Best Horror Books

A Rolling Stone 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Year •A Scary Mommy 11 Most Anticipated Books of the Year• A Them 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Year•A Goodreads Editors’ Top Pick of the Month • A Town & Country Must Read Book of the Winter •A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Fable Most Anticipated Read of the Year • A Goodreads Readers’ Most Anticipated Horror Novel of the Year•A Book Riot Most Anticipated Book of the Year•A Polygon Most Exciting Fantasy Book of the Year •A The Mary Sue Most Anticipated LGBTQ Book of the Year• A Reactor 30 Standout SFF Title of 2025

A compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the queer novella that inspired Dracula.

“Hungerstone is a delicious tribute to the inherent horrors of womanhood and the desperate and exquisite vulgarity of desire. This is everything I dream of in a novel.” —Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of  A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth

Simon Bestwick, Annie Neugebauer, Josh Malerman, Dale Bailey, Steve Duffy, Margo Lanagan, Bracken MacLeod, Tim Nickels, Stewart O’Nan, Priya Sharma, John Patrick Higgins, Livia Llewellyn, Laird Barron, Theresa DeLucci, Sharon Gosling, Joyce Carol Oates, Ray Cluley, Carole Johnstone, Hailey Piper, Charles Birkin, Stephen Graham Jones

Bestselling horror editor Ellen Datlow (Body Shocks) returns with twenty-one stories of extreme psychological dread from such horror icons as Stephen Graham Jones, Priya Sharma, Josh Malerman, Margo Lanagan, and more. The unsettling tales explore the nature of fear as it stirs in dysfunctional families, toxic friendships, and mismatched lovers, which culminates in relentless stalkers, remorseless killers, and perpetrators of savage rituals.

From the award-winning author of spine-tingling suspense comes The Madness, a chilling twist on the legacy of Dracula, where secrets, shadows, and survival collide.

Award-winning author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves a captivating tale of suspense and horror, in which Dr. Mina Murray returns to the windswept shores of Wales to help her childhood friend fight the mysterious illness that plagues her. When the lines between reality and delusion begin to blur, Mina must face off against a monstrous legacy—or be consumed herself.

Beware what waits in the shadows…