Six Horror Book Recommendations

Trigger Warnings for The Ballad of Black Tom   When readers think of cosmic horror, Lovecraft and “The Necronomicon” invariably come up. Lovecraftian mythology continues to be a staple of the subgenre, with many authors using it as inspiration for new stories. “The Ballad of Black Tom” is one of them. The book follows Charles Thomas Tester, or “Black Tom,” as he hustles to mak...

Trigger Warnings for Tender is the Flesh   This translated novel has recently gotten a lot of attention for its unashamed usage of a taboo topic to create commentary: cannibalism. “Tender is the Flesh” is a dystopian-horror novel in which a virus has rendered all animals inedible–leaving people that crave meat only one outlet. “Tender is the Flesh” goes into excruciating detail about t...

Trigger Warnings for Mexican Gothic   Gothic fans who wonder if the subgenre can evolve to move past the traditional Victorian era and dreary English moors will find that it can indeed be reimagined. “Mexican Gothic” takes place in 1950s Mexico, with an English family living in seclusion in the Mexican countryside in High Place; the family estate transplanted straight from England. No...

Trigger Warnings for The Death of Jane Lawrence   Of all the books featured on this short list, “The Death of Jane Lawrence” is by far the most convoluted, to the point that it has left many people scratching their heads. Seasoned gothic readers will recognize many common plot beats: an arranged marriage between a practical female protagonist and bachelor doctor, a 19th-century Engl...

Trigger Warnings for A Dowry of Blood Vampires are a pop culture staple, with Dracula reigning supreme among these creatures of the night. Many have played with the concept of vampires, from Twilight’s sparkly take on the vampires in the romance fantasy camp to the introspective “Interview With a Vampire.” Dracula himself has featured in many retellings since Bram Stoker brought him to life in 1...

Trigger warnings for What Moves the Dead   Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is brought back to life with a few new twists in T. Kingfisher’s novella, “What Moves the Dead.” For those unfamiliar with the original tale, the story begins with an old family friend called to the House of Usher, a decaying and isolated estate, in order to check on a brother and sister ...