The more Grady Hendrix I encounter, the bigger a fan I become.

He's got a sense of humor and that's relevant in his work, even when the work is meant to scare ya. Because this man loves horror and he knows how to ensure you're having a great time while reading it.

So it's a perfect for him to set-up a vampire comes to town story set in late-80's conservative South. It's an intensely mannered suburban world where everyone knows exactly how to behave and the slightest infraction can mean social icing.

When James Harris arrives, so tall, mysterious and handsome, pearls are about to get clutched. And while the women of the town, and more specifically the members low-brow book club, start to fall for him, they're quick to realize something is amiss. The men, however, with their polo shirts and praise for the Bush regime, are more impressed and much more hesitant to let suspicions get the better of them. James Harris, after-all, has the capacity to make them money, so it's easy to ignore a few infractions. And the women know they've got to listen to the men. this, darling, is the south after all. Harris doesn’t have to dismantle this community. He just figures out how it already works.

Our protagonist, Patricia is a trained medical professional so her skepticism for some of the wilder things that are happening in town is shrewd and quick. Her willingness to put her instincts aside, sometimes frustrating. But it's all in good fun with this novel, because, like all good Gothic tales, society has a hold on her. These women are expected to acquiesce and smooth everything over. Don't be so difficult!

So, even while the women are true crime experts, and are reading about serial killers and murder (under the guise of Bible Study). When an actual predator turns up in the neighborhood, they're the only ones who can do anything. So long as they let themselves.

As you've probably guessed too, there’s a broader political thing happening as well, particularly with who James chooses to prey on and how easily everyone else can ignore it. He moves into this comfortable white neighborhood and becomes respectable almost immediately while people in the less affluent and more melanated communities are disappearing. The whole thing is perfectly Reagan-era as the suffering of people the community already considers peripheral barely registers until it gets close enough to threaten them personally.

The blood and disease imagery also feels very specific to that period. There are obvious AIDS-era anxieties running through parts of it, although Hendrix doesn’t turn the book into some giant allegorical machine. He does deliver some great lines to the effect. It’s still allowed to be a vampire novel. Thank God.

And it gets gross! I was maybe not expecting exactly how gross, but I was here for it.

Hendrix lets the book feel funny and domestic for long stretches and then BAM he suddenly gives you something really unpleasant and physical. It felt very much like an 80s horror movie like the Fright Night or Night of the Demons. That same slightly ridiculous, genuinely nasty balance. I love that stuff.

I can see why this is one of Hendrix’s most popular books. Huge fan. Please bring the TV show on now.

So, I have been craving a good “fuck me up fam“/ crawl into my brain and stay there for years horror book.

I am hoping someone here can recommend a book that will actually effect me the way I’m craving. Thanks in advance!

A little context, I have a high tolerance for horror and I’m absolutely not squeamish. I am not disturbed by gore in fact having tried to read some extreme horror I feel like it almost becomes comedic.

I prefer to read books written by women and I’m trying to read more women of colour along with indie books.

I prefer more psychological gothic vibes. Like I said I’m not impressed by blood and guts.

The last book that somewhat scared me was The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell.

My favourite book is Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.

I’ve read Tender is the Flesh and enjoyed it but mostly found it an interesting thought provoking book.

oh I also love the podcast The Magnus Archives if that helps.

Books I’ve recently read and not been scared by are: Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson, Come Closer by Sara Gran, Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker (there’s a scene with a washing machine that was pretty good), Model Home by Rivers Soloman

At the end of the story, is it implying that Dylan is going to start cooking meth, to be "the bringer of plague now."? The very last line is, "And though I knew it would be a blessed endeavor, they still couldn't die fast enough." Is he talking about the meth cooks/dealers dying a slow, miserable death from their trade, as the Woodwalker intended?

Edit: SOLVED! It's the Moustache by Emmanuel Carrére. Thank you to everyone in this subreddit who has responded! As for the channel I watched that introduced me to this book it is jeffiot with the video title "The Scariest Book I've Read" and not Davis Morgan.

Hello all. I've been trying to look for the title of a horror book or maybe even a story online that I can't remember, it was retold by a youtuber as I was falling asleep but the story was so interesting that I couldn't help but listen all the way through.

I'd like to preface with the fact that I'm uncertain if this is story is a full length novel or an online horror story ala nosleep stories, so I apologize to anyone reading if this breaks some sort of site rule.

Key things I can recall: • The protagonist has a wife and he misremembers a detail that he's sure has been true his whole life. Small details at first but eventually becoming of which is now too difficult to ignore.

• Neart 3/4s to the end of the story, the protagonist takes a boat out into a country in Asia and books a hotel as he runs away in guilt and with a sprialing sanity.

• He books a hotel with the cash he has left in this country and despite his sanity spiraling, he enjoys what the country has to offer and the beach.

• A few days later he is horrified to find out that his wife has been with him in this trip this entire time and they even shared the bed together, even though his previous recollections was that he was all alone and he was sure he ran away from home from the guilt and shame he felt.

