Horror Writers Association (HWA)'s "Horror Reading List"

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These 40 books were chosen by the Horror Writers Association as suggested reading. Please do not change or remove the books on this list.

From the HWA’s website:

"The Horror Writers Association was formed, in part, to foster a greater appreciation of dark fiction among members of the general public. Whether you are new to Horror, or simply want to become familiar with some of the classics and "bests" of dark fiction, the following books are a wonderful place to begin.

Like most "best of" lists, ours is somewhat quirky. The books that appear here were picked using a survey of HWA’s general membership in 1996, so many excellent books published more recently do not appear here, and some of those that do are now out of print. Most of the recognized classics of dark fiction do appear here, though."

List is alphabetical by author.

  1. 1.
    The Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood
    by Algernon Blackwood
  2. 2.
    The Exorcist
    by William Peter Blatty
  3. 3.
    Something Wicked This Way Comes
    by Ray Bradbury
  4. 4.
    Lost Souls
    by Poppy Z. Brite
  5. 5.
    The Hungry Moon
    by Ramsey Campbell
  6. 6.
    The Between
    by Tananarive Due
  7. 7.
    The Dark Country
    by Dennis Etchison
  8. 8.
    ?
    Raven
    by Charles L. Grant
  9. 9.
    Dead in the Water
    by Nancy Holder
  10. 10.
    The Haunting of Hill House (Penguin Classics)
    by Shirley Jackson
  11. 11.
    The Lottery and Other Stories
    by Shirley Jackson
  12. 12.
    The Turn of the Screw (Penguin Popular Classics)
    by Henry James
  13. 13.
    The Penguin Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James
    by M. R. James
  14. 14.
    ?
    Dr Adder
    by K. W Jeter
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
    Pet Sematary
    by Stephen King
  17. 17.
    The Shining
    by Stephen King
  18. 18.
    The Stand (Modern Classics)
    by Stephen King
  19. 19.
    Skin
    by Kathe Koja
  20. 20.
    ?
    Dark Dance
    by Tanith Lee
  21. 21.
    Conjure Wife
    by Fritz Leiber
  22. 22.
    Rosemary's Baby
    by Ira Levin
  23. 23.
    ?
    Songs of a Dead Dreamer
    by Thomas Ligotti
  24. 24.
    ?
    Lovers Living, Lovers Dead
    by Richard Lortz
  25. 25.
    The Dunwich Horror and Others
    by H. P. Lovecraft
  26. 26.
    At the Mountains of Madness: And Other Tales of Terror
    by H. P. Lovecraft
  27. 27.
    The Hill of Dreams
    by Arthur Machen
  28. 28.
    ?
    Tales of Horror and the Supernatural
    by Arthur Machen
  29. 29.
    Sineater
    by Elizabeth Massie
  30. 30.
    I Am Legend
    by Richard Matheson
  31. 31.
    Relic
    by Lincoln Child
  32. 32.
    Frankenstein (Penguin Classics)
    by Mary Shelley
  33. 33.
    Book of the Dead

  34. 34.
    Ghoul (Onyx)
    by Michael Slade
  35. 35.
    Vampire Junction
    by S. P. Somtow
  37. 37.
    Bram Stoker's Dracula
    by Bram Stoker
  38. 38.
    Some of Your Blood
    by Theodore Sturgeon
  39. 39.
    ?
    Phantom
    by Thomas Tessier
  40. 40.
    Sacrifice
    by Andrew Vachss
This is a community list. You can contribute, edit, or help maintain it by adding it to your lists.
Created by bah on Dec 20, 2006.
 

Comments

Robin Mancini

Horror in itself  — 1 year ago

I’m sorry I am not trying to be rude ,but I am a huge fan to horror novels. This is a bad list.

Sep 22, 04:06PM | 0 comments | Reply to this

bah

Darklands — 4 years ago

The source lists Darklands by Dennis Etchison, but I don’t think that book actually exists. I suspect it’s supposed to be his book The Dark Country. (Unless it’s supposed to be his other book Darkside, but The Dark Country seems to be better known.)

Jun 22, 10:33AM | 1 comment | Reply to this

bah

Changed... — 6 years ago

Sorry to mess up everyone’s checks, but I’ve just switched to a different, less messy-looking edition of Something Wicked This Way Comes (#3).

Apr 01, 12:00PM | 0 comments | Reply to this



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