Ep 239: Horror for Beginners

10 Things To Tell You

It's October! I'm joined on this episode by my friend and co-host of the Currently Reading podcast Meredith Monday Schwartz, to talk about why we read (and love) books in the horror genre and to give you a pile of recommendations for this spooky season.

This is a conversation for longtime horror readers AND for those who are horror-curious. We cover everything from why escaping into scary stories HELPS our anxiety (yes, really), to how we believe horror books are often tackling some of the most important cultural topics.

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JOIN SECRET STUFF by Laura Tremaine

Laura’s Spooky Books:

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• The Need by Helen Phillips
• How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (Mutual pick for Laura and Meredith)

Meredith’s Spooky Books:

• Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
• We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
• I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

Scary Story Beginnings:

• Nancy Drew Series by Carolyn Keene
• The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
• Stephen King
• Christopher Pike
• VC Andrews
• My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews

Horror Books Laura Always Talks About:

• Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
• The Passage by Justin Cronin
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
• Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Meredith’s Rurther Reading Recs:

• Devolution by Max Brooks
• FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven
• The Troop by Nick Cutter
• Amazon Original Stories Creature Feature Collection

Laura’s TBR recs:

• The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
• The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Books Also Mentioned:

• I’ll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara (The scariest book Meredith has ever read)
• The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
• The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
• The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
• Sandwich by Catherine Newman
• 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered by Sadie Hartmann

Also Mentioned:

• Talking Scared Podcast
• Episode 222: Stephen King Starter Kit Part II (What To Read + What To Skip)
• Storygraph (for tracking books and checking trigger warnings)
• Sadie Hartmann @mother.horror on Instagram

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