Quality Dark Fiction
My novels are dark fantasy thrillers, so I thought I'd make a list with quality dark fiction, particularly dark genre fiction and include books that have appealed to me or that have inspired my writing over the years.
1 Dracula
by
3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 280,974 ratings
2 American Gods
by
4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 188,708 ratings
3 Complete Stories and Poems
by
4.36 of 5 stars 4.36 avg rating — 103,048 ratings
4 1984
by
4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 909,636 ratings
5 Frankenstein
by
3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 avg rating — 466,088 ratings
6 I am Legend and Other Stories
by
3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 57,655 ratings
7 The Road
by
3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 274,494 ratings
8 The Picture of Dorian Gray
by
3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 253,668 ratings
9 Lord of the Flies
by
3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 909,061 ratings
10 The Shining
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 382,003 ratings
11 V for Vendetta
by
4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 85,625 ratings
12 The Sandman, Vol. 1: Prelud...
by
4.34 of 5 stars 4.34 avg rating — 63,070 ratings
13 Interview with the Vampire ...
by
3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 240,403 ratings
14 Animal Farm
by
3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 983,984 ratings
15 The Handmaid's Tale
by
3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 avg rating — 251,142 ratings
16 Fahrenheit 451
by
3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 514,197 ratings
17 Night Watch (Watch, #1)
by
3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 14,706 ratings
18 Coraline
by
3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 138,436 ratings
19 The Call of Cthulhu and Oth...
by
4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 15,261 ratings
20 A Clockwork Orange
by
3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 215,341 ratings
21 The Stand
by
4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 avg rating — 212,312 ratings
22 Neverwhere
by
4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 125,851 ratings
23 Something Wicked This Way C...
by
3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 37,260 ratings
24 The Time Machine
by
3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 avg rating — 115,356 ratings
25 Perfume: The Story of a Mur...
by
3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 87,097 ratings
26 Let the Right One In
by
4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 27,236 ratings
27 The Hunger Games (The Hunge...
by
4.44 of 5 stars 4.44 avg rating — 1,582,800 ratings
28 Table 21
by
3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 261 ratings
29 The Metamorphosis
by
3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 162,442 ratings
30 Titus Groan (Gormenghast, #1)
by
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 4,985 ratings
31 Wuthering Heights
by
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 429,672 ratings
32 The Sinner
by
4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 46 ratings
33 Houdini Heart
by
4.41 of 5 stars 4.41 avg rating — 580 ratings
34 A Kind of Judgment
by
4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 avg rating — 33 ratings
35 The Turn of the Screw
by
3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 avg rating — 27,352 ratings
36 The Strange Case of Dr. Jek...
by
3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 88,045 ratings
37 Crime and Punishment
by
4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 avg rating — 192,090 ratings
38 Brave New World
by
3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 548,935 ratings
39 Batman: The Killing Joke
by
4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 avg rating — 43,242 ratings
40 The Book of Paul
by
4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 156 ratings
41 Rebecca
by
4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 143,604 ratings
42 The Bloody Chamber and Othe...
by
4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 avg rating — 9,216 ratings
43 Never Let Me Go
by
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 144,580 ratings
43 The Silence of the Lambs
by
3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 avg rating — 225,372 ratings
45 Verland: The Transformation
by
4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 83 ratings
46 The Talisman
by
4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 avg rating — 48,377 ratings
47 American Psycho
by
3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 79,654 ratings
48 Perdido Street Station (New...
by
3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 21,708 ratings
49 Beowulf: A New Verse Transl...
by
3.35 of 5 stars 3.35 avg rating — 95,874 ratings
50 The Hollow Dolls
by
4.43 of 5 stars 4.43 avg rating — 23 ratings
51 The Elephant Tree
by
3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 2,174 ratings
52 Ghost Story
by
3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 23,817 ratings
53 Blood Meridian, or the Even...
by
4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 33,884 ratings
54 The Zombie Room
by
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 2,311 ratings
55 Oryx and Crake(MaddAddamTri...
by
3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 62,663 ratings
56 Weaveworld
by
4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 11,196 ratings
57 Do Androids Dream of Electr...
by
4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 97,260 ratings
58 The Way of Shadows (Night A...
by
4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 36,027 ratings
59 The Lovely Bones
by
3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 avg rating — 860,530 ratings
60 Gone to Texas (Preacher, #1)
by
4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 avg rating — 22,702 ratings
61 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow...
by
3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 23,432 ratings
62 Fevre Dream
by
3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 6,112 ratings
63 The War of the Worlds
by
3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 73,177 ratings
64 For Whom the Bell Tolls
by
3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 93,612 ratings
65 The Odyssey
by
3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 avg rating — 450,679 ratings
66 The Island of Dr. Moreau
by
3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 avg rating — 30,945 ratings
67 What Hides Within
by
4.45 of 5 stars 4.45 avg rating — 38 ratings
68 Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter...
by
3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 78,726 ratings
69 Wake the Wicked
by
4.4 of 5 stars 4.40 avg rating — 30 ratings
70 The Long Walk
by
4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 35,610 ratings
71 The Historian
by
3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 121,018 ratings
72 The Other
by
3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 avg rating — 6,815 ratings
73 Heart of Darkness
by
3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 avg rating — 142,979 ratings
74 Watership Down
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 150,111 ratings
75 Fragile Things
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 23,365 ratings
76 The Divine Comedy
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 41,353 ratings
77 The Strain (The Strain Tril...
by
3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 27,615 ratings
78 The Phantom of the Opera
by
3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 68,476 ratings
79 The Great and Secret Show
by
4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 14,191 ratings
80 Franz Kafka's The Castle
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 12,067 ratings
81 Collected Ghost Stories
by
4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 avg rating — 1,976 ratings
82 The Haunting of Hill House
by
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 22,376 ratings
83 Midnight Blue: The Sonja Bl...
by
4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 avg rating — 862 ratings
84 Son of Ereubus (Guardians o...
by
3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 213 ratings
84 Second Chances
by
4.26 of 5 stars 4.26 avg rating — 19 ratings
84 Vein Fire
by
4.68 of 5 stars 4.68 avg rating — 31 ratings
87 Velvet Rain
by
4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 57 ratings
88 Stormbringer (Elric, #6)
by
4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 avg rating — 4,119 ratings
89 King Rat
by
3.51 of 5 stars 3.51 avg rating — 3,615 ratings
90 The Steel Remains (A Land F...
by
3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 avg rating — 4,047 ratings
91 Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)
by
3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 113,925 ratings
92 Lost Souls
by
3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 8,949 ratings
93 Black Hole
by
3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 15,756 ratings
93 A Christmas Carol
by
3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 166,693 ratings
95 Night's Master (Flat Earth,...
by
4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 663 ratings
96 Elric of Melniboné (Elric, #1)
by
3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 9,185 ratings
97 I Am Not A Serial Killer (J...
by
3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 8,434 ratings
98 Carmilla
by
3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 avg rating — 7,396 ratings
99 The Bone Doll's Twin (The T...
by
4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 5,029 ratings
100 WISHBONE...Be Careful What ...
by
4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 154 ratings
526 books · 634 voters · list created August 23rd, 2009 by Alan Baxter (votes) .
 · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 500 seconds.


