Scary Novels You Might Not Have Read Yet

In October I will be talking about Mutiny at Vesta, but I still want to post this list of horror novels I love! I'm linking to Goodreads because it gives you many purchasing options, but check your local library too.

Without further ado: The scary books!

  • Crescent by Phil Rossi - I don't have to write a haunted space station story because he already wrote this amazing one. It's not haunted by ghosts, exactly... The free audio production (with free site signup) is out of this world, and it's good in print too.
  • Ancestor by Scott Sigler - Jurassic Park meets The Thing, kind of? I really enjoyed the genetics and biology in this.
  • Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber - Zombies in the Star Wars universe. It's better than it has any right to be. That's Schreiber for you.
  • The Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant - My favorite zombie stories. There is now a collection of the short stories that take place in the Newsflesh universe, but you'll care more about those if you read the trilogy first.
  • World War Z by Max Brooks - More wonderful zombie stories. Please ignore the movie. I really like journalists covering the end of the world, but this coverage is in a more traditional format than in the Newsflesh trilogy.
  • The John Cleaver series by Dan Wells - I just love this little sociopath. The character, not the author. Note: This series contains supernatural elements.
  • Personal Effects: Dark Arts by J. C. Hutchins - The hardcover edition of these "found" serial killer case notes is so cool. It comes with artifacts! I hope the phone number still works.
  • Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist - His name is familiar because he wrote Let the Right One In, too. I don't usually like small town murder mysteries, but this one is so weird and creepy and cold that I can't help but love it.
  • I am Providence by Nick Mamatas - A murder mystery at a Lovecraft convention which will speak to pre-Tumblr hardcore sci-fi and horror fans. There has always been a Discourse.
  • The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - My favorite horror novel: Evelyn Carnahan vs. Dracula, with more world history, libraries, and letters addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor."

Get your spooky reading done now so you can read Mutiny at Vesta in October [Insert a hopeful author's toothy grin here. It does not have to be mine]. The rumors are true: There are a lot of heists in this book.

R. E. Stearns