Best Horror of the Past 10 Years 👻 Goodreads vs Me

A Certain Hunger was not for me. I can just put it on the list of like cannibalism books that everyone else goes gaga over that I don't really understand the hype for.

I also would like to submit A House at the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malerman because I will take any opportunity to talk about this novella. I thought it was perfect.

And then I also put a Y on my list for lack of other options and The Trees Crept In. It's written uniquely. There's like big bold words all over the page and things get really tiny. I just thought it was very effective for what it was at the time and I gave it a four.

Bad Eater, another book club pick of mine. Glad that it's up here. it was definitely disgusting and it dealt with grief. I think it was well done.

And then Blood on Her Tongue, I gave a three, just a classic gothic one. I'm kind of surprised to see it here.

and then Book of the Most Precious Substance is a book about like sex magic. It's sad. It's sexual. It's odd. It doesn't really fit super well in one specific genre. But that was a good showing for me.

Brat is also on my list. I don't necessarily recommend this one. It's barely horror, barely a ghost story, but it is really nasty. He's very unlikable as a main character.

I also gave Buffalo Hunter a four. this is objectively one of Stephen Graham Jones's best. He's my favorite author. it was a little bit long, but four star easily.

And then of course I have Bunny on here. I think it should be here because obviously like hi, I'm I'm the number one fan girl of Bunny. It's like dark academia, an MFA program, girls doing experiments, there's rabbits. It's dark and it's weird.

I also put Catherine House which I would recommend less, but it is this woman who gets stuck in this school. It's very fever dream, she's pretty apathetic and it's just like a strange meandering through the story.

Chasing the Boogeyman, I don't know about this being on a horror list. I gave it a three. pretty like detective-y. I barely remember it.

As will my next one, Chlorine. This is a coming-of-age more coming-of-age and horror. It's about a woman willing to destroy her body to become a mermaid.

Come With Apples I really think is the perfect novella. I think it should be here. it's ominous and weird. It has a great explanation.

And then Curse Bunny, surprised to see here. I guess it has a good amount of readers. Again, love seeing a translated pick from another country. I gave that one a three. I think the stories were kind of forgettable for me.

Daphne is just a meditation on anxiety and you don't really get to know all of the characters. The big bad villain is not, you know, the scariest you've ever met, but I love it. I gave that one five a five.

Dead Silence I also gave a three. I don't love a lot of sci-fi horror, but there's been a few.

Diabola, it's kind of like vacation gothic horror. I thought it was fine. I gave it a three.

Fantastic Land I think is quite good for it coming out like almost 10 years ago. Again though, it's not going to be for everybody. It's about the aftermath of a storm. I thought it was interesting.

Feast While You Can I would recommend more. It is a slower one. It's a really classic like Kayla pick that is a slow possession story, sapphic, a lot of navigating relationships and small town gossip, but there is a good amount of horror in it.

And then I also put Fever Dream on my list because I've been talking about books that feel like fever dreams. This is the fever dream. It's like a psychological horror about a woman and a young boy and the stories they're telling each other.

Follow I also put on my list even though I only gave it a four. It's a really interesting concept. I wish that I got by the reveal in here. It's a married couple and one is selected to go on this trip basically.

And Follow Me to Ground it's about a woman and a father, her father, who bury people in the town to heal them. The town has supported them throughout the years until now.

I'm happy to see Gwendy's Button Box here because I also have it on my list. The rest of the series, not so much. But this one is just so interesting. A device that you can make bad things happen with. It was a novella, I really liked it.

Adding on to my 2024 list is The Haunting of Velkwood. This one's maybe more paranormal than horror, but I love a grief angle. So it's just the combination of all of these things was perfect for me.

Her Body and Other Parties also made my list. I feel like people don't talk about this one enough. Short stories but really a mix of imaginative stuff and familiar kind of stories.

we have Hidden Pictures, which I genuinely just did not get the hype for, still continue not to get the hype for. I gave it two stars. I just think the book itself as it stands alone is kind of dull.

Come Before Dark I'm also happy to see here being called horror rather than mystery thriller. It is a mix, but I also put this one on my list. You've got a woman going to her childhood home and we're also reading from her father about what happened in the home.

Horror Movie is also on my personal best list. This is like my favorite that kind of is in that realm. I usually hate that style of book.

I think House of Hunger might get a pass. It's still lower in horror, but it looks and sounds more like a vampire story than it actually is.

How to Sell a Haunted House was not for me. I would recommend both of those though. I gave both of those two stars, I think.

Hunger Stone's more of a soft DNF. I feel like people could convince me to get back into it, but I just don't really care for either of those ones.

I Was a Teenage Slasher of course is the most underrated book on my favorites list. people not gagging over this has me still reeling a year later. If you love horror movies, this one is a must.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things I also put on my list. I gave this a three, but for lack of having a ton of options from this year anyway, I decided to include it and also it's something I recommend a lot.

