I feel like reading some interesting horror books with unusual premises. I won’t specify specific examples because I want the a broad range of recommendations rather than focusing on one specific area that I might happen to mention. I will state what I’m not looking for. None of the typical horror stuff like traditional vampires, werewolves, and such. No apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic stuff either. I’m interested more in something that involves an individual or small group of individuals, not a global or universal threat. What would you all recommend?
Feel free to give a blurb on the back of the book description to explain the premise, but please no major spoilers.
While it was written over fifty years ago — and it’s been almost that long since I read it — I found Demon Seed by Dean R Koontz quite chilling. One interesting thing about it is that it’s told (IIRC) mostly from the POV of the antagonist.
The Satanic Mill by Otfried Preussler is a very well-written YA-aimed tale about an impoverished street kid in what feels like the 1800s who becomes an apprentice at a mill, joining a dozen or so other young boys. They’re learning things besides how to mill grain, though. They’re learning spells and magical techniques. And sometimes the mill grinds things that aren’t grain. It’s fun and powerful but not innocent, and there’s a tradeoff that Krabat, the main character, gradually becomes aware of.
The Pendergast series (starring a most atypical FBI agent, Aloysius Pendergast, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child) provides a plethora of bizarre plots* made more palatable by excellent writing. A certain amount of willing suspension of disbelief is required for full enjoyment.
*ancient curses, clandestine subterranean human subcultures, psychotropic plants threatening civilization, infernal machines that simulate Satanic intervenion, time-traveling villains…
I really enjoyed Phantoms by Dean R Koontz. It starts with the protagonists driving into a town where almost everyone has vanished, with just a few bodies left behind. Then it becomes clear that whatever happened is still happening…figuring out what happened is a big part of the plot. So be careful to avoid spoilers if looking it up.
Heh. John Christopher, best known for his young adult sci-fi “Tripods” series wrote a horror novel called “The Little People”, about a group of vacationers in Scotland who run afoul of a bunch of Nazi S&M leprechauns. Yep….
It’s definitely an indie book, my copy has multiple spelling mistakes, but its a really fun but super violent look at an entire small town that gets laid siege to by multiple bigfoots. I find “Isolated town under attack” horror stories the most interesting and this is a very fun and fast read.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. It may be classified as sci-fi/fantasy based on the author but it’s really horror. Haunted me like few novels have, even though it’s over sixty years old. Premise: a demonic travelling circus comes to a small town.
I’ve only seen the film, but Christine, Stephen King’s novel about a demonic car, seemed an unusual premise to me at the time of its release, and I’ve not seen too many vehicle-possession movies since.
Still on cars, though, J.G. Ballard’s Crash read like a horror novel to me and made an extremely uncomfortable film. It probably fits as a body-horror work.
Look up T. Kingfisher and get one of her books. She’s got several in the horror vein and they’re all excellent in their own weird and often funny ways.
If you’re familiar with it, it’s the source material that was adapted into the movie Angel Heart, one of my flawed favorites.
It’s an interesting combination of noir hardboiled detective drama with occult elements, which turn to a degree of horror to the investigator, past that point, be spoilers though.
I seem to recall we had a recent-ish thread on this topic, but I can’t find it right now.
I’d suggest We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory. It’s quite short and came out around ten years ago, was nominated for several awards and won a couple.
Very briefly, it’s about a small support group for people who have survived horrific experiences. Their tales are revealed gradually but they aren’t over yet as their worst fears are confirmed…
I considered suggesting The Hollow Places. I’m not sure it fits the criteria exactly, but I read a lot of horror and it gave me a chill I haven’t felt in a long time.
Mentioning chills reminded me of a book that I found remarkably engaging - The Chill by Scott Carson. The story incorporates some fascinating history of the NYC water system, especially around the constellation of reservoirs upstate that feed the system. The horror elements are closely woven into the history and engineering aspects of the story.
Not strictly a horror story perhaps but Hari Kunzru’s White Tears is an interesting mix of mystery, ghost story and supernatural revenge thriller. Most importantly it is beautifully written and very unsettling.
Thirding the T. Kingfisher recommendation. She writes about the area where I grew up, so it’s very familiar and very, very creepy. I love her stuff.
Some more:
Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfeet Native American horror writer who does some really interesting stuff. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by him, but The Only Good Indians is phenomenal. Unlike any other horror I’ve read, and scared me more than anything else I’ve read in awhile.
Anything else except, perhaps, The Changeling. My horror-loving brother-in-law gave me this for Christmas, and I nearly noped out of it about eighty pages in, I was so traumatized by one scene. I’m glad I stuck with it.
And for something really different, check out Christopher Beuhlman’s novels. Two favorites: Between Two Fires, a horror novel set in France during the Black Plague and during a war between Heaven and Hell. The horror feels positively medieval. And then there’s a weird recommendation: The Daughters’ War. Superficially it’s a military fantasy, but the horror elements really shine through, and it was one of my top books of 2024.
It’s hard to get more unusual than Junji Ito’s Uzumaki (a small coastal town cursed by inescapable spirals) or Gyo (legions of fish come striding out of the ocean attached to small four-legged mechanical walking machines).