Recs if you like Mapping the Interior...

are you sick of being recommended stephen king when you ask for a horror novel? have you picked up a book expected to be scared, but the scariest thing about it was a woman being needlessly tormented and gaslit? have you read 4627473 books about a man in a haunted house and need something different?

if so, this list is for you :)

a masterlist of horror by anyone who isn't a straight cis white man, started in 2022 and brought to pb in 2026.

Shorter books (under 200 pages) that are part of at least one quest. Many are also in the public domain, making them easily accessible when you want to grind for that next badge.

Horror novellas under 200 pgs. Bite size scary reads for spooky season. These span the horror spectrum from psychological horror to gory, body horror to gothic ghosties and more. Let me know what else I should add!

"The end is already written. Your actions are up to you, you can choose to get off this ride whenever. We both know you won't do it." Books with this vibe

Horror books with a page count of 200 pages or less.

Before we started defining novellas by word count, they were defined as being any book less than 200 pages. Source: my Analysis of Short Stories & Literature professor in community college. I loved that class. But he loved James Joyce. So, ymmv, I guess.

Fiction stories about Haunted houses and other locations. Maybe it’s ghosts, maybe it’s cursed, maybe it’s ancient gods or creatures? All kinda of supernatural haunts and creatures attached to homes, objects, or locations.

short books around 200 pages or less that you can easily read in one sitting! for those who just want a quick read or those trying to hit their reading goals ! i tried to include a variety of genres including lit fic, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, thriller, etc.

These are novels where love is expressed through cannibalism. More explanation in the comments

This list will contain books that made me go, "Wait what?" I am still not sure if I completely get them but I i think I semi-liked some of them 🤣 (p.s. I am adding recs by other users so some i havent read yet)

an unranked list of memorable short stories and collections

Wide definition of horror | story collections included if at least one was written by an Indigenous author | mostly authors from Turtle Island (North America)

A list of books I've read by Indigenous authors (ideally about Indigenous issues or characters) in 2025. Books about Indigenous people/topics written by non-Indigenous authors aren't included here, but anthologies/co-authored books with a mixture of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors are included. For this list, I'm only including authors Indigenous to the Americas, Oceania, and Sápmi, although Indigenous peoples obviously exist in other parts of the world.

Not just your typical haunted house, these paranormal voids trespass against their visitors psychologically. Instead of the ghosts of dead people haunting these halls, you will find that some things can be far more invasive and threatening: the ghosts of our own traumas and trials have come to haunt us from the inside out.

This is a list of short form horror that is meant to represent a variety of subgenres and styles within the horror genre. The list includes short stories, short story collections and novellas under 200 pages

If you're not sure where to start, or what subgenre or style a particular work represents, I encourage you to come ask in the comments! My goal with this list is to make horror more accessible and less intimidating for people unfamiliar with the genre 🖤

I see a few lists on here with this theme, but they were short themselves - and I was looking for a more diverse selection. So, thought I'd make my own list and share it! Nice for reading goals, but mostly, I like breaking up the rhythm if I'm reading something exceptionally long.

horrors and thrillers for my wife

Fic + NonFic | Updating Regularly

haunted houses, spatial horror, and adjacent “something is going on with/in this structure” narratives! including nonfiction about actual places or analysis of the convention