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The 60 Most Popular Horror Books of the Past Five Years
Horror fiction, as a genre, can be fascinating to track over time. The scary stories that we tell ourselves often reflect the anxieties we’re living through as a society. Why do certain books catch on with a large reading audience? No one knows for sure. But it’s fun to speculate.
Below we have gathered the most popular horror books on Goodreads over the past five years. Popularity is measured by total shelvings—books that appear on readers’ Read and Want to Read shelves—and overall star ratings. The titles here are all classified as adult horror and were published in the U.S. from October 2017 through September 2022.
Some interesting notes: We saw a significant surge in the popularity of the horror genre starting around the summer of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic settled in for the long haul. We’ve also noticed a recent and delightfully weird uptick in stories about haunted houses (e.g., Just Like Home and The Hacienda), which may reflect a kind of collective response to spending so much time at home feeling worried.
You’ll find some familiar names in this collection, but also a wave of new authors who are energizing the genre: Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Alexis Henderson, and Lee Mandelo, to name three. Also keep an eye out for the other kind of usual suspects: vampires, ghosts, shadows, imaginary friends, and that sinister old rascal, the boogeyman.
Scroll over the book cover images for more details, and don’t forget to feed your Want to Read shelf.
How many of these terrifying tales have you read? Let us know in the comments!
Comments Showing 1-50 of 188 (188 new)
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Amory
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Sep 29, 2022 09:03AM
I've only read 2 of these; definitely adding more to my list!
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I have a lot of these waiting on my wishlist and some actually waiting do be read.
Planning my October all-horror reading list -- thanks for the help, Goodreads!
The Hacienda and Ring Shout novels are calling my name. I think I am going to commit to those for my October reads.
Uh oh..I've read 27 while recovering from back surgery these last few months.
Jenn wrote: "Uh oh..I've read 27 while recovering from back surgery these last few months."Any genuinely scary books?
I’ve read 15 and have a few more on my tbr. None for this month though. Maybe I need to change that…
Okay maybe I should stop looking at the ratings because a lot of these are like 3.5-3.7 but the comments say they read many of them. Were they any good, guys??
I've read eight and have eight on my physical TBR
I’ve read 20 and 13 on my TBR. These lists get me excited for spooky reading season. 👻
Bailey Drake wrote: "Okay maybe I should stop looking at the ratings because a lot of these are like 3.5-3.7 but the comments say they read many of them. Were they any good, guys??"Don't pay attention to Goodreads ratings. If I did I would have missed out on some great books.
I've only read 8 but want to read more.
Jasmine Monique wrote: "The Hacienda and Ring Shout novels are calling my name. I think I am going to commit to those for my October reads."Hacienda is excellent! Highly recommended!
Jasmine Monique wrote: "The Hacienda and Ring Shout novels are calling my name. I think I am going to commit to those for my October reads."Ring Shout was my favorite novel from last year. It was sooo good.
“Hidden Pictures” and “Full Throttle” were great, but “Mexican Gothic” and “The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires” sucked. I wanted to read “The Hacienda” but I’m not sure if I will like it. I’m surprised that Goodreads didn’t add “Ninth House”, “The Last Thing He Told Me” and “Blood Sugar” to this list!
Read: 3On TBR: 3
On my Wishlist: 9
Read 4 On TBR 1
I've read 12 of these and the best of which is definitely "The Silent Companions". That book is soooo creepy!
18 for me, and I think my favourite was The Twisted Ones!
I've read 5 of these so far...a few are marked "want to read". The Last House on Needless street is my favourite on this list!!
I´ve read 7 of them and planning to more!
If you want a scary book with vampires, check out The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle. Vampires haven't been scary in a long time, so I was surprised by how creepy they were in this book. I was actually afraid to turn out the light and close my eyes.The Hallowed Ones
I can't believe there's no Joyce Carol Oates on there! I just finished CARDIFF, BY THE SEA, a creepy and wonderful book that contains four novellas. PURSUIT, another JCO gothic, is probably her darkest book. BELLEFLEUR is the first book in a creepy series. And if anyone's looking for a creepy autumn classic, I'd recommend CHILDREN OF THE CORN by the late Tom Tryon. THE GHOSTWRITER by John Harwood is also excellent.
I've read 11 and have several on my TBR, I increased that again today.
I've read 11, DNF'd 4, and 2 are on my TBR.
I have read only one on this list . . . I am surprised there is no Japanese horror on this list. Another was one of my favourites :D
I've only read the two Stephen King novels and found them to be alright, nothing great. Some of the others seem worth looking into.
A lot of these seem too thriller-ish for my tastes. I basically only read horror and don't want to waste my time on books which turn out to be thrillers in disguise.
Hazel Bee wrote: "Bailey Drake wrote: "Okay maybe I should stop looking at the ratings because a lot of these are like 3.5-3.7 but the comments say they read many of them. Were they any good, guys??"Don't pay atte..."
I totally agree!! Some of the best books I've read this year had low ratings. I sometimes read the reviews but even that hasn't been helpful lately. I just give the books that catch my eye a try and see for myself if the book was worth reading.
Joel wrote: "Jenn wrote: "Uh oh..I've read 27 while recovering from back surgery these last few months."Any genuinely scary books?"
This is super subjective, don't you think? What makes one person shiver will make the next roll their eyes.
13 read... Last House On Needless Street is my favorite of those
"Dracul" (Stoker/Barker) is a must read for Ghostober.
I've read 12 and own a few, and many on my TBR list. I have added more. Excited to read many of these options!
I only read of few of these and now I just added darn near the whole list to my "want to read" list. Can't wait to get started
I've read 7 of these picks! Love Grady's books and would 10/10 recommend My Best Friend's Exorcism especially because a movie just came out based on it??!?!?
having read both books, it suprises me to see Lakewood on this list and not Sorrowland
15. Ring Shout was excellent, as were both Stephen Graham Jones books. As for actually scary? Weirdly, Devolution kept me on edge, even though it's mostly satirical - probably because I read it in a house in the woods. Survivor Song was scary, but I have found Paul Tremblay to have gotten steadily less scary with every book. Last House on Needless Street was mesmerizing, and Mira Grant's book was delicious.
I’ve read 25 and most are on my My Goodreads shelves
I've only read 19 of these, but I do own 8 others....still, I definitely need to step up my game!!
I've read 8, and several are on my TBR.
