Recs if you like We Came to Welcome You...

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. i've been maintaining it for myself since 2022 and it was time to share the wealth!

Horror books written by Latin American authors.

This list was a winner of the Q1 2026 Community Voting event. To participate in the Side Quest, please follow the link pinned in the comments.

I am planning on keeping this list alive and will be adding more recommendations as I find them. Thank you everyone for nominating and voting for the list to be made into a Side Quest!

Books where cults are a significant part of the narrative. Some fiction, some non-fiction.

Some books I either love or am super excited to read that are queer, BIPOC, and have some kind of speculative element (fantasy, sci fi, paranormal, etc)

Horror books by trans, Two Spirit, nonbinary, et al authors (may or may not include trans* characters).

If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that go past the July start date and match at least one of these title prompts: Periodic Table, Familial Terms, Rainbow of Words (also Joseph's coat), Numerical Titles, Titular Counting 5+, Pun in the Title, and First & Last Name in the Title. Recommendations welcome!

Books in this list are in at least two quests. Thus helping to earn more badges. Books will span different genres. Once I scan through all the quests, I plan to further organize the list. I am thinking of creating a seperate list and moving the books with three or more quests to the new list and keeping the two badge books in this list. Are there other ways you would organize a list this big?

If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that I think matches at least one of these cover prompts: craft, food, motion, biomes/landscapes, animals, weather.

When homes, nurseries, kitchens, suburbs, etc. become the most dangerous places of all

Horror and thriller stories that prominently feature trans characters, across age groups and sub-genres. 🔞

Recommendations welcome!

✦ I have not read all of these books - if you notice anything that seems to be mis-labeled/mis-placed on this list, please let me know! ✦

Is it bury your gays if they're all queer?

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

A collection of all kinds of wlw books from all kinds of genres!

Few things are as made for a queer lense as the theme of body horror. Here, you will find motifs of your body changing against your will, of having society view your very being as monstrous and "other". Happy reading!

stories against empire that feel especially relevant right now