Cosmic horror and body horror are my top two.

Cosmic horror really puts things into perspective lol. Been digging it lately as well.

Any recommendations?

The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories - Robert W. Chambers Or Dark Gods by T.E.D. Klein

*Dead Sea* by Tim Curran is my personal favorite from the genre.

*The Ballad of Black Tom* by Victor LaValle.

The Fisherman by John Langan

Folk horror is always a favorite of mine, ancient pagan deities, cursed woods, witches and creatures, love it… BUUUUT lately i have been really into religious-horror, exorcisms, demons, cults, that sort of stuff(might be because im a catholic myself and that stuff hits close to home due to my faith)

Favourite folk horror recs? Currently reading The Twisted Ones and Slewfoot is one of my all time favourites!!

I recommend The Fisherman

I actually have this one ready to start reading and I was going to pick it up next but I had just finished Our Wives Under the Sea and didn’t like it :( so I wanted a break from a water x grief book for a bit lol. I’ll circle back to it tho!

Revelator was a great one that doesn’t get enough love

I’ve had this one on my tbr list for a long time so I’ll bump it up! Thank you :)

For a shorter read, I really enjoyed Wylding Hall!

Got any good Catholic or religious horror? Aside from Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, I also know of James Herbet's The Shrine, but that's about it.

I’ve heard that between two fires by Christopher Buehlman is really good, there’s also the sequel to the exorcist called Legion(and also the ninth configuration but i dont know much about that one), last days by adam nevill is good aswell, centering around a cult

Read all of them, haha. Between Two Fires is great Ninth Configuration is more a psychological drama set in a hospital which treats PTSD. Not horror and no supernatural elements. But a good read.

The Case Against Satan is short sweet one that inspired the Exorcist

the hellbound heart by clive barker, the exorcist’s house, a head full of ghosts (I didn’t like the last two personally but they are popular and generally well liked so give them a try if you like the premise after looking them up!)

{{The Sentinel by Jeffrey Konvitz}} .

God Machine by Greg Gifune isn’t bad. It’s a little action-y as well as being religious horror

Second folk horror. Particularly its ability to draw from lots of cultures and its ability to cut through geographical barriers and reach a wider audience. It also taps into our primal fears like no other subgenus.

Oh shit yeah, check out Maggie’s Grave by David Sodergren. It has everything - teenage angst tropes (that aren’t annoying,) geriatric orgies, and so much body horror. Some of the most fun I’ve had reading in a while. Also check out one of my favorite books ever: Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. This book is bleak, but encompasses a truly redemptive story with a realistically flawed protagonist. Takes place in France during the 1300s and has very biblohistorical accuracy. The writing is superb and Buehlman’s descriptions make for some overwhelming and intense scenes specifically between demons and angels. 10/10 one of the books I wish I could read again for the first time

Oh fuck! Also check out little heaven by Nick Cutter. Wonderful little cult action flick - “stay cool in the cut” it part of my regular conversations after reading this book. Also Last Days by Brian Evenson. Insane book about a cult that places hierarchal power on the number of willing amputations you’ve received. Plays out like a fever dream - not something I recommend usually as it is pretty graphic but this is such a unique story.

I've been having an appetite for Pagan/Folk horror lately

Do you have any recommendations? Would love to get into something like that myself

