It’s been another strong year for horror, with more diversity in the genre than ever before, a whole bucket of fresh new names, and so many golden nuggets, it’s hard to know where to dig.
That’s why, once again, I’m diving into my top 10 horror reads of the year. Though I read less than last year, by setting my Goodreads reading target lower than last year, I managed to get some beefy page-stacking books into my pile.
So, without any further ado, which reads made my “Top 10” of horror in the grand ol’ year of 2025?
(Scroll to the bottom to find a full list of this year’s reads, and links to previous years, too.)
#10. The Shining, Stephen King
Picked as the Devil’s Rock Books’ December readers’ club book, I revelled at the chance to dive back into King’s classic haunted hotel tale of ghosts, roque, Room 217, and the Overlook Hotel.
I read this one a few years back, and it still holds up enough to make it into my top 10 of this year. Though some of the language is certainly of its time, King bears his trademark tension pulling as he introduces thematic concepts that pace the book and keep you hooked until the final pages.
And who doesn’t love an anti-hero in this day and age? Jack Torrance is the perfect looking glass into the frayed and addled brain of an addict, and King uses every string in his bow to deliver the punch, and make those final few chapters soar.
#9. What Feasts at Night, T. Kingfisher
Fresh onto my 2024 top 10, I’ve become quite the Kingfisher fan over the last year.
Putting aside the fact that whoever is doing T’s book covers is an absolute genius, the stories found inside match the vibe of the book, and while the prose can be purple at times (something I adore), the stories hold you through and deliver an atmospheric gothic vibe as we follow Alex Easton on his travels around Gallacia, encountering supernatural creatures and finding the means to fix the problem (not always in the most convenient ways).
If you like your moody horror with a dose of literary prose, you’re in the right place.
#8. The Silence, Tim Lebbon
I’ve had this one sitting on my shelves for quite some years, and after enjoying “Eden,” “The Last Storm,” and “Among the Living,” I wanted to finally crack the spine on “The Silence.”
Now, I’m a sucker for a bit of apocalyptic fiction, and this book delivers in spades. With a fresh take on a new horror (can anyone say “vesps?”), Tim shares his trademark character driven plot lines in a very familiar British tale, with a very unfamiliar twist for the genre.
Race across the British mainland as suspense grows and the threats only thicken, because it’s not just about what’s swarming in the skies, but also about those that are stalking on land, looking for the answers that just don’t exist.
#7. Angel Down, Daniel Kraus
Literary, thy name is Daniel Kraus.
I remember reading my first Kraus in 2023. After reading the first few paragraphs of “Whalefall,” I lowered the book and asked myself what was I even doing trying to be a writer when there are writers out there like this.
Daniel doubles down on this in “Angel Down.”
A tale set in WWII, this story follows a group of soldiers as they discover a fallen angel in the middle of No Man’s Land. Each character sees their own versions of reality, and as the MC fights to deliver this possible weapon to his head of command, the world unravels and we’re hit with concepts so high and lofty that it almost feels like angels must have guided Kraus’ pen in writing this book.
While this book is packed with exactly the kinds of concepts I love to read in a book, some readers may find the prose difficult to absorb. Read a sample chapter on Amazon, and you’ll see what I mean. But! Don’t let that put anyone off diving into a tale that transcends fiction and shines a holy light down on humanity itself during one of the most cataclysmic events of modern times.
#6. The Hollow Places, T. Kingfisher
Another Kingfisher? I told you I have become a die-hard fan.
This time, The Hollow Places is a considerably longer read set in modern times and in the modern world. However, after a hole appears in the back of the MC’s antique museum, we’re thrown into a world that could rival Stranger Things’ “Upside Down.”
Kingfisher masterfully weaves tension and suspense into this book, twisting reality and connecting worlds on a razor-thin wire that could have deadly consequences. The creatures are foul, this second world flips the rules on its head, and at its heart are two friends fighting to comprehend what they’ve discovered and to find ways to close the door before it’s all just too late.
Creepy, atmospheric, and beautifully written. Definitely one I’d like to read again.
#5.Sour Candy, Kealan Patrick Burke
Four times.
I’ve now read this novella four times in just under a decade, and I honestly believe that this might just be a perfect tale.
Following the story of Phil Pendleton who is unwittingly delivered a child who morphs his entire reality, there’s no wasted space in this book. There’s no fluff, there’s no soggy middle, it’s just a perfect, racy story through and through.
With cosmic interventions and ideas sown into what, at its heart, is just a story about a man who wants his life back, I will continue to recommend this book to readers year after year, and to read it myself whenever I need a quick, zappy injection of solid prose, masterful storytelling, and tightwire tension from one of the masters of this format.
#4. Tender is the Flesh, Agustina Bazterrica
This one is considerably different to my other recommendations.
A dystopian nightmare of stomach-churning proportions, Tender is the Flesh tells the story of a meat plant inspector who finds himself gifted a human woman in a world where vast portions of humanity are bred for meat in the wake of a virus that makes all other forms of meat dangerously inedible.
