"Humans are the Real Monsters" is my favorite trope. I'm more willing to buy what can actually happen than ghosts and goblins.

Welp Your House Wants to Kill You and The Gothic are my favorite tropes. Have to say though that The Ruins was disappointing.

"Humans are the Real Monsters" always. I love reading horror stories but get paranoid when it's about ghosts and haunted things because I'm very sensitive to that, let's just say there's a lot of family history.

It's INSANE that Richard Matheson's Hell House is not "Welp, Your House Wants to Kill You", one of my favorites. And Gothic too.

Berna wrote: "It's INSANE that Richard Matheson's Hell House is not "Welp, Your House Wants to Kill You", one of my favorites. And Gothic too."

Agreed. Who did this list?

would love to add Pet Semetary to the ancient evil category ;)

What does Welp mean?

Welp, an alternative pronunciation of well, and is an interjection typically used at the beginning of a sentence to express resignation or disappointment.

Haunted Houses

For "creature feature" I do not see any Hunter Shea on that list - we need to remedy that as I consider him the "master of creature feature" books. I will put a couple of his books on here:

The Montauk Monster and Loch Ness Revenge

For "ghosts/hauntings" I do not see any Darcy Coates either - so going to remedy that as well with a couple of her books:

Craven Manor and The Carrow Haunt

Mine is "An ancient evil is stalking you". Sour Candy is AMAZING

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon arguably fits into ALL of these categories and is a great spooky read. Highly recommend it!

I never considered myself a horror reader, largely because I associated it only with my least favorite of these tropes, the creatures. But as with so many other things, 2020 surprised me in this respect. Once I realized that what readers describe as "horror" includes Gothic novels and ghost stories, I changed my tune! It's become a favorite genre. I'm kind of obsessed with "my house is trying to kill me" at the moment!

Instead of eating your way through that Halloween candy dish awaiting the gobblins to visit your house.....check out "Ghost Stories From All 50 States" and see the one from your state of mind! Its on amazon by djv murphy.

"welp your house wants to kill you" has to be my favorite trope and Salem's Lot is my favorite haunted house book :)

It's obvious I have a type when all the Ancient Evil suggestions have already been read.

Seriously though read Sour Candy and thank me later.

I don't tend to like genlit stories about children, but for some reason, if it's shelved under horror and the child in question is creepy and/or murderous, I'm totally on board. There is just something about that combination of the evil being a child (and I'm not talking about possessed children, or demons in child form, but just... evil, creepy, cruel kids who are Out For Blood) that's terrifying to me.

My favorite of these types of books has to be Baby Teeth. Vulnerable mom, creepy daughter, oblivious father- it's such a classic trope, but it chilled me to my core.

The Ghost Rider by Ismail Kadare.

Would recommend "The Elementals" by Michael McDowell for Gothic!

Amityville Horror, ahh so faking a haunting to make money is a trope now?

Thanks for the recommendations

Human are the biggest monsters of all & an ancient evil is stalking you are my favorite of these tropes!

For those that like anthologies of short stories, check out The Frightful Fifty, Part One: 25 Dreadful Singles and The Frightful Fifty, Part Two: 25 More Dreadful Singles.

I would like to add House of Leaves to the "Welp, Your House Wants to Kill You trope. That book freaked me out!

Natalie wrote: "What does Welp mean?"

It's another way of casually saying "oh well."
Like "Oh well, it looks like I'll be late to the party.

I'll definitely look closely at these recommendations, especially the "ghosts" and "gothic" section. I absolutely loved The Woman in Black, so hopefully the other recommendations will recreate the enjoyable chills it gave me.

I am really digging how this post introduces all the different tropes. I am all about the "gothic" and "humans are evil" tropes.

Anyone have any recommendations for a period horror novel? Say 18th or 19th century setting? Thanks!

Oxford dictionary says "welp: nonstandard spelling of well"

I'm not sure when/how this cropped up but I see it more and more lately. I guess it's coming along the same path as irregardless, and such.

WELL, that was fun. Enjoy your scary reading.

Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones, by Micah Dean Hicks, should be on this list for ghosts! Seriously frightening, about a dying town and ghosts that take possession. The main character has to save her haunted family and escape the town. It’s as good as Stephen king and the haunting of hill house, for real.

Amazon.com/author/dylanwatson

Jay wrote: "Still no Lovecraft, and you even have a subcategory of ancient horror.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."

Not directly but both The Croning and Mexican Gothic incorporate Lovecraftian themes in their work, and neither author is shy about admitting it.