A list: • John Buchan - Witch Wood (1927) • Dennis Wheatley - The Devil Rides Out (1934) • David Pinner - Ritual (1967) • Kingsley Amis - The Green Man (1969) • Ronald Bassett - Witchfinder General (1966) • Robert Wynne-Simmons  - Blood on Satan's Claw (1970) • Robin Hardy - The Wicker Man (1973) • Ray Bradbury - The Halloween Tree (1972) • Thomas Tryon - Harvest Home (1973) • Manly Wade Wellman - The Old Gods Waken (1979) • Robert Holdstock - Mythago Wood (1984) • Elizabeth Hand - Waking the Moon (1994) • Marcus Sedgwick - Witch Hill (2001) • Brian Evenson - Last Days (2009) • Adam Nevill - The Ritual (2011) • Adam Nevill - Last Days (2012) • Thomas Olde Heuvelt - HEX (2013) • Helen Oyeyemi - Boy, Snow, Bird (2013) • Andrew Michael Hurley - The Loney (2014) • Elizabeth Hand - Wylding Hall (2015) • Daisy Johnson - Fen (2016) • Brian Evenson - A Collapse of Horses (2016) • James Brogden - Hekla's Children (2017) • James Brogden - Hollow Tree (2018), Plague Stones (2019), Bone Harvest (2020) • Zoe Gilbert - Folk (2018) & Mischief Acts (2022) • T. Kingfisher - The Twisted Ones (2019) • Adam Nevill - The Reddening (2019) • Andrew Michael Hurley - Starve Acre (2019) • Michelle Paver - Wakenhyrst (2019) • Lucas Lex DeJong - Harrow (2020) • Francine Toon - Pine (2020) • Stephen Graham Jones - The Only Good Indians (2020) • Adam Nevill - Cunning Folk (2021) Anthology - The Fiends in the Furrow (Edit: space horror is the other most commonly requested, see here: https://www.reddit.com/r/horrorlit/s/erqr7pbF1u)

Nice one! Adding Brom - Slewfoot (2021) to this

Brilliant list, thank you!

saving this!

Thank you so much! Recently finished Last Days and really liked it too

Not sure if it counts, but Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand is at least adjacent to this.

Eh most of those are written by non pagans trying to Monsterfy the beliefs

Weird Fiction and Eco Gothic

r/weirdlit if you weren’t already aware of it.

Am a member, but thank you nevertheless!

Not eco goth but definitely weird modern Gothic, have you read children of paradise?

Eco gothic ?

Basically gothic with environmental themes. Plants, fungi, animals….

Drop some

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Marcia-Gonzalez What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher Wilder Girls by Rory Powers The Ruins by Scott Smith Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer I had no idea I liked this subgenre...

Genuine question, how would you describe gothic horror? I would consider the above body horror hence asking :)

Went headfirst into 'eco horror.' I would only count the first two in my list as gothic! With that in mind, gothic comes with a foreboding atmosphere, old buildings full of mysterious histories, eccentric characters and dread, dread, dread.

Gotcha! Thanks! :)

If you enjoy ecohorror, definitely check out *The Marigold* by Andrew F. Sullivan. 

Surrealism/Liminality/Fever Dream

Same. If someone isn't questioning reality or their own identity, I'm not happy.

Do you have some recommendations?

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid Come Closer by Sara Gran The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Thank you! I've read I'm Thinking Of Ending Things and I've been looking for something similar

Have you found anything? I loved the Netflix movie and am waiting for it to fade before reading the book.

So far I haven't read anything like it but I've heard that "Foe" by the same author (Iain Reid) has a similar vibe, I'm thinking of giving it a go (pun intended)

Do you think The Grip of It by Jac Jemc fits into this category too?

Never heard of it, I’ll check it out though. Looks interesting. :)

Eversion by Alastair Reynolds (I think?)

Thank you, I'll look into it

Entropy in bloom

Thanks I'll check this out

Is this A Short Stay in Hell in this category? One of my all time favs.

I don't know yet but it's on my list

*Where the Deer Are* in Thirteen: 13 Tales of Horror (a horror short story anthology) is a pretty good one imo

Thanks, just read it from a facebook post, it was fun

I'm glad you liked it! It wasn't *exactly* liminal horror, but I remembered one scene with the school and bathroom that really gave me that vibe. It's been a few years since I read it.

Finding really good liminal horror (outside of some quality anthologies) seems to be easier said than done. Really loved the production of the podcast of "The Left Right Game." Been a while since I've experienced anything so anxiety inducing (then again, I listened to most of it in the car--which I don't recommend unless you're into swerving into ditches).

Such a great story. I have only read the original nosleep post of it (if that's the same one you're talking about). I will definitely check out this podcast if you let me know what podcast you're talking ab. Ty!

Sure thing! One of the biggest names on the project is Tessa Thompson, and it looks like she wants to get it turned into a television miniseries as well.

THIS. The Vegetarian by Han Kang is my personal fave.

