We love horror stories and are always looking for horror books that give us a good scare. But finding great horror books is not easy. That is why we decided to list the 25 best horror books of all time. Keep reading to find out which books made our list!
Like any other genre, horror has books that stand above the rest. We decided to do the impossible and list 25 horror books that we believe are the best of the best. These lists are always fun and lead to debates which is how we know what books people really resonate with. You can see the full list below.
The 25 Best Horror Books of All Time
- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- The Shining by Stephen King
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- It by Stephen King
- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
- Ghost Story by Peter Straub
- Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
- Ring by Koji Suzuki
- Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
- The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
- Bird Box by Josh Malerman
- Pet Sematary by Stephen King
- Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
- Coraline by Neil Gaiman
- NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
- Carrie by Stephen King
- Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
- The Stand by Stephen King
- At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
- The Bad Seed by Maxwell Anderson
Lots of Classics
No horror list is complete without including Frankenstein and Dracula in my opinion. Not only did these novels pioneer and steer the genre but have become the face of the genre. And the author that has been nicknamed the king of horror is none other than Stephen King.
Some of my favorite novels in this genre include the two mentioned before as well as Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. Writing horror novels is not easy and yet Simmons makes it feel like that in this novel. The novel reads as a thriller as well as a horror novel and it makes you think about monsters that hide in plain sight.
Conclusion
That is all for our list of the best 25 horror books of all time. Which books should we have included on our list? Let us know in the comments below. Until next time, happy reading!
Frankenstein still gives me the chills. i first read it when i was twelve and it scared the shit out of me.
Dracula is superior as an example of early horror. The group of friends trope before it was a trope. The power of love. An undead nightmare barely described. Hitchcock before Hitchcock in a sense
I agree with many of the choices on this list. Three books that I would add are all by Dean Koontz: Darkfall, Phantoms, and Intensity. Not only are they great reads, but done with the right director and cast, would make awesome series on a streaming network.
I always look for The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen and am always disappointed. It is the scariest book ive ever read. Even Stephen King himself thinks its terrifying
Where is house of leaves?
No Dean Koontz?
Try Fear Nothing