Recs if you like Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West...

Hauntology is the philosophical concept, as quoted by Mark Fisher from his article taking a deeper look into Derrida's philosophical work, that "the present is always haunted by the ghosts of the past and the unfulfilled promises of the future." From generational trauma to dark histories to dying Old World pagan traditions, these elements persist throughout the wide genre of folk horror. These books explore deeply into the hauntings of the past and the instability of the future.

Westerns mixed with horror, sci-fi, and/or fantasy

they call me hell, they call me Stacy, they call me her, they call me Jane…that’s not my name!!!

this is a list of books featuring characters without a name

as always, taking any and all suggestions!!

This is a collection of recommendations for people who want to get into extreme horror/splatterpunk without feeling pressured. Have fun, stay safe, and remain scary!!

Books that use the language itself as a narrative and literary device, switching from English to Spanish and back again in a variety of ways, from light sprinklings for flavor and atmosphere to requiring the reader to be functionally bilingual to fully understand. Suggestions always welcome!

These books are “Eat Prey Love” for men in their twenties.

All in good fun, I love many books on this list so please don’t shy away from (some of) these recs!

A compilation of books (mostly fiction) in which the main character/s set out on a journey, leading to moments of meditation, introspection, meandering walks through the memory, conflicts with both the self, the path, and others, and ultimately: change, for both the characters and the reader. In these novels, the journey is more important than the destination.

Recommendations are welcome!

Everything under the high sun, from monsters and mayhem to hauntings and sorrow set across the hot, dry plains of the West. This collection spans from pure horror to the horror-adjacent found in both new printings and older classics.

For when you need to wallow in melancholy and misery: a collection of pessimistic, cynical, downbeat, depressing, doom and gloom fiction for my disillusioned friends.

More to come!

Got the holiday blues? Check out my list Christmas with the Cranks!

Tier 2 from the disturbing novel iceberg, inspired by the disturbing movie iceberg.

More taboo themes, more gore, and books that stick with you long after reading.

A list published by The Guardian on 5/16/2026, as voted on by authors, critics, and academics worldwide.

The Guardian Top 100 Best Novels

inspired by me watching youtube videos about literary analysis of villains, here is a list full of books in which i believe their villains to be absolutely ghastly and horrifying; bloody and abusive, terrorizing and killing. if you have any to recommend, please put them in the comments! i'd love to make this list large!

This isn't MY list. These are the foundational texts of the Western Canon. Up until the early 1900s, these were unquestionably part of any educated person's background. Austen, Lewis, Twain, James, Sayers, Tolkien....what do you think they grew up reading that informed the genius works they created? Their masterpieces didn't materialize out of thin air. This list is by no means comprehensive, but you'll be off to a solid start.

I tried to find the latest version (2026).

Time Magazine’s All-Time Best 100 English Language Novels from 1923 to 2005 as published in 2005.

A blend of traditional frontier tales with horror, fantasy, and/or science fiction elements

This is a collection of novels that invites you to explore, as well as reflect on the complicated and disturbing depths of humanity, especially with regards to history, globalization, politics, and most importantly; how our relationship to nature itself has been challenged.

Fiction inspired/influenced by Melville's masterpiece (or sometimes just by Melville)

Looking for nonfiction? Check out my list Special Interest: Moby-Dick.

Classic Western novels set in the Frontier. If you liked Red Dead Redemption, read these books.

Includes fiction and non-fiction