Horror Beyond the Bestsellers: Recommended Authors

Horrified Reader. Photographer. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/115_2842737/1/115_2842737/cite. Accessed 2 Nov 2017.

Halloween may be over, but we're still feeling spooky! 😨 Are you a fan of  the horror genre? Did you read Goosebumps as a child, or Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories? We're pretty sure every horror reader - and some folks who don't even like horror - are familiar with names like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, and H.P. Lovecraft. Even many horror films have been based on books - William Peter Blatty wrote The Exorcist, Ira Levin wrote Rosemary's Baby, Robert Bloch is the author of Psycho, and The Haunting is based on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. But not every horror author is a household name, and the following is a list of some authors you might have missed. We've also included some recommendations to help you find even more new horror after the list! Do you have horror recommendations? Let us know in the comments!

Joe Hill

Christopher Golden

Brian Keene

Stephen Graham Jones

John Ajvide Lindqvist

Nick Cutter

Ania Ahlborn

Kaaron Warren

David Moody

Tananarive Due

Jonathan Janz

Victor LaValle

Ellen Datlow

Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Paul Tremblay


If you're looking for scary movie suggestions, check out Reel Terror: The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred-Year History of Classic Horror Films or Pumpkin Cinema: The Best Movies for Halloween.

Recommended online resources: Horror Writers Association, home of the Bram Stoker Awards; articles tagged "Horror" on LitReactor; This Is Horror, a website which specializes "in horror fiction and the craft of writing," including a podcast, book reviews, news, and more; and RA For All: Horror -  the American Library Association's readers' advisory guide to horror. (RA For All recently featured "31 Days of Horror.") Also make sure to check out our eResource NoveList, which features booklists like "Blood-Drenched Horror," "Creature Feature," and "Classic Chills," or sign up to get a horror newsletter delivered to your email bi-monthly from The Public Library! Free with your valid library card.

Portrait Of Vampira. Photographer. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/115_2842327/1/115_2842327/cite. Accessed 2 Nov 2017.