The best horror books to get your heart racing this spooky season – if you don't mind sleeping with the light on for a few days
Watching scary TV shows, trying your hand at some Halloween nail art and recreating a Halloween makeup look you've seen on Instagram aren't the only ways to celebrate Halloween this year. Tucking yourself under a blanket on your favourite armchair and getting stuck into one of the best horror books will also get your feeling suitably jumpy.
Yep: taking a (brave) leap into the terrifying world of literary horror is up there with the best of ways to nod towards spooky season - if you dare take the plunge. Forget what you thought you knew: horror books are arguably SO MUCH scarier than any horror film could ever be - allowing your mind to wander, conjure up the most twisted images and forcing you to sit with the plot for a long time. Scariness levels: elevated.
Luckily (or not), there are tonnes of horror books out there to choose from. We've done the rounds of the GLAMOUR office and whittled things down a selection of the horror books that got the hearts of our editors racing the most - from classic spooky tales to terrifying new releases. And all of them can be with you the very next day if you order through Amazon Prime.
Particular highlights? The Woman in the Window's film adaption starring Amy Adams was released back in May this year, but if you've not yet managed to watch the movie, you should most definitely read the book first. You'll be transported straight into the head of an agoraphobic woman who gets more than she bargained for while spying on her neighbours. It's scary, bloody and a real page-turner.
There's also The Haunting of Hill House - the 1959 gothic novel which acted as inspiration for the Netflix series you've probably already binged. It's considered by many to be one of the best horror books ever written, set in a dilapidated haunted house (you don't say) which is visited by four seeks who have agreed to take part in a parapsychological study.
Horror not really your cup of tea? Fret not. We've got romance novels, true crime books, autobiographies, sleep books, cookbooks, poetry books, vegetarian cookbooks, adult colouring books and mental health books. Elsewhere, you can order coffee table books, summer books, vegan cookbooks and books by black authors. That's enough reading material to last you all year.
For more from Glamour UK Commerce Writer Sophie Cockett, follow her on Instagram @sophiecockettx.
Scroll for our full edit of the best horror books to read this autumn - or gift to your horror-loving friend.
Best horror books: A.J. Finn
The Woman in the Window, £6, Amazon
The Woman in the Window's film adaption starring Amy Adams was released back in May this year, but if you've not yet managed to watch the movie, you should most definitely read the book first. You'll be transported straight into the head of an agoraphobic woman who gets more than she bargained for while spying on her neighbours. It's scary, bloody and a real page-turner.
Best horror books: Richard Matheson
Named on of the “scariest” horror books ever written, Hell House tells the story of wealthy magazine and newpaper publisher, Rolf Rudolph Deutsch who - put bluntly - is going die. When he starts thinking seriously about his impending death, he offers to pay a physicist and two mediums to establish what happens after death. The physicist - along with the mediums - travel to the Belasco House in Maine which has been abandoned since the 1940s. For one night, Barrett and his colleagues investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why it has been referred to as Hell House for so long.
Best horror books: Beth Morgan
A Touch of Jen, £13.19, Amazon
This horror book comes served with a helping of humour - so if you want something scary but a little more lighthearted, this 2021 release is for you. It's about Remy and Alicia, a couple bound together through their love for Jen - Remy's ex-colleague who left the day job to become a jewellery designer. Remy and Alicia run into Jen on a surfing trip, but excitement is fast replaced by horror when everything goes awfully wrong.
Best horror books: Shirley Jackson
The Haunting of Hill House, £7.95, Amazon
The Haunting of Hill House is the 1959 gothic novel which acted as inspiration for the Netflix series you've probably already binged. It's considered by many to be one of the best horror books ever written, set in a dilapidated haunted house (you don't say) which is visited by four seeks who have agreed to take part in a parapsychological study.
Best horror books: Stephen King
No edit of the best horror books would be complete without an appearance from Stephen King - and we're not playing when we say you'll have to sleep with every single light on after devouring The Shining.
Best horror books: Stephen King
IT: The Classic Horror Book, £8.99, Amazon
You've watched the films and checked under your bed every night before sleeping as a result - but have you read the Stephen King book? It's scarier than the movie. You heard it here first.
Best horror books: Catriona Ward
The Last House on Needless Street, £7.79, Amazon
Catriona Ward’s The Last House on Needless Street is a haunting horror book about a creepy, boarded up house. Isn't that how all the best horror stories begin? Inside lives a black cat named Olivia and its owner, a man with many secrets. It's enjoyed better the less you know, but we can vouch for how strange, gripping and heart-racingly brilliant it is.
Best horror books: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Written by the acclaimed author of Gods of Jade and Shadow is Mexican Gothic, a story about a young socialite who discovers the many hidden - and horrible - secrets of a seemingly beautiful mansion in 1950s Mexico. Think: ghosts, violence with themes of racism and colonialism.
Best horror books: Chuck Wendig
The Book of Accidents, £12.19, Amazon
This horror book promises a sense of dread from the very first page, as it takes you on a journey with couple Nathan and Maddie who return to their hometown with their young son, Oliver. Not only do their past traumas return to haunt them, but their son Oliver makes a dark magic-performing friend.
Best horror books: Helen Oyeyemi
White is for Witching, £7.79, Amazon
A suspenseful novels with twists and turns, White is for Witching is an unconventional coming-of-age horror story which sees main character Miranda suffer from pica - a disorder that compels her to eat foreign objects - and haunted by voices. This brilliant horror book offers a scary look at the on-going effects of colonisation.
Best horror books: Mary Shelley
Obviously Frankenstein couldn't get forgotten: one of the best horror books of all time for good reason. The tale of a mad scientist who creates a monster is now over 200 years old, showing horrible things can happen with curiosity overtakes care.