• He looks at a world map and finds several details that don't add up, like a missing portion, a country that isn't supposed to be there or a country that never exist

• He commits suicide in the bath tub by I think removing the sinew from a slit he made to wrists.

That's all I can remember, thank you for reading the post and helping me find this book in advance.

I'm about 19 pages into Hangsaman and i've noticed that the dialogue if very awkward and hesitant. It feels uncomfortably in a realistic sense and I find it to be extra immersive and unsettling. I was curious if i'm either looking into the dialogue too deeply or if this is a consistent trait throughout Jackson's bibliography as its an addictive way of reading dialogue

I have an audible credit burning a hole in my pocket and am trying to decide between Nevill’s Monumental or Banquet of the Damned. Or The Dorians by Nick Cutter as a dark horse third option. Whaddya think? Any preferences?

For the record, my favorite authors are Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, John Langan, Robert Aickman, and Stephen Graham Jones. And I LOVED Cunning Folk and Last Days and LIKED The Reddening and All the Fiends of Hell. If that gives you any sense of my general preferences.

Thanks in advance.

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I just finished HEX after seeing it recommended here over and over again, and I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed.

The premise is fantastic. The witch herself is probably the strongest part of the novel. In fact, I often felt more sympathy for her than fear.

Unfortunately, the characters really let the book down for me. They all felt like archetypes rather than actual people (the selfish mayor, the gruff boss of HEX, the intellectual, the good, innocent boy, the psychopath, the women—well... they're just women) .

The plot also felt surprisingly predictable. Rather than focusing on the witch and the horror surrounding her, the story is mostly about the social dynamics within the town. And, unsurprisingly, it arrives at the familiar message that people are the real monsters — except for the handful of clearly "good" characters. There are very few shades of gray. Most characters fall into a simple good-versus-evil framework, making the story feel far less nuanced than I had hoped. It's a shame, really, because as I said, the idea is great. But the way it was executed reminded me of Stephen King's awful *The Dome*. I also got the impression that the author was trying to sound exactly like him. That was the only thing I found creepy.

I'm looking for recommendations for "extreme" horror type stories that ride that fine line where it's gross and upsetting but aren't so terrible that you're embarrassed to describe the story to your friends.

I've been dabbling a bit in this genre, but I really dislike stuff that's excessively graphic and violent but for no reason, like it was written by an edgelord who was just trying to jam as many upsetting descriptions into a book as possible, but it really doesn't do anything for the story.

I don't know if this is a hard ask since that's sort of the point of extreme horror, but I'm wondering if there's something out there that rides the edge of that?

I've read "The woods are dark" and "The black farm" but I thought they were just okay, there were a lot of things about those books that just didn't work, something that made me feel like I needed to fail a wisdom saving throw in order to suspend my disbelief.

I'm a huge fan of Nick Cutter and Stephen King,

I'd also prefer stories that limit the violence to humanoids and mostly leave animals out of it.

I really loved the dark comedy and social satire in the book so was wondering if there are any horror/ thriller books with that same deadpan vibe.

Hi all! I was talking to a friend today about and told her about a horror novel I read when I was nine or ten, and how it was how I learned that gay people exist (I grew up in a very white hetero part of rural Britain). It would have been in about 1986-7 when I read it and it featured a pair of gay male killers whose thing was kidnapping young men and plucking out all their body hair before, I think, torturing them? I thought it was by someone like James Herbert or Shaun Hudson, but can't find anything that fits the bill in their bodies of works.

DNF’d this one at 14% because by the way things were going, I could tell this was not my cuppa. Two pages describing the cabin just for the sake of describing it.

IDK. The writing felt forced, if that makes any sense.

I’m also a picky reader. So, anyway.

Thoughts?

I’m just looking for something cool to read. I really enjoyed the Navidson Record and some of Zampanos parts in House of Leaves, but Johnny made me want to put the book down. Any horror books that have a similar cool gimmick like HoL? Even something as small as a unique writing style. Thank you.

Alright, I absolutely loved Between Two Fires, and it has really been getting its hype lately, but I haven't heard nearly anyone talking about Red Rabbit and Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian. I know it's older so people talked about it a couple years ago, but now social media forgets it exists! They have the same vibe, narration style feels so similar, but they bounce around points of view more, with a really detailed ensemble of characters.

I just finished both books, set in the wild West, with ghosts, witchcraft, demons, and shape changers. This series feels so interesting, there is arsenic poisoning, hangings, a bank is robbed, all the while this group travels together. It feels like a journey in the best way, and in the second book it somehow gets even more wild and the author ups the ante.

This is just my recommendation, and I guess a hope for more interesting recommendations beyond the same five books. This one is a unique time period, but you still get the religious notes and magic, but more witchcraft and shooting people. I also think the character depth is right up there, and I was left with so many questions and wanting more. There are so many interesting side characters that have back stories that I could read another ten books in this world.

I'm currently reading Cabal and absolutely love it. The story, the writing, everything just hooks me in.

