Tag: literature

100 Favorite Horror Books: October 2026 Edition

Hawksmoor, by Peter Ackroyd (1989)
Dark Entries, by Robert Aickman (1964)
We Are Here to Hurt Each Other, by Paula D. Ashe (2022)
This Mortal Coil, by Cynthia Asquith (1947)
The Damnation Game, by Clive Barker (1985)
Tender is the Flesh, by Agustina Bazterrica (2017; 2020 translation by Sarah Moses)
The Listener and Other Stories, by Algernon Blackwood (1907)
The Scarf, by Robert Bloch (1947/1966)
Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury (1962)
Wieland; or, The Transformation: An American Tale, by Charles Brockden Brown (1798)
Ancient Images, by Ramsey Campbell (1989)
The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers (1895)
The Ghost Stories of Wilkie Collins, by Wilkie Collins (2024, edited by Xavier Aldana Reyes)
The Juniper Tree, by Barbara Comyns (1985)
The Breaking Point, by Daphne Du Maurier (1959)
Don’t Look Now, by Daphne Du Maurier (1971)
The Between, by Tananarive Due (1995)
The Pines, by Robert Dunbar (1989)
American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, by Harlan Ellison (1967)
The Collector, by John Fowles (1963)
Aura, by Carlos Fuentes (1962; 1986 translation by Lysander Kemp)
Something Stirs, by Charles L. Grant (1991)
Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris (1981)
Twice-Told Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1837)
The House of the Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1851)
Children of the Black Sabbath, by Anne Hébert (1975; 1977 translation by Carol Dunlop-Hébert)
The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill (1983)
The House on the Borderland, by William Hope Hodgson (1908)
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, by James Hogg (1824)
The Damned, by Joris-Karl Huysmans (1891)
Uzumaki, by Junji Ito (2000; 2013 translation by Yuji Oniki)
Hangsaman, by Shirley Jackson (1951)
The Sundial, by Shirley Jackson (1958)
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson (1959)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson (1962)
Ghost Stories of Henry James, by Henry James (2008, edited by Martin Schofield)
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, by M. R. James (1904)
The Red Tree, by Caitlín R. Kiernan (2009)
Carrie, by Stephen King (1974)
Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King (1975)
The Shining, by Stephen King (1977)
Cujo, by Stephen King (1981)
Pet Sematary, by Stephen King (1983)
It, by Stephen King (1986)
And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, by Gwendolyn Kiste (2017)
The Ceremonies, by T. E. D. Klein (1984)
The Cipher, by Kathe Koja (1991)
Bad Brains, by Kathe Koja (1992)
Skin, by Kathe Koja (1993)
Strange Angels, by Kathe Koja (1994)
Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber (1943)
The Fifth Child, by Doris Lessing (1988)
Rosemary’s Baby, by Ira Levin (1967)
The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin (1972)
The Monk: A Romance, by Matthew Gregory Lewis (1796)
Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, by Thomas Ligotti (2015)
The Hounds of Tindalos, by Frank Belknap Long (1946)
Tales of H. P. Lovecraft, by H. P. Lovecraft (2007, edited by Joyce Carol Oates)
The House of Souls, by Arthur Machen (1906)
Burnt Offerings, by Robert Marasco (1973)
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson (1954)
Shock!, by Richard Matheson (1961)
Melmoth the Wanderer, by Charles Robert Maturin (1820)
Child of God, by Cormac McCarthy (1973)
Toplin, by Michael McDowell, (1985)
Heartbreaker, by Maryse Meijer (2016)
The Seventh Mansion, by Maryse Meijer (2020)
Strange is the Night, by S. P. Miskowski (2017)
Beloved, by Toni Morrison (1987)
Zombie, by Joyce Carol Oates (1995)
The Accursed, by Joyce Carol Oates (2013)
Jack of Spades, by Joyce Carol Oates (2015)
Widdershins, by Oliver Onions (1911)
Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe (1956, edited by Edward H. Davidson)
The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe (1794)
Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice (1976)
Traplines, by Eden Robinson (1996)
Helpmeet, by Naben Ruthnum (2022)
The Subjugated Beast, by R. R. Ryan (1938)
Fever Dream, by Samanta Schweblin (2014; 2017 translation by Megan McDowell)
The Demon, by Hubert Selby Jr. (1976)
New Stories from the Twilight Zone, by Rod Serling (1965)
Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley (1818)
The House Next Door, by Anne Rivers Siddons (1978)
The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies, by Clark Ashton Smith (2014, edited by S. T. Joshi)
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
Dracula, by Bram Stoker (1897)
Julia, by Peter Straub (1975)
Ghost Story, by Peter Straub (1979)
Floating Dragon, by Peter Straub (1982)
Koko, by Peter Straub (1988)
Houses without Doors, by Peter Straub (1990)
Fog Heart, by Thomas Tessier (1997)
The Other, by Thomas Tryon (1971)
Ghosts, by Edith Wharton (1937)
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde (1890)
The Island of Doctor Moreau, by H. G. Wells (1896)
The Invisible Man, by H. G. Wells (1897)
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, by Yukio Mishima (1963)

