I have an affiliate relationship with Bookshop.org and Malaprop's Bookstore in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Read more on my affiliate page.
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share a Halloween freebie this week. I’m going with the obvious choice and listing my top ten horror books. I thought about listing my top ten horror movies that are based on books but I don’t think I’ve ever watched that many horror movies! I’m such a wimp! Also, I generally love Stephen King’s work but he doesn’t need any more publicity, so I’m avoiding him on this list. So here they are, in no particular order.
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
Devolution by Max Brooks
Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Maplecroft by Cherie Priest
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson
Classics of the Macabre by Daphne du Maurier
The Suicide Motor Club by Christopher Buehlman
That’s my list! Have you read any of these? Did they scare you as much as they scared me? Which books did/would you choose? Link up every Tuesday at That Artsy Reader Girl!
25 Comments
I read NOS4A2 but I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I liked a couple of his other books (The Heart-shaped Box was a favorite). But I’m also not a Stephen King fan. His books are too long and need a good editor. But I do enjoy the story concepts and some of the movies based on his books are really good.
Loved Devolution. That was a fun one. I also really enjoyed MY Best Friend’s Exorcism. Creepy and I loved the ending.
Monstrumologist has been on my list for a bit now. I really need to get to it. And the LIzzie Borden series looks fabulous. Daphne Du Maurier’s collection looks really good too. I didn’t know she had written one. I’ll check the others out. Great list!
I liked The Heart-Shaped Box too. I like King but I know what you mean about needing an editor to cut down on the length.
Monstrumologist scared me to death. I read it when I was working days and my husband was working nights and I’m not sure I slept while I was reading it. It might have been a case of right book, right time but it’s probably scared me more than any other horror novel I read.
I haven’t read any of these. This is the second time I’ve seen My Best Friend’s Exorcism, even though it’s new to me this week.
I really liked My Best Friend’s Exorcism but it was pretty scary!
I don’t read horror even though I enjoy it and film, but the cover to Maplecroft really intrigues me.
Maplecroft was a “fun” mashup of Lizzie Borden’s story and Lovecraftian mythology. It was dark but so good!
I loved Odd Thomas and have read it three times, which is very unusual for me. There are parts that are quite scary, but overall, it’s fairly tame. Nothing like The Shining or It (by Stephen King).
I agree. Odd’s bodachs felt a little demonic though and demons scare me to death. Readers without my hang ups will find it very tame.
I’m a wimp, too! Which surprises me because I used to read so much YA horror as a teen.
Tastes change! I’m surprised I’ve read so much horror this October. I’ve pretty much only been able to focus on YA fantasy since the pandemic started. I thought horror would be a nonstarter. The real world is scary enough as it is right now. But I’ve been reading plenty. I guess it reminds me things could always be worse? 🙂
Ooh, these look spooky! I haven’t read any yet, but Odd Thomas is on my list. I’m a wimp too, though, so I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to any of the others.
I think Odd Thomas should be pretty safe for you. Odd is such a great character. The du Maurier collection might be okay although it was surprisingly disturbing too, but more in a Twilight Zone kind of way.
Cool, thanks! I do want to read Odd Thomas. As far as du Maurier goes, I want to start with Rebecca I think, and then based on writing style I’ll go form there.
Nope, all of these are way, way, way too scary for me.
Horror isn’t for everyone!
I was a huge Stephen King fan in high school and college, but the older I get, the wimpier I get so I don’t read him anymore. I don’t need the nightmares!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
My aunt is the one I credit with turning me onto King and Koontz. She can’t read much horror anymore either!
I’m not a horror fan, but Daphne Du Maurier gets my vote anytime. Good list!
This du Maurier collection was surprisingly disturbing! I can’t wait to watch the new Rebecca movie on Netflix.
I reallllly want to read NOS4A2. I can’t believe I haven’t gotten to that one yet. Same with I Am Legend. I LOVED that movie but haven’t read the book yet. Happy reading!
NOS4A2 is so good! It’s my favorite of Hill’s novels and he would be fairly high on a list of my favorite authors. I Am Legend was scary for me primarily because of Neville’s utter isolation. I don’t know if I’ve watched the entire movie but I’ve seen enough to know that it has very little in common with the book. I do like what I’ve seen of the movie though.
Oooh I would like the Daphne du Maurier’s collection! I’ve seen Devolution and it does seem creepy…
Nice selection. Here’s my Should have, could have, would have Halloween reads
It’s probably been decades since I read the du Maurier collection but it was surprisingly disturbing.
Devolution looks awesome- I love the idea of Sasquatches or Bigfoot going berserk 🙂
You really should read Devolution. I can’t remember if you listen to audiobooks, but I highly recommend that format if you do.