The 40 Most Popular Horror Novels

 Happy Halloween!

Halloween this year should be very different from any other years with the Coronavirus Pandemic which is stopping us from Trick or Treating. However, we can still get chills down our bones and scare ourselves by reading one of the 40 books below. Have a look to see what there is and then read the ones you like the sound of for an #StayInHalloween and #SpookyRead enjoy the post!

1. The Outsider by Stephen King                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          This book is from one of the best horror storytellers around, Stephen King. In this novel, an unspeakable crime takes place involving the murder and violation of a small boy. Ralph Anderson is the main detective on the case and he arrests a local man, Terry Maitland. It is an easy arrest and the evidence is airtight. Like many of King's novels, this one will have you questioning and you will find it very interesting!                                                                                                                                                      
2. The Institute by Stephen King                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Another book from the best horror author Stephen King! In this novel, in the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street, intruders silently murder the parents of Luke Ellis and load him into a black SUV, the operation takes less than 2 minutes. When Luke wakes up he is at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, but there are no windows. This is a great story which is worth a read!                                                                                                                                                                 
3. The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  This story is located near an isolated mansion where there lies a beautiful garden. As the story twists and turns, the author slowly sheds light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors and horrific tales of a man who'd go to any length to hold beauty captive.                                              
4. Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Once again, another horror story from the master storyteller Stephen King and his son Owen King. The novel is said to take place in a women's prison in West Virginia during a strange mystical occurrence that causes all the women in the world to fall asleep. The fact that Stephen King's son helped write this book provides some differences compared to some of Stephen King's other books which is good and there are lots of characters involved!                                                                                    
5. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Morene-Garcia                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Mexican Gothic is a story set in Mexico in the early 1950s. It focuses on a beautiful socialite, Noemi, who finds herself travelling to a remote mountainside after receiving a desperate letter from her recently married cousin, Catalina, who thinks her new husband, Virgil Doyle, is trying to poison her. This is a very detailed book with a great storyline from the beginning to the end and many readers have loved it.                                                                                                                                                               
6. The Fireman by Joe Hill                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The Fireman is a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic (That sounds familiar!) of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilisation to ashes and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man. Many people love this book with one saying it is "The best book I have ever read", do we really need any more persuasion to read this exciting book?                                                                                                                              
7. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        This novel sees an adolescent girl possessed by a demon and her family struggling to in turn ignore, understand and then profit from her terrifying and bizarre behaviour by inviting a reality TV crew into their home to record the possession. This book, according to one reviewer is not another exorcism/possession books, it questions everything and leaves the door open for you to make up your own mind. The horror master himself, Stephen King, has said this is worth a read and comments that it "Scared the living hell out of me, and I'm pretty hard to scare". This book sounds excellent and even I will want to read it at some point!                                                                                                                                                               
8. The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix                                                                                                                                                                                               This novel is about a woman's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend. When an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighbourhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. One of the characters is initially attracted to the newcomer, however, when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. Reviewers have commented how this is a great read and kept many on the edge of their seats.                                                                                                                                                                                                
9. Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Imaginary Friend is about a woman, Kate Reese, who is a single mother fleeing an abusive relationship by starting over in a new town, with her young son Christopher. This story is then about the two characters starting over again at new schools with new friends before the child goes missing in woods for six days and not remembering anything about what happened. This has been seen as a very good book for anyone who loves thrillers and horrors!                                                                                                    
10. Slade House by David Mitchell                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         This novel originated as a Twitter story which has now been developed into a full novel and is a comparison to The Bone Clocks. It is set between the late seventies and the present and the novel explores the mysterious Slade House and a number of the characters who are drawn from it. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. To start with you will not want to leave. Later, you will find you can't. Every nine years, the house's residents, an odd brother and sister, extend a unique invitation to someone who's different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it is already too late! This sounds a great book and the author has been described as like Stephen King in a fever. It sounds like this book is defiantly worth a read!                                                                
11. Alice by Christina Henry                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  This book is about a girl, Alice, who is locked away in an insane asylum, with no one to talk to except Hatcher, who exists mainly as a voice through a mouse hole. Alice supposes she must be a killer, too. One night she dreams of a fire destroying the asylum, and she awakens to Hatcher's voice crying out to her through the mouse hole. This is a mind-bending novel which had me in chills just writing this summary. One reviewer has commented on how it is so dark and creepy which is perfect for a Halloween night.                                                                                                                                       
12. If It Bleeds by Stephen King                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Another story from the master storyteller which looks at supernatural fiction, horror and crime fiction. This book is about Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency which is working on the case of a missing dog when she sees footage of a school bombing on TV. This is a stand-alone sequel to King's other book The Outsider. One reviewer for this book comments about how they must read each book in small doses to make the fun and horror last for as long as possible.                                                                                                 
13. The Cabin At The End of The World by Paul Tremblay                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The Cabin At The End of The World is an unbearably tense, gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are entwined. This book is described as "Excellent, scary, but with a slightly weird writing style" and others comment on how they cannot put it down. This book seems to have a mixture of positive and negative reviews but don't let these reviews stop you from reading this book; read it yourself.                                                                                                     
14. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Baby Teeth is about a battle of wills between mother and daughter reveals the fragility and falsehood of familial bonds in award-winning playwright and filmmaker Zoje Stage's tense novel of psychological suspense, Baby Teeth. MEET HANNA: Seven-year-old Hanna is a sweet-but-silent angel in the eyes of her adoring father Alex. This is another book that people were unable to put down and they comment on how this novel has been beautifully written.                                                                                                                                          
15. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Alternating between Maggie’s uneasy homecoming and chapters from her father’s book, Home before dark is the story of a house with long-buried secrets and a woman’s quest to uncover them, even if the truth is far more terrifying than any haunting. This is a gripping novel with top-quality writing, which is truly frightening and one of the authors best books.                                                     
16. Bunny by Mona Awad                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Bunny is a novel about an outsider who ends up involved with a college clique, but it does not go down how you would expect. Samantha is an MFA student at a prestigious college, resentful of the rich girls who call earth other ‘Bunny’ that she has to share workshops with. This is a deliciously evil novel which is oddly satisfying in a dark and disturbing kind of way.
      