0

Craftwork Episode 33: Writers’ Workshops, Artists’ Sketchbooks, & the Chaos of Memory w/ Emil Wilson

Listen to Craftwork Episode 33: Writers’ Workshops, Artists’ Sketchbooks, & the Chaos of Memory w/ Emil Wilson

In this interview, we chat with Emil Wilson about creative freedom, visual communication, character transformation, and so much more.

is an award-winning art director, illustrator, and artist whose creative work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, as well as on NPR, the Oscars, and during the Super Bowl. He is based in San Francisco.

Books and stories mentioned in this episode:

  • Either/Or; The Idiot — Elif Batuman
  • Helter Skelter — Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry
  • Great Expectations — Charles Dickens
  • Carrie; Pet Sematary — Stephen King
  • The Executioner’s Song — Norman Mailer
  • The Thorn Birds — Colleen McCullough
  • Centennial — James A. Michener
  • Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt — Ben Reeves
  • Sophie’s Choice — William Styron
  • War and Peace — Leo Tolstoy
  • How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies — Amy Wallen (with illustrations by Emil Wilson)
0

New story in Uncertainties VIII (edited by Naben Ruthnum, Swan River Press)

Mike Thorn’s new story, “Soirée,” is included in Uncertainties VIII, edited by Naben Ruthnum for Swan River Press.

Pre-order now.

Uncertainties is an anthology series—featuring authors from Canada, England, and the United States—each exploring the concept of increasingly fragmented senses of reality. These types of short stories were termed “strange tales” by Robert Aickman, called “tales of the unexpected” by Roald Dahl, and known to Shakespeare’s ill-fated Prince Mamillius as “winter’s tales”. But these are no mere ghost stories. These tales of the uncanny grapple with existential epiphanies of the modern day, when otherwise familiar landscapes become sinister and something decidedly less than certain . . .

Contents

“Foreword” – Naben Ruthnum

“A Curio” – R. Ostermeier

“Îkwatin // Freeze Up” – Jessica Johns

“Next of Kin” – Miriam Richer

“Taking Possession” – Rebecca Campbell

“All the Little Machines” – Rebecca Kuder

“Vanquisher” – Andrew F. Sullivan

“Soirée” – Mike Thorn

“Caretakers” – Michael Kelly

“Goodnight, Grandma Maggie” – Erica McKeen

“The Poet and the Jaguar and the Poet” – Quentin S. Crisp

“Monumental Horror Image” – Michael Wehunt

“The Theatre of Higher Judgements” – Matthew Holness

“Contributor Notes”

0

Craftwork Episode 32: Gothic Spaces, Familial Secrets, & Diasporic Perspectives w/ Dania Idriss

Listen to Craftwork Episode 32: Gothic Spaces, Familial Secrets, & Diasporic Perspectives w/ Dania Idriss

In this interview, we chat with Dania Idriss about representing human cruelty, finding creative nourishment in academic conferences, spending time in “writing jail”, and so much more.  

