The scariest books ever, according to horror writers
Halloween is the perfect time to tuck into a good scary book. And who knows scary tomes better than a horror author?
From Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft back in the day to R.L. Stine and the king himself – Stephen King, that is – horror novels have delivered chills and thrills to readers of all ages. New novels creep into our imaginations throughout the year, but come on, everyone knows they’re best consumed on October nights.
Are you ready for something really freaky, though? We asked 10 authors with new horror novels out this fall to tell us which book scared them the most. Give them a read … if you dare.
‘The Changeling’ by Victor LaValle
“Maybe it’s the too-familiar cold gray winter New York of it all. Or being surveilled and stalked. Or the threat of insanity, your partner’s insanity and even the unthinkable – losing a child. But if I have to pin it down, ‘The Changeling‘ is the scariest to me because it unlocked a core fear I never knew was even a possibility: unexpectedly giving birth on the A train. There’s too much to say about this beautifully (I would even say perfectly) written book. So I’ll just say: If you haven’t yet, read it.”
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– CJ Leede, author of “American Rapture” (out Oct. 15), a slice of Americana about a Catholic girl journeying through the Midwest and navigating the end of days via a pandemic infesting its victims with lust.
‘Deliverance’ by James Dickey
“The movie adaptation might make us assume ‘Deliverance‘ belongs to the action genre, but Dickey’s lyrically fierce writing brings something the film doesn’t: the sublime. Yes, the sadistic mountain men are more than terrifying enough, but Dickey hints at something far older, mysterious, unnameable, that breathes within the seemingly calm natural world our urban adventurers first seek to embrace, then desperately attempt to escape. No book combines beauty and horror to greater effect.”
– Andrew Pyper, author of “William” (out now, written under the pen name Mason Coile), a cyber-noir psychological thriller about an agoraphobic engineer, his pregnant wife and a high-tech house haunted by a rogue AI.
‘Floating Dragon’ by Peter Straub
“Always a difficult question to answer, but one book quickly jumped to mind. There are other horror books I love more, including some from this author, but the novel that has given me the most nightmares is ‘Floating Dragon.’ It has medical body horror, supernatural horror and human monsters to round it out. Just thinking about this book again gave me another dreadful dream about the ‘leakers’ last night.”
– Johnny Compton, author of “Devils Kill Devils” (out now), a Southern Gothic horror tale about a woman whose guardian angel murders a loved one and meets devils, vampires and demons in her quest of vengeance.
‘It’ by Stephen King
“When young Ben Hanscom – who is walking home one winter evening at dusk after staying late to help his teacher – stumbles across the clown on the ice in the Derry canal, my life changed forever. You know the scene I’m talking about, right? ‘One hand grasped a bundle of strings which rose to a bright bunch of balloons, and when Ben observed that the balloons were floating in his direction, he felt unreality wash over him more strongly.’ I’ve spent the last 35 years of my life trying to create a scene this memorable and terrifying.”
– Richard Chizmar, author of “Memorials” (out Oct. 22), a chilling supernatural story about college students filming a documentary on roadside memorials that goes darkly awry in the backwoods of Appalachia.
‘The Militia House’ by John Milas
“Set on a military base in Kajaki, Afghanistan, in 2010, ‘The Militia House‘ tells the story of Corporal Loyette and his unit of American Marines. Curious after hearing rumors about a supposedly haunted Soviet-era militia house nearby, the unit goes exploring. They discover the horrors there are unceasing. Genuinely and profoundly terrifying, the scares in ‘The Militia House’ are on the page, inside your head, and will linger long after finishing – forever alive in the brutal realities of war.”
– Rachel Harrison, author of “So Thirsty” (out now), a “Lost Boys”-meets-“Thelma & Louise” vampire novel revolving around two best friends who have a wild, life-changing night out with a bunch of attractive strangers.
‘Nightwatching’ by Tracy Sierra
“I grew up reading ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,’ and Stephen Gammell’s illustrations are permanently seared into my brain. But I just finished a book that truly terrified me: In ‘Nightwatching,’ a mother must hide with her two children from an intruder in the house. As a mom to two little ones myself, this was literally catnip for my intrusive thoughts. My heart never stopped racing. Thanks, Tracy, for more doom spiral fodder!”
– Jacquie Walters, author of “Dearest” (out now), a domestic thriller about a new mom desperately needing help before the surprising arrival of her estranged mother brings about scarier things.
‘Nightworld’ by F. Paul Wilson
“It’s a terrifying examination of Earth when the rules of reality are null and void. This audacious apocalypse is an ‘Avengers: Endgame’-styled climax (but HORROR) to a multi-book mythology Wilson spent years crafting. The heroes from previous novels assemble to confront an unbeatable threat while shining a beam of hope through infinite darkness. Also, there’s a magic sword. Find it. Read it. Thank me later.”
– Lamar Giles, author of “Ruin Road” (out now), a young-adult thriller about a Black football star running from the police who stops in a pawn shop, makes a wish that people would stop fearing him and has it granted in a most unexpected fashion.
‘No One Gets Out Alive’ by Adam Nevill
“The protagonist is trapped in a house, but not in the way you may think. While she can, technically, leave, she has nowhere to go. But it’s not what traps her that’s truly terrifying. The supernatural elements and the unending sense of dread had me reading this one with all the lights on!”
– Del Sandeen, author of “This Cursed House” (out now), a Southern gothic story about a young Black woman in the 1960s who can see spirits and, after moving from Chicago to New Orleans, meets a family who believes she can break their curse.
‘Pet Sematary’ by Stephen King
“The first book that ever gave me nightmares. I was 10, and my mother tried to hide it from me, but I found it – and devoured it. Gage holding that scalpel, wanting to play? Shivers. Now that I’m a mother, possessed children hurt my heart and prey on my worst nightmares. Josh Malerman’s ‘Incidents Around the House’ hits that same nerve, but with the additional terror of the child’s point of view.”
– Delilah S. Dawson, author of “It Will Only Hurt for a Moment” (out Oct. 22), an atmospheric thriller about a young woman who hopes an off-the-grid artists’ colony will be her chance to start over – until she finds a dead body.
‘Tell Me I’m Worthless’ by Alison Rumfitt
“A living nightmare, both feverishly disorienting and disturbingly real. If houses were sisters, then (the ones in) ‘Tell Me I’m Worthless’ and ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ would share a plot or deed. But where Shirley Jackson’s Hill House looms with a haunted sense of despair, Rumfitt’s Albion house is scathing – it hates, and hates and hates, and in my mind, there’s nothing more dread-inducing than something that hates with such direct and unrelenting malice that it will do anything in its power to see you and everything you love annihilated.”
– Sofia Ajram, author of “Coup de Grâce” (out now), an immersive novella that follows a man on the way to ending it all in Montreal’s St. Lawrence River who becomes trapped in a mysterious subway station with no exit but plenty of terrifying sights.
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