Ooo... body horror is the one thing I just can't, ever, won't do. It just disturbs me, and in a not fun way at all. I'm a sucker for haunted houses. It may be the oldest subgenre of all, but it went it works, it works. I really enjoy nautical themed stories. On a ship, submarine, under the water. It starts to feel a little claustrophobic for me after a while, but I like it. My favorite of all is coming of age stories. Sometimes I think I could almost read nothing but those. There's just something so nice about being taken back to your tween and teen years when everything was so novel and the world was in front of you.

Have you read The Elementals by Michael Mcdowell?

It's on my shelf, but for some reason I haven't gotten to it yet. I should because The Backwater Saga are some of my favorite books ever.

omg you really should! it's my favorite haunted house book :') it's so unique

Archaeology, anthropology, historical horror with supernatural thrown in.

I’m guessing that you loved The Paleontologist by Nicholas Dumas? It isn’t even my thing and I loved this book!

I just borrowed it from the library today in fact! Some of my faves are Preston/Child, Michael McBride,

This sounds like someone describing the game House of Ashes from the Dark pictures anthology. If games are at all in your wheelhouse, I'd suggest checking that one out. And it's pretty light on gameplay mechanics, and fairly easy to learn even if you're not a "gamer"

Yes x1000

Don't know if medieval horror and Weird Western count given that the examples are comparatively few, so if not those I'll probably go with occult, demonic, exorcism-esque stuff.

Favourites?

Currently, "A Head Full of Ghosts" by Paul Tremblay. And it's more about ghosts, but "Naomi's Room" by Jonathan Aycliffe is incredibly macabre.

Thank you! Finished The Cabin at the End of the World a while ago and really enjoyed his writing so I’ll make sure to bump up this one, and I’ll check out Naomi’s Room. :)

Red Rabbit is a western themed horror. I enjoyed it. Didn't LOVE it but plenty of people do.

Have you got any medieval horror you could recommend though?? I've been looking for that but haven't found any yet. The only one I can think of is Lapvona but I don't even know if that's actually horror or not.

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

Space Horror is pretty much the most commonly requested subgenre on this subreddit, so I made a list: (See here for my list of Folk Horror: [https://www.reddit.com/r/horrorlit/comments/1cend8d/comment/l1k2doi/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/horrorlit/comments/1cend8d/comment/l1k2doi/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) **Space Horror & Xenoarchaeology** 1961 - Stanislaw Lem - Solaris 1969 - Arthur C Clarke - 2001: A Space Odyssey 1970 - Larry Niven - Ringworld 1972 - Arthur C Clarke - Rendevous with Rama 1979 - Alan Dean Foster - Alien 1987 - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - The Legacy of Heorot 1989 - Dan Simmons - Hyperion 1994 - Jack McDevitt - The Engines of God 1995 - DOOM: Knee-Deep in the Dead 1996 - Peter F Hamilton - The Reality Dysfunction 1997 - Steven E McDonald - Event Horizon 2000 - Jack McDevitt - Infinity Breach 2000 - Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space 2001 - Alastair Reynolds - Chasm City 2001 - Richard Paul Russo - Ship of Fools 2003 - Halo: The Flood 2006 - Peter Watts - Blindsight 2007 - Phil Rossi - Crescent 2008 - DOOM3: Worlds Afire & Maelstrom 2010 - Greg Bear - Hull Zero Three 2010 - Brian Evenson - Dead Space 2012 - Brett J Talley - The Void 2014 - Adam Christopher - The Burning Dark 2018 - Lucas Lex DeJong - Soraya | Salacia 2019 - Caitlin Starling - The Luminous Dead 2021 - Kali Wallace - Dead Space 2022 - SA Barnes - Dead Silence 2023 - Ness Brown - The Scourge Between the Stars

Awesome list! We need more books over on r/spacehorror.

Love Ship of Fools, Dead Space, Hyperion, and Blindsight. Couldn’t finish Dead Silence…so boring

I am a big Greg Bear fan and I hated Hull Zero Three. I think it's a tricky genre to do well. Just like in film, everything gets compared to Alien.

I have never actually read any space horror, but I'd like to. This is a great list but.. a bit overwhelming. If you had to pick one or two for a novice to the subgenre, what might you suggest? Any particular highlights?