Dania Idriss (she/her) is a Lebanese-Canadian author and a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at the University of Calgary. She (currently) gratefully lives and works on the traditional territory of Treaty 7, with her writing focusing on global literatures, particularly Arabic speculative fiction. Her first book, a collection of horror stories titled Tales of the Mountains and the Sea, was released by Freehand Books in May 2026. Dania teaches speculative fiction and global literatures at the Alberta University of the Arts and the University of Calgary. She enjoys all things spooky, warm sweaters, and spending time with her bunny, Arlo.  

Books and stories mentioned in this episode: 

  • Human Sacrifices — María Fernanda Ampuero  
  • American War; One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This — Omar El Akkad 
  • The Woman in White — Wilkie Collins 
  • David Copperfield; Great Expectations; The Old Curiosity Shop — Charles Dickens 
  • The Haunting of Hill House; The Sundial; We Have Always Lived in the Castle — Shirley Jackson 
  • The Monk — Matthew Gregory Lewis 
  • Forgotten Journey; Thus Were Their Faces — Silvina Ocampo 
  • “Brokeback Mountain” — Annie Proulx 
  • Harry Potter series — J. K. Rowling 
  • Frankenstein — Mary Shelley 
  • Dracula — Bram Stoker 
  • “Hair” — Mike Thorn 
  • The Castle of Otranto — Horace Walpole 
  • Lolly Willowes — Sylvia Townsend Warner 
0

Craftwork Episode 28: Earthy Language, Scary Cupids, & Lunar Portrayals w/ Michael Wehunt

Listen to Craftwork Episode 28: Earthy Language, Scary Cupids, & Lunar Portrayals w/ Michael Wehunt.

In this interview, we chat with Michael Wehunt about the administrative side of professional writing, the unanticipated weirdness of public selfhood, the “moment before the moment”, and so much more.   

Michael Wehunt has been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, multiple Shirley Jackson Awards, and the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts’ Crawford Award. In Spain, his translated works have garnered nominations for the Premio Ignotus and Premio Amaltea, winning the latter. He haunts the woods of Decatur, Georgia, with his partner and their dog. Together, they hold the horrors at bay. Most recently, he is the author of the novels The October Film Haunt and Nightjars.  

Books and poems mentioned in this episode:   

  • Ancient Images; The Grin of the Dark; Incarnate — Ramsey Campbell 
  • Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture — Douglas Coupland 
  • Poems 1962-2020 — Louise Glück 
  • Carrie — Stephen King 
  • Beings — Ilana Masad 
  • The God of the Woods; Long Bright River — Liz Moore 
  • Ghost Wall; Ripeness — Sarah Moss 
  • The Violent Bear it Away — Flannery O’Connor 
  • “Archaic Torso of Apollo” — Rainer Maria Rilke
  • Coffin Moon — Keith Rosson 
1

New essay, “Plumbing the Depths: Haunted Writers and Haunted Writings,” in Nightmare Magazine

“I propose that horror literature, by definition, hinges on this vexed dialectic, between the affective destruction of thought and the creative process of thought (specifically, of cognizing the incognizable: the supernatural, the numinous, the unseen, the illegible). Within this dialectic, the horror writer oscillates between helpless prey to horror and the creative agent of horror.”

Read the full essay.

0

Craftwork Episode 27: Indie Publishing, Intentional Ambiguity, & the Tyranny of Structure w/ Daniel Braum

Listen to Craftwork Episode 27: Indie Publishing, Intentional Ambiguity, & the Tyranny of Structure w/ Daniel Braum.

In this interview, we chat with Daniel Braum about exploring the ecology of the supernatural, finding inspiration in liminal spaces, cultivating a sense of awe, and so much more.  

