The Greatest Horror Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
9586 A Choir Of Ill Children Tom Piccirilli 2004 American English
9594 Night Things Michael Talbot 1988 Unknown English
9627 More Spook Stories E. F. Benson 1934 British English
9627 Dagon, And Other Macabre Tales H. P. Lovecraft 1934 American English
9627 Terror By Night Christine Campbell Thomson 1934 British English
9634 The Playboy Book Of Horror And The Supernatural Ray Russell 1967 American English
9642 Penpal Dathan Kahn Auerbach 2012 American English
9669 Frozen Moment Camilla Ceder 2010 Swedish Swedish
9717 Tales of H. P. Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft 1997 American English
9731 The Grimoire And Other Supernatural Stories Montague Summers 1936 British English
9731 Victorian Ghost Stories Montague Summers 1936 British English
9731 The Children Of The Pool And Other Stories Arthur Machen 1936 British English
9731 The Cosy Room Arthur Machen 1936 British English
9731 Grim Death Christine Campbell Thomson 1936 British English
9739 The Fire Starters Jan Carson 2019 Irish English
9767 Blackwater Kerstin Ekman 1993 Swedish Swedish
9795 Minion L. A. Banks 2003 American English
9796 Ghosts Edith Wharton 1937 American Unknown
9812 The Panic Hand Jonathan Carroll 1995 American English
9812 The Well Jack Cady 1995 American English
9820 The Frozen Dead Bernard Minier 2011 French French
9827 Darkness Weaves Karl Edward Wagner 1970 American English
9844 The Tales Of Algernon Blackwood Algernon Blackwood 1938 British English
9856 The Delicate Prey Paul Bowles 1950 American English
9903 Keep On The Light Christine Campbell Thomson 1939 British English
9913 The Lost Jonathan Aycliffe 1996 British English
9966 The Silence Of The Sea Yrsa Sigurdardottir 2012 Icelandic Icelandic
9979 The Atrocity Archives Charles Stross 2004 British English
9990 Nestlings Of A Dark God Michael R. Collings 1996 American English
10004 Someone In The Dark August Derleth 1941 American English
10003 Lone Women Victor LaValle 2023 American English
10015 The Night Stalker Jeff Rice 1973 American English
10016 Mending Bodies Hon Lai-Chu 2010 Chinese Chinese
10072 Nightmare By Daylight Christine Campbell Thomson 1942 British English
10112 Revelations Douglas Winter 1997 American English
10116 Through The Woods Emily Carroll 2014 Canadian English
10118 The Invisible Guardian Dolores Redondo 2013 Spanish Spanish
10126 Nine Ghosts R. H. Malden 1943 British English
10162 The Devils Joe Abercrombie 2025 British English
10172 The Haunted Wood Sam Leith 2024 Unknown English
10192 The Other Passenger John Keir Cross 1944 British English
10199 From Hell Alan Moore 1991 British English
10214 Underworld Reginald Hill 1988 British English
10218 Great Granny Webster Caroline Blackwood 1977 English English
10223 The Trees Percival Everett 2021 American English
10292 The Jumbies Tracey Baptiste 2015 Trinidadian English
10294 Whalefall Daniel Kraus 2023 American English
10299 Death Notice Zhou Haohui 2014 Chinese Chinese
10299 The Weight Of Blood Laura McHugh 2014 American English
10354 Wylding Hall Elizabeth Hand 2015 American English
10369 The Doll And One Other Algernon Blackwood 1946 British English
10369 West India Lights Henry S. Whitehead 1946 American English
10369 Who Knocks? August Derleth 1946 American English
10425 This Mortal Coil Cynthia Asquith 1947 British English
10425 Revelations In Black Carl Jacobi 1947 American English
10425 The Night Side August Derleth 1947 American English
10431 Finishing Touches Thomas Tessier 1978 American English
10505 Skin Kathe Koja 1993 American English
10526 Genius Loci, And Other Tales Clark Ashton Smith 1948 American English
10534 A Sunny Place For Shady People Mariana Enríquez 2024 Unknown Unknown
