100 Horror Books from 2025
It wasn’t a deliberate goal, but as I started reviewing my StoryGraph to consider my favorite reads of 2025, I realized that I was at 99 1/2 books published in 2025 tagged as horror, so I finished that final book to make it an even 100.
Note: These are tagged as Horror by StoryGraph; others I read in fantasy or thriller genres certainly have horror elements, but I’m just rolling with SG on this one.
The photo shows all books I read in 2025.
5-star Reads in BOLD
From Victorian Psycho to The Salvage, in reading order:
Victorian Psycho - Virginia Feito https://candikathorror.com/reads/victorian-psycho
Blood Cypress - Elizabeth Broadbent candikathorror.com/reads/blood-cypress
Old Soul - Susan Barker https://candikathorror.com/reads/old-soul
Sick Houses - Leila Taylor https://candikathorror.com/reads/sick-houses
Demo Reels and Arthouse Madness - Vince A. Liaguno https://candikathorror.com/reads/demo-reels-and-arthouse-madness
The Haunting of Room 904 - Erika T. Wurth https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-haunting-of-room-904
The Devil’s Colony - Marie LeStrange https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-devils-colony
Listen to Your Sister - Neena Viel https://candikathorror.com/reads/listen-to-your-sister
Their Monstrous Hearts - Yiğit Turhan https://candikathorror.com/reads/their-monstrous-hearts
Wake Up and Open Your Eyes - Clay McLeod Chapman https://candikathorror.com/reads/wake-up-and-open-your-eyes
When the Wolf Comes Home - Nat Cassidy https://candikathorror.com/reads/when-the-wolf-comes-home
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-buffalo-hunter-hunter
Nowhere - Allison Gunn https://candikathorror.com/reads/nowhere
Hungerstone - Kat Dunn https://candikathorror.com/reads/hungerstone
Overgrowth - Mira Grant https://candikathorror.com/reads/overgrowth
The Sundowner’s Dance - Todd Keisling https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-sundowners-dance
Eat the Ones You Love - Sarah Maria Griffin https://candikathorror.com/reads/eat-the-ones-you-love
The Shivers Collection - Catriona Ward, Owen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Grady Hendrix, Joe Hill https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-shivers-collection
And the Trees Stare Back - Gigi Griffis https://candikathorror.com/reads/and-the-trees-stare-back
Another - Paul Tremblay https://candikathorror.com/reads/another
Fiend - Alma Katsu https://candikathorror.com/reads/fiend
We Live Here Now - Sarah Pinborough https://candikathorror.com/reads/we-live-here-now
The Macabre - Kosoko Jackson https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-macabre
The Unkillable Frank Lightning - Josh Rountree https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-unkillable-frank-lightning
Requiem - John Palisano https://candikathorror.com/reads/requiem
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng - Kylie Lee Baker https://candikathorror.com/reads/bat-eater-and-other-names-for-cora-zeng
Killer on the Road/ The Babysitter Lives - Stephen Graham Jones https://candikathorror.com/reads/killer-on-the-road-the-babysitter-lives
How to Survive a Horror Story - Mallory Arnold https://candikathorror.com/reads/how-to-survive-a-horror-story
Blood on Her Tongue - Johanna van Veen https://candikathorror.com/reads/blood-on-her-tongue
It Was Her House First - Cherie Priest https://candikathorror.com/reads/it-was-her-house-first
Ten Sleep - Nicholas Belardes https://candikathorror.com/reads/ten-sleep
Girl in the Creek - Wendy N. Wagner https://candikathorror.com/reads/girl-in-the-creek
Smile for the Cameras - Miranda Smith https://candikathorror.com/reads/smile-for-the-cameras
The World Turns Red - Tim Waggoner https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-world-turns-red
How to Survive Camping: The Man with No Shadow - Bonnie Quinn https://candikathorror.com/reads/how-to-survive-camping-the-man-with-no-shadow
The No-End House - Jeremy Bates https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-no-end-house
The Unseen - Ania Ahlborn https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-unseen
Come Knocking - Mike Bockoven https://candikathorror.com/reads/come-knocking
Secret Lives of the Dead - Tim Lebbon https://candikathorror.com/reads/secret-lives-of-the-dead
The Library at Hellebore - Cassandra Khaw https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-library-at-hellebore
Night & Day - ed. Ellen Datlow https://candikathorror.com/reads/night-day
Grimdark - Shannon Morgan https://candikathorror.com/reads/grimdark
Lucky Day - Chuck Tingle https://candikathorror.com/reads/lucky-day
Bloody Bones - Garrett Boatman https://candikathorror.com/reads/bloody-bones
The Uterus Is an Impossible Forest - Shannon Kearns https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-uterus-is-an-impossible-forest
How Bad Things Can Get - Darcy Coates https://candikathorror.com/reads/how-bad-things-can-get
Nowhere Land - Pamela K. Kinney https://candikathorror.com/reads/nowhere-land
Moonflow - Bitter Karella https://candikathorror.com/reads/moonflow
Breathe In, Bleed Out - Brian McAuley https://candikathorror.com/reads/breathe-in-bleed-out
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human - Andrew Joseph White https://candikathorror.com/reads/you-werent-meant-to-be-human