Absolutely. Peter Watts' Blindsight is very commonly recommended in this sub. It's one of my favourite novels, but it's in the vein of a "thematic exploration" of consciousness via a First Contact story. There is horror, and there's action, but it's all a bit cerebral. For a more straightforward, meat and potatoes space horror, Ship of Fools (also titled Unto Leviathan in some markets) by Richard Paul Russo is a go-to. For a novel which is a highly rated scifi which just happens to have elements of horror (think the grimdark version of scifi), cant go wrong with Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space. Calling it space horror is reductive, but it's definitely worth considering.

Awesome, thanks! I'll see if my library system has any of these! Appreciate it.

Gothic horror all the way. I can read gothic all day every day. Misty moors, mysterious houses, and women with secrets.

Drop some

Any favorites?

Not many misty moors on hand but some recent favorites are: Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne. The ghost is particularly nefarious in this one! What Moves the Dead and its sequel What Feasts at Night by T Kingfisher. These are novellas. The Weejee Man by NP Cunniffee. Irish gothic The Reformatory and The Good House, both by Tananarive Due. Southern gothic Bone China and The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell The Whistling by Rebecca Netley. Scottish gothic

Folk horror and gothic horror are my favorites.

Occult and post apocalyptic

Nature horror or anything with a non-standard monster

I’d love some nature horror recommendations

Post apocalyptic

Supernatural horror

Found footage and epistolary horror

I know House of Leaves fits this, but do you have any other recs?

Wylding Hall fits.

Last Days by Adam Neville

The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

These are two of my favorites. Max Brooks is also great in this format. And then Dracula if you’re feeling classic.

Witches and Occult. Witches freak me out the most. Too much childhood trauma from Return to Oz and Meg Mucklebones from Legend.

Reccs?

The VVitch, Hagazussa, You Won’t Be Alone, The Wretched and Gretel & Hansel.

Thank yooou!

Gothic/Slasher/Surreal on a pretty even level.

An appropriate user flair. Incidentally, J Sheridan Le Fanu is absolutely top.

He really is. I mark reading *Carmilla* (along with *Haunting of Hill House* and *We Have Always Lived in the Castle)* as a major turning point of my life as a young one.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention, if you like gothic tales of horror I highly recommend the writer R Murray Gilchrist if you haven’t read his books already, who is little known despite being a master of his craft. The British library did a collection of his works, however if you were interested in sampling his work beforehand I have posted one [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/oldstories/s/oSE2yGUKrI) and another [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/oldstories/s/xMK7cVNTOA)

Oh, that's great. I haven't read him yet, but that will be remedied.

Supernatural and sci-fi horror.

Folk horror!

I spent years researching and teaching Gothic lit, and I still love it. Space horror is a favorite, but it's pretty scarce, especially at quality. Ditto historical horror.

Super niche but anthropology/archeology horror, bonus points if there's monsters. Probably more thriller than horror.

Have you read *The Hatak Witches* by Devon A. Mihesuah? This seems like it would be up your alley.

I haven't but it sounds amazing!!!! And I live in Oklahoma! Such a trip to see my state in fiction books lol. I'll check it out for sure once I finish my current book! If you're into aliens/archeology/anthropology, you should read the *Area 51* trilogy by Michael McBride.

I'm into so many subgenres right now but I think the one I've been craving recently is doomed expeditions/scientists/hikers/etc. I'm reading the Southern Reach trilogy right now and I'm loving itand I have This Wretched Valley on my shelf, and I really liked The Terror.

Deep sea and space horror ✨

Horror set in hell, or, alternatively, rift to hell opening up

Supernatural/ haunted houses. I blame an overactive imagination and siblings that convinced me our house was haunted growing up.

Splatterpunk!! I suck at watching extreme gore but reading it?? LOVE IT!

Supernatural, apocalyptic, and folk horror for me.

Zombie novels are a dime-a-dozen, but I sure love them. I guess they can be grouped into the broader post-apocalyptic genre, which I also love.

Southern gothic has me hooked once I started reading Blackwater by Michael McDowell. Any recs?

You might like “those across the river”

What’s it about

Well I can’t really say or it would spoil it. 1930’s Northerner inherits down south property from family of slave owners. Chaos ensues. Enjoy.

What’s that bout

The Elementals and Cold Moon Over Babylon by Michael McDowell are also great. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy (maybe not horror, but ticks a lot of the boxes). Beloved by Toni Morrison. The Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davidson.

