Recs if you like This Wretched Valley...

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, started in 2022 and brought to pb in 2026.

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.

Horror (and thriller) books about summer camp, camping, summer holidays and just general summer vibes

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.

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

a collection of horror books set in Appalachia - recommended by the community

The horrors that haunt the woods

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.

Books to read when you are wanting those fabulous monster of the week vibes!

Not all of these books will have cannibalism... but there is a non-zero chance at least 1% will.

Dark reads that I couldn’t put down

Who doesn't love a little bit of terror while out in the woods? A selection of horror tales in the woods.

This is a list of horror books written by women, as recommended by Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror) in her book Feral and Hysterical. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Feral and Hysterical because it is so much more than a list of books. There are more lists of books, but also thoughtful essays by women writers. It's worth spending some time with Feral and Hysterical.

"Women are overqualified to write fictional horror. Period." -- Sadie Hartmann

Every book we've read in Penny Dreadful Book Club All Horror by Women

Rule #1 of the Holler: If you hear something calling your name, no you didn't.

These books left me feeling more hopeful about some form of cosmic justice at play - that you reap what you sow and when you’ve sown terror, you get terror back.

My favorite horror books 🖤

location based horror

vampires and zombies and ghosts, oh my!