17. The Shadows by Alex North                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The shadows is a psychological thriller about lucid dreams that end in murder. It is about the past encroaches the present, and how dreaming influences reality, until in the frightening world of The Shadows. You knew a teenager like Charlie Crabtree. A dark imagination, a sinister smile always on the outside of the group. This is another gripping and scary novel which takes you on a creepy journey into The Shadows.                                                                                                                                                                                
18. My Bestfriends Exorcism by Gardy Hendrix                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        My Bestfriends Exorcism is a touching, thrilling tale, full of terror. A battle between the bond of female friendship and the devil. The main focus is on best friends Abby and Gretchen, other friends Margaret and Glee are also impacted in this tale that starts off as a sweet tale of friendship and growing up. This is a book that will take you on a wild ride and will show you 80s horror at its best.                                                              
19. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Meddling Kids is a nostalgic and subversive trip rife with sly nods to H.P Lovecraft and pop culture, in the vein of It and Stranger Things. An exuberant and wickedly entertaining celebration of horror, love, friendship and many-tentacled, interdimensional demon spawn. This is a really fun, spooky story which is like Scooby-Doo with a frightening twist!
       
20. The Invited by Jennifer McMahon                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The Invited is a chilling ghost story with a twist from the New York Times bestselling author of The Winter. It is able a husband and wife who don’t simply move into a haunted house, but they start building one from scratch, without knowing it is too late. This is a wonderful, well-developed book.                 
21. The Year of The Witching by Alexis Henderson                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                This book is ideal for all fans of The Handmaids Tale and The Testaments. Henderson’s darkly twinkling dystopia sees a young woman questioning the rules and strictures of her patriarchal community and the fate of women accused of witchcraft centuries before. This is an “Outstanding historical fiction” and a book I myself would love to read.                                                                                                                                           
22. Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Lovecraft Country is a dark fantasy horror novel which explores the conjunction between the horror fiction of H.P. Lovecraft and racism in the United States during the era of Jim Crow laws, as experienced by Black Science-fiction. This is a “Brilliant repurposing of Lovecraftian horror” and will make you find it hard to put the book down.                                                       
23. The Changeling by Victor LaValle                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      When Apollo Kagwa was just a child, his father disappeared, leaving him with recurring nightmares and a box labelled “Improbabilia”. Now a successful book dealer, Kagwa has a family of his own after meeting and falling in love with Emma, a librarian. This is a brilliant book which looks at some of the complex parental anxieties.
                                                                                                                                                                    
24. Strange Weather by Joe Hill                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Strange Weather is a collection of Novellas written by Joe Hill and each story has something different to offer, but they all share the nightmarish, surreal and far removed themes from traditional horror. This book has lived up to high expectations and is some of the best collection of short stories around.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
25. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Inspired by the work of Shirley Jackson and Susan Hill and set in a crumbling mansion, The Silent Companion is an unsettling gothic story to send a shiver down the spine. In the gloom she saw a void of white, waiting for her words. She swallowed the pain in her throat. This is a true page turn which is atmospheric and disturbing. It is a suitably chilling serving of Victorian gothic.                                                                                                                                        
26. The Hunger by Alma Katsu                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Based on the true story of The Donner Party, The Hunger is an eerie, shiver-inducing exploration of human nature, pushed to its breaking point. Deeply, deeply disturbing. After having travelled west for weeks, the party of pioneers comes to a crossroads. It is time for their leader, George Donner, to make a choice. This is another spine-chilling story which is an interesting take on a historical event.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
27. The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               As Margot and Piper investigate, a cleverly woven plot unfolds—revealing the story of Sylvie and Rose, two other sisters who lived at the motel during its 1950s heyday. Each believed the other to be something truly monstrous, but only one carries the secret that would haunt the generations to come. This is an amazing, deadly mystery that will keep you reading long into the night.                                                                                                                                                                                  
28. Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Into the Drowning Deep is a 2017 science fiction horror novel by Mira Grant. It is the follow-up to her 2015 novella Rolling in the Deep. It focuses on Tori Stewart, a sonar specialist who becomes obsessed with mermaids after her sister's disappearance. Tori vows to discover the truth about what happened to her sister. This is a great book full of science and horror but also has some criticism.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
29. Devoted by Dean Koontz                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       From Dean Koontz, the internationally bestselling master of suspense comes an epic thriller about a terrifying killer and the singular compassion it will take to defeat him. Woody Bookman hasn't spoken a word in his eleven years of life. Not when his father died in a freak accident. This is a book which many people enjoyed and drawn many of the readers in.                                                                                                                                                                                           
30. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The Only Good Indian follows four men who were involved in a hunting incident ten years before the events of the book, an event that would go on to shape their lives significantly. This book is a Relentless, brutal and clever supernatural battle which takes you on a unique horror adventure.
                  
31. The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          The Ballad of Black Tom tells the story of Charles Thomas Tester, an African American living in Harlem in the 1920s who makes a living through hustling, using the cover provided by posing as a blues musician to smuggle occult texts. This novel is gorgeous prose which offers an uncomfortable look at racism in Lovecraft and the US. This is a dark, beautiful excellent ready for those who love Lovecraftian Novels and Novels that tackle the issues of racism.    
32. The Need by Helen Phillips                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       When Molly, home alone with her two young children, hears footsteps in the living room, she tries to convince herself it’s the sleep deprivation. She’s been hearing things these days. Startling at loud noises. Imagining the worst-case scenario. It’s what mothers do, she knows. But then the footsteps come again, and she catches a glimpse of movement. Suddenly Molly finds herself face-to-face with an intruder who knows far too much about her and her family. As she attempts to protect those she loves most, Molly must also acknowledge her own frailty. Molly slips down an existential rabbit hole where she must confront the dualities of motherhood: the ecstasy and the dread; the languor and the ferocity; the banality and the transcendence as the book hurtle toward a mind-bending conclusion.