Franco wrote: "Anyone have any recommendations for a period horror novel? Say 18th or 19th century setting? Thanks!"

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill; 19th century
The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice by Wilkie Collins -- first published in 1878
The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore -- published in the 1930s, takes place around the French Revolution
The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers; early 19th century
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind; 18th century
The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes; 19th century
Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin; 19th century

Hello

Does anyone know where The Twenty Days of Turin or similar books would fall?

My best guess is ancient evil, but its effect is usually felt on more than one person, like a city or something. Haunted cities? Someone will have a more catchy category, I feel?

M. R James ghost stories are creepy and atmospheric; They were written in the early 20th century.

Mexican Gothic should be in the house that wants to kill you category

Sarina wrote: "Mexican Gothic should be in the house that wants to kill you category"

It fits both categories since it has Lovecraftian underpinning.

Jodi wrote: "I would like to add House of Leaves to the "Welp, Your House Wants to Kill You trope. That book freaked me out!"

Seconded, even though I've just started. Seems like a shoe-in

I enjoy the Gothic. Interestingly, its location is not always a house (see, for example, Melmoth the Wanderer, which might also fall under "Creature Features" or "An Ancient Evil Is Stalking You").

What’s haunting is waking up to find transparent images floating in your bedroom...read: “I Saw Some Angels Today” a true story!

Obsidian wrote: "Berna wrote: "It's INSANE that Richard Matheson's Hell House is not "Welp, Your House Wants to Kill You", one of my favorites. And Gothic too."

Agreed. Who did this list?"

Someone who has never read Hell House.

And I agree with everyone that says Cosmic (Lovecraftian) Horror should have a category. No one is kicking out horror like Adam Nevill these days.

And thanks to those who made a point of saying that Mexican Gothic is Cosmic. That peaks my interest. I thought it was just a ghost story.

Christa, your response is uncharitable.

Neither Berna nor Obsidian said the list was bad, as you imply; moreover, neither one of them suggested that the list should be exhaustive, as you imply.

Amazon owns Goodreads. Goodreads frequently "recommends" any number of books that are a marketable selling point for Amazon. It's likely this list includes a good number of books listed for reasons other than their related horror content because that's the way capitalism functions.

It's not accidental that a Horror Trope list comes out in October.

So, another trope missing here, and one that arguably is the impetus for this entire list in the first place, is Halloween Themed Horror. Horror set in and during Halloween time. (I realize that Day of the Dead is gaining traction in America but as far as marketing goes, the money revolves around Halloween.)

Here's one gentle example:
The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury

Here's a less gentle example:
Haunted Nights, eds., Datlow and Morton.

Just a heads up, I really don't think The Patient should be in that troupe considering it has a supernatural element to it.

Jodi wrote: "I would like to add House of Leaves to the "Welp, Your House Wants to Kill You trope. That book freaked me out!"

It's also what inspired many of the books on this list!

IWB wrote: "IWB
It's not accidental that a Horror Trope list comes out in October.

So, another trope missing here, and one that arguably is the impetus for this entire list in the first place, is Halloween Themed Horror. Horror set in and during Halloween time. (I realize that Day of the Dead is gaining traction in America but as far as marketing goes, the money revolves around Halloween.)

Here's one gentle example:
The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury

Here's a less gentle example:
Haunted Nights, eds., Datlow and Morton."

Also,

October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween ed. Richard Chizmar

Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre ed. Paula Guran

The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories: Terrifying Tales Set on the Scariest Night of the Year! ed. Stephen Jones

I've always been in search of a really good witch novel.

I enjoyed everything by Katherine Howe and the Practical Magic series by Alice Hoffman.

Other great books that I liked with witches were The Witchfinder's Sister by Underdown and The Bell Witch by Monahan.

The key for me is I like the traditional folklore versus the romantic paranormal.

Does anyone have any recommendations that I may have missed?

I love a good Creature Feature. Ghosts and curses are a little too abstract for me to fear most of the time but something that can rip me apart with its bare hands and can't be stopped by conventional means is what gets me frightened, especially if they can blend in with respectable people.

While Frankenstein fits it quite well, I feel Dracula exemplifies it best. He can blend in with normal humans, he's respectable, but also is a great physical threat with a vast array of powers at his disposal. Frankenstein's monster is super strong, super intelligent, and surprisingly quick but he actually has a motivation for killing; Dracula just sees you as food. And sometimes, he's not content to just kill you; maybe he's interested in making you just like him.

Though, Dark Harvest comes close too.

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin is a beautiful book, but it's hardly a "creature feature."

Why is The Broken Girls not on here?