Sign in with Facebook
Reading by Terrifying Horror Tropes
Horror has always thrived on tried-and-true terrifying tropes—whether by wholeheartedly devouring them or flipping them inside out, the genre does an incredible job of crafting new and exciting stories with well-loved material.
Here you'll find a mix of new horror novels as well as beloved cult classics that nail the tropes that have been mainstays of horror fiction for the last 20 years. We based our selections on additions to Goodreads members' Want to Read shelves and star ratings (everything here averages above 3 stars).
Scroll over the covers to learn more about these books, and don’t forget to add the titles that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf!
Serial Killers Who Need to Calm Down
Characteristics of this subgenre: killers with absurdly complicated MOs, long games of cat and mouse, death tableaux that took an impressive amount of work to set up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Houses with Uncomfortable Secrets
Characteristics of this subgenre: the sins of the past popping up to bite people in the present, houses that were just born bad, brand-new starts for families that don't go terrifically.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ghosts with Bad Boundaries
Characteristics of this subgenre: insistent ghosts who aren't letting the veil of death prevent them from having stuff to do, inconvenient visiting hours with the living, the impossibility of leaving the ghosts on "read."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spooked Kids Doing Their Best
Characteristics of this subgenre: children seeing the unfiltered horrors of the world before any child should have to, the forces of darkness being a particularly bad babysitter, monstrous changes in the body that may or may not be metaphors for puberty.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What's your favorite horror trope, and which book did it best? Let us know in the comments!
Comments Showing 1-31 of 31 (31 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Jo ♡ˎ´✨ ☕︎
(new)
Oct 04, 2021 12:53AM
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix is one of my fav books this year!!
flag
Disappearance at Devil's Rock is NOT horror, and should not be on this list. It is more of a mystery of a lost child and how it affects his family.I highly recommend Kill Creek
Alondra wrote: "Disappearance at Devil's Rock is NOT horror, and should not be on this list. It is more of a mystery of a lost child and how it affects his family.I highly recommend [book:Kill Cr..."
Yes, I think the same about the "Disappearance at Devil's Rock. I also think is a disservice to the novel to put it in the horror category, I do think it was a "good book" but I read it expecting horror not a family drama so it was a very disappointing reading experience.
Btw Kill Creek is in my TBR, I've heard really good things.
✨ Y.♡ˎ´ wrote: "My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix is one of my fav books this year!!"I read this last year, loved it. Could totally read it again, but will wait another year first to forget a few details so I enjoy it all the more.
My favorite trope is Haunted Houses, also known as Ghosts, Ghosts, and more Ghosts!
I'm a sucker for the haunted houses! Both The Good House and Mexican Gothic are spectacular, particularly because they are works by women of color that really flip the genre in creative and thought-provoking ways. But Craven Manor is really fun as well, Darcy Coates has become a new go-to for me every October!
This is the list I’ve been looking for! Creepy houses and spooked kids are my jam, while Uber serial killers are too much for me. I feel like there’s one trope you missed tho: Spiritual Significant Others 😏😜
Ghosts, secrets, morbid pasts,They all seem so dear to me,
I live out my life gathering sorrow and dust...
A haunted house is what I was meant to be.
I gotta say the best part of this list were the trope titles. I declare myself a fan 😅
I love folk horror aka "you ain't from around here, huh?"
✨ Y.♡ˎ´ wrote: "My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix is one of my fav books this year!!"I'm currently reading it for the first time and loving it so far.
How about ancient evil entities as old as the earth itself, ala Lovecraft and Ramsay Campbell.
Really missing out on a "creature feature" category.
I love looking at the covers of these books, they make the reader feel scared even before they get to read the story.
I love Grady Hendrix!! Are there other authors/books that are comparable to him? Like a comedic, sarcastic horror…
Absolutely living for the descriptions of each genre😂
How did Riley Sager's HOME BEFORE DARK not make the Houses With Uncomfortable Secrets list? I'm shocked.
Laurieanna wrote: "How did Riley Sager's HOME BEFORE DARK not make the Houses With Uncomfortable Secrets list? I'm shocked."I read it last year and I totally agree.
"Kill Creek" and "A Head Full of Ghosts" should also be on anyone's Ghostober TBR list.
Maybe it's not on this list because it was published in 2000, just out of the 20 year window, but dang, House of Leaves is still my top favorite 'Houses with Uncomfortable Secrets' book!
I love humans with monstrous qualities and monsters with humanity. I also love the trope of "someone in a trusted position not being quite what they seem." Dracula, Jekyll, werewolves in general, Frankenstein (what with him hiding the fact that he created a monster that's killing everyone he loves), you name it. Deceipt is a big fear of mine, next to despair.
In the last category “Nuestra parte de noche” by Mariana Enriquez would be amazing 🤩
This house is haunted by John Boyne needs to be added to the “this ghost needs boundaries” list!
The cousin to Horror is Thriller, and Thriller feels left out of this list. I mean, if Michael Jackson thinks it is a Halloween category, who am I to judge?
I have yet to find a really creepy book that I need to put in the freezer (like Joey Tribbiani ) because it's that scary. I have read some of the highest rated books in this genre but only The Shining came close.
Harald wrote: "I have yet to find a really creepy book that I need to put in the freezer (like Joey Tribbiani ) because it's that scary. I have read some of the highest rated books in this genre but only The Shin..."Most new "horror" is not only not spooky, but it is also garbage. Out of the last three I have tried off these lists, two were DNF and the other I barely made it through. No monster category either.
Love both ghost stories and haunted houses--disappointed not to see one of my all time faves The Family Plot, by Cheri Priest, included here.
My favourite trope is "racism/white supremancy is the real evil" such as Moon of the Crusted Snow, Lakewood, Lovecraft Country ect
I'm about to start the audiobook for The Good House
Joelle wrote: "I love Grady Hendrix!! Are there other authors/books that are comparable to him? Like a comedic, sarcastic horror…"David Wong
I just finished the audiobook for The Good House after having it in my library for at least the last two years. Wow, I LOVED it! New favorite horror book. (Though I hope it will be joined by many more.)
