Horror is having its best run in decades and the proof is on this list: vampires on the Montana plains, a child's imaginary friend asking to come inside her heart, a cursed 1993 film getting a reboot. We ranked the 10 that genuinely got under our skin. Watch each trailer on the preview page, ideally with the lights on.
Quick picks:
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones: our preview + trailer
- Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman: our preview + trailer
- We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer: our preview + trailer
How we picked
Every book here lives on the Curatsy Bookshelf, our library of the 120 most talked-about new books, each with a full preview and an original thirty-second cinematic trailer. For this list we weighed reader buzz, author track record and how hard the premise refuses to leave your head. We only feature books we would hand to a friend.
1. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
A confession written in 1912, about a hunger that never stopped.
A 1912 confession about a hunger that never stopped. Plains horror from a modern master at his peak.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on Amazon2. Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
Other Mommy keeps asking to come inside her heart.
Other Mommy keeps asking to come inside her heart. Told entirely from the child's point of view.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on Amazon3. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
They just want to see the house. Then reality starts to slip.
A family knocks asking to see their old home. Reality starts slipping. The viral Reddit story, fully grown.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on Amazon4. Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne
The villa comes with a locked tower. The tower is not empty.
A Tuscan vacation villa with sunshine, wine and a locked tower that is not empty.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on Amazon5. Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
Hollywood wants a reboot. He still has the mask.
Only three scenes of the 1993 film were ever released. The one who played the monster still has the mask.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on Amazon6. The Burn Line by Jonathan Sims
Mind the gap. Something down there has been minding you.
London's ultra-rich have been feeding on subway riders for generations. From the creator of The Magnus Archives.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on Amazon7. Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones
They reburied the child. Something followed them home.
Survivors rebury a child who died at a residential school. Something travels home with them.
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→ Get it on Amazon8. Until Death by Mary Berman
Something old, something new, something waiting at the altar.
The wedding industry as pure horror venue. Something old, something new, something waiting at the altar.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on Amazon9. Natural Selection by Clare Edge
They asked if she would rather meet a man or a bear. She is the bear.
The man-or-bear debate, answered: she is the bear and the local misogynists are disappearing.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on Amazon10. Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
A haunted estate where a modern student and a samurai's daughter glimpse each other across centuries.
A haunted estate where a modern student and a samurai's daughter glimpse each other across 150 years.
Read our full preview and watch the trailer →
→ Get it on AmazonKeep browsing
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