If It Bleeds, a short story collection that's like fine. It's just here cuz it's Stephen King.

And then Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky, I just think was too long. Again, it's about like a child though and I don't always love again the children centric books.

I'm also going to add Immaculate Conception in here. I think it's a little bit slept on. It's slower for sure, a little meandering, but it deals with art and friendship and coercion and pregnancy.

Incidents Around the House, I DNF'd that one. It's not for me. Most like childhood-centric horror I don't end up loving.

Into the Drowning Deep I've read, I gave it a three. You know, scary mermaid story. Definitely understand that one. I love Seanan McGuire, this is not my favorite of Seanan McGuire's stuff.

Knock Open Wide absolutely has to make my list. I think it could have if more people had read it. this is Irish folksy about a couple, but also there's another timeline and a strange TV show from childhood that's kind of haunting people.

Later I was going to say is an underrated one. It's just a paranormal detective kind of story and I thought it was really good. I gave it a four.

I also have a sci-fi horror on my list, one of the only that I've really loved, Leech. This one is about a hive mind. I love an intellectual main character. It's creepy and nasty.

Little Eyes is also on my list. It's a novel that's kind of short story collection. We have these stuffed animals that have cameras in them and we're reading stories from people who are watching through the cameras. And it was just it was a really fascinating experience.

Lone Women I've read. I gave it a three. This is another historical one.

Mayfly, we have a very opposite main character. she is persuading others. she has dark goals. And maybe it doesn't go as far as a lot of people hope with the horror and with like how extreme the cover looks. I like to call it an ice skating horror romance. it will make you uncomfortable.

Mapping the Interior also on my list, another Stephen Graham Jones. It's fantastic. This is a novella. It's about a young indigenous boy seeing something wrong in his house.

We have Mexican Gothic which I definitely understand being here. I only gave it a three. I would recommend it to most people and I really think Silvia Moreno Garcia should be credited for kind of in a way changing the landscape of horror this time.

I also put Mongrels on my list another Stephen Graham Jones of course. It's definitely in line with other Stephen Graham Jones where it's like not really scary werewolf horror, but it's more about the existential and the lore about a family of werewolves.

Monstrous Leo, so happy to see here. Another book club pick of mine. This one is probably one of my most successful. So many people ended up loving it. Definitely a five star for me.

Moon of the Crusted Snow I'm kind of surprised to see here. It has 40,000 readers. I'm happy to see it. It's also on my list. I loved it.

My Heart is a Chainsaw, one of my favorites from Stephen Graham Jones. Jade Daniels is just my girl. If you love horror movies, again, you need to be reading Stephen Graham Jones.

how is My Best Friend's Exorcism not on this list? It is on my list. It's a Grady Hendrix I quite enjoyed. I gave it a four.

And then Nana, I need you guys to get on. This is the perfect ex squeamish, uncomfortable horror. An old woman gets closer and closer to this family. Kind of fairy tale folksy horror that I really liked.

Natural Beauty has a wellness spot and a woman getting sucked into that.

Near the Bone is on my list. I don't think it's like the most incredible horror I've ever read, but it really scratched an itch for me at the time.

And then I'm also putting Night of the Mannequins because I have to have I liked this one more than the other Stephen Graham Jones on this list. It's about a group of friends who play a prank in a movie theater. It was so good.

Other Words for Smoke I just think is so good and more people need to read it. It's about a house that burns down in this dark forest. It's fantasy horror and it's sapphic, really good.

And then Our Share of Night, love to see. It's also on my list. Definitely more ambitious than just horror. It's one of the only cult-adjacent books I've also liked. Would definitely recommend this one.

I also gave a five to Pallbearers Club. this one is for the meta-loving pretentious girlies.

And then my wildcard pick is Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. I never thought I'd be recommending Rachel Harrison. This is a haunted house book, which for me to enjoy feels pretty huge.

I do have a short story collection on my 2022 list though, Queer Little Nightmares. Half of it is poetry and I might honestly like recommend you skip that if you don't love horror poetry. that didn't really do it for me, but the rest is so good, especially if you like creature horror, give that one a go.

Ring Shout is a fantastic novella about the KKK being literal demon beasts and the group of people who are taking them down. That one was a five and I don't often like my horror to be that action-packed.

Sloughter, definitely should be here, a five for me. I just love a story where a girl is getting in control of her own life and she makes a deal with this beast. It's got a vengeance angle. So good.

Sorrowland is also on my list. This is about a mother escaping her old life with her children. she's experiencing a metamorphosis. Definitely a strange one.

Spread me, I think is a little bit too weird to recommend broadly, but Sarah Gailey usually does it for me. It's a parasite making a researcher very horny.

The Outsider was fine. It was a three.

Tender Is the Flesh almost got a five for me. This cannibalistic future is just really interesting and dark.

The Ballad of Black Tom, cosmic vibes, I liked that one. It's a short story. I don't remember a ton about it though. It's about a curse and a guitar.

