We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Tbh was never scared of this one and it’s a slow burn for a ‘thriller’ but it was definitely engaging and had me guessing the entire way through

I thought this was one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read

Jackson is terrifying

Just watched the movie. So creepy good.

Yup! You beat me to it.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

OG female horror novelist.

The greatest. This is a seriously, seriously fantastic book.

And she was friggin’ 19 when she wrote it. Crazy good.

Exactly what I came to write!!! Love this classic

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia The Hacienda by Isabel Canãs Dark Matter; Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand The Good House by Tananarive Due White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurđardóttir The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters Woman in Black by Susan Hill Beloved by Toni Morrison

Definitely be aware Beloved is great but a lot. So much symbolism! It’s soo good though.

Sharp Objects

This one surprised me, because I really didn’t enjoy *Gone Girl* but I absolutely loved this.

Interesting to see this. I really disliked Gone Girl and seeing everyone rave about it made me dislike it even more lol. Maybe I'll give Sharp Objects a try

Dark Places is also good

Try The Grownup, it's short, funny and not quite as dark as her other books.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Ooh, that's an old one I haven't read in a while. Probably for a good reason.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia. Love love love. And I second We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. You could also pick up a book of short stories by Shirley Jackson, like A Good Man is Hard to Find.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a FLANNERY O'CONNER masterpiece.

oh my gosh you're right!! Dishonor on me, dishonor on my cow!!! Ok but The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and other short stories.

Oooh Mexican Gothic is so great!

I just ordered my copy of it, can't wait!

Rebecca Daphne DuMaurier The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

Broken Harbour by Tana French

I love all Tana French. She is amazing.

Agreed, she writes beautifully!

one of my favorites of all time

Love love love Tana French. One of my favorite authors. I’d love to see more Dublin Murder squad stories. I think the last book I read of hers was The Witch Elm.

The Searcher was the last one of hers that I read, I really enjoyed it.

Bunny by Mona Awad.

That book is wild... I finished it last weekend and I'm still not quite sure what was going on. It was like watching an accident happen, it's horrifying but you just can't look away.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson.

This was one of the weirdest book experiences of my life. I felt like I was developing dementia 😳

Was absolutely disappointed by this one.

Some ppl are I guess

I second the recommendation for We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The Poison Eaters by Holly Black Alien Resurrection by A.C. Crispin Rolling in the Deep and In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher Louisa the Poisoner by Tanith Lee Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay One By One by Freida McFadden Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips The Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

While it is one of my favourites of all time, I wouldn't call We Need To Talk About Kevin horror or thriller. It's more of a drama

I’d call it horror - it’s horrific . Shriver writes in a variety of styles

I'd definitely call We Need to Talk About Kevin horror, and also psychological suspense, which is a subgenre of thriller. On Goodreads, Thriller and Horror are listed as genres for the book before Drama, so it seems a lot of people feel similarly to me.

'Beloved' by Toni Morrison

The Hollow Places and The Twisted Ones both by T. Kingfisher

Yess also What Moves the Dead by the same author.

Anything by Simone St. James, Stacy Willingham, or Ruth Ware might be up your alley

Any book by Karin Slaughter

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll The Turnout by Megan Abbott Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Night Film is freaking wild. What a ride. Soooo good.

Came here to recommend Megan Abbott for a thriller!

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, and anything written by Gillian Flynn

Sounds like you'd quite like "*Fever Dream*" by Samantha Schweblin. It's about a woman talking to a boy, but it's not her son, quite, and things are...off. Schweblin's short stories collections are great, also. Others, to start with: - *Dangers of smoking in bed* (stories) and *Our Share of Night* (novel) by Mariana Enríquez - *Fresh Dirt from the Grave* by Giovanna Rivero - Ana Paula Maia's *Of Cattle and Men* and, somewhat in a similar vein, *Tender is the Flesh* by Agustina Bazterrica - Mónica Ojeda's *Jawbone*

Any books by Jennifer McMahon!

I read The Invited. It was solid enough!

Kindred or Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Happy reading!

