The best horror books to read this spooky season

There are some Hallowe’en traditions we leave behind with adulthood – trick or treating is just plain weird if you’re not accompanied by a small ghost, for instance. But books offer a fantastic way to get into the spirit. Whether you're looking for a new scary read, or a bone-chilling classic, we've rounded up the best horror books below. Read if you dare...

15 of the best horror books

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (1983)

You might have watched the jumpy Daniel Radcliffe film, but have you ever braved the original novel? The famously terrifying ghost story is guaranteed to keep you up at night. A junior solicitor is summoned to a funeral, where he sees a mysterious woman, dressed all in black. A creeping feeling of unease begins to take hold of him, especially when he learns of the woman’s terrible purpose…

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen (2024)

In this Southern gothic horror debut, the year is 1962 and Jemma has left her life in Chicago for a well-paid tutor position in New Orleans. But as soon as she arrives, she realises the Duchon family have brought her there under false pretences. Their home is cursed, and they believe that Jemma, with her unique gift of seeing spirits, will be able to lift it. But as Jemma learns some horrifying truths about the ancestral home’s past, including its ties to slavery, she wonders if she’ll ever escape.

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty (1971)

Heads will (literally) turn if you read this one on your morning commute. The 1971 classic, which inspired one of the most terrifying films of all time, is the perfect horror book to read in autumn. When unexplainable noises and smells start to haunt a family home, a mother sees a troubling change in her 11-year-old daughter. Desperate, she calls in a priest – who fears she has been possessed by a demon. This calls for an exorcism, with terrifying consequences.

Burn the Negative by Josh Winning (2023)

If you’re looking for the book equivalent of the Scream franchise this Halloween, look no further. Journalist Laura is reporting on the remake of the horror franchise she starred in as a child – a cursed project, in which each of the actors died in the same way they had died in the film. When someone falls from a bridge in front of Laura on the new set, she fears the curse is back with a vengeance…If you enjoy Burn the Negative, we also recommend the slasher novels Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning and The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington.

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer (2024)

The most frightening horror concepts are the ones that feel real. In Marcus Kliewer’s debut novel, Charlie and Eve receive a knock on the door: a man and his family claim they used to live there and ask if they can look around. But as they enter, strange things start to happen and the family won’t take the hint that they’re no longer welcome. Then Charlie goes missing. This is an unsettling read from a razor-sharp new voice in horror fiction.

Sisters by Daisy Johnson (2020)

Sometimes, family can be too close for comfort. Johnson is no stranger to the eeriness of the unspoken – folklore was used to perturbing effect in her first book, Fen, too. But in Sisters, two girls born within months of one another are left to fend for themselves in a house that seems to be built from sadness. As Johnson’s ensnaring novel reels you in, there’s no way you can be prepared for the twist to come.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)

Shirley Jackson achieved fame with a short story in The New Yorker that involved a woman being stoned to death by the inhabitants of her own village, so it’s no surprise that she succeeded in inviting mounting dread and horror in her subsequent work. You may know The Haunting of Hill House from its Netflix or film adaptations, but the book is arguably more chilling – Jackson even manages to make a picnic on a lawn fill the reader with fear.

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson (2020)

If it’s suspense you’re after, Alexis Henderson’s blistering debut will fit the bill. It's a Southern noir remixed for the modern day, building on the contemporary trend for witchcraft and with a healthy dose of cultish living thrown in. With readers calling it both “hecking scary” and “stunning”, this is a sophisticated, terrifying read to get lost in. 

A Sliver of Darkness by C. J. Tudor (2022)

This is a bone-chilling collection of short stories from the author of novels including The Chalk Man and The Gathering. In one story, a group of survivors wind up on a deserted island only to make a horrifying discovery; in another, a cold-hearted killer befriends a strange young girl at a motorway service station. These are chilling, creepy tales from the author nicknamed "the British Stephen King", and they're sure to have you sleeping with the lights on.

Freakslaw by Jane Flett (2024)

In this queer literary horror, a sleepy Scottish town is rocked by the arrival of the Freakslaw – a travelling funfair populated by queer people and dazzling performers. The town’s teenagers are seduced by their arrival, and the dizzying possibilities they represent. But beneath the façade, these newcomers are harbouring a darker desire: revenge. As tensions with the locals escalate, a violence that has been simmering for years is about to be unleashed…

The Terror by Dan Simmons (2010)

Being left stranded in an icy, lifeless expanse is arguably scary enough, but when author Dan Simmons took the events of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition in the mid-19th Century and added dismembered Inuits, monstrous polar bears and a rapidly depleting crew, it became utterly horrifying.

Zone One by Colson Whitehead (2011)

This is no ordinary post-apocalyptic novel; with its style and emotional depth, Zone One is a literary horror masterpiece. A pandemic has devastated the world, dividing the population into the living and the living dead. The army has removed most of the infected people, but now it falls to a team of civilians to hunt down the “malfunctioning” infected, who exist in a catatonic state, unable to let go of their former lives. Zone One is told from the perspective of a volunteer, as he adjusts to a world that has changed beyond recognition.

Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn (2019)

The spirits and ghosts of Japanese folklore have inspired some of our most-feared horror movies, so it’s no surprise that this collection packs a frightening punch. Discover the different ghouls and phantoms of traditional Japanese storytelling, from the faceless mujina who stalk lonely neighbourhoods and the headless rokuro-kubi, re-imagined by Hearn in modern stories of haunting power.

The Whistling by Rebecca Netley (2021)

The Whistling has all the elements needed for a chilling and gripping ghost story. A nanny, Elspeth Swansome, takes a position caring for a child on a remote Scottish island. Her charge, Mary, is distracted and secretive, and hasn’t spoken a word since her twin William suddenly died. And no one else will talk about what happened to William, either. Trapped as winter begins to draw in, Elspeth tries to discover whether it’s ghosts haunting the house she lives in, or the secrets of the living.

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig (2021)

An inherited home seems to offer a new start for a family, but instead reveals secrets and lies from decades before. Chuck Wendig was called “the new voice of American horror” for a reason, and The Book of Accidents comprises the most terrifying tropes from those that have gone before him: unearthed psychological trauma, a house of ghosts and a perilous threat from a strange child.