Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. In this latest edition of Top Ten Tuesday, readers get a Halloween Freebie, meaning that they can list whatever topic they want, although a horror or Halloween them is encouraged. So, with that in mind, I thought I would take this opportunity to update some previous lists where I highlighted my favourite horror novels.
Back in 2020 for Halloween, I came up with a list where I looked at my top ten favourite horror novels. While horror is not my absolute favourite genre, I ended up producing a rather interesting list with some unique entries that I was very happy with. I must admit that many of my entries are hybrid books which combine horror elements with other genres I prefer to read, however, I think they make for good Halloween fare. This list got a bit of interest, and I decided I would make a bit of effort to come back to update this list every Halloween, especially if I had some new horror novels to add to it. I produced some interesting updates to this list in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and I have once again decided to come back to it again this year, especially as I have had the opportunity to check out some excellent and intense horror reads.
To sort out this update, I took a critical look at the previous version of the list and made some hard decisions about whether any of the horror novels I read in the last year might fit in better. I ended up making a few changes and while I was sad to see some of the previously featured novels removed, I honestly felt that the new entries are better overall horror novels. This resulted in a fun new version of this list, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.
Honourable Mentions:
You Like it Darker by Stephen King
The master of horror, Stephen King, is going to appear a few times on this list, primarily because I’ve been having an epic time reading more of his stuff lately. One of the first books on this list is the recent short story collection, You Like it Darker, which gets an honourable mention here. Featuring a range of compelling and powerful stories, including some very memorable dark reads and even a sequel to the classic novel Cujo, You Like it Darker is an amazing horror book for all fans of Stephen King.
While more of a fantasy/superhero story than a pure horror comic, The Sandman did have some amazing horror sequences in it, including the infamous diner scene. These horror elements are greatly enhanced in the full-cast audiobook and you will end up cringing away from how dark this gothic comic gets. I also must highlight the Act II and Act III audiobooks that were released in subsequent years, especially as they also featured great stories and terrifying scenes.
Warhammer 40,000: The Bookkeeper’s Skull by Justin D. Hill
Fans of this blog will know I’m a big thing of all things Warhammer, and that includes the intriguing Warhammer Horror range. I’ve only read a couple of these so far, but my favourite is The Bookkeeper’s Skull by Justin D. Hill. A haunting and brilliant tale that makes full use of the grim Warhammer 40,000 setting, The Bookkeeper’s Skull was an amazing read, and I look forward to exploring more Warhammer Horror books in the future.
I had to feature one of Maberry’s best pure horror reads, Ink in the honourable mentions. While most of the other Maberry novels with horror elements focus either on zombies or Lovecraftian monsters, Ink features a particularly horrendous tale of a depraved being who steals a person’s tattoos and the precious memories associated with them. Set in one of Maberry’s most iconic settings, Ink had a very disturbing narrative, and I deeply appreciated this unique book.
Top Ten List (unranked):
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
I think it says a lot about my horror choices that the first book on my list is about killer mermaids. Into the Drowning Deep is exceptional book that actually turns a mermaid attack into a pretty terrifying experience. Grant did an amazing job of this book and Into the Drowning Deep comes very highly recommended.
Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
I had a ton of awesome Jonathan Maberry novels that I could have featured on this list, but the obvious choice was the fantastically dark thriller Patient Zero. An epic book that features an elite counterterrorist unit as they attempt to stop terrorists spreading a deadly zombie virus across America, Patient Zero was the first book in a brilliant science fiction thriller series, all of which have a great horror edge to them. I have a lot of love for the thriller aspects of Patient Zero, however, the highlights of this book are the gruesome and terrifying zombie sequences, which sees the protagonists get overwhelmed by hordes of the infected. This results in some truly impressive horror scenes, and I had to include this book on my list as a result.
One of my favourite books from horror icon Stephen King, Holly, is primarily a thriller that sees the titular protagonist investigate a missing persons case. However, there are some devastatingly insidious and horrifying elements loaded into the story, especially with how exceptionally evil the excellent antagonists were. I found myself shuddering multiple times throughout the course of Holly and if that doesn’t make it a horror book, I don’t know what will. This was easily one of the best books and audiobooks of 2023, and I had to feature it on this list as a result.