While the dystopia colours the edges of the picture, at its heart is a man trying to understand his place in this strange new world. His morals will not bend, but he has to survive. He has family to consider, and a wife to win back. Sowing in dozens of elements that question our own actions as humans, this book not only grips you with its story, but leaves you with a thousand questions that you’ll be asking yourself days after you close the final pages.
#3. Feeders, Matt Serafini
I’ve never read a Matt Serafini before, but you can be damned certain that I’ll be reading more.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Feeders. At its core is a tale of a young woman who is desperate to fit into a social media world and to live up to the expectations and standards of the friends around her who are leagues ahead in the social game.
But when a classmate disappears and is assumed dead, Kylie gets the chance to install a fresh new social media app that doesn’t only demand your attention—but it demands the worst parts of our human nature.
Again, an exploration into what it is to be human in a digital world, Feeders takes you around the houses. It holds a magnifying glass to our actions as humans in the places where we can remain anonymous, and asks the questions we should all be asking of our own online habits and behavious.
Feeders is one of two books that are on this list that I devoured in two sittings. The prose is masterful, the story is tighter than chicken wire, and the concepts and ideas behind this book are haunting—because you just know that, given the right circumstances, there’s no darkness that appears in this book that wouldn’t come true in real life.
#2. Fever House, Keith Rosson
The largest book on this list, clocking in at over 500 pages, this was my first Keith Rosson, and certainly not my last (this is the first of a duology, after all).
Fever House is an apocalyptic, occult triumph. It’s a POV-switching, heart-racing, mysterious, propulsive tale of a devil’s hand and an angel’s prophecies told through the lens of day-to-day criminals in Portland, Oregon.
For the first half of the book, I had no idea where the story was leading, but I was captivated by the characters, the world-building, and the bigger picture at play. In the final few chapters, I was blown away by just how much foreshadowing there had been without me realising what was happening. The book leaves at a point in which you’re left desperate to pick up the second (and final) tale, and book 2 is next on my list…
…and I cannot wait.
#1. Incidents Around the House, Josh Malerman
Incidents Around the House was the first book in years which I read in a single sitting.
Gripping, terrifying, and told through the lens of a young girl, this book explores the story of a so-called “imaginary friend” who, after some years, breaks the rules and decides that she doesn’t want to be imaginary anymore.
Laced with Malerman’s trademark experimental styles, the prose is written as if from the perspective of Bela, who is trying to process her parents’ crumbling relationship, while trying to juggle the unusual behaviours of “Other Mommy.” With elements that are reminiscent of the lead villain from Coraline, Malerman takes this one step further and creates one of the most haunting villains I’ve read in modern times.
A quick, propulsive read, Incidents Around the House doesn’t leave you with time to take a breath, and keeps you asking the question:
“Can I go into your heart?”
Dan’s 2025 Bibliography:
Fiction:
- Tender Is the Flesh, Agustina Bazterrica
- Scuttle, Barnaby Walter
- Pushing Daisy, Christopher O’Halloran
- Across the Dunes: A Folk Horror Fairy Tale Set in the Present Day, Dan Soule
- Angel Down, Daniel Kraus
- The Haar, David Sodergren
- Haunting Adeline, H.D. Carlton
- Ignis Sacer: A Medieval Nightmare, J.D. Parker
- Blood of Hercules, Jasmine Mas
- Incidents Around the House, Josh Malerman
- Desert Creatures, Kay Chronister
- Sour Candy, Kealan Patrick Burke
- Fever House, Keith Rosson
- The Shining, Stephen King
- The Bookish Girl’s Guide to Mating with a Werewolf, Lola Glass
- There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom, Louis Sachar
- Feeders, Matt Serafini
- Daddy’s Boy, Michael David Wilson
- When the Wolf Comes Home, Nat Cassidy
- The Pallbearers Club, Paul Tremblay
- Jack, R.P. Howley & Daniel Willcocks
- Heir, R.P. Howley & Daniel Willcocks
- Slay, R.P. Howley & Daniel Willcocks
- Dead Silence, S.A. Barnes
- The Hollow Places, T. Kingfisher
- What Feasts at Night, T. Kingfisher
- The Silence, Tim Lebbon
- The Danger Gang, Tom Fletcher
Non-Fiction:
- This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, Adam Kay
- Rewire Your Mindset: Own Your Thinking, Control Your Actions, Change Your Life!, Brian Keane
- The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery, Brianna Wiest
- Launch: An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula to Sell Almost Anything Online, Build a Business You Love, and Live the Life of Your Dreams, Jeff Walker
- Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose, Martha N. Beck
- Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry
- Hardest Geezer: Mind over Miles, Russ Cook
- What’s Your Dream?: Find Your Passion. Love Your Work. Build a Richer Life., Simon Squibb
- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King
- The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
Here’s to a fear-filled 2026. If you’ve got any recommendations to throw my way, please get in touch and let me know! For now, I hope that whoever is reading this has an amazing New Year.
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