    This book has been “immaculately written” and is a fascinating, ingenious easy read. It contains a touch of sci-fi and then a great exploration of the theme of motherhood. It is a truly compelling and immersive literary thriller that I would love to read myself.                                                                    

33. Devolution by Max Brooks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier's eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined . . . until now. But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town's bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing--and too earth-shattering in its implications--to be forgotten. In these pages, Max Brooks brings Kate's extraordinary account to light for the first time, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own extensive investigations into the massacre and the legendary beasts behind it. This is a really good book however not the authors best work.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
34. Dracul by Dacre Stoker                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Inspired by the notes Dracula's creator left behind, Dracul is a riveting, heart-stoppingly scary novel of Gothic suspense… Dracul reveals not only the true origins of Dracula himself but also of his creator, Bram Stoker . . . and of the elusive, enigmatic woman who connects them. This is a gothic tale offering a prequel to an iconic legend. As one reviewer put’s it, this novel is “A dark, ritch slice of chocolate cake with a few drops of virgin blood, for vampire fans!”                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
35. Full Throttle by Joe Hill                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Featuring two previously unpublished stories, and a bevvy of shocking chillers, Full Throttle is a darkly imagined odyssey through the complexities of the human psyche. Hypnotic and disquieting, it mines our tormented secrets, hidden vulnerabilities, and basest fears. This is an excellent novel, brilliant read and very enjoyable. Ideal for readers who love reading about the human psyche!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
36. Fellside by M.R.Carey                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Fellside by M R Carey begins when Moulson awakes with amnesia, following a house fire and heroin withdrawal. She is sent to Fellside, a maximum-security prison where, on the brink of death due to a hunger strike, the ghost of a small boy gives her a reason to live. Magic Realism in a Women's prison. This novel is worth a read and it is a real page-turner. It is a surprising story with one reviewer commenting how they “wish I could forget it just to experience it again fresh” which I would say shows just how good this book is.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
37. Craven Manor by Darcy Coates                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Daniel is desperate for a fresh start. So when a mysterious figure slides a note under his door offering the position of groundskeeper at an ancient estate, he leaps at the chance, even though it seems too good to be true. Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. This is a solid and entertaining haunted house horror story which is another real page-turner on this list. This is apparently the best book so far from the author and is deliciously gothic full of suspense, horror and the supernatural.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
38. Things We Lost in The Fire by Mariana Enriquez                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Written in hypnotic prose that gives grace to the grotesque, Things We Lost in the Fire is a powerful exploration of what happens when our darkest desires are left to roam unchecked, and signals the arrival of an astonishing and necessary voice in contemporary fiction. Another excellent read which is frightening, modern and memorable. It is disturbing but in a good way!                                                   
39. The Deep by Alma Katsu                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The way Alma Katsu weaves the true story of the Titanic and its sister ship, Britannic, with this dark, terrifying story of possession and haunting is phenomenal. “THE DEEP takes us back to the final days of the Titanic, her sister ship the Britannic, and the mysterious woman who links them both. This is a captivating and well-researched novel which looks at the themes of love, sacrifices, danger and dark fairy tales that may or may not be true.                                                                               
40. The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              People whisper rumours about a family murdered at Ashburn House. They say its old owner, Edith, went mad in the building, and that restless ghosts walk the halls at night. This is an amazing story and a great ghost story which is very good. It is very creepy and a true page-turner which is spooky and mysterious.        

Thank you very much for reading this blog post. I do hope you found some titles you like the sound of and that you will read as there seem to be quite a few good books on this list. Please feel free to subscribe to this blog and read more of my blog posts for all things books from book reviews including of books which are not yet even published all the way to news, views and summaries. Please also donate some money via Paypal using the button at the side of this blog or buy book portal a book by also using the other button at the side of this blog, all your support through donations are greatly appreciated and allow us to continue writing quality blog posts. 

Finally, I hope you have a good Halloween in these strange conditions and stay safe!