Recommend horror novels, with caveats
October 7, 2024 6:29 AM Subscribe
I used to really enjoy the horror genre, but when COVID started I couldn't tolerate it any more. I want to get back into it. Can you recommend novels that meet the following criteria? A) Do not involve zombies or other infectious disease--because COVID, B) Do not rely on the death of a woman or children (or threat of such) to motivate a man--unless the woman is a total badass and saves herself, C) Involve some element of the supernatural. Ideally published in the last 5ish years.
I'm about halfway through This Wretched Valley and am really enjoying it so far. I believe it ticks all your boxes.
posted by orrnyereg at 6:59 AM on October 7
posted by orrnyereg at 6:59 AM on October 7
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia would both fit the bill!
posted by brook horse at 7:05 AM on October 7 [2 favorites]
posted by brook horse at 7:05 AM on October 7 [2 favorites]
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (Yes, that Chuck Tingle)
posted by Captain_Science at 7:06 AM on October 7 [6 favorites]
posted by Captain_Science at 7:06 AM on October 7 [6 favorites]
Grady Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House is also really really good. Hendrix is a good writer and I actively root for him as he is from my home state.
posted by Kitteh at 7:10 AM on October 7 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 7:10 AM on October 7 [1 favorite]
Seconding T. Kingfisher! Also:
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Starling House by Alix Harrow
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
Simone St. James writes some good spooky novels that are low-stakes
The Family Plot by Cherie Priest is also a good spooky read
I really liked Grady Hendrix's Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, but I do always warn people that there is a sexual assault in it, so if that's something you'd prefer to avoid, just be aware of it.
posted by maryellenreads at 7:58 AM on October 7
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Starling House by Alix Harrow
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
Simone St. James writes some good spooky novels that are low-stakes
The Family Plot by Cherie Priest is also a good spooky read
I really liked Grady Hendrix's Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, but I do always warn people that there is a sexual assault in it, so if that's something you'd prefer to avoid, just be aware of it.
posted by maryellenreads at 7:58 AM on October 7
Also came in to say T. Kingfisher. The Hollow Places, The Twisted Ones and A House with Good Bones are all great, and fit the bill.
What Moves the Dead (and presumably its sequel, which I haven't yet read) is also horror, but it might come a little too close to failing criterion (a).
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 8:20 AM on October 7
What Moves the Dead (and presumably its sequel, which I haven't yet read) is also horror, but it might come a little too close to failing criterion (a).
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 8:20 AM on October 7
I am a huge fan of ghost stories, and also have the same criteria for all my reading! For the most part, I just stopped reading books written by men because of your reason #2 (and because boobs make for a poor character trait). So the recommendations below have all been vetted and should meet your criteria.
No One Dies Yet by Kobby Ben Ben. Truly weird and fascinating queer genre-bending Ghanian ghost story.
Mother Doll by Katya Apekina. Awesomely badass grandmother haunting a pathetic narrator who deliberately makes bad choices to spite her mother.
The Shabti by Megaera Lorenz. Cute and entertaining gay romance between a fake Spiritualist and an Egyptologist with a haunted object in his museum.
The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James. This author is worth checking out if you like noir-ish detective novels that are also supernatural. This is more of a thriller, so trigger warning that it involves murder, sexual assault, & serial killers. But the protagonists are all bad-ass women out seeking revenge. She's a great writer as well. Another one by her is The Book of Cold Cases.
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Morena Garcia. Personally I think her writing is kinda over-rated, but this earlier novel by the author of Mexican Gothic has some cool concepts in it. It's a fun and easy read.
Haunted Houses by Charlotte Riddle. A now forgotten 19th Century best-selling ghost story writer, this is a re-print of two shortish old-school ghost stories.
Tokyo Uno Station by Miri Yo. Told from the perspective of a ghost stuck haunting the park where he lived homeless after walking out on his family, this is a really sad but beautiful book.
I could go on, but this is probably enough for now!!
posted by EllaEm at 10:02 AM on October 7 [2 favorites]
No One Dies Yet by Kobby Ben Ben. Truly weird and fascinating queer genre-bending Ghanian ghost story.
Mother Doll by Katya Apekina. Awesomely badass grandmother haunting a pathetic narrator who deliberately makes bad choices to spite her mother.
The Shabti by Megaera Lorenz. Cute and entertaining gay romance between a fake Spiritualist and an Egyptologist with a haunted object in his museum.
The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James. This author is worth checking out if you like noir-ish detective novels that are also supernatural. This is more of a thriller, so trigger warning that it involves murder, sexual assault, & serial killers. But the protagonists are all bad-ass women out seeking revenge. She's a great writer as well. Another one by her is The Book of Cold Cases.
