101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered

Title: 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered
Author: Sadie Hartmann
First Published: August 8, 2023
Publisher: Page Street Publishing
Pages: 168
Genre: Non-Fiction, Pop Culture
Format: Paperback
Source: Gift
Rating:

The Ultimate List of Must-Read Horror

Curious readers and fans of monsters and the macabre, get ready to bulk up your TBR piles! Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann has curated the best selection of modern horror books, including plenty of deep cuts. Indulge your heart’s darkest desires to be terrified, unsettled, disgusted, and heartbroken with stories that span everything from paranormal hauntings and creepy death cults to small-town terrors and apocalyptic disasters. Each recommendation includes a full synopsis as well as a quick overview of the book’s themes, style, and tone so you can narrow down your next read at a glance. Featuring a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Josh Malerman and five brand-new essays from rising voices in the genre, this illustrated reader’s guide is perfect for anyone who dares to delve into the dark.

This book is exactly the type of book that I wish that I had when I first got back into reading in the last ten years. I’ve always had a fascination with horror, eager to read every Goosebumps book I could get my tiny child hands on as a kid, and admiring all of the used 80’s paperback horror novels I’d see in stores that my parents wouldn’t allow me to read. In my teens I fell head over heels with Anne Rice’s vampires and began a little goth phase I never grew out of. I eventually fell out of reading books, moving onto manga and horror video games. I eventually found my way back to reading in my mid-20s and dipped my toes into the world of book blogging.

To say that finding books in the 2010’s was frustrating is an understatement, in part because as a new reader it’s hard to know where to look. The horror boom was over in the 90’s, and though there were a handful of very prolific authors writing in the genre I found it difficult to find horror books in stores and libraries, and they were usually shelved in random other genres. In that time I explored all kinds of genres, thanks in large part to reading primarily ARCs from publishers for review, so what I read tended to be whatever was popular at the time. Even then I always felt a certain hunger for darker stories.

The book world has been experiencing a kind of renaissance of the horror genre and honestly as a reader I’ve been incredibly happy to see so many authors and readers entering the space. This book was a wonderful dive into horror literature that has been published in the last 23 years. I really appreciated that Sadie Hartmann decided to focus on this specific time period instead of recycling the same horror classics that appear on every must read list, giving newer authors an opportunity to shine. I also absolutely loved that both indie and traditionally published books were featured, the indie space is particularly important for the horror genre because it is often dismissed as trash genre fiction by publishers and marketers.

There were plenty of authors or books that have been on my radar for years, and many more still that I wasn’t familiar with, and each little review provided just enough information to get me excited to read all of the books and authors mentioned. This is an excellent companion book to Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks from Hell, which featured novels from the 70s and 80s golden age of horror fiction, tapering off at the early 90s. Sadie picks the torch back up to spotlight the horror fiction of today. It’s a great little addition to any horror lovers shelves, and a great starter guide for those looking into getting into the horror genre.

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