Recs if you like The Mean Ones...

Short-ish (& sometimes spicy) standalone speculative stories.

“Nothing bad has ever happened in the forest.” -Andrew from Don't Let the Forest In (and all of these MCs, probably)

A tribute to a type of cover, originally deemed Girls with Fucked Up Faces, that never fails to grab my attention. Not all of these are books I’ve enjoyed or endorse or even read, it’s just all about the covers.

*or gothic and generally horror-adjacent. i have not read all of these! some self-published i think as well

These books are from @fromthemixedupdesk's bingo card on Bindery and Instagram. Of 191 works nominated for the Bram Stoker award, only 26 authors are women.

The horrors that haunt the woods

a little bit of horror, some insanity, some delusions, some gore, some gothic. we don’t exclude over here

don't you want to become a cult leader? there's something especially unsettling about one person who can effectively manipulate an entire group of people. even more so when it's something that could happen to any one of us. tread carefully as you explore these reads, they may just adopt you into their 'family' 🧟

I love novellas and short stories, I feel like it really gives authors a place to flex their talents on just how much they can reveal of a character or world in minimal page space. These are some I feel really pack a punch. They are weird, unique, and can be read in a day.

A reading list celebrating the women who know exactly how to get under your skin! Thankful for the gurlies!!!

idek man. i love this genre and vibe though

Maybe the one piece was the friendships we made along the way.

These are all the suggestions the community graciously provided after I asked for friendship book recs (plus some of my own).

This list include all types of friendship dynamics from wholesome and life-affirming to toxic and obsessive. Enjoy!

Books where cults are a big part of the story. Mostly fictional horror books 🤡

Read your way through the awesome offerings from Creature Publishing (creature horror.com)

Horror and thriller recommendations for fellow spooky dudes. ♥

This list is for horror fiction lovers who are also movie lovers. If you like to spend your spooky season binge-watching classic horror movies, bloody slashers with high body counts, and films where the hunter becomes the hunted… these books are for you.

Girlhood, for better or worse.

For those of us who celebrate spooky season all year long and need some newer recs in between. Especially adding whatever has given me the heebies. Not all books are directly scary as much as skin crawling or strange! I tend to seek a few horror/thriller books that have very little reviews, excited to add them here once I have read them.