If you’re curious about horror but don’t know where to start, this list of horror books for beginners is the perfect roadmap. We’ll guide you from light, eerie tales to stories that deliver genuine scares — slowly turning up the fear so you can build your horror tolerance without being overwhelmed.
If you’re not a horror lit beginner and need something a little more hardcore, I’ve created a list of vampire books you must read. In a similar fashion to this article, the Vampire List guides you through some horrific tales, with each book getting more and more horrific.
Where to Start Reading Horror?
Many people will recommend starting with the classics, such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I mean, if you’re getting a degree in literature, I would say sure, go right ahead. But we are not getting a degree here, we are getting into horror. If you’re unsure where to start, here is a list of good, modern horror books for beginners that gradually increase in horror intensity.
If you’re not a horror reader but want to get into it, start with this list.
Now let’s get into it.
Horror Books for Beginners, Let’s Start Here
Not everyone dives headfirst into horror. Some need a candlelit path, a steady hand, and a carefully chosen stack of books that eases them in before dragging them, whether they want to or not. But today, we’ll head into the abyss.
Here’s how we’ll do it.
Let’s start with gothic chills and strange mysteries to ease you in. Then we’ll dive deeper into the shadows with each book. Our ultimate goal is to hand you over to the jaws of terror by the end of our list.
Ready? Let’s start our journey.
Book 1: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020)
T.S. Eliot once wrote:
“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
And that’s exactly how we’ll start.
We start gently with whispers in the walls, not screams in the dark. Mexican Gothic is lush, atmospheric horror. A glamorous young woman visits a decaying mansion in 1950s Mexico, only to discover secrets that grow more grotesque the deeper she digs. It’s creepy, intoxicating, but still safe enough for new readers. After all, we are starting our horror books for beginners with ease.
Book 2: The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James (2022)
From gothic halls to haunted investigations, this one straddles mystery and horror. A true-crime blogger investigates a reclusive woman once accused of murder. Ghosts linger here. But there are no jump scares.
It’s more chill than scary. It’s a whisper, not a bang. It’s the perfect “bridge” novel for thriller fans who want a touch of the supernatural.
Book 3: Cackle by Rachel Harrison (2021)
For our third book, we’ll read something with dark humor in it. Cackle is playful horror. It has spiders, witches, and a dash of small-town weirdness. Think of the movie Practical Magic, but with teeth. It’s eerie without being overwhelming, and its sly feminist undertones make it both spooky and empowering.
Love witches? Try swapping this title out for Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. It’s fun, modern, and doesn’t hit you over the head with scaryness until it does!
Idea for the near future (yes, this is a note to self). Create a list of witchy horror books!
Book 4: White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (2021) (Our Horror Books for Beginners List Deepens)
For our fourth book, we’ll read White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (2021)
Now the shadows darken more than you’d like. This YA haunted-house tale takes everything familiar, like family, home, and safety, and twists it. The house itself becomes an enemy. It’s unnerving, suffocating, and tinged with social commentary, preparing you for what comes next.
Book 5: Hide by Kiersten White (2022)
Hide is about a game of hide and seek inside an abandoned amusement park.
It consists of fourteen players who volunteered. And they all want to win the grand prize of 50K. Here, the fear sharpens. People vanish, and the sense of dread grows thicker with each page. You’re no longer just unsettled, you’re actually afraid.
After you read this read Into the Sublime by Kate A Boorman. It’s about a group of girls who have the trauma of a daredevil event that perhaps went too far. Makes me think both of these can be read one right after another.
And we’re only about halfway through our horror books for beginners list.
Book 6: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay (2015)
Now we start questioning everything. Is it possession? Mental illness? Exploitation? Tremblay’s novel drops you into a family unraveling under the weight of a supposed exorcism, all filmed for reality TV. This is horror of the mind—psychological, slippery, and terrifying in its ambiguity.
It’s a modern take on exorcism and the narcissism of today’s selfie-taking society, in my opinion.
Book 7: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (2020)
Now let’s go from the psychological to the visceral. This is where horror bears its teeth. Four men are haunted, quite literally and figuratively, by a mistake from their youth. The result is brutal, bloody, and unflinchingly terrifying. At this point, you’re no longer dabbling. You’re full-blown deep in horror.
By this point, you’re no longer a beginner. From here, the list of horror books for beginners is too dark to really call it that.
Book 8: Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom (2021)
I’m not really into folklore horror literature, but I truly believe that incorporating elements from all horror genres is educational if you’re trying to get into horror.
So, next we’ll plunge into darkness with folklore and fury. This 17th-century witch tale is rich with atmosphere but punctuated by shocking violence. Imagine The Witch (the film) but bloodier, more pagan, more monstrous. You’re deep in horror country now, and there is no escape. Only two books to go on our list.
Book 9: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca (2021)
Here we rip away all comfort. This novella is grotesque, transgressive, and stomach-churning. What begins as an online friendship between two women spirals into obsession, degradation, and unholy acts. It’s short but devastating. Once you read it, you will never forget it.
Book 10: The Troop by Nick Cutter (2014)
Our final book on our list of horror books for beginners is The Troop.
This is it. We’re at the bottom of the pit. The Troop is disgusting and terrifying. Some scenes are so gross you’ll feel like you just had a sandwich full of maggots and need to wash your mouth out. Here’s what it’s about. Stranded on an island, a group of Boy Scouts encounters a parasite that spreads through flesh, hunger, and fear. This is where nightmares live. Disturbing. Disgusting. Unforgiving. And the perfect final step for those who’ve braved the descent.
And to be honest, The Troop isn’t the most terrifying book I’ve ever read. So in that sense, it’s a good place to stop on our journey of horror books for beginners. Because let’s face it, even though we’re no longer beginners, we have so much horror to read.
🌑 Welcome to Horror (That Concludes Our List of Horror Books for Beginners)
You’ve journeyed from gothic whispers to parasitic terror. Each book pulled you deeper, stripping away the safety nets of humor, mystery, and atmosphere until you were face-to-face with horror’s raw, festering core.
For non-horror readers, this isn’t just a book list, it’s an initiation. If you’ve survived The Troop, congratulations. You’re no longer a beginner. You belong here, in the dark, with the rest of us.
Aren’t you glad I didn’t put any of the horror classics on here?
One of the main reasons I personally don’t recommend reading the horror classics to start is that you most likely have seen the movies. And if you’re just starting out, it might make you stop reading the book. I mean, it’s pretty boring when you already know what’s going to happen next. So, I wanted to give you a list of horror books for beginners that you most likely didn’t see coming.
What did you think of your journey? Are you ready to dive in fully? Yes? Now let’s read William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist.
