As Halloween nears, it’s time to embrace the spooky season spirit and consume all things scary. For our book lovers, there is no better way to get into the eerie mood than a good horror book. But, have you noticed that most of the horror books out there are written by men? Of course, there is Mary Shelley and Shirley Jackson, two highly celebrated horror authors who were able to break into the male-dominated space that is the horror genre. But what about all the other women authors who are not taken seriously and overshadowed by men who are doing the exact same thing? We have spotlighted a few horror books written by women that you should definitely try this season.
5 Horror Books Written by Women To Read This Fall
The Graveyard Apartment follows a young married couple and their daughter as they move into their new home, a recently built apartment building located next to a graveyard. Unusual events turn terrifying as the new family tries to get used to their life in the apartment building. The residents begin moving out one by one, too scared to live there anymore, which leaves the young family the only people to occupy the building — or so they think. The Graveyard Apartment was originally published in Japan in 1986 and was later translated into English in 2016. This horror book does an amazing job of building suspense while setting the scene for evil.
Following the retired soldier Alex Easton, What Moves the Dead is a reimagining of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” When Alex hears his childhood friend Madeline Usher is on her deathbed, he races to Usher home in Ruritania to be with her. But what he finds when he enters the house is a nightmare. What Moves the Dead, written by Ursula Vernon under the pen name T. Kingfisher, is and engrossing horror book retelling on the events of Poe’s classic short story.
John Moore and his wife Mim live in Harlowe, New Hampshire where they spend their time farming and keep up the land that has been in John’s family for generations. Harlowe is a small community, comprised of mostly farmers, and has looked the same for the past several decades. Things begin unraveling when Perly Dinsmore, an auctioneer, comes to town. The town starts to change, and not for the better. A perfect horror book for those who are fans of Shirley Jackson.
Angela Toussaint has not been back to her late grandmother’s house, also known as Good House, since her son, Corey, suddenly died in the home two years ago. With questions surrounding Corey’s death, Angela returns to the house to get some answers. A horror book of secrets and the supernatural begins to form.
Liz Rocher returns home to Johnstown, Pennsylvania for her best friend’s wedding, although she would rather be anywhere else. Having been one of the few Black people in the predominately white town, she is not looking forward to “reconnecting” with other wedding guests. When the daughter of the newlywed goes missing, Liz seems to be the only one who notices a connection between this case and one from when she was younger. The more she investigates these two disappearances, the more it becomes clear that Black girls in this town are not safe.
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