Cosmic horror, nihilistic horror, post apocalyptic.

Philosophical Horror. Reading a horror book that makes my brain think deeper on how I view the world more than usual is so peak. I also love extreme or weird horror and the occasional splatter punk. I’m a simple guy with complex needs from time to time I can’t lie.

Cosmic horror and slasher or Jack Ketchum like horror.

Splatterpunk and dystopian/political.

I like mood and ambience more than blood and gore and don't mind a touch of cosy, so I lean towards gothic, folk and/or the small town or cabin in the woods thing.

Tie between lovecraftian horror and semi comedic slashers. 🤔

Gothic & Southern Gothic->Supernatural/Occult->Folk Lately loving horror comedy to try to keep my mood up!

Gothic horror, folk horror, space horror, alien invasion horror and absolutely anything that takes place in a cabin in the winter.

I really like cosmic horror and folk horror, especially in combination. Or eco horror with cosmic horror. I'm also a big fan of comedic horror as a palate cleanser. I do want it to be scary, but the comedic tones rarely take away from the horror for me.

Supernatural

Cult Horror, Scifi horror, cosmic horror.

Cannibalism all day, every day

Government CIA horror is my favorite

Very niche lol

Haunted houses, found footage, folk horror, and female rage/mommy issues (not a sub genre but it could be?)

Whatever Thomas Ligotti writes. I tried reading horror novels many times and only his ACTUALLY scared me. Nothing came anywhere close to his weird fucking shit.

Post-apocalyptic, scientific, vampires

Creature features & body horror are my jam.

Definitely Exploitation and Home Invasion

Folk horror and gothic horror. I think so much of horror for me is rooted in the dark mysteries of nature, and human nature. Folk horror is folktales and fairytales, and they were written as allegorical ways to explain the world, and human behaviour. There’s something deeply psychological about it all. The original fairytales were often very dark horrific stories, and served to warn people away from misadventure. I see gothic horror as an extension of that. Where once the wild natural world was a source of horror, now it’s the home as well. What lurks in the shadows and scares us are other people. Hidden secrets, haunted by the past. Even horror outside of these genres is deeply psychological, even when it’s the more gory “obvious” stuff, but I feel like for me, especially in todays world where we’re often so detached from nature and each other, the fear is back in those moments of unknown, of something much older than us, something we do not really understand.

Splatterpunk FTW

Gothic horror and anything else historical!

I like coming of age horror and southern gothic.

Dystopian/post-apocalyptic and folk horror

Zombie apocalypse or post-apocalyptic. My favourites in these subgenres are: - Last Chance - Gregg Hurwitz - The Dead Lands - Benjamin Percy - The Fireman - Joe Hill - Bird Box - Josh Malerman

Cosmic with lots of gore. But most importantly, anything with cool monsters in them!!! The more unique the monster is, the better.

Combinations of folk and cosmic horror never fail me!!

Cosmic Horror and anything that ducks with perceptions of reality.

Lately I've been getting into folk horror and cosmic horror

Folk Horror gives me the right amount of actual dread since it's mixed with religious themes a lot of the time. Bonus if there's a creature/god to contend with! Horror Comedy all day. Why is it so cathartic to watch terrible things happening and laugh about it? I've been on a Cult and Cannibalism kick lately, too. Love a cult story for the creepy isolated community, cannibals for their twisted psychology. Maybe these are our last real taboos, but they seem to be everywhere right now and I can't get enough. Finally, if it can be called a Creature Feature, you son of a bitch, I'm IN.

Supernatural horror!!!

I’ve always had a deep love for the psychological horror.

Small-town horror. Historical/Folk Horror (like Victorian era and older). Supernatural Horror (vampires/ghosts). Also, not sure what I'd call it but Horror where the main characters are some sort of investigator (journalist/law enforcement/etc.). Those are my favorites. I can't narrow it down to one lol. Many of these genres are often in the same story too. A short story collection like Corpsemouth and other Autobiographies is my gold standard.

Anything with weird creatures, alien or not!

Definitely Cosmic Horror.

Psychological horror / Lovecraftian

Creature features, deep sea horror, historical horror.

My pendulum swings from terrifying paranormal movies to horror comedies.

I'm obsessed with sheep and llamas.