The 50 best horror books: The scariest books ever printed
These are the best horror books to gorge on, the most terrifying reads you could dare to face...
When you’re looking for something to scare you out of your wits, you most likely reach for the TV remote, daring to scan the horror pages of streaming services. But, why not pick up one of the all-time best horror books, instead? After all, there’s a multitude of movies that found their origin in the pages creepy tomes.
It doesn’t have to be spooky season to enjoy a scary book, but it certainly adds to the atmosphere if you find yourself in the dark, reading from what you hope to be the safety of your home, before being transported to worlds completely detached from your own.
Unsurprisingly, Stephen King is found atop our list of the best horror books of all time. He is, after all, one of the greatest horror writers of all time. And while his novels litter our list, so do many writers that have found their own voice in the genre. Incredibly creepy voices, I might add.
Horror as a genre though is not defined within the confines of ghosts and gore or mutants and murder — horror itself can be incredibly successfully written when psychologically terrifying, by isolating individuals and by making you question what’s real. And the books in our list have twists on the genre that make them stand out from one another and stand out amongst busy bookshelves swimming with petrifying reads.
Ghost stories are great and they’re here in this list, but so are tales of twisted dystopias and horrifying depictions of survival. And, unlike movies, books ask you to truly think and imagine the situations for yourself and for the characters you’re reading about. Arguably, when you have to envision something terrifying all on your own, the immersion is a whole lot deeper, and more terrifying.
So, our newly-revisited list of the best horror books of all time contains 50 titles — and 50 reasons to be truly scared. Peruse our offerings, become lost in the tales, and see if you can bear to read another. Plus, if there’s a book missing here that made you add an extra lock to your door, then leave it in the comments below and we’ll see if we dare add it to the list.
The scariest books of all time
- These are the best modern horror movies
SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST?
Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in.