I had to add this brilliant and compelling horror/science fiction read onto this list. The Dark is one of the best novels I have so far read from author Jeremy Robinson that focuses on an apparent demonic invasion of Earth. Filled with gore, monsters and body mutations, The Dark gets pretty gruesome and scary in places, which blends perfectly with the intense action and Robinson’s quirky humour. An outstanding read, this fantastic horror novel comes highly recommended and was one of my top novels and audiobooks of 2021.
One of the newer entries on this list is the impressive and memorable novel The Gathering by C. J. Tudor. A complex murder mystery set in a remote Alaskan town, The Gathering follows a vampyr expert as they attempt to determine whether a teenage was killed by members of the local vampyr colony, or other outside forces. Cleverly introducing a vampire focused alternate history and using it as a basis for a tense and fascinating mystery, The Gathering was an exceptional read that perfectly utilised its horror elements to enhance the entire thrilling narrative.
The Anomaly is an excellent horror novel from 2018 which follows an unfortunate film crew after they get trapped in a series of ancient caves and are forced to face the terrible horrors waiting for them inside. There are a lot of amazing elements to this book, but I personally appreciated the intense and claustrophobic atmosphere that Rutger was able to produce, especially as most of the novel takes place in the dark. Highly recommended, especially in its audiobook format that deeply enhances the claustrophobic nature of the story.
One of the more unique zombie books out there, World War Z recounts the history a devastating, world-wide zombie apocalypse and the various people it impacts. Told through a brilliant chronicle method where multiple interesting characters recount their distinctive personal stories, you get an impressive, multifaceted narrative that covers the beginning, middle and end of the zombie wars. Epic in its scope and filled with some great stories and characters, it honestly does not take long to get extremely addicted to World War Z, especially on audiobook which features an extremely stacked cast. While the focus is more on exploring the impacts a zombie apocalypse would have on the world, World War Z does have some pretty creepy moment. The darker tales of underwater zombies, massacres of modern armies, and the mental turmoil suffered by zombie survivors, are excellent horror material that makes this an easy book to include here. An epic and outstanding book that lived up to all the hype surrounding it.
Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber
I am a big fan of Star Wars fiction, but I had never been scared while reading a Star Wars novel until I came across Death Troopers. Death Troopers is part of the Star Wars Legends canon and features an Imperial prison ship, which of course contains Han and Chewie, encountering an abandoned Star Destroyer filled with a zombified crew. Watching a bunch of Star Wars characters attempt to escape from zombies is really cool, and Schreiber comes up with a number of gruesome scenes that will definitely stick in your mind. Also, if you really want to get a fright out of this book, make sure to check out the audiobook version of Death Troopers, as the various sound effects they include are extremely disturbing.
In addition to World War Z, Max Brooks also gets featured on this list for the brilliant novel Devolution. Expertly making use of a whole new horror monster when he explores the fate of an isolated community who are attacked by a tribe of sasquatches, Brooks really turns these creatures into a frightening and deadly force of nature, and readers are in for an exciting and well-written tale of survival and brutality.
The final book I want to highlight is the incredible Stephen King book, The Outsider. An extremely tense and disturbing thriller, The Outsider features a captivating narrative that sees local town hero charged with the gruesome murder of a child, with ironclad evidence indicating that he did it. However, the suspect continues to plead his innocence and has an impossibly perfect alibi for the time of the murder. While primarily a thriller, there is some brilliant initial personal horror as you witness a potentially innocent man and town hero so thoroughly painted as a monster before your eyes. King pivots to more supernatural horror elements as the book progresses, which fits perfectly with the dark narrative already ongoing, and the result is an exceptional book that proves deeply disturbing on multiple levels. An incredible read and a worthy final entry on this list.
That’s the end of this latest Top Ten Tuesday list. I think that the new horror novels were great additions to the list, and I think this new version of the list turned out really well. Each of the above novels, both new inclusions and existing ones, are outstanding reads that come highly recommended to all horror fans. I look forward to seeing how this list evolves once again this time next year, especially as I am sure some amazing and spinetingling horror books are likely to come out in the next 12 months.
The Unseen Library 