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It’s the perfect time of year to share my All-Time Favourite Horror Novels!

Carrie by Stephen King

I’m pretty sure everyone has heard of Carrie – don’t you love this cover? Carrie is sad and disturbing. This poor girl only has a few moments of happiness. This is about a volatile mother/daughter relationship, the dangers of isolation, and the impact of abuse. I can’t believe this was King’s DEBUT NOVEL! Can you imagine reading this in 1974!

We Spread by Iain Reid

We Spread is a story about love, loss, life, art, aging and memory. With an open ending, you are left to figure out what really happened. You could read about Pando and let me know in the comments if that changed your outlook on the ending. It’s one of those books that I finished and I immediately wanted to start over and read it again.

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Salem’s Lot is an intense page-turner, perfect for adult readers who are looking for a creepy vampire novel.

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Written during a time when Romanticism and Enlightenment movements were at their peak, Frankenstein is a page-turning mystery which takes us on a journey of dark and light, hope and despair, blending science fiction, and romance with horror into a heart-breaking story about responsibility, and humility.

The Drift by C.J. Tudor

The bus is stuck in a drift, the cable car is drifting in the air, and a storm is drifting towards the Retreat. Humanity and morality drift away. Told from three perspectives, The Drift is a terrifying and thrilling novel about the price of life and doing what you have to do to survive.

The Long Walk by Richard Bachman/Stephen King

100 boys walk for hundreds of miles without stopping. They must walk at a pace of at least 4 miles/hour. They get a warning if they slow down or stop. The warning disappears after an hour, but if they accumulate three warnings then they are killed. There can only be one winner. Oh! Did I mention the killing of these teenage boys is a form of public entertainment?

All’s Well by Mona Awad

All’s Well is a comedy and a tragedy. AND a horror, and a mystery. All’s Well is one of the best books I’ve read in 2021. Even after reading the book TWICE I’m still not sure I understand what was real or fantasy and I don’t understand the ending at all, and I don’t care. LOVED THIS!

The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand is about good versus evil and the temptation of power. It’s about innocence and guilt, generosity and greed. It’s about human nature, psychology, desperation and perseverance. Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien, I think epic fantasy readers would enjoy it. One of the best books I read in 2022.

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

I read The Doll Factory four years ago and still find myself randomly thinking about it. This is a dark, heart-breaking story that takes place in 1851 Victorian London. Iris and Rose are twins employed by the mean Mrs. Salter at her doll store, Silas has a shop of Curiosities, and Albie is a pick-pocket.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula, originally titled The Un-Dead by Bram Stoker is a classic Horror Gothic novel about Count Dracula. It is an epistolary novel, in which Abraham “Bram” Stoker employed letters and diary entries written by multiple narrators. This is a dark tale of vampires, demons, death, friendship, love, loyalty, and courage. 

The Running Man by Richard Bachman/Stephen King

The Running Man takes place in a dystopian world where there aren’t many jobs available and many people are very sick due to pollution. Ben and Sheila have no way to pay for their baby’s medicine, so Ben decides to try out for the show. After a physical and IQ test he’s chosen for the show called “The Running Man”. The participant earns $100 for every hour, and if they make it 30 days on the run then they get $1 billion. This show has been on for six years and no one has survived. Ben embarks on a wild adventure on the run being hunted by the expert trackers from the show.

Rouge by Mona Awad

With an unreliable narrator, Rouge is a dark fairytale retelling of Snow White. This story is a surreal, sinister, and sentimental fever dream about a tumultuous mother/daughter relationship, grief, and the dangers of obsession that reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut and a fairy tale called “The Red Shoes” written by Hans Christian Andersen.

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

House of Hunger is about sacrifice, sex, and secrets. It’s about the value of freedom, the danger of greed, and the hunger for blood. It’s about belonging, truth, trust, love, and power. It reminded me of The Last Unicorn and The Shining.

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

I doubt I would have ever picked up Monstrilio were it not for The Literally Dead Book Club. I can’t believe this book is a debut. I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla and it was incredible. Gerardo Sámano Córdova made me fall in love with a monster. Monstrilio is a disturbing horror novel about death, grief, family, self-acceptance, and unconditional love.

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

And Then She Fell is a story within a paranoid fever dream as Alice falls down the rabbit hole, struggling with her demons and trying to write her story. The unpredictable ending left me sobbing. This is an unforgettable, dark, emotional, smart, mysterious, surreal yet sometimes funny, story-within-a-story about mental illness, grief, racism, tradition, motherhood, free will, trust and resilience that you MUST read to the very end.

Bunny by Mona Awad

Bunny is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale version of Alice in Wonderland filmed on the set of Carrie with the cast of Heathers. I don’t know which characters were real, I don’t know if the “bunnies” were witches, I don’t know if Samantha lost her mind. With an unreliable narrator, peculiar parties, and spoiled rich girls, Bunny by Mona Awad is a sinister, puzzling, edgy, funny, and fast-paced fever dream about perception, projection, desire, transformation and imagination, that raises a compelling conversation about the recycling of literature. This is not a book you can skim. You must read every word and between the lines.

What are your favourite Horror novels?

I want to acknowledge that I am on the traditional territories of the Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, Wendake-Nionwentsïo, and Mississauga. https://native-land.ca/

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