Recs if you like When Devils Sing...

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.

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.❗️

Horror stories (in all of its forms/subgenres) from Asian authors!

Recs welcome!

They say spring is the time when nature comes to life. And sometimes that's scary.

as comprehensive a guide to ya horror as i can make it! work in progress, suggestions welcome ♡

where sins of the elders run deep, bodies are hidden in the bayou & haints hiding around corners- recommendations welcomed

CottageGORE is in!🍃 This list curates books that feature sentient plants, haunted forests, mutated fauna, and more.

books with botanical horror themes, inspired by the botanical horror quest and don't let the forest in!

Nominees and winners of every category of the Good Reads Choice Awards for the year of 2025. Some books overlap so they were only entered once.

Botanical, Southern and Just Plain Gothic Horror

(mainly YA and queer) books I don't see around here a lot -- here's my underrated recommendations (under 200 ratings as I'm adding them)

I have a favourite audiobook narrator, and it is one Michael Crouch! I'm constantly checking out books just because he's the narrator and I've seen some people on here enjoying him as well so!!! this list is for my people :))

He narrates both Adult and YA books so I have made a little breakdown in the comments about which book is which, in case you want to avoid one or the other!

I mainly listen to audiobooks and these are some audiobook productions that stayed on my mind either because the book was written in a way that makes more sense as an audiobook OR because it added something to the experience (for example multiple narrators).

unnerving, unsettling, spooky or generally creepy books that take place in summer + have that slow scorching summer dread vibe

This is a very specific list for that exact early-to-mid-2010s aesthetic. We’re talking foggy small towns, a local mystery, deaths, and just enough supernatural weirdness to keep things unsettling. It’s peak Tumblr-era aesthetic—best read while wearing a flannel shirt on a rainy day. Recs are appreciated!

middle grade and young adult

just because it's ya doesn't make it less spooky! includes different subgenres from gothic horror to botanical horror to apocalypse horror — recommendations welcome!

Pulled from Reactor Magazine's (Tor.com) announcement. See the article for a list of short stories as well.

Works not in database: We Begin Where Infinity Ends - Somto Ihezue The Tin Man's Ghost - Ray Nayler The Millay Illusion - Sarah Pinsker When He Calls Your Name - Catherynne M. Valente The Twenty-One Second God - Peter Watts Night & Day - ed. Ellen Datlow Starling House - Alix E. Harrow (ILLUSTRATED EDITION, ILLUS. BY ROVINA CAI) Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene Volumes 1-3 (graphic adaptation)

Note: The Revelation Space Collection by Alastair Reynolds is actually for volumes 1 & 2