And The Book of Accidents I gave a two. I think this one is just too long. It wasn't as inventive and imaginative as I expected based on what everyone else was saying about it.

The Burning Girls I gave a four, religious kind of horror.

I have The Cabin at the End of the World of course cuz Paul Tremblay, that's my guy. Existential apocalypse, a family being confronted by people convinced that the world is going to end.

The Children on the Hill I gave a three. I don't think Jennifer McMahon is for me, but I feel like we'll probably see her like multiple years.

The Eyes of the Best Part I think is fantastic. That one is definitely also on my list. It was sinister with lots of social commentary, but it is kind of a slower one about relationships and stuff. and I just love a reluctant killer kind of stories. That one really worked for me.

The Final Girl Support Group, definitely a popular one and I guess I get it. it was kind of just a mess to me. I liked the vibe. I liked the intent. Wasn't really into the pace or the character voice.

I also have The Grip of It which is a haunted house story. Really low average rating, wouldn't recommend it to everybody. It's more like about this mundane relationship between these two people, but the house is changing. I thought it was really good.

And love to see The Hacienda here as well. this one is a romance-centric gothic story, a woman getting into a situation with plenty of social commentary.

And then The Hollow Places is also on my list. This is T. Kingfisher's best in my opinion. It's a small town. This woman is encountering weird things in this family business residence. Kind of cozy, kind of scary.

The House in the Dark in the Woods is a woman out in the forest gathering berries for her family. Someone is after her or is she lost? We don't really know. So fever dream and good.

The Hunger is not for me, historical horror.

The Lamb and Hunger Stone didn't do it for me. I DNF'd both.

The Last House on Needless Street, this one was a three. this one I get people's enjoyment of because it has a twist, a reveal that you probably don't see coming. I think there's some questionable things about that one.

On my list, we have The Murders of Molly Southbourne. This is another novella series. It's sci-fi horror and it's about a woman who has to like kill her own clones.

The Need was just so perfectly weird. It has a really low average rating. Something shows up in her house that like messes with her mind.

The Only Good Indians is not my favorite Stephen Graham Jones. I gave it a four, but I think it got a lot of people into Stephen Graham Jones. It's about people being stalked by this evil entity.

The Reformatory did make my list. this is definitely a slower historical ghost story dealing with real life horrors, racism, discrimination, imprisonment, and then the supernatural horrors alongside or paranormal.

The Rotting Manner was a perfect atmosphere and it represented what people were going through internally. I think it was objectively good. It got a three.

The September House, it didn't perfectly balance the like quirky with the horror, but it did for a lot of other people and the message of that one is really good.

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires definitely understand that being here, too. It had a couple scenes that genuinely scared me. So maybe I should have given it a higher rating, but it's always been a four in my mind.

The Thing Between Us may be a little bit more niche. He's a man who loses his wife and he's being followed by the physical manifestation of his grief.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke I don't think should have been on this list cuz I feel like most people who read this, they want it to be far more extreme or it's too extreme for them. Meanwhile, I thought it was great.

And then Tin Foil Butterfly, we have a woman who goes to this small town and runs into a child and they're suddenly on a race to survival I guess you'd call it.

Vampires of el Norte shouldn't have made this list. Like I don't think it should have been on this list because it's much more of a romance than I think even her other gothic horror romance books have been, but I love Isabel Cañas.

Okay, You Used to Live Here, another haunted house horror book that I really loved. Definitely understand the hype for that one.

But I just don't think this series is particularly special. I gave the first book like a three.

We also have A Monster of the Dead here. which yeah, it's like gothic fungal. The cover is stunning. I gave it a three.

And then my other pick, When No One Is Watching. This is a thriller suspense with horror vibes. It's about gentrification, conspiracy and there's a little bit of romance in it.

Especially When the Reckoning Comes, this one just needs more readers. It's about ghosts. It takes place on a plantation.

I would also throw When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy. I was sure we'd see that in here. It's a really inventive horror after building a fan base with like Mary and Nestlings. This I think will win a lot of people over. It's action-packed and wholesome. I gave it four stars.

Wilder Girls and Other Words for Smoke, those were five stars for me. Wilder Girls is like Lord of the Flies with sapphic and body rot, sign me up.

I would definitely cosign Whichcraft We Were Girls. Grady Hendrix definitely isn't for everyone. I truly think though that he's one of the few like male authors I trust with something like a birth scene, which does exist in this book and I think it's done pretty tastefully and smartly. It was definitely gruesome. I gave it a four.

I threw The Year of the Witching in here. It's about a young woman going into a forest she's not allowed to and there's a lot of religious control in this community.

Salt Slow is a short story collection by Julia Armfield that if you haven't read Our Wives Under the Sea yet, I would recommend you pick it up, give it a try, see if you like her writing. I can see how a lot of these stories inspired Our Wives Under the Sea. I don't think it's really worth reading if you've already read that novel.