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An Alphabet of Horror Books

October 11, 2021

It’s the spookiest time of the year, and librarian Kat has had some fun finding a horror novel or spooky story to represent every letter of the alphabet. As with all her displays, this is available to be browsed at the Athenaeum, but we also have the entire list for you! The links will head to the catalog for an easy request if you are interested.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, young sorceress Sabrina Spellman finds herself at a crossroads, forced to choose between an unearthly destiny and her own mortal boyfriend.

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks

The journals of Kate Holland, recovered from a town’s bloody wreckage after Mount Rainier’s eruption, capture a tale too harrowing and too earth-shattering in its implications, to be forgotten.

The Chill by Scott Carson

A century after a community in New York is intentionally flooded to redistribute water downstate, an inspector overseeing a dangerously neglected dam uncovers a prophecy that warns of additional sacrifices.

The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson

Miranda Crabtree has been ferrying contraband for a mad preacher to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm, but dark forces are at work that set Miranda on a desperate, dangerous path.

Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis

A successful writer’s new life is threatened by a freak sequence of events and a bizarre series of murders that all seem to connect to his past.

The Collector by John Fowles

An uneducated and unloved man in a remote part of Britain abducts a beautiful stranger, believing she will grow to love him in time.

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

Lena drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in a mysterious and remote town. All she has to do is participate in a secret medical research program—and lie to her friends and family about it. 

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

A fast-paced, thrilling novel that follows a group of heroines who survived the unthinkable, until someone is determined to take their lives apart again. 

Remina by Junji Itō

An unknown planet emerges from inside a wormhole, eliminating planets and stars one after another, until finally Earth itself faces extinction.

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Protected by horror movies, Jade Daniels, an angry, half-Indian outcast, pulls us into her dark mind when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian lake.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror.

The Helm of Midnight by Marina J. Lostetter

A legendary serial killer stalks the streets of a fantastical city. It is up to Krona Hirvath and her fellow Regulators to enter the mind of madness to stop this insatiable killer while facing the terrible truths left in his wake.

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

As a wedding weekend unfolds at Woodsman Plantation – rumored to be haunted by the spirits of slaves – three friends are forced to acknowledge their history together and to save themselves from what is to come.

The Ritual by Adam L. G. Nevill

When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives.

White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi 

Enraged by a constant stream of foreign staff and guests, the Silver House finally unleashes its most destructive power. In this spine-tingling tale that has Gothic roots but an utterly modern sensibility, the politics of family and nation are spun into a riveting mystery. 

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

When newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband’s crumbling country estate, what greets her is far from the life of wealth and privilege she was expecting in this Victorian ghost story.

(Don’t You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Gardnerville seems like a paradise. But every four years, a strange madness compels the town’s teenagers to commit terrible crimes. 

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Louis recounts how he became a vampire at the hands of the radiant and sinister Lestat and how he became indoctrinated, unwillingly, into the vampire way of life. 

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Vern escapes the religious compound where she was raised and gives birth to twins in the forest. As her community pursues them, she breaks the boundaries of humanity.

The Dead Hours of Night: Stories by Lisa Tuttle 

Tuttle has proven herself a master of the weird tale. This collection of twelve unsettling stories – some never previously collected – offers readers a chance to discover some of her finest work.

The Devil’s Detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth

When an important political delegation arrives in Hell and a human is found murdered in a horrific manner, extravagant even by Hell’s standards, the Bureaucracy sends Fool to identify and track down the killer.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades, and the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves. In this book, we join the twelfth expedition to Area X.

John Dies at the End by David Wong

A drug called Soy Sauce promises an out-of-body experience, but some who come back are no longer human. Can a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity?

The Hunt by Andrew Xia Fukuda (okay, so for this one, it’s not the author’s last name that begins with X, but it’s the best we can do at the moment)

Seventeen-year-old Gene has passed as a vampire for years, but just as he finds a girl worth fighting for, he is chosen to participate in the hunt for the last remaining humans among ruthless vampires who soon suspect his true nature.

Night Pilgrims by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

In this masterwork of historical horror fiction, the vampire Count Saint-Germain must use all his diplomacy and a good deal of his strength to keep a group of pilgrims from slaughtering one another.

Afterlift by Chip Zdarsky

When ride-share driver Janice Chen picks up a pair of mysterious passengers who are pursued by otherworldly forces, she realizes that her already-terrible day might be headed straight to hell.

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