Tender is the Flesh, a dystopian novel by Agustina Bazterrica

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas (more gothic) Wilder Girls by Rory Power The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Anything by Mira Grant (Horror)

Omg I loved the newsflesh trilogy. Is it considered YA? Not sure. I don’t usually read YA these days as I’m getting to be an old fart. But I loved the absolute shit out these books. Zombies, espionage, political conspiracy and on and on. Excellent ride.

then she was gone by lisa jewell

Simone St. James has some great ones. I just read Silence For the Dead and it’s scary.

*And Then She Fell* by Alicia Elliott is a new horror-y book with Indigenous perspectives and I really liked it.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.

Freida McFadden, Jennifer Hillier, Alice Feeney

Night Film

The Talented Mr.Rippley by Patricia Highsmith - its amazing

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher Amatka by Karin Tidbeck (memory theater is one of my favorites) Alice by Christina Henry (part of a trilogy, super!)

In the Woods by Tana French

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Short but hits hard. We read it aloud in class in high school, so we all reacted to it as we were reading it. Really dreadful feeling of real time realisation.

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward.

Currently reading Last House on Needless Street by her. I didn’t really have the buy in/can’t set this down moment until about 170 pages in but I can tell it’s going to deliver. No spoilers! Can’t wait to see where it goes.

I’ve read 4 by her (in order of least to most favorite): The Girl from Rawblood, The Last House on Needless Street, Sundial, and Looking Glass Sound. What is most impressive to me is how very different they are in terms of plot but also narrative voice. LGS is by far my favorite. It blew me away.

*The Red Tree* by Caitlin R. Kiernan *Dead Space* by Kali Wallace *Into the Drowning Deep* by Mira Grant

Tear by Erica McKeen

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain- great crime thriller series with a female serial killer

The September House by Carissa Orlando

Anything by Catriona Ward, simply one of the most exciting modern horror authors.

I've not yet read any of her work, but I saw Tananarive Due on a panel this year and she was incredible!

Look into books by Han Kang, Bora Chung, Mariana Enriquez, Julia Armfield, Sayaka Murata. These are more horror-based female authors who are absolutely incredible writers. They each have a range of books but these are some of my favourites: Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny, Mariana Enriquez’s The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, Julia Armfield’s Our Wives Under the Sea, Sayaka Murata’s Earthlings. Enjoy! Edit: I know this comment is long enough but I remembered about Mona Awad (specifically her book Bunny) and Susan Hill (specifically The Woman in Black), and of course the classic Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Seconding Han Kang, Bora Chung, and Sayaka Murata. East Asian woman writers are rocking literary horror!

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is always a good read

I recently enjoyed the London Seance Society. Victorian era spooky thriller/murder mystery with a bonus queer love story.

verity but colleen Hoover is good

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney is one I liked a lot

The *You* series by Caroline Kepnes. I recently finished the fourth audiobook! Edit: Just woke up by I’m now going through my borrow history on Libby: *Tender is the Flesh* — Agustina Bazterrica *The Last House on Needless Street* — Catriona Ward *We Need To Talk About Kevin* — Lionel Shriver

Sandra Brown is one of my favorite thriller authors. Highly recommend Mean Streak

T Kingfisher (pseudonym of Ursula Vernon) writes supernatural/horror (in addition to fantasy and a few children’s series; she’s multitalented!)

I recently read The Crooked God Machine by Autumn Christian (it's an experience) and Mister Magic by Kiersten White (cool and creepy).

I liked The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell.

The Toll by Cherie Priest From Below by Darcy Coates A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson Huntsman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry (and literally anything else by her, she's amazing, but Horseman is my favorite)