10539 Sweeney Todd Stephen Sondheim 1979 American English
10539 The Face That Must Die Ramsey Campbell 1979 British English
10591 Shocks Algernon Blackwood 1949 British English
10591 The Alabaster Hand, And Other Ghost Stories A. N. L. Munby 1949 British English
10668 The Hounding Xenobe Purvis 2025 Unknown English
10682 The Bewitching Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2025 Mexican English
10698 Ghostroots 'Pemi Aguda 2024 Nigerian English
10713 Cursed Daughters Oyinkan Braithwaite 2025 Nigerian English
10737 The Fifth Child Doris May Lessing 1988 British English
10775 Tales From The Nightside Charles L. Grant 1981 American English
10775 They Thirst Robert R. McCammon 1981 American English
10799 Shades Of Darkness Robert Westall 1999 British English
10848 The Second Ghost Book Cynthia Asquith 1952 British English
10861 A Century Of Ghost Stories Richard Sugg 2017 British English
10865 Mr. Splitfoot Samantha Hunt 2016 American English
10879 Somebody Is Walking On Your Grave Mariana Enriquez 2013 Argentine Spanish
10914 The Shining Girls Lauren Beukes 2013 South African English
10933 The Bone Key Sarah Monette 2024 American English
10957 The Bird's Nest Shirley Jackson 1954 American English
10959 Gideon The Ninth Tamsyn Muir 2019 New Zealand English
10961 Rotters Daniel Kraus 2011 American English
10966 The Hunger Alma Katsu 2018 American English
11029 The Weird Ann VanderMeer 2011 American English
11055 Coin Locker Babies Ryū Murakami 1980 Japanese Japanese
11163 Ghost Wall Sarah Moss 2018 British English
11220 Malpertuis Jean Ray 1943 Belgian French
11233 The Horla Guy de Maupassant 1887 French French
11322 By Bizarre Hands Joe R. Lansdale 1989 American English
11326 Heart Shaped Box Joe Hill 2007 American English
11327 The Abominations Of Yondo Clark Ashton Smith 1960 American English
11386 The Devil In America Kai Ashante Wilson 2014 American English
11400 The Living and the Rest José Eduardo Agualusa 2020 Angolan Portuguese
11415 When No One Is Watching Alyssa Cole 2020 American English
11429 The Troop Nick Cutter 2014 Canadian English
11438 Il Colombre Dino Buzzati 1966 Italian Italian
11439 Teatro Grottesco Thomas Ligotti 2006 American English
11467 Furnace Livia Llewellyn 2016 American English
11469 Please, Momma Chesya Burke 2015 American Unknown
11470 Lonesome Places August Derleth 1962 American English
11470 The Surly Sullen Bell Russell Kirk 1962 American English
11470 Dark Mind, Dark Heart August Derleth 1962 American English
11486 Mary Reilly Valerie Martin 1990 American English
11527 Mr. George, And Other Odd Persons August Derleth 1963 American English
11537 Perdido Street Station China Miéville 2000 British English
11544 Old St Paul's William Harrison Ainsworth 1841 British English
11605 Forget The Sleepless Shores Sonya Taaffe 2018 American English
11622 Dark Entries Robert Aickman 1964 British English
11622 Tales Of Science And Sorcery Clark Ashton Smith 1964 American English
11622 The Third Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1964 British English
11622 Weird Tales Leo Marguiles 1964 American English
11635 Little Star John Ajvide Lindqvist 2010 Swedish Swedish
11660 The North Water Ian McGuire 2016 British English
11800 The Ballad Of Black Tom Victor LaValle 2016 American English
11804 The Doll Who Ate His Mother Ramsey Campbell 1976 British English
11824 The Wax Child Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken 2023 Danish English
11828 Phantoms And Fantasies Rudyard Kipling 1965 British Unknown
11828 The Sixth Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1965 British English
11828 Worlds Of Weird Leo Marguiles 1965 American English
11835 I Gave You Eyes And You Looked Toward Darkness Irene Solà 2023 Unknown Catalan
11869 Throat Sprockets Tim Lucas 1994 American English