Recs if you like This Cursed House...

horror fiction from Black authors featuring Black characters

A selection of contemporary Southern Gothic titles exploring the decay, despair, and trauma of the reconstructed American South. Come for the palpably atmospheric settings and descriptions, stay for the literary commentary on the legacy of the South's oft-romanticized past.

As a note: I did not include the most well known writers in the genre, e.g. Truman Capote, Harper Lee, William Faulkner, etc. as the list is more focused on the resurgence of Southern Gothic in contemporary literature.

this is your reminder to read books by Black authors all month, all year, every year— not just during Black History Month. it’s crucially important to be able to diversify your reading and your bookshelves. expand your mind, your perspectives, your knowledge, and your taste. if you don’t know where to start, here are some recommendations!

We all love gothic classics, but what is new when it comes to the gothic genre (from the last 20 years or so)?! For fans of Dracula, Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, etc. Please comment with suggestions to add!

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.

It’s hot and humid, the cicadas are buzzing, and there’s violence in the air.

Horror books and short stories set in the Deep South.

Think: swamps, bayous, bullfrogs, Spanish moss, hauntings, haints, voodoo/hoodoo, monsters hidden in plain sight, structural violence, and the oppressive weight of history.

Comps: True Detective S1; Sinners; South of Midnight

❗️Some of the these books are classified as extreme horror/splatterpunk. PLEASE protect yourself, and check all trigger warnings.❗️

Every single Aardvark Book Club book pick since its inception. Updated monthly!

I can't be the only one who want to remember all the books without jumping around in a video, right?

Books to read if you enjoyed the movie "Sinners", and would like more culturally rich black and poc stories full of (white) things going bump in the night, to the tune of the saxophones growing ever louder.

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.

what gab smolders read in 2025 as per her book talk video! horror + in tier order from most to least liked by her:

★ S TIER: from "night shoot" to "old country"

★ A TIER: from "what stalks the deep" to "listen to your sister"

★ B TIER: from "the long walk" to "the gathering"

★ C TIER: from "banquet for the damned" to "model home"

★ D TIER: from "3 streets" to "my darling dreadful thing"

★ F TIER: from "basilisk" to "survivor song"

Goth books, watch out though, some might crossover into Vampire territory!

If one door closes and another one opens, your house is probably haunted.

Created from the list on Goodreads by Cybil and Sadie Hartmann (September 29, 2025)

Horror books that either primarily or exclusively take place in Louisiana. Tried to stick to horror and not venture out into thriller territory!

It’s not the old pipes. It’s not the wood settling. It’s not the wind. The house is for sure haunted. Strictly haunted house stories where the haunting is coming from the house itself, not an object or a person inside.

A mix of fiction and nonfiction set in/about the 1960s. Includes books from the decade too.