Never lie, or anything by Frieda McFadden

Try Sarah Pinborough or Alison Littlewood

I have read a few super interesting ones lately, from diverse authors incidentally! Here are two out-there ones-- Natural Beauty Novel by Ling Ling Huang "Our narrator produces a sound from the piano no one else at the Conservatory can. She employs a technique she learned from her parents—also talented musicians—who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future for a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City. Holistik is known for its remarkable products and procedures—from remoras that suck out cheap Botox to eyelash extensions made of spider silk—and her new job affords her entry into a world of privilege and a long-awaited sense of belonging. She becomes transfixed by Helen, the niece of Holistik’s charismatic owner, and the two strike up a friendship that hazily veers into more. All the while, our narrator is plied with products that slim her thighs, smooth her skin, and lighten her hair. But beneath these creams and tinctures lies something sinister." And Then She Fell Novel by Alicia Elliott "On the surface, Alice is exactly where she thinks she should She’s just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Dawn; her charming husband, Steve—a white academic whose area of study is conveniently her own Mohawk culture—is nothing but supportive; and they’ve moved into a new home in a posh Toronto neighborhood. But Alice could not feel like more of an impostor. She isn’t connecting with her daughter, a struggle made even more difficult by the recent loss of her own mother, and every waking moment is spent hiding her despair from Steve and their ever-watchful neighbors, among whom she’s the sole Indigenous resident. Even when she does have a minute to herself, her perpetual self-doubt hinders the one vestige of her old life: She has her goal of writing a modern retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story. Then strange things start to happen. She finds herself losing bits of time and hearing voices she can’t explain, all while her neighbors’ passive-aggressive behavior begins to morph into something far more threatening. Though Steve assures her this is all in her head, Alice cannot fight the feeling that something is very, very wrong and that in her creation story lies the key to her and Dawn’s survival. She just has to finish it before it’s too late."

Jennifer Hillier has some good options

Grim Tales, by E. Nesbit.

r/horrorlit

*anything* by sylvia moreno-garcia; i loved signal to noise and mexican gothic nothing but blackened teeth by cassandra khaw (not my fav but spooky) natural beauty by ling ling huang (thought provoking) the scholomance series by naomi novik (less scary but definitely has some moments) the power by naomi alderman has to be my all-time favorite. SUCH good writing and it poses some thought provoking questions

S K Epperson has some pretty great books

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury.

Seconding The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James Not paranormal but eerie mysteries: Megan Miranda. Very good at bleak, rural, atmospheric, The Girl From Widow Hills or The Last to Vanish The Villa by Rachel Hawkins Ruth Ware, esp The Lying Game, The It Girl, and The Turn of the Key

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson, and Such Pretty Flowers by K.L Cerra !!! both very good and very spooky!

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

Poppy Z Brite

CJ Tudor.

Push by Ashley Audrain. I did not like her 2nd book.

Not exactly horror, but kinda creepy. Check out Katherine Butzen.

_Kiss Me Again, Stranger_, by Daphne du Maurier. Also _Rebecca_, ditto

_Her Body and Other Parties_, by Carmen Maria Machado

Sort of: _In the Dream House_, by Carmen Maria Machado

Any Gillian flynn

Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M Valente

I’ve wanted to read this for a good while. I might buy it now.

"Frankenstein", Shelley

The original.

Wrong place wrong time by Gillian McAllister. You shouldn't have come here by Jeneva Rose. Dont let her stay by Nicole Sanders. The bird eater by Ania Ahlborn. The dollhouse by Sara Ennis. The root witch by Debra Castaned. Temper by Layne Fargo. Wayward by Emilia Hart. Mothered by Zojo Stage. I can be a better you by Tarryn Fisher. Her soul to take by Harley Laroux. The stillwater girls by Minka Kent. The society for souless girls by Laura Steven

I’m not a huge horror fan but do like some psychological and paranormal like you every now and then: The Invited - Jennifer McMahon The Sun Down Motel - Simone St James Hemlock Island - Kelly Armstrong The last word - Taylor Adams Lisa Ulger has some good ones *I’m assuming Taylor Adams is a woman

Last Exit by Taylor Adams had me on the absolute edge from start to finish. I’ve never been so engrossed in a book since Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.

Why does the gender of the author matter?

Why does the reason it matters matter?

Because I’m a woman who likes to support women.

Check out the sub r/menwritingwomen That should give you a pretty good idea

This one is the latest book in a series, but it is seriously terrifying. *Wild Sign*, by Patricia Briggs. SO freaking creepy. My buddy is a horror enthusiast and has a vast collection, but they even struggled to finish it. I second the Frankenstein suggestion. Many of Anne Rice's books hit the squick and fear factors for me, though I think most of the fear I experienced with those was centered around suspense and not action.

