Horror Books I Read in 2025

I have a love hate relationship with horror books because I love a good horror novel but don’t enjoy being scared too much. Some novels will cause you to look over your shoulders for a few days while others you get lost in.

I don’t find myself reading as much horror books as I would like because they aren’t as good as books in other genres. Few people recommend horror books unless it is a really good novel. But there are popular novels and horror authors that I am still checking out and keep me reading horror novels.

Normally this list would be about the best horror books I read in 2025 but I haven’t read enough horror books to make a list like that. And the ones I read would’t have made that list for the most part. But I still wanted to share them and you can see them below!

Horror Books I Read in 2025

• Pet Sematary by Stephen King
• Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
• The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons
• The Devil’s Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, Jim Rion (Translator)

Pet Semarary

You can’t read a list of the best horror novels without seeing Pet Semarary on it. Stephen King is the king of horror and his books have shaped the genre for the past few decades. But I am just not a fan of his writing style. But I decided to finally get around to reading my first book by King and it was a mediocre experience.

The concept of Pet Seminary is original and it is terrifying. But King’s writing style and pace made me hate most of my reading experience. And maybe it’s just me and not King. Not every author is going to be your favorite and that is fine. I can say I tried and King’s novels just aren’t for me.

Annihilation

I haven’t said much good things about horror books but I am a fan of horror novels and there are books that make me really love this genre. One of the books that I loved a ton was Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. This fantasy, sci-fi, horror novel was one of the best books I read this year and it took all my control to not buy the series right away.

What makes this novel an amazing read is the mystery and VanderMeer keeping the reader in the dark just like the characters. It feels like you are alongside the protagonist as you unearth the mystery at hand. If you love horror books, then this is the one I recommend that you read right away.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

The other horror novel that I enjoyed a lot and ended up reading in two days was The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This is one of my favorite authors right now and I will read anything she writes.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a horror novel about a mad scientist and his daughter who is caught up in his experiments and way of life. Moreno-Garcia is a talented author that knows how to write a book that you can’t put down.

A Winter Haunting

The other horror writer that I am a big fan of is Dan Simmons. If you have read any books by Simons, then you know just how talented of a writer he is. I recently read his novel A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons because I want to read all his books. But I was let down with this novel which is a first for me.

There are a lot of things going for the novel but it just feels like it never comes together for me. The characters are somewhat generic for my liking and the plot of the novel isn’t good enough to redeem it. After finishing this novel, I felt letdown and while the ending is action packed, I expected something from Simmons.

The Devil’s Flute Murders

I have been reading Japanese horror novels and have enjoyed reading novels that are very different from American horror books. I randomly chose The Devil’s Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo and while I have previously enjoyed the locked room mystery novels, this one was not to my liking.

Part of the reason was that is was hard to follow all that was happening. It was too many characters and that doesn’t even get to the weird plot twists that the novel has. I will still check out more books in this series but I hope they are much better than this one.

Conclusion

As you can see, my selection of horror books was all over the place. I read two great horror novels but the other three left me disappointed. I didn’t expect to be disappointed by a Dan Simmons novel but these things happen.

I will try to read a couple more horror books before the end of the year and release a part two. Have you read any of these horror books? What horror books do you recommend? Share your thoughts below. Happy reading!

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