H2O? more like H2NO

What lies within the depths... Speculative Horror books where the main horror element directly relates to a body of water (whether that be a swamp, ocean, lake, river, etc.)

Note: must be more than just the setting (e.g. Friday the 13th wouldn't count)

Keyword: aquatic horror recommendations welcome!

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created by meganisnotokay

last updated October, 2025

33
14 books
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Out of Air

Out of Air

Rachel Reiss

The Dead of Summer

The Dead of Summer

Ryan La Sala

The Salvage

The Salvage

Anbara Salam

Rolling in the Deep (Rolling in the Deep, #0.5)

Rolling in the Deep (Rolling in the Deep, #0.5)

Mira Grant

The Mountain in the Sea

The Mountain in the Sea

Ray Nayler

The Deep

The Deep

Alma Katsu

The Bone Drenched Woods

The Bone Drenched Woods

L.V. Russell

They Drown Our Daughters

They Drown Our Daughters

Katrina Monroe

The Bone Snatcher

The Bone Snatcher

Charlotte Salter

They Bloom at Night

They Bloom at Night

Trang Thanh Tran

From Below

From Below

Darcy Coates

Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep, #1)

Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep, #1)

Mira Grant

The Deep

The Deep

Nick Cutter

Our Wives Under the Sea

Our Wives Under the Sea

Julia Armfield

Comments

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The Salvage by Anbara Salam is on my tbr this month-- don't know a ton about it but it sounds like it's about a haunted shipwreck!

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Ooooo I'll look into it! Thanks for sharing!

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Edited

Decided to rename this list with something a bit more unique than just "aquatic horror" lol

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Edited

immediately thought: “CHLONOEE đŸ§œâ€â™€ïžâ€

(edit: she did indeed mean CLENOEEE, but they lost privilege for jokes)

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girl who the hell is CHLO? put some respect on miss cleo sertori’s name 😡 /jk

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I have never been more embarrassed of a typo—please forgive me đŸ˜©đŸ˜©đŸ˜©đŸ˜©đŸ˜© (will personally never recover from this)

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h2okay you’re forgiven, let’s go play mermaids later 😇

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oh yay!! okay but i get to have the blue tail with yellow sparkles this time—you have to make something else

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wow pretty! i’ve got my purple tail and the scales shine rainbow and also i have a dolphin friend 🐬

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Is this the reference to H2O: Just Add Water?😂 CLEorrr nAURRr

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thank you for understanding, wasn’t sure how the joke would land, but I’ve saved the list regardless đŸ€­

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I'm so proud of myself for getting it haha! Loved that show (and the subsequent memes lol) & thank ya, glad you like it!💖

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Have u read the Bone Drenched Woods by LV Russell? It would fit this list so well

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No I haven’t!! Will def add :)

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I have to say it’s watery horror that scares me most irl. Maybe it was because I read Jaws when I was 12 or 13, and it felt so realistic. Not to forget those unfathomably black depths. 🌊

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100%!! Ocean-related aquatic horror is def the spookiest to me. I always think back to the stat that we've only fully explored like 5% of it đŸ«Ł

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i loveeeeeee this list, i love water-anything horror

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Thank you💖And me too!! Sci-fi horror and aquatic horror are becoming my fave horror subgenres for sure

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Have you read They Drown Our Daughters?

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Oooo I haven’t! I’ll add it to the list!

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Im nearly finished now. The last half is so far questionable to me (it may redeem itself though who knows) but the first half is very good!

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Good to know! Going in with the right expectations makes a difference haha

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I think Out of Air would be a good fit!

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Will add!

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