There's something uniquely terrifying about a well-written scary story. There aren't jump scares or eerie soundtracks, just pure imagination twisting every sentence into something sinister.
So, if you believe some words on a page couldn't possibly make your skin crawl, think again. The best horror writers know how to get inside your head and stay there long after you've turned the last page.
Here are some of the scariest books of all time that aren't for the faint of heart. And fair warning: they might leave you sleeping with the lights on.
Scroll to see the scariest books of all time you can read right now...
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The Garden is equally haunting and thought-provoking, making it a standout in the world of pregnancy horror. Set in the 1940s, it follows Irene Willard, a woman who finally gets pregnant after suffering five miscarriages. So, she checks into a strange hospital run by a husband-and-wife duo promising to "rectify the maternal environment" and soon finds herself drawn to a mysterious garden on the property.
This book, published in 2024, explores unsettling themes of medical manipulation and how women have historically had their bodily autonomy taken from them.
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If gore is your thing, The Troop will deliver. Released in 2014, the story starts as a wholesome camping trip that quickly morphs into survival horror. That's because an emaciated stranger washes up on the remote island where Scoutmaster Tim Riggs and his Boy Scout troop are staying.
The stranger is infected with a genetically engineered parasite, and as the infection spreads, the group must try to make it out alive. This novel is fast and disturbing: you've been warned.
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3. Revelator by Daryl Gregory
Revelator is a slow-burn horror tale that's steeped in Appalachian folklore. It starts in 1933, when a 9-year-old named Stella is left to be cared for by her grandmother, Motty, in Tennessee. Then, she discovers a dark family secret: an entity called the Ghostdaddy, which is her family's personal god.
Years later, Stella winds up going back home for her grandmother's funeral, only to find another child has taken her place as the family's chosen one.
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The House Across the Lake, published in 2022, follows actress Casey Fletcher, who retreats to her family's lakeside home in Vermont following a series of personal issues. She begins drinking and gazing through a pair of binoculars when she becomes fixated on a couple across the lake, Tom and Katherine Royce.
However, things take a turn when Katherine vanishes without a trace, and Casey starts to suspect that Tom is involved. This eerie book will play with your mind until the very end!
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This 2020 book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia transports readers to a decaying mansion in the Mexican countryside, where debutante Noemí Taboada must unravel the truth behind her cousin's panicked letter for help. What she finds is a house full of secrets and a husband who's not what he seems.
The same year it came out, Mexican Gothic won the Readers' Favorite Horror award on Goodreads.
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6. Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier
Rebecca was released in 1938, but it remains a classic that proves horror doesn't always need blood to be terrifying. When a young woman marries a widower named Maxim de Winter, she's swept away to his estate. Then, she finds herself haunted by the memory of his late wife, Rebecca.
This gothic work has since been adapted for theater, film, TV, and radio, and even won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.
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While The Shining is a well-known horror novel, we still needed to include it on this list. After all, it's become a cult classic for a reason. The book follows Jack Torrance, who takes a job as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel and sees the opportunity as a fresh start for himself and his family. But the isolation and supernatural forces lurking within the hotel have other plans.
Jack starts spiraling into madness; meanwhile, his son Danny, who has psychic abilities, sees visions of what's to come. With its slow build and psychological torment, The Shining delivers on every level.
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Finally, if you'd rather indulge in some briefer horror tales, you need to read Her Body and Other Parties. Published in 2017, it's a collection of short stories that use horror to explore gender and bodily autonomy.
This work was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction and will be hard to put down, no matter how unsettled each tale makes you feel.
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