Sarah Langan is a successful American author of horror thrillers and a three-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, whose works are laced with menace, suspense and dread. Some of her standalone novels include the fantasy-tinged Audrey’s Door which features a regal haunted house as part of its spine-chilling narrative, and Good Neighbors that draws upon the author’s memories of Long Island where she grew up.
She won the Bram Stoker Award in 2007 for her horror novel, The Missing, the sequel to her debut book, The Keeper. In the following two years, she won the Bram Stoker Awards again, for her short story “The Lost” in 2008 and for Audrey’s Door in 2009, further establishing Langan as a prominent and unique voice in the genre.
Influenced by the works of horror stalwarts such as Shirley Jackson and Stephen King, short story masters such as W. Somerset Maugham as well as literary fiction superstars like Joyce Carol Oates, Langan’s books are infused with horror, sharp observations, wry humor and chilling prose.
Most of her books take place in a small town, battling with its own prejudices as well as supernatural evils, with carefully-crafted characters and well-executed scares. Along with an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, she also has an MS in environmental toxicology from NYU, and served as one of the judges for the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award and currently remains on its Board of Directors.
Whether you’ve read some of her books and are curious to try more, or you’re looking for a refreshing and unnerving voice in horror to check out, or just you want to catch up on Langan’s works before her latest novel, Trad Wife (2026) hits the shelves, our introductory list of her books has got you covered!
Good Neighbors
Described as a “propulsive literary noir” Good Neighbors unfolds in a Long Island suburb, pitting neighbors against each other while offering a scathing critique of suburbia.
Maple Street, at first glance, seems a picture-perfect community, but beneath that bright façade, are plenty of cracks—cracks that get exposed when a sudden sinkhole swallows up one of its residents. That tragedy brings out the worst in people, painting a chilling portrait of mob mentality.
A Better World
Like Good Neighbors, A Better World also unravels in a seemingly-perfect walled-off company town that has its fair share of ugly secrets.
The story follows the Farmer Bowen family who are invited to live in the idyllic Plymouth Valley with the promise of safety, clean air, food, and a great house, on a trial basis—at the end of the year they’ll be evaluated if they actually fit in with the crowd.
With the rest of the world on the verge of environmental collapse, a company town seems like the best option, but of course, not everything is what it seems. Trippy, gripping, and thought-provoking, A Better World tackles some big themes in an engaging manner.
Audrey's Door
If you like stories about haunted houses, you can check out Audrey’s Door, though there’s more to that narrative. Like Langhan’s other books, this one also explores themes of power, privilege, and “fitting in”—set in an old apartment building called the “Breviary” on the Upper West Side.
The story follows Audrey Lucas, a young architect trying to heal from trauma and rebuild her life, until she starts hearing voices in her new apartment, indicating either the presence of ghosts or that she’s about to have a nervous breakdown.
Slow-paced, suspense-ridden and multi-layered, Audrey’s Door opens a portal of horrors that only the brave can step through.
The Keeper
Sarah Langan’s debut novel, The Keeper unfolds in a small town with secrets, and is pretty hard to put down, marking her as a rising horror talent to keep an eye out for.
The story takes place in a decaying New England town whose paper mill finally shuts down, and whose languishing residents are obsessed with the once-beautiful Susan Marley, many of whom believe her to be a witch.
Filled with gut-wrenching twists, believable characters and plenty of creepy shenanigans, The Keeper is a promising read that will urge you to quickly devour the sequel afterwards!
The Missing
The much-awaited sequel to The Keeper and the winner of a Bram Stoker Award, The Missing also focuses on another small town in Maine with sharp and insightful characterization, and some really scary zombies.
The plot follows school teacher Lois Larkin who takes her class on a field trip to the nearby small town of Corpus Christi where one of the students go missing, and readers soon discover that there’s a dangerous infection about. Deftly written and kind of gory, The Missing is an utterly haunting read.
Featured image: Annie Spratt / Unsplash