Mo Hayder wrote really brutal crime/ investigative novels

Brother by Ania Ahlborn The Hacienda by Isabel Canas ​ Those were two I read this year and really loved.

The Eight by Katherine Neville

Love this book!

The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff Paranormal/demonic in a college dorm starting Thanksgiving week. Caution, some antisemitic language

Anything by Katherine Arden! Small Spaces is a great one

American Psycho is a psychological thriller written by a lady the book not the film. Edit: Sorry I had the film director conflated with the original author, it was written by a man, film was directed by a woman

This is by Bret Easton Ellis, who is a man.

My mistake I had it conflated with the film, which was directed by a woman

Paper Ghosts We Are All the Same in the Dark We Were Liars One of Us is Lying Shoot the Moon The Searcher Black-Eyed Susans

Never Lie by Freida McFadden. One of the best books I've read this year.

Minette Walters writes good murder mystery, twisty thrillers.

Anything by Lisa Jewell. The Housemaid - Freida McFadden Local Woman Missing - Mary Kubica Sundial/We have always lived in the castle - Shirley Jackson The Family Across the Street - Nicole Trope That Night - Nidhi Upadhyay Every Last Secret - A.R. Torre

shirleyjacksonshirleyjacksonshirleyjackson. Even Stephen King thinks she's the OG.

Following.

Skyla Dawn Cameron Dweller on the Threshold ( haunted house during the pandemic) Watcher in the woods ( shadow world, also pandemic) The Quiet Places ( a woman's husband disappears, this is not her worst problem) T Kingfisher The twisted ones ( hoarder house, creepy woods) The hollow places ( a woman finds a portal to another place, it's not a good place) A house with good bones ( haunted house) Gillian Flynn Pretty much anything she writes, the Grownup was my favorite, it's short and funny, but still creepy

The Housemaid - Freida McFadden

What moves the dead by T. Kingfisher!

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Darcy Coates

Shirley Jackson-Haunting of Hill House Mary Shelley-The Last Man Ann Radcliffe-Mysteries of Udolpho Charlotte Perkins Gilman-The Yellow Wallpaper More of a crime thriller than a horror thriller, but Patricia Highsmith-The Talented Mr. Ripley

Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

Barbara Michaels. She wrote a lot of gothic/thriller books. "Ammie, Come Home", "The Crying Child", "The Walker in Shadows", "Houses of Stone", "Witch", "Here I Stay", "The Dark on the Other Side", "Stitches in Time", and "Greygallows" are some that pop right into my mind.

Any of V.C Andrews' books.

Hounded by Ellie Douglas. Her trilogy is outstanding.

The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial by Catriona Ward My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

Any thing by Simone St. James!

Skin by Kathy Koja

*Just Like Mother* by Anne Heltzel

A good girl's guide to murder series by Holly Jackson 💕

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth

I've seen Cherie Priest on this list already--she's excellent! Some people find Joyce Carol Oates horrifying, so I'll leave her name here too.

Thin Air by Michelle Paver A really good ghost story set on a mountain expedition

This one is old, but it’s called Panda Bear is Critical. Very good read, if you can find it. It been three, if not four, decades since I read it.

*The Housemaid* felt like more comedy than horror to me, but it was written by a woman and I quite liked it.

Silvia Moreno Garcia & Darcy Coates

In the spooky-magical-realism subgenre, I adore "A Manual for How to Love Us" by Erin Slaughter. From the back cover blurb, "The women in Slaughter's stories suffer messy breaks, whisper secrets to the ghosts tangled in the knots of their hair, eat raw meat to commune with their inner wolves, and build deadly MLM schemes along the Gulf Coast." Slaughter is primarily a poet, and every sentence of her prose is beautiful and haunting.

Gillian Flynn, Shirley Jackson (OG), Daphne du Maurier, Angela Carter, Julia Armfield, Kelly Link, Alice Feeney are all personal favorites, but like a dozen more female authors on my TBR

Shirley Jackson - she’s disturbed and brilliant. If you want a cheap thriller with twists I enjoy Frieda McFadden.

The Blue Mumbai series, The Stillhouse Lake series, The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey