13 frightfully good horror books

13 Frightfully Good Horror Books

As the nights grow darker, some people draw in a love to cosy up with a comfort read, while others prefer to lean into the darkness and reach for a spine-tingling tale to celebrate the dawn of spooky season. If you are the latter, we have a selection of 13 frightfully good books to make your hair stand on end and get you doing a double-take when you pass mirrors in the dark.
From the uncanny and abnormal to ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night – everyone’s fears are unique. Stories allow us to explore our deepest dreads.

If you are ready to embrace the autumn, you can reserve books from our online catalogue and have them delivered to a library of your choice. Can’t wait to get your teeth into a good read? Borrow for free from anywhere with the BorrowBox app.

13 Frightfully Good Horror Books

1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

A classic for a reason – Shelley’s wit and strong voice cuts through the centuries to explore themes of unchecked ambition flying in the face of the natural world, monstrosity and obsession.
Borrow Frankenstein from our Catalogue or BorrowBox.

2. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill 

You may have seen the film with Daniel Radcliffe, but have you read the book? When Arthur Kipps attends the funeral of Alice Drablow, he is unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind her house. It is not until he glimpses a woman dressed all in black at the funeral that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold.

Borrow The Woman in Black from our Catalogue.

3. So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

Sloane’s husband surprises her with a birthday-weekend getaway with Sloane’s best friend, troublemaker Naomi. An anticipated weekend of wine tastings and cosy robes takes a turn when Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers.

Borrow So Thirsty from our Catalogue .

4. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

Teenage Silvie is living in a remote Northumberland camp as an exercise in experimental archaeology. Her father is an abusive man, obsessed with recreating the discomfort, brutality and harshness of Iron Age life. Behind and ahead of Silvie’s narrative is a story of a bog girl, a sacrifice, a woman killed by those close to her, and as the summer builds to a terrifying climax, Silvie and the Bog girl are in ever more terrifying proximity.
Borrow Ghost Wall from our Catalogue or BorrowBox.

5. Dracula by Bram Stoker

Possession, moral ambiguity and Victorian science versus ancient superstition follow Jonathan Harker from a crumbling castle in Transylvania, where he meets a mysterious Count, back home to England.
Borrow Dracula from our Catalogue or BorrowBox.

6. The Changeling by Victor LaValle

Apollo’s father disappeared when he was just a child, leaving him with recurring nightmares and a box labelled ‘Improbabilia’. Now a successful book dealer, husband and father, his wife Emma’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic until one day she commits an unthinkable act.

Borrow The Changeling from our Catalogue.

7. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Spooky children, an unnerving estate and a young governess navigating her first job. The governess is soon oppressed by a sense of foreboding and deep disquiet, becoming convinced that something dark is menacing her young charges.

Borrow The Turn of the Screw from our Catalogue.

8. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Step into a glamorous 1950s Mexico. A glamorous socialite, Noemí Taboada, receives a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging to be rescued from a mysterious doom; it’s clear something is desperately amiss.

Borrow Mexican Gothic from our Catalogue.

9. Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley

A gothic folk tale exploring how the search for hope after the death of their young son finds a couple unearthing horror at their house by the moors. Juliette seeks the help of the Beacons, a seemingly benevolent group of occultists, and Richard turns his attention to the hunt for a legendary oak tree.

Borrow Starve Acre from our Catalogue.

10. Tender Is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

In a world where animal meat has become poisonous, humans are bred, slaughtered and sold for consumption. Marcos works at a processing plant, keeping his distance from the horrors of the industry until he is unexpectedly given a young woman as a gift. As their relationship develops, the carefully maintained boundaries between man and meat begin to collapse.

Borrow Tender Is The Flesh from our Catalogue.

11. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Spooky and psychological – what’s the worst a house can do? Hill House stood abandoned, six miles off the road. Four people came to learn its secrets: Dr Montague, an occult scholar; Luke, a spendthrift heir; Theodora, escaping a love affair; and Eleanor, who is lonely and vulnerable to the house.

Borrow The Haunting of Hill House from our Catalogue.

12. The Fisherman by John Langan

Two widowers, Abe and Dan, have found solace in each other’s company, hear rumours of a creek with fine fishing in upstate New York – but one is hiding a terrible secret.

Borrow The Fisherman from our Catalogue.

13. White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

In a vast, mysterious house near the cliffs near Dover, the Silver family is reeling from the hole punched into its heart. Lily is gone – her twins, Miranda and Eliot, and her husband, Luc, mourn her absence with unspoken intensity. All is not well with the house either.

Borrow White Is For Witching from our Catalogue.