Horror-Adjacent
The equivalent of the cozy murder mystery, horror-adjacent books will probably have little to no blood or gore and will go gentle on the demonic. It’ll be scary enough to give you a chill but won’t keep you up with the lights on all night.
For anyone afraid they’re too easily spooked for horror, any of Jennifer McMahon’s books would make a good place to start — though some are scarier than others. I recommended The Drowning Kind. Social worker Jax regrets not answering her manic older sister Lexie’s texts when Lexie is found dead the next morning, floating in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. The estate is shrouded in spooky rumors, and Jax is determined to get to the truth and find out who — or what — is responsible for Lexie’s death.
Folk Horror
This sub-genre draws on local lore, superstitions, and the like, but what sets it apart from the rest is that it pits the outsider against an insular community, often bound to “the old ways.” There are many well-known stories in this subgenre, such as the films The Wicker Man and Midsommar, and Shirley Jackson’s classic short story “The Lottery.”
I’d like to recommend an anthology because there are lots of great horror anthologies being produced these days, and it’s a great way to get to sample the work of a collection of authors. There are probably a half-dozen folk horror anthologies I could name off the top of my head, but today I’ll steer you to When Things Get Dark, a collection of stories inspired by the work of Shirley Jackson, edited by Ellen Datlow. Jackson was famous for her ability to find the uncanny in suburban life, and you’ll find that in abundance in these 18 stories written by modern horror masters.
Historical Horror
This genre takes an event or period in history and adds layers in horror.
Where the Dead Wait by A.V. Wilkes is one of my favorite historical horror novels of the past few years. It’s a tale of Arctic survival set during the Age of Discovery, as the survivor of a disastrous expedition is sent back north to look for one of his former comrades, missing after his latest adventure. The characters are complex and well-drawn, particularly the main character William Day, haunted by his personal demons as well as the failed expedition that ruined his life.
Dark Academia
Thanks to Harry Potter, books set in schools have become comfort reads for many. Add a little horror — TV’s Wednesday series, anyone? — and you have dark academia. Luckily, there’s no shortage of dark academia these days.
We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad is both a sequel and prequel to her hit Bunny, the story of Samantha Mackey, drawn into a mysterious, dangerous clique in her MFA program. We Love You, Bunny finds Samantha graduated and on tour for her first novel when she is kidnapped by her former friends, now furious at the way Samantha has portrayed them in her book. The story reveals the group’s dark origin story and how they came to possess their terrifying powers.
Pink Horror
Horror with female main characters dealing with women’s issues has, of late, been termed “pink horror,” but make no mistake, novels depicting the horrors common to women’s lives have been around since the genre’s beginning.
Rachel Harrison is well-known for examining horror tropes through a female perspective, and her most recent, Play Nice, is no exception. Clio Barnes, an influencer, returns to her childhood home after the abrupt death of her mother, on a mission to flip it and sell it. But she knows she will need to confront the demons of her past, too: her mother had always maintained that the house was haunted, even writing a book about it. And whatever force may possess Clio’s childhood home, it’s not going to let her get rid of it that easily.
Classic Gothic
If you watched Dark Shadows as a child or are a fan of Interview with the Vampire, you may be a classic Goth. You could go old-school classic with Dracula by Bram Stoker, but why not indulge your craving with something more recent?
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s novels often combine a variety of genres and subgenres, but nearly all of them carry some element of the Gothic, and The Bewitching is no exception. Graduate student Minerva is trying to finish her thesis about a novel, The Vanishing, written by author Beatrice Tremblay, whose own roommate disappeared in real life, a mystery that was never solved. Minerva finds that present-day disappearances bear uncanny resemblances to Tremblay’s story and then strange things start happening to Minerva, too. Besides the Gothic, The Bewitching draws on dark academia and historical fiction to weave a complex tale with three different timeframes.