Top 10 Horror Novels

Although it initially divided critics, Anne Rice’s debut novel has since become a cult phenomenon. Welcoming readers into a more eroticized and romanticized world of vampires, she offers up the most eloquent and memorable prose on the subject since Dracula himself. The gothic horror story revolves around a tortured 200-year-old vampire, who’s telling a young reporter about his traumatic and lonely life living with this curse. The visceral violence of vampirism in the American South turns the reader on as much as the reporter, and to no one’s surprise “Interview with the Vampire” spawned 10 sequels – referred to as “The Vampire Chronicles” – as well as Hollywood adaptations.

Patrick Bateman is your typical Wall Street yuppie in the ‘80s: handsome, put together, shallow and consumed with murderous rage. Bret Easton Ellis provides his scathing indictment of consumerist culture through this unreliable narrator, who by day is a Manhattan stockbroker and by night is a vicious serial killer. With gory imagery, disturbing language and violence against both sexes, “American Psycho” was controversial to the point where its sale was limited in some countries; however, many critics enthusiastically support the novel. In fact, Patrick Bateman’s story proved so timeless, it was adapted into both a film and a musical.

Most people would ignore an invitation to spend a summer in a haunted mansion, but our protagonists jumped at the chance. In Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House,” we follow a paranormal investigator and his small group of companions as they lock themselves up in the eponymous mansion. As simple as that sounds, and as restrained as the horrors are in these pages, no haunted house story has ever chilled readers to the bone quite like this. With the real haunting happening mostly behind closed doors, the terror our characters feel oozes off the page just like the blood left on the walls of Hill House.

One of Stephen King’s earliest successes, but sadly overlooked today due to the popularity of the Stanley Kubrick adaptation with which King himself was not impressed, “The Shining” represents the birth of modern horror literature, and established King as an icon in the genre. Blending a classic horror setting – in this case, an immense, isolated hotel – with the modern terrors of abuse, alcoholism, parental neglect and insanity, King weaves a tale far more complex and disturbing than anything Kubrick ever put on screen. Although the ghosts take a back seat in this one, don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s safe to turn the page – or to roam the Overlook on your own.

Although his earlier novel “I Am Legend” has gained more popularity, and helped create the modern zombie and the idea of a zombie apocalypse, Matheson’s “Hell House” takes the prize for terrifying imagery. Similar to Shirley Jackson’s “Hill House,” the action is confined mainly to a haunted mansion, where a group of mediums and parapsychology enthusiasts tries to discover whether there is a great beyond and whether death truly is the end. They decide to do this by visiting the appropriately nicknamed Hell House, where everything goes wrong, as the evil forces of the house start influencing the guests in extremely horrible ways. No spoilers here.

It’s too bad that what is considered one of the scariest movies of all time was derived from relatively unknown and overshadowed source material. Following Jesuit priest Father Merrin from Iraq to Georgetown as he tries to rid poor Reagan MacNeil of the evil demonic presence inside her, and based on a real life possession, the novel takes time explaining the surroundings and circumstances of Reagan’s unforeseen possession. Most people wouldn’t believe that the book could be as terrifying as the movie, but those who know Blatty’s novel need courage if they decide to pick it up a second time.

Although the first novel in the series, “Red Dragon,” introduced the world to Dr. Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ Lecter, “The Silence of the Lambs” shot Lecter and Thomas Harris to worldwide superstardom, helped of course by Jonathan Demme’s 1991 film adaptation. Readers were shocked when they picked up what seemed like a detective thriller and ended up squirming in their seats, looking over their shoulders, and questioning what’s in their steak. Initially a minor character, Lecter was so popular that Harris decided to write about no one else, ushering in a trend of dark horrific detective procedurals and suspenseful thrillers.

An urban legend come to life, an allegory for disease and lustful danger leaving the old country and entering today’s modern cities, “Dracula” is true horror put into a narrative. Vampirism, although not a new concept, had never been so eloquently and disturbingly personified, and in fact the author is credited with pioneering the modern idea of the vampire. Bram Stoker was no stranger to morbid and gothic settings, but his Count became the face of evil for generations to come. This was no fairy tale...the blending of a realistic setting and supernatural elements is something audiences were not prepared for.

Here’s another famous 19th century creature that took over film, stage and radio in the 20th century. But unlike his counterpart Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster has been ironically misunderstood and misrepresented for generations. The source material follows the insane doctor Frankenstein who successfully reanimates a corpse. Steeped in romantic themes and scientific intrigue, Mary Shelley’s horror novel remains relevant even two centuries after its initial publication. The question of scientific intervention and whether or not humans should be messing with nature are perhaps even more significant in the 21st century.

Before we crack the spine on our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1891)
Oscar Wilde
- “The Girl Next Door” (1989)
Jack Ketchum
- “Rosemary’s Baby” (1967)
Ira Levin
- “Let the Right One In” [aka “Låt den rätte komma in”] (2004)
John Ajvide Lindqvist

To some, this is the King of Horror’s epic masterpiece, an immense novel whose theme is fear itself. Although Stephen King has given us nightmares for decades and many of his works almost made the cut, such as “Pet Sematary,” there is something about Pennywise the Clown, a creature that uses the fears of its victims against them, that will never let you go. In a decade saturated with terrible over-the-top horror films, King stripped horror down to its basics and turned a brick of a complex narrative in the best-selling book of the year.

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