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Morena Garcia. Personally I think her writing is kinda over-rated, but this earlier novel by the author of Mexican Gothic has some cool concepts in it. It's a fun and easy read.
Haunted Houses by Charlotte Riddle. A now forgotten 19th Century best-selling ghost story writer, this is a re-print of two shortish old-school ghost stories.
Tokyo Uno Station by Miri Yo. Told from the perspective of a ghost stuck haunting the park where he lived homeless after walking out on his family, this is a really sad but beautiful book.
I could go on, but this is probably enough for now!!
posted by EllaEm at 10:02 AM on October 7 [2 favorites]
Yes to T. Kingfisher, yes to Grady Hendrix. I'd also recommend The Final Girl Support Group by Hendrix. It just barely meets criteria C, but the way that it does was my favorite part of the book.
Some others:
Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig, is a horror book about heirloom apples that somehow works.
The September House by Carissa Orlando has a female protagonist and is an interesting intervention in the horror as metaphor for trauma subgenre.
posted by Ragged Richard at 10:05 AM on October 7
Some others:
Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig, is a horror book about heirloom apples that somehow works.
The September House by Carissa Orlando has a female protagonist and is an interesting intervention in the horror as metaphor for trauma subgenre.
posted by Ragged Richard at 10:05 AM on October 7
btw Grady Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House is probably one of the most violent books I've ever read. I was not prepared for how graphic it would be. After the first few chapters there is literally no plot - it's just really endlessly detailed descriptions of improbably gross and violent things happening to the main characters. ymmv
posted by EllaEm at 10:05 AM on October 7
posted by EllaEm at 10:05 AM on October 7
September House. Warning: about two hours from the end you're going to go OH FFS thinking it's the end and it's terrible. It's not the end, and it's not terrible.
The audiobook is fantastic, by the way. It made a 2-day drive from southern Utah to Portland go by like it was nothing.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:30 AM on October 7
The audiobook is fantastic, by the way. It made a 2-day drive from southern Utah to Portland go by like it was nothing.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:30 AM on October 7
Would Tamsyn Muir's The Locked Tomb series count?
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 10:43 AM on October 7 [1 favorite]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 10:43 AM on October 7 [1 favorite]
My apologies for coming off as someone who can't follow instructions, but I highly recommend Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. Caveats:
1. It's from 2017, so slightly older than 5 years
2. It's a short story collection, not a novel
3. You'll have to skip the story "Inventory," which is about a deadly pandemic.
But otherwise I think you'll really appreciate it. It's very original and every story is from a woman's point of view (except for one that's from the point of view of a TV Guide).
posted by ejs at 11:06 AM on October 7 [1 favorite]
1. It's from 2017, so slightly older than 5 years
2. It's a short story collection, not a novel
3. You'll have to skip the story "Inventory," which is about a deadly pandemic.
But otherwise I think you'll really appreciate it. It's very original and every story is from a woman's point of view (except for one that's from the point of view of a TV Guide).
posted by ejs at 11:06 AM on October 7 [1 favorite]
What Moves the Dead (and presumably its sequel, which I haven't yet read) is also horror, but it might come a little too close to failing criterion (a).
What Moves the Dead crosses the infectious line, but the sequel, What Feasts at Night does not.
Also T. Kingfisher has a rule that pets don't die. All of her books that I've read feature a non male protagonist, and most of the fairytale ones are also horror adjacent (like good Fairytales are): A Sorceress Comes to Call;Thorn Hedge; and Nettle and Bone are the most recent.
posted by Gygesringtone at 12:19 PM on October 7 [3 favorites]
What Moves the Dead crosses the infectious line, but the sequel, What Feasts at Night does not.
Also T. Kingfisher has a rule that pets don't die. All of her books that I've read feature a non male protagonist, and most of the fairytale ones are also horror adjacent (like good Fairytales are): A Sorceress Comes to Call;Thorn Hedge; and Nettle and Bone are the most recent.
posted by Gygesringtone at 12:19 PM on October 7 [3 favorites]
Nthing Grady Hendrix - it hits the horror sweet spot for me. In addition to the books above I also recommend Final Girl Support Group and Horrorstor.
posted by jeoc at 1:14 PM on October 7
posted by jeoc at 1:14 PM on October 7
For something quite different that still meets all of your criteria, try Julia Armfield's Our Wives Under the Sea.
posted by goo at 3:25 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]
posted by goo at 3:25 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]
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I am currently reading A House with Good Bones by her, which I bet would also be worth recommending.
I want to recommend the Angel Lake trilogy by Stephen Graham Jones, but alas, I bounced hard off the first novel. It sounded perfect for me but I just couldn't find my way in and I was mad that I didn't like it more.
posted by Kitteh at 6:36 AM on October 7 [5 favorites]