What are the best horror novels of the 21st century?
We asked this question in 2015, and ended up with a rich list. Your humble blogger has been gnawing through the list, tome by shuddering tome.
So for Halloween 2016 we can reproduce the list, linking to reviews as I have generated them. We can add to the list, as people suggest more. The constraints: books must be published after 1999, be novels (rather than collections), and available in English. Asterisks indicate the title appearing in two or more sources.
Behold:
Jeffrey E. Barlough, The Cobbler Of Ridingham
Laird Barron, The Croning
Lauren Beukes, Broken Monsters
Max Brooks, World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War (read)
Ramsey Campbell, The Grin Of The Dark
Justin Cronin, The Passage (read)
Mark Z. Danielewski, House Of Leaves (read and taught)
Bret Easton Ellis, Lunar Park
Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects
Neil Gaiman, American Gods (read)
Ray Garton, The Folks
Joe Hill, Heart-Shaped Box **
____, Horns
____, Twentieth-Century Ghosts
Charlee Jacob, Dread in the Beast (review)
Brian Keene, The Conqueror Worms
____, Ghoul
____, The Rising
Jack Ketchum, The Lost
Caitlin R. Kiernan, The Drowning Girl
Stephen King, Doctor Sleep
____, Duma Key **
____, Lisey’s Story **
____, Under The Dome
Sarah Langan, Audrey's Door
____, The Missing **
Richard Laymon, The Traveling Vampire Show
John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let The Right One In
Bentley Little, The Walking
Jonathan Maberry, Ghost Road Blues
Josh Malerman, Bird Box (review)
Michael Marshall, We Are Here
Joe McKinney, Flesh Eaters
David Morrell, Creepers
Adam Nevill, Last Days
Weston Ochse, Scarecrow Gods
Chuck Palahniuk, Haunted
____, Lullaby
Norman Partridge, Dark Harvest **
Tom Piccirilli, A Choir Of Ill Children (read)
____, The Night Class
Dan Simmons, Drood
____, The Terror (read)
Bryan Smith, The Freakshow
____, Soultaker
Scott Smith, The Ruins (read)
Peter Straub , A Dark Matter **
____, In the Night Room
____, lost boy lost girl
Steve Rasnic Tem, Blood Kin
Jeffrey Thomas, Boneland (review)
____, Punktown
Paul Tremblay, Head Full of Ghosts
Jeff Vandermeer, the Southern Reach sequence (review of first book)
David Wong, John Dies At The End
Rio Youers, Westlake Soul
After a certain point your humble blogger may be equipped to publish his pick of the litter.
What do you make of these?
And what else would you add?
(photos by Quinn Dombrowski and Daniel Lee)
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