Mother Horror’s Top 50 Horror Books in 2025 

This book is a major time investment at 900 pages and 26 hours of audio but it’s worth every minute. If you grew up reading all the epic fantasy books and then somewhere along the way, transitioned into a horror fiction lover–this is the book that ties the two worlds together and makes your reader’s soul sing. Imagine a story that feels like an intimate exploration of a tight-knit friend group, aka “The Loser’s Club”, navigating the long-term consequences of summoning a dragon they have to make human sacrifices to every year. 

That’s King Sorrow. It’s emotional, fantastical, epic in scope, and memorable. One of the best books of the year and ever. 

I wasn’t expecting this book to hit me on so many levels—there are moments that made me laugh out loud, others that made me emotional, and at least one or two scenes that straight-up freaked me out. It’s rare to find a story that can do all of that without losing its voice, but this one pulls it off. 

By the end of it, and after I read the author's note, I was a wreck. This book pulled so many emotions out of me like only horror can. This book made me want to be Cora Zeng’s best friend and solve mysteries “Scooby Doo” style, while trying to make the world a better, more loving place. 

The fact that this book only has 29 reviews is criminal. It’s sitting at a damn near perfect 5 star rating on Goodreads and I think it’s safe to say, it’s everything horror readers are looking for. Humble’s writing feels uniquely his own while capturing the best qualities of his obvious influences. I tell people it’s as if  Tolkien, Lewis, Lansdale, King, Martin, and Bradbury gifted him with all their best skills and Humble magically employs them on the page. As the family comes together to lay their differences aside so that they can be fully present for their loved one who is fading fast, they learn of a promise made to an organization called, The Peregrine Estate-the Sutliff Brothers, Ashley, Willow and the youngest, Ellery must honor their father's promise to negotiate peace between rival werewolf packs. A supernatural, cosmic, horror, Western for the ages–one that keeps the fires burning in your heart. The patriarch is dying.

If you’re drawn to ghost stories that carry weight beyond their hauntings, Junie is a book that will stay with you. Erin Crosby Eckstine has created something arresting, haunting, and deeply affecting. Read it, but know that you will walk away with a broken heart and a severe bookish hangover. 

There is no way to soften the realities of racism and violence against enslaved people or the cruelty that thrives in a society built on oppression and subjugation. Domestic abuse against women and enslaved people is woven into the fabric of daily life...and yet, through all of the trauma, there are moments of care, love, and quiet resilience. 

It’s through these moments, the reader falls in love with our hero, Junie–her story engraved on our hearts for all time. A new classic!

This is one of the best books I have ever read. We are in the 15th century (late 1400s) in Innsbruck and follow the story of 6 women accused of witchcraft. The tale is told from the POV of Helena Scheuberin, who makes the mistake of challenging the powerful and popular monk in charge of a rigorous inquisition, resulting in horrific violence against women. 

This is historical fiction, as I have never encountered it before. It’s absolutely fascinating with vibrant and authentic characters, intricately crafted storytelling, and heart-wrenching investment. 

I am living through these women, and it is so scary. Scary in what mankind is capable of and beautiful in the resilience and sisterhood of women coming together to brave impossible odds. 

If you enjoy dual timelines, strong female protagonists, folk magic + witchcraft, cursed families, dark academia, mysteries unfolding surrounding missing people, gothic vibes, sapphic yearning and romance, this is the book for you! 

Plus, it acts as a love letter to horror fiction AND it showcases Moreno-Garcia's knack for historical fiction. So, pretty much the whole package--don't miss it! 

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is my go-to when I'm craving an intricately plotted, historically accurate, compelling, tale with larger-than-life characters and strong female protagonists. I know I'm in good hands when I show up to one of her books. 

Recommended for readers who enjoy getting their brains dirty for the sake of a well-told horror story. It's gruesome and graphic, heart-wrenching and haunting. A masterpiece of psychological horror and raw emotion. The vibes linger long after the final page-truly an immersive reading experience. It’s seductive and harrowing; a coming-of-age story, masterfully written with alluring prose. 

The reader is immediately drawn into an isolated, wooded area where we are introduced to Margot, a young girl who lives with her mother in a rustic cabin. The very first line is an indicator of what you're getting into--a gruesome account of a claustrophobic world with a ravenous, needy mother who is never satisfied; never full.

