6 Unsettling Horror Collections Written by Women

G.G. Silverman is an author to watch. She’s been part of the horror and dark fantasy community for years now, and her work has been steadily making its way into the world. And every time you come across one of her stories, it’s always more than worth your time. 

I was fortunate enough to blurb an early ARC of this collection, and it remains one of my favorite books of the year. In these twelve stories, G.G. Silverman is proving why she’s a major force to be reckoned with in the horror genre. 

Pick up a copy of The Blood Year Daughter, and prepare to be haunted.

While the term collection often refers to short fiction, we can’t leave out how truly essential poetry collections are to the horror genre. After all, one of horror’s most essential voices of all-time was Edgar Allan Poe, and where would we be without his indelible and bone-chilling poetry? 

So if you’re searching for a gothic poet who is the heir apparent to Poe’s legacy, then look no further than Sara Tantlinger. 

I’ve already featured Tantlinger’s fiction collection, Cyanide Constellations, on my previous lists, but she’s as well known for her amazing poetry as she is for her incredible fiction. 

So do yourself a favor and pick up Tantlinger’s poetry collections, starting with her debut, Love for Slaughter. The language is beautiful and bloody, and the book is filled with images you won’t soon forget.

I absolutely love Nicole Givens Kurtz’s work. She is such a fantastic and unique author whose work spans multiple genres, and no matter what area of speculative fiction she’s writing in, she always crafts the best and most memorable tales. 

With The Spirit Room, she takes her readers on a journey across the South, exploring different cities from Knoxville to Baltimore, using each city’s history to show us the real horrors waiting right in front of us. 

This collection is a Southern Gothic book through and through, and Kurtz interrogates all the different meanings that subgenre can hold. If you’re already a fan of Nicole Givens Kurtz, then you’ll most definitely adore this collection. 

And if you somehow haven’t read her work yet, then this brilliant collection is a perfect place to start. 

Elizabeth Broadbent is one of the most exciting new voices in horror today. And her recent horror collection proves why. Ink Vine and Other Swamp Stories examines the gothic genre in ways that are wholly her own. 

In this collection of linked stories, which includes the eponymous novella, Ink Vine, Broadbent examines the swamplands of South Carolina in haunting ways that will stay with you long after the final page. 

With a vibrant cover that’s immediately eye-catching, this 2026 release from Undertaker Books should absolutely be on your radar. It’s too good to miss. 

Released last month through Quill & Crow Publishing House, this collection has been all over my Instagram feed, and with good reason. Recent Bram Stoker Award winner R.J. Joseph has crafted a brilliant gothic collection that brims with beauty and brutality, exploring what monstrosity can really mean. 

With an absolutely gorgeous cover and a table of contents filled with stories that will unnerve you and break your heart in equal measure, R.J. Joseph has truly hit it out of the park with this one. Put this wonderfully haunting collection on the top of your reading list.

This one was a recent Bram Stoker Award nominee in the Fiction Collection category, and it’s easy to see why. I remember reading an early copy before its release and knowing instantly that it would be a huge favorite among horror readers. 

Piper is equally skilled in both long and short fiction, so if you’re a fan of her novels and novellas like A Game in Yellow, Queen of Teeth, and The Worm and His Kings, then this collection will absolutely be for you. Another reminder of why Hailey Piper is one of the major voices writing in horror today.