There’s nothing worse than reading a book you love so much that you feel the intense need to talk to someone about it, but you can’t find anyone who’s read it. You’re then left with all those thoughts and love, with nowhere to put them.
The horror books on this list are very much those for me. They’ve all got under 10,000 ratings on Goodreads, but they deserve way, way more. These books promise narratives of nightmares turned premonitions, schoolteachers confronted with ancient evils, and black holes. They’re the best horror books you haven’t read, but you really, really should!
Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel
After their father dies and their mother is unable to take care of him, 25-year-old Calla becomes the guardian of her youngest brother, Jamie. Her other brother, Dre, promises to help, but his follow-through is lacking. Plagued by nightmares in which her brothers die, Calla is struggling under the weight of keeping them all afloat. After Jamie gets into trouble at a protest, the siblings flee to a remote cabin where her nightmares may prove to be premonitions.
My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
Tananarive Due is a horror powerhouse, but many readers sleep on her earlier novels. After Jessica marries David, she’s expecting a lifetime of happiness and marital bliss. For years, they live happily as they raise their daughter and Jessica pursues a journalism career. Then David confesses to being immortal, part of an ancient Ethiopian sect of sorts that he’s been a part of for hundreds of years. Now, with unexplained murders surrounding them, David is torn between his wife and daughter and the immortals he belongs to, who frown upon his ties to his mortal family.
The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan
Toxic mold lurks beneath the surface of a crumbling Toronto, popping up at a luxury apartment building called The Marigold. In interweaving stories, residents of The Marigold attempt to survive while public health inspectors are called in to address the spreading mold that claims more and more lives, and the building’s owner turns to extremes to keep construction of The Marigold II going. Sinkholes, climate disasters, and ancient rituals collide in this near-future apocalyptic romp.
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Grey Dog by Elliott Gish
After a scandal sends her fleeing from her previous position, Ada Byrd takes a teaching job in Lowry Bridge for a new start. As she acclimates to the community around her, she forms a connection with the pastor’s wife and finds her students in desperate need of her help. After her teaching style clashes with the local community, the town turns against her. At the same time, she’s confronted with visions of animals mutilating themselves, swarms of crickets, and other disturbing imagery.
The Cipher by Kathe Koja
When Nicholas and his girlfriend Nakota find a hole in a utility closet of his apartment building, they don’t think much of it. Then, their fascination grows as they start putting items into the hole, nicknaming it the Funhole, to see what might come back. Things escalate when Nicholas decides to put his own hand into the hole and pulls it out to find a new black hole in his palm. Body horror and psychological terror collide in this unique horror story.
Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado
For young adult horror fans, this is a fantastic hidden gem. Sixteen-year-old Raquel knows no one is paying attention to a plague of disappearances in the Bronx. But when her crush’s cousin goes missing and her mom falls ill, she starts investigating. She and her crush, Charlize, uncover The Echo Game, a game that’s rumored to trap people in some underground world beneath the city. They must play the game to find out what’s causing the disappearances, even if it means meeting the same fate as the others.
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