Daniel Braum writes short stories that explore the tension between the psychological and the supernatural. He intentionally adopts the term “strange tales” for his “Twilight Zone-like stories in homage to author Robert Aickman and the intentional ambiguities of his work. His latest collection is Phantom Constellations: Strange Tales and Ghost Stories from Cemetery Dance Publications (2025). His stories appear in places ranging from The Best Horror of the Year Volume 12, edited by Ellen Datlow, and Shivers 8, edited by Richard Chizmar.

Books and stories mentioned in this episode:  

  • Cold Hand in Mine — Robert Aickman  
  • The Artist’s Way — Julia Cameron 
  • Ancient Images; The Hungry Moon  — Ramsey Campbell 
  • “Plunged in the Years” — Jeffrey Ford 
  • “Children of the Corn” — Stephen King 
  • The Ceremonies — T. E. D. Klein 
  • Beginnings, Middles & Ends — Nancy Kress 
  • Dreams of Dark and Light — Tanith Lee 
  • Rosemary’s Baby; The Stepford Wives — Ira Levin 
  • Story — Robert McKee 
  • Conjunctions 83: The Ghost Issue — Joyce Carol Oates and Bradford Morrow, eds.
  • The Jaguar Hunter — Lucius Shepard 
  • Shadowland — Peter Straub 
  • Conjunctions 39: The New Wave Fabulists — Peter Straub, ed.
  • Harvest Home — Thomas Tryon 
  • The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers — Chris Vogler 
0

Craftwork Episode 26: Sculpture, Anaphora, & Writing by Hourglass w/ Hajer Mirwali

Listen to Craftwork Episode 26: Sculpture, Anaphora, & Writing by Hourglass w/ Hajer Mirwali.

In this interview, we chat with Hajer Mirwali about cross-disciplinary work, embodied writing, poetic mad libs,  and so much more.  

Hajer Mirwali is a Palestinian and Iraqi writer living in Toronto. Her first book, Revolutions (Talonbooks, 2025), is a collection of poetry on shame, pleasure, and Arab Muslim girlhood. Two poems from the collection also appear in an anthology of Palestinian poetry called Heaven Looks Like Us (Haymarket Books, 2025). Hajer’s work has been published in The Ex-Puritan, Brick Magazine, Room Magazine, and Joyland. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph, and a BA in Creative Writing from York University.

Books mentioned in this episode:  

  • Trust Exercise — Susan Choi 
  • The Butterfly’s Burden — Mahmoud Darwish 
  • Junie B. Jones series — Barbara Park 
  • Who by Fire; Who by Water — Greg Rhyno 
  • Harry Potter series — J. K. Rowling 
1

25 Favorite First-Time Reads of 2025

One per author, chronologically organized.

Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen (1817)
The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins (1868)
The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H. G. Wells (1896)
What Maisie Knew, by Henry James (1897; 1908 New York Edition)
The House of Souls, by Arthur Machen (1906)
Widdershins, by Oliver Onions (1911)
Summer, by Edith Wharton (1917)
Tales of the Jazz Age, by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1922)
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett (1930)
Strangers on a Train, by Patricia Highsmith (1950)
The Nothing Man, by Jim Thompson (1954)
A Severed Head, by Iris Murdoch (1961)
Aura, by Carlos Fuentes (1962)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, by Joan Didion (1968)
Sula, by Toni Morrison (1973)
The Coherence of Gothic Conventions, by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1980)
Bad Behavior, by Mary Gaitskill (1988)
Ancient Images, by Ramsey Campbell (1989)
Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates (2000)
Border Crossing, by Pat Barker (2001)
These Truths: A History of the United States, by Jill Lepore (2018)
The Best of Both Worlds, by S. P. Miskowski (2020)
Hi, It’s Me, by Fawn Parker (2024)
Dark Matter, by Kathe Koja (2025)
Wreckage / What Happens in Hello Jack, by Peter Straub (2025)

0

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