Black Flame - Gretchen Felker-Martin https://candikathorror.com/reads/black-flame
The Bewitching - Silvia Moreno-Garcia https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-bewitching
We Are Always Tender with Our Dead - Eric LaRocca https://candikathorror.com/reads/we-are-always-tender-with-our-dead
A Game in Yellow - Hailey Piper https://candikathorror.com/reads/a-game-in-yellow
Spread Me - Sarah Gailey https://candikathorror.com/reads/spread-me
They Fear Not Men in the Woods - Gretchen McNeil https://candikathorror.com/reads/they-fear-not-men-in-the-woods
House of Idyll - Delilah S. Dawson https://candikathorror.com/reads/house-of-idyll
The Haunting of William Thorn - Ben Alderson https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-haunting-of-william-thorn
The Burial Tide - Neil Sharpson https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-burial-tide
The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre - Philip Fracassi https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-autumn-springs-retirement-home-massacre
Acquired Taste - Clay McLeod Chapman https://candikathorror.com/reads/acquired-taste
How to Survive a Slasher - Justine Pucella Winans https://candikathorror.com/reads/how-to-survive-a-slasher
Roots of My Fears - ed. Gemma Amor https://candikathorror.com/reads/roots-of-my-fears
Exiles - Mason Coile https://candikathorror.com/reads/exiles
Watching Evil Dead: Unearthing the Radiant Artist Within - Josh Malerman https://candikathorror.com/reads/watching-evil-dead-unearthing-the-radiant-artist-within
No Rest for the Wicked - Rachel Louise Adams https://candikathorror.com/reads/no-rest-for-the-wicked
Teenage Girls Can Be Demons - Hailey Piper https://candikathorror.com/reads/teenage-girls-can-be-demons
Galloway’s Gospel - Sam Rebelein https://candikathorror.com/reads/galloways-gospel
Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature - Becky Siegel Spratford https://candikathorror.com/reads/why-i-love-horror
Spit Back the Bones - Teagan Olivia King https://candikathorror.com/reads/spit-back-the-bones
The October Film Haunt - Michael Wehunt https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-october-film-haunt
Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980) - Eleanor Johnson https://candikathorror.com/reads/scream-with-me
What Stalks the Deep - T. Kingfisher https://candikathorror.com/reads/what-stalks-the-deep
The Hunger We Pass Down - Jen Sookfong Lee https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-hunger-we-pass-down
Demon Song - Kelsea Yu https://candikathorror.com/reads/demon-song
The Graceview Patient - Caitlin Starling https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-graceview-patient
ITCH! - Gemma Amor https://candikathorror.com/reads/itch
The Cold House - A.G. Slatter https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-cold-house
Man, F*ck This House (And Other Disasters) - Brian Asman https://candikathorror.com/reads/man-fck-this-house-and-other-disasters
The Haunting of Payne’s Hollow - Kelley Armstrong https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-haunting-of-paynes-hollow
The Hauntings Back Home: A Collection of Ghost Stories - Rebecca Cuthbert https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-hauntings-back-home
Girl Dinner - Olivie Blake https://candikathorror.com/reads/girl-dinner
Herculine - Grace Byron https://candikathorror.com/reads/herculine
The Sound of the Dark - Daniel Church https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-sound-of-the-dark
Hazelthorn - CG Drews https://candikathorror.com/reads/hazelthorn
The 31st Trick-or-Treater - Ben Farthing candikathorror.com/reads/the-31st-trick-or-treater
Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-in-Horror - ed. Lindy Ryan, Stephanie M. Wytovich - https://candikathorror.com/reads/howl
The Place Where They Buried Your Heart - Christina Henry https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-place-where-they-buried-your-heart
Another Fine Mess - Lindy Ryan https://candikathorror.com/reads/another-fine-mess
Shiny Happy People - Clay McLeod Chapman https://candikathorror.com/reads/shiny-happy-people
Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World: A Novel of Terror - Cullen Bunn https://candikathorror.com/reads/bones-of-our-stars-blood-of-our-world
I’ll Make a Spectacle of You - Beatrice Iker https://candikathorror.com/reads/ill-make-a-spectacle-of-you
The Film You Are About to See - Haley Newlin https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-film-you-are-about-to-see
The Villa, Once Beloved - Victor Manibo https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-villa-once-beloved
Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine - Kristina Ten https://candikathorror.com/reads/tell-me-yours-ill-tell-you-mine
Slashed Beauties - A. Rushby https://candikathorror.com/reads/slashed-beauties
Play Nice - Rachel Harrison https://candikathorror.com/reads/play-nice
If the Dead Belong Here - Carson Faust https://candikathorror.com/reads/if-the-dead-belong-here
Dark Sisters - Kristi DeMeester https://candikathorror.com/reads/dark-sisters
The Salvage - Anbara Salam https://candikathorror.com/reads/the-salvage