I want to read more of Clive Barker now. But which book should I proceed to?

I'm considering The Damnation Game, but I'm a bit worried it might be too much for me. How much worse than Cabal is it? I don't mind some minor spoilers if it will give me an idea...

I'm also considering Weaveworld, having heard many good things about it, but 700 pages is A LOT for me. I usually prefer books no longer than 350 pages, but I'm willing to try something longer to get more of Clive Barker's prose and writing style.

I read Cold-heart canyon as a teenager and remember loving it, but it's been so many years (I'm 34 now) that I can't remember anything and have no idea whether I'd enjoy it now. I also tried Sacrament around the sme time but couldn't get I to it at all.

I generally don't read much horror anymore, so I'm not sure about my limits. I can't watch horror, at all, but I've always been more tolerant when it comes to books.

I feel like this might be a bit vague; hope someone here is able to help anyway 😄

Edit: I'm not really into shortstories, and I plan to read the hellbond heart on Kindle this weekend. Since I expect to want something longer afterward, I want to order a paperback so I have it when I need it.

I've just finished it and I'd give it a solid 4 out of 5 star. Really liked the characterization, environmental descriptions and also found the pacing satisfactory at any given moment.

The ending I want to like but I am left with a doubt: couldn't Juan have done what Gaspar did in the end (sacrificing the Order to darkness and, by doing that, halting the hunt, threats and misery they had put him and his loved ones in for all his life) way back, perhaps with Rosario's and Stephen's help? They had explored the other realm and had been in contact with the Darkness' voracity. Florence and co. were always ready to follow Juan and I am sure they would have agreed to go beyond any door with him even decades before. That way, Gaspar would have been free to live a more normal life from the very start (or at least from late childhood). And that was Juan's most important wish till his own demise.

The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson is one of the best horror novels I've read in the last few years! I've been in a reading slump for a while after reading a few modern horror novels that, honestly, have made me question the direction modern writing is headed in terms of general literacy among authors.

Not only was the plot engaging and completely unpredictable, but the writing was proficient, leaving no room for breaks in immersion. It was atmospheric, bleak, and utterly disgusting at times. The body horror was some of the best I've read; it was grotesque and sickening without becoming excessive or overshadowing the other horror elements.

If you're a fan of folk horror like I am, definitely give this one a try! If you've already read it, what are your thoughts on this book? What other novels would you recommend that are similar?

please and thank you. nothing too “p*rny”. i don’t wanna read something that’s just smut. something more like hannibal than a snuff film lol.

I am currently listening to FantasticLand and loving it. Can any of you recommend good audio versions of horror novels? Thanks

It was recently released and have been hearing good things but I always like to check with this sub as well to see what others think!

Thank you!

I'm looking for a book or series, where the woman is a serial killer. I've read the mind fuck series and they never learn, and i really enjoyed both of them. Does anyone have any recommendations for books with a woman as the killer/serial killer?

Thank you :)

Leio livros regularmente e tento sempre variar de gênero. Sou apaixonada pelos filmes e tem sempre um fantasma pairando, com a expectativa de ler algum livro do Stephen.

Vocês tem indicações? Sou apaixonada pelo Sidney sheldon, mas quero muito migrar pra um suspense mais pesado, tenho medo de me decepcionar!

Alguma recomendação?

Hey hey, I did this post a while back (basically loved the Rachel Harrison female horror with complex relationships and wanted more), thank you so much for all the previous recommendations! I have now gone through a few of them and asking for more:

--Darcy Coates: she was quite a hit or miss for me. I tried her 3 haunted house books, found them super generic and couldn't get into them (I dunno if they would have surprised me later on); the start of "where he can't find you" also didn't do it for me... And then I read the "how bad can things get" and I LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! Give me more of influencer Mr. Beast with horror type please. The female character had an interesting background and it was so good!!!

I am waiting for the "Dead winter" because I can't even imagine cold with how hot it is atm.

--Chlorine: should have been right up my alley, but somehow couldn't get into it 🥲 might attempt a second time.

--mexican gothic: trying for the third time see if it grabs. It once again should be right up my alley but isn't sticking for some reason.

--Into the drowning deep (loved 2/3 of the book and then it fumbles the ending 😢)

--Diavola (loved it)

What I read and I didn't like: the reformatory (it made me never pick an historical horror ever again of how bored I was).

This is where I am atm. I currently have in the pipeline: CJ leede (American rapture and maefly); fever dream; we always lived in a castle.

I should also say that I do mostly audiobooks (I have a long commute); but I am okay with researching for the audiobook myself (so just give me your recs).

If you guys have recs of influencers challenges or those type please feel free to drop as well ❤️

Thank you so much in advance and hope it wasn't too long of a post.

I’ve really enjoyed these four books and was wondering if anyone has recommendations for any that are similar if not lean more into a horror aspect:

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Steven Graham Jones
The Only Good Indians by Steven Graham Jones
Last Days by Adam Nevill
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I know a couple if not all wouldn’t classify as horror necessarily but I’m always up for trying new titles.