Rose’s storytelling is hypnotic, wrapping the reader in an atmosphere that vibrates with dread and tension. It is relentless! The novel is lush and disturbing as hell, but more importantly, utterly devastating and soul-crushing. 

I felt breathless while I read the final chapters. Truly terrifying. Real horror.

This is how you win a million hearts. A story about a home in Florida in the 1970s, that accepts teen girls in a crisis pregnancy to facilitate their prenatal care, room, and board, assist in childbirth, and help find an adoptive family for the baby. 

The investment in the main protagonist, "Fern", is immediate. Hendrix draws the reader in with high stakes, emotional investment right there in chapter one. Then, once Fern arrives at her destination where she will live during her pregnancy, she meets a cast of girls who are in a similar situation. 

Getting to know these girls is my favorite aspect of coming-of-age stories. 

The dialog is perfect, and of course, Grady knows how to develop personalities through his impeccable cleverness and humor. I fell in love with everyone. I am in awe of the way he filled this book with vibrant, full-of-life, women and girls of all ages. 

He navigated an entire cast of young moms in various stages of pregnancy in detail. Childbirth, in detail. The way adults look at girls who are pregnant, if they even choose to see them at all. This is now my favorite Grady book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Duane Minor is going through a lot in his personal life, which doesn't stop him from trying to be a good person and do right by the ones he loves. He even goes the extra mile when it comes to his 13-year-old niece, Juli,a who comes to live with him and his wife, Heidi. 

Things are going along when suddenly, a situation turns Minor's entire life upside-down. He loses everything--and so does his niece Julia and they have to rely on each other to seek out the one who ruined their lives.

Minor and Julia are everything. I love that we stay in Minor's POV the whole time--he's our narrator but the book really could be titled "Julia", she's kind of the star. Their journey as they confront each other, face their own inner demons, while they chase down a real-life demon, is the stuff of HORROR LEGEND. 

I mean, this is genuinely WHY horror fans choose horror over and over again...these kinds of "horror with heart" stories that break the reader wide open spilling all your contents on the floor just so it can scoop you all up and put you back together again at the end.

This is that kind of novel and it can't be missed. Do not sleep on it. Also, the audiobook is perfect. The narrator is perfect.

And it's scary as hell. There are scenes that will stay with me and haunt me whenever I think about this book or recommend it. Some seriously dark stuff. Really good. All the stars.

Readers who show up for the GOOD, good stuff from Dr. Jones will not be disappointed. The expected horror with heart, the historical backdrop, and the flipped script giving me those Earthdivers vibes–reclaiming that narrative and telling history from side of Indigenous people endlessly fighting colonization, oppression, persecution, and subjugation from the likes of white patriarchal systems who ravage, destroy, and kill to fill their bottomless coffers. 

Reading Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones was an experience that left me emotionally drained in the best way. There’s no distance between the reader and the protagonist’s suffering; it pulls you in, immersing you in the dark truth of the American West. 

“You can’t stop a country from happening.”

“But we were already a Nation.”

I’d like to report this book as an actual threat to my feelings. In classic SGJ form, the story took a minute to grab me and pull me in. I was worried there for a second (this happens a lot when I start one of his books). I forget who I am dealing with. 

There’s a different level of presence and attention I need to bring to an SGJ book. I’m standing at the threshold of this story, this almost 500-page book and I see Good Stab standing there waiting for me to get my head and my heart in this goddamn game. 

“With enough blood in me, I can see colors in the night, and I can taste those colors, and hear the roots of trees…”

I want to share a little warning, this book hurts. It devastated me and the title tells you about what’s happening to the buffalo, so know that going into it but worse than that are the human monsters that are not just hunting buffalo but the people who live alongside the buffalo. It’s painful to read but then the title repeats a word doesn’t it? 

Someone hunting the hunters and for me, that’s what makes this book so special…the way SGJ reclaims the historical narrative. Horror + Heart. I show up for it every time. There’s more I want to say about the way SGJ manipulates vampire lore to serve this story in some unique ways. But it would totally ruin some moments of dead-ass horror and readers need to discover that on their own.

 I just need to say, SGJ took the undying, immortal body of vampires and put his own fingerprints on that. The same can be said about transformation, how vampires turn others, and some really cool stuff with new identities. It’s all just very tricksy SGJ-stuff that’s really badass. 

“What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.”