Horror is an extremely broad genre, spanning supernatural tales and stories of mundane but twisted killers. It can be tinged with romance, fused with sci-fi, or focused on mystery. Everyone has their own fears, so choosing the most effective horror novels is a daunting task.
We’ve turned to the wisdom of the crowd by consulting Goodreads, whose millions of members have rated the books that keep them up at night, and it turns out they really like Stephen King. Here’s a ranked list of the top 10 books they chose and why you should read them this spooky season. Mary Shelley was just 18 when she started writing her Gothic horror masterpiece about Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates new life by assembling stolen body parts and is then horrified by what he created.
Shelley’s first child had been born prematurely and died soon after, and the book really drives home the anxiety of birth and failing one's offspring in a way many adaptations of Frankenstein miss. Stephen King’s first novel follows Carrie White, a bullied 16-year-old who develops telekinetic powers and uses them to get vengeance against the mean girls at school. The book’s popularity launched King’s career and made supernatural horror more mainstream.
It’s a tight story, explaining little of Carrie’s powers or her mother’s religious fanaticism, even though it sets up many of the themes that King would continue to explore in more depth in future books. Brian De Palma’s 1976 adaptation began King’s run as the most adapted living author, and Mike Flanagan recently released a miniseries version for Prime Video. A classic Gothic ghost story, The Haunting of Hill House follows a paranormal investigator who gathers people in an isolated mansion to try to prove that the supernatural is real.
As the visitors bond, they begin to experience strange phenomena as they learn about the home’s dark history. Jackson keeps many of the descriptions vague to make it unclear what characters are really experiencing and who is to blame, adding to the story’s eerie quality. Flanagan directed an excellent adaptation for Netflix that focuses on a family’s experience with the home over the decades.
Inspired by a real case of supposed demonic possession, The Exorcist follows the case of Regan MacNeil, a young girl who becomes increasingly disturbed and violent. When doctors can’t help Regan, her mother turns to a Jesuit priest for help. Saving Regan’s soul requires a priest having his own crisis of faith to wrestle with his doubts and the devil.
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