It’s not quite the end of Summer of Horror, but I couldn’t wait to share this list. Many of these books will end up on my Best of 2026 list at the end of the year, and some may even make my Top Five. All of these earned five or four-and-a-half stars, and I highly recommend all of them! I’m listing them in alphabetical order by title, and I’m linking my reviews if you’d like to read them. Note: this list is taken from books I’ve read this year, and obviously I have not read all the books (in case you don’t see your favorites here!).
I’m also linking up with Top Ten Tuesday, which was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog.
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James. “The nitty-gritty: A multilayered horror story set in a dangerous town, A Box Full of Darkness expertly mixes carefully drawn characters, emotional relationships and ghostly terrors.”
The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer. “The nitty-gritty: Mind-bending and menacing, The Caretaker is weird psychological horror at its best.”
Carry Me To Me Grave by Christopher Golden. “The nitty-gritty: Relentless pacing, thrilling action and heartbreak combine in Christopher Golden’s latest, a violent but satisfying horror tale.”
Dead First by Johnny Compton. “The nitty-gritty: Mystery meets mind-bending supernatural terror in Dead First, a unique tale of revenge, redemption and murder.”
House of Splinters by Laura Purcell. “The nitty-gritty: Laura Purcell delivers another chilling haunted house tale in this atmospheric and terrifying ghost story.”
Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker. “The nitty-gritty: A mind-bending, bloody mystery, Japanese Gothic blends time travel and folklore into an emotional and heartbreaking story.”
Nothing Tastes As Good by Luke Dumas. “The nitty-gritty: Shocking, gross and eye-opening, Nothing Tastes As Good is both hard-hitting and wildly entertaining.”
On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield. “The nitty-gritty: A beautifully written story of survival and redemption, Yah Yah Scholfield’s weird, devastating and brutal Southern Gothic debut is a rollercoaster of emotions, both monstrous and beautiful.”
The Rise (Tales From the Gulp #3) by Alan Baxter. “The nitty-gritty: Creeping horror and sinister townsfolk await in Alan Baxter’s latest Tales From the Gulp, a wildly entertaining and delightfully gruesome series.”
The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus. “The nitty-gritty: A masterfully written and plotted sci-fi horror story, The Sixth Nik combines grotesque imagery and body horror with unexpected depth and emotion.”
Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher. “The nitty-gritty: Insect horror and Gothic mystery combine in T. Kingfisher’s latest, a tense and disturbing horror story with the author’s trademark humor and quirky characters.”
Worry Box by Chris Panatier. “The nitty-gritty: Chris Panatier captures the slow collapse of a close-knit family in Worry Box, a tense, terrifying horror story steeped in emotional heartbreak.”
These all look good, especially Worry Box. I can’t believe Summer of Horror is coming to an end soon. That was fast!
Ugh me too! I still have so many horror books I wanted to squeeze in.
I have read one on this list, yay! It was Wolf Worm, which I really enjoyed!
I swear T. Kingfisher never writes a bad book!
I haven’t read any of these yet! But I keep adding to my TBR when I see your reviews 🙂 I’m guessing the Christopher Golden is the one I”m most likely to pick up.
It was crazy! I hope you have fun with it:-)
On Sundays She Picked Flowers was on my list, too.
It’s amazing!
A Box Full of Darkness is still on my list!
I hope you get to read it!
This is the second list where I’ve seen On Sundays She Picked Flowers and I’m taking it as a sign that I have to check it out. I’m also excited to check out the new Kliewer cos I read We Used to Live Here last year and even though I was terrified for like 3 months after (I’m a total weenie) I was surprised by how much I loved it! Great list
Thanks Dini! I think you’d enjoy the new Marcus Kliewer too:-)
I haven’t read any of these- yet! I need to get on it!
I recommend all of them!
A Box Full of Darkness was good. I liked that one, too!
I love all her books!
I really enjoyed The Caretaker and I am working on Dead First right now.
I’m so curious to see what you think of Dead First!
Nothing Tastes as Good has definitely made it on my list. I’m a bit worreid about the body horror, but my tolerance has been going up a little bit every year (and I loved Khaw’s take on body horror)
It’s a really fun story, even with the body horror:-)
I’ve already read four of these and really enjoyed them – next up – Worry Box, can’t wait.
Lynn 😀
I can’t wait to hear what you think about Worry Box!
Taking notes for my wife’s Christmas presents, ahahaha. Though I did read Wolf Worm!
You can definitely find your wife something good from this list:-)
I loved Wolf Worm…one of my favorite reads this year too!
It makes me want to read more T. Kingfisher!
I have On Sundays She Picked Flowers on my TBR and Japanese Gothic too, though I’m not big on time travel usually.
I think you’d enjoy Japanese Gothic, since the time travel parts are more like stepping through a portal. Anyway, it works!
I loved the three of these that I’ve read too. I’m still not over how carefully planned Japanese Gothic must have been and adored Wolf Worm. I definitely need to hurry up and check out some of the others too. I remember your rave review of the flowers one particularly well and can’t believe I havent managed to get to it yet.
I highly recommend On Sundays She Picked Flowers, it blew me away!
I haven’t heard too many people talk about Dead First, so I am glad that it made your list. I really want to get to that one. Will be reading Japanese Gothic before the end of the month, so can’t wait. Thanks for sharing your favs!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of Japanese Gothic, it’s crazy!
Thank you for a wonderful list of Halloween reads! I need more horror for October! Worry Box and Nothing Tastes As Good look intriguing…
My pleasure! I hope you get to read a few of these:-)
I am so mad at myself for not having read some of these yet! I NEED to read Worry Box, Nothing Tastes as Good, On Sunday, and Sixth Nik. Good news is I own them all (maybe not Worry Box? I can buy it though!), bad news is, time.