Alan
Alan
162 books
233 friends
Greyweather
Greyweather
1304 books
39 friends
Benjamin
Benjamin
160 books
304 friends
Killthepopular
Killthepopular
512 books
28 friends
Oscar
Oscar
98 books
4 friends
Kgb
Kgb
38 books
10 friends
Paul
Paul
285 books
240 friends
Belinda
Belinda
656 books
21 friends

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Comments (showing 1-8 of 8) (8 new)

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message 1: by Greyweather (new)

Greyweather I Am Legend is a science fiction novel, not a fantasy novel.

And Replay? Dark? I strongly disagree.


message 2: by Alan (new)

Alan Baxter Maybe the list should have been called Quality Dark Genre Fiction instead. As I said in the description, "I thought I'd make a list with quality dark fiction, particularly dark genre fiction..." I don't necessarily draw a big distinction between fantasy and sci fi. I Am Legend, a sci fi book with vampires - is it sci fi or horror? Or horror sci fi? Or fantasy sci fi? It's all speculative fiction. Beyond that I don't really care.

I think there is an underlying darkness to Replay, given that what's happening to the MC is pretty horrible, at least initially.



message 3: by Killthepopular (new)

Killthepopular I have to agree with greayweather, i find your definition of "dark" pretty confusing. Replay feels a little out of place here.


message 4: by Alan (new)

Alan Baxter Fair enough. It's certainly the least dark given the rest of the list. Perhaps it's something to do with when I read it! :)

Vote for others that you do agree with and add some more to help refine the definition.


message 5: by Oscar (new)

Oscar Gormenghast deserves a place at the top.


message 6: by Elina (new)

Elina I am interested... I will read this whole list and give my feedback. How exciting, Red Dragon however not that dark to me. Its strange what I find dark, Interview with the vampire was dark, beautiful but dark. So lets see your list chamep... I'm excited.


message 7: by Talyn (new)

Talyn God this whole list is just what I'm looking for. All I need is one similar to this, but with some twisted romance and I am set. A hundred thank yous to whoever made this list!


message 8: by Ava (new)

Ava Amazing list. I'm glad I already have a few of these down. Excited to run through its entirety.


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