9 Unsettling Horror Books About Grief

When the world’s most advanced smart speaker came out, Vera wanted to buy it. She thought it would be fun, especially with all the other weird occurrences in their condo. Instead, it made everything worse. 

But when she dies, her husband is left to pick up the broken pieces of their lives. The only thing he can think of is to flee to a remote cabin in Colorado. There, he can grieve in peace. 

Only, something is hunting him. Something that wants to feed on his pain. And it’s determined to make its way into this world, one way or another.

Alice Ann is immortal. It’s not something she sees in a positive light. Sure, she may have eternal life, but what good is that when all she wants is to live her life under the sun. 

All she knows is guilt and loss. All she wants to find is family and meaning. Living forever is a curse. To be surrounded by humans and not be human is a torment.

But this is the life Alice has. And if she can’t accept who she is, perhaps it just might be better to die.

After Leah’s deep-sea mission ends in catastrophe, all Miri can think is how grateful she is to have her wife back home. Only, it soon becomes obvious that Leah is not quite the same. 

Whatever they were studying at the bottom of the ocean changed her. As Miri tries to bring Leah back to their normal life, the more obvious it becomes that the life they had might be gone forever. And the worst part is that even though Leah is still there, she keeps slipping further out of Miri’s grasp. 

If Miri can’t stop it, she knows that one day, Leah will be gone forever.

Abe and Dan both lost their wives. They’ve found comfort in each other’s company thanks to their shared love of fishing. 

When they hear about the Dutchman’s Creek in Upstate New York, they initially dismiss the claims as nothing more than a rumor. Good fishing is one thing. 

But to undo their losses? Impossible. Except, the temptation proves too great, and soon both men find themselves face to face with the Fisherman. 

He can give back what they’ve lost. As long as both men are willing to pay the price.

When Erin’s charismatic ex-boyfriend calls her to bail him out of rehab she knows she needs to cut him off. But setting boundaries was never her strength. 

Only, when he overdoses a few days later, Erin is consumed with guilt. So when she stumbles on the drug Ghost, a pill that lets you see the dead, she agrees to participate in a pill-popping séance. She wanted closure. 

What she gets instead are unfathomable side effects. Because once you take the drug, you can never go back. 

All it took was a single car accident and Chris’s world was shattered. Without her son, her life is empty. 

But when she accidentally cuts her finger at his roadside memorial, something happens. She thinks she can see his ghost. Or something that looks like him. 

Desperate for one last moment with her son, Chris begins playing a dangerous game with powerful forces she doesn’t quite understand. She’ll do anything to see her son alive once again. Including risking everything.

After experiencing another devastating loss, Isla Hansen can’t believe when a child appears on her Colorado property. He hasn’t been reported missing, and no one is looking for him, which is impossible. 

But to Isla, it’s a sign. She ignores the mysterious circumstances of his arrival, and how strange his appearance is. She doesn’t notice the peculiar things that begin happening to her family. 

But as the tension inside the house grows, it becomes obvious to everyone else that there is something very wrong with him. And it might cost them everything if Isla refuses to notice before it’s too late.

Proofrock, Idaho isn’t the easiest place to grow up. It’s a small town, where everyone knows everyone. 

And for Jade Daniels, that means too many people judging her past. That’s okay. She has her love of slasher movies and black eyeliner to keep her happy. 

But when people start dying, Jade recognizes all the signs: there’s a killer in Proofrock. She has all the knowledge she needs to survive. She just has to decide if the town deserves the massacre she knows is coming their way.

The Silver family just suffered a terrible loss. Lily is gone, leaving her twins, Miranda and Eliot, and her husband to mourn her absence. 

And then there’s the house, where generations of women inhabit the walls. Miranda can feel the women the most. She hears them. When she develops a new taste for chalk, Eliot and her father realize she is slipping away from them. 

Until one night, she disappears. Where did she go? Only the survivors can tell her story.