Horror 2009: Part 3

Let's get right to it. You want some more great horror suggestions, right? Here are more titles I think are worth a read. All were published in 2009, all links go to Amazon, and all annotations are modified from the product descriptions on Amazon. I have added some of my own comments in red. Click through to read more about these novels and story collections, and don't forget to also look here where I have original annotations and readalikes for 10 more 2009 titles. For all of my Horror year-in-review posts, click here.

Cursed by Jeremy Shipp
You are: 1) Nick 2) cursed 3) afraid all the time That's because: a) someone or b) something is after you with a vengeance. Even with the help of other cursed people, you don't stand a chance because you're all, you know, cursed. That means you and everyone you know will: 1) suffer 2) die 3) amuse your tormentor That is, unless you figure out how to manipulate the person behind this and turn their power against them. Check your list a second time because they're probably on it. The only thing left to do is scratch them off. (realistically creepy)
The Shore by Robert Dunbar
In this sequel to the popular The Pines, as a winter storm grips the coastal town of Edgeharbor, a series of horrible murders terrorizes the residents. A young policewoman and a mysterious stranger are all that stand between the tiny town and an ancient evil. (Great small town horror)
His Father's Son by Bentley Little
Steve Nye's quiet life takes an unexpected turn when he receives a call from his mother. His father attacked her and has been committed to an asylum. The doctor says he's suffering from dementia. But Steve's father seems so calm, clear-eyed, and lucid when he whispers, "I killed her". Is it simply symptom of his father's delusion and madness? If only Steve were so lucky... (good new title by the man Stephen King has called, "the horror poet laureate.")
Flesh by Richard Laymon
No one in town has ever seen anything like it; a slimy, mobile tube of glistening yellow flesh with dull, staring eyes and an obscene, probing mouth. But the real horror is not what it looks like, or what it does when it invades your flesh - but what it makes you do to others. (Richard Laymon may be dead himself, but new scares keep being released upon us; bloody.)
Far, Dark Fields by Gary Braunbeck
Veteran horrormeister Braunbeck breaks literary rules by the handful in his latest dark fantasy yarn, which makes reference to 2007's Mr. Hands and 2008's Coffin County without exactly being a sequel. When a high school student goes on an inexplicable shooting spree, it stirs a host of memories for unassuming suburban English teacher Geoff Conover. Returning to Cedar Hill, Ohio, the town he left as an infant after surviving another mass killing, Geoff comes to realize that his personal mysteries are inextricably bound to his birthplace. (Great for fans and new readers alike.)
Children of Chaos by Greg Gifune
In a torrential downpour, Phil, Jamie and Martin-three teenage boys-encounter a strange and enigmatic man covered in horrible scars who will change their lives, their destinies and the very fate of their souls forever. When their encounter mistakenly leads to murder, they realize this eerie stranger may not have been a man at all, but something much more... Thirty years later the boys-now men-lead tormented lives filled with horrifying memories of the scarred man and what they did all those years ago in the rain. There will be only one chance for redemption, one chance for salvation, and one chance to stop the rise of an antichrist's bloody quest for demonic power. (For the demonic horror fans.)
Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan
Built on the Upper West Side, the elegant Breviary claims a regal history. But despite 14B's astonishingly low rental price, the recent tragedy within its walls has frightened away all potential tenants . . . except for Audrey Lucas. No stranger to tragedy at thirty-two—a survivor of a fatherless childhood and a mother's hopeless dementia— Audrey is obsessively determined to make her own way in a city that often strangles the weak. But is it something otherworldly or Audrey's own increasing instability that's to blame for the dark visions that haunt her . . . and for the voice that demands that she build a door? A door it would be true madness to open . . . (A reliable writer of dark fiction; great creepy atmosphere.)
Benjamin's Parasite by Jeff Strand
At any given moment, the human body contains millions of parasites. This is the story of just one. A really, really nasty one. Benjamin Wilson was having a lousy month even before the stomach pains began. Now everything is changing. His body is being affected in some very unpleasant ways. The biggest change is that he has a bunch of evil and/or psychotic people trying to hunt him down to acquire the parasite. His only hope is Julie, a gorgeous bounty hunter who may or may not have Benjamin's best interests in mind, and who may or may not be competent enough to help him anyway. Jeff Strand delivers his most outrageous adventure yet-an over-the-top mix of gruesome body horror and a wacky road trip comedy.(For the Humorous Horror fan)
The Glister by John Burnside
Since George Lister’s chemical plant closed down, Innertown has been a shadow of its former self. In the woods that once teemed with life, strange sickly plants grow. Homes that were once happy are threatened by a mysterious illness. Here, a young boy named Leonard and his friends exist in a state of confusion and despair, as every year or so a boy from their school vanishes after venturing into the poisoned woods. Without conclusive evidence of foul play, the authorities consider the boys to be runaways. The town policeman suspects otherwise but, paralyzed with fear, he does nothing. And so it is up to the children who remain to take action. (The Glister was picked by Amazon.com as one of the best of the month for March 2009.)
The House of Lost Souls by F.G. Cottham

Just weeks after four students cross the threshold of the derelict Fischer House, one of them has committed suicide and the other three are descending into madness. Nick Mason’s sister is one of them. To save her, Nick must join ranks with Paul Seaton—the only person to have visited the house and survive. But Paul is a troubled man, haunted by otherworldly visions that even now threaten his sanity. Desperate, Nick forces Paul to go back into the past, to the secret journal of beautiful photographer Pandora Gibson-Hoare and a debauched gathering in the 1920s, and to the dark legacy of Klaus Fischer—master of the unspeakable crime and demonic proceedings that have haunted the mansion for decades. (Mentioned here by me as a readalike for The Unseen; also good for Shirley Jackson fans.)

Quarantined by Joe McKinney
The citizens of San Antonio, Texas are threatened with extermination by a terrifying outbreak of the flu. Quarantined by the military to contain the virus, the city is in a desperate struggle to survive. Inside the quarantine walls, Detective Lily Harris is working burial statistics duty at the Scar, San Antonio's mass graveyard, when she finds a murder victim hidden amongst the plague dead. But Lily's investigation into the young woman's death soon takes a frightening turn as yet another strain of the deadly flu virus surfaces, and now Lily finds herself caught up in a conspiracy orchestrated by a corrupt local government intent on hiding the news from the world and fighting a population threatening to boil over into revolt. (For the Swine Flu obsessed reader; timely)

Short Story Collections: Horror is alive and thriving in the short story form. For many readers, it is considered the best format for the genre. See for yourself.
Unhappy Endings by Brian Keene
Two-time Stoker-winner Keene includes 19 stories, many of which were previously only available in limited edition collections or numbered editions of his novels, in his gleefully gory fourth collection. These stories range from a violent, post-apocalyptic novella to quiet, supernatural human-dramas. (A good collection of one author's works.)
Monstrous: 20 Tales of Giant Creature Terror edited by Ryan Thomas
Move over King Kong, there are new monsters in town! Giant beetles, towering crustaceans, gargantuan felines and massive underwater beasts, to name just a few. Think you've got what it takes to survive their attacks? Then open this baby up, and join today's hottest authors as they show us the true power of Mother Nature's creatures. With enough fangs, pincers and blood to keep you up all night, we promise you won't look at creepy crawlies the same way again. (For fans of B-movies and mutant animal horror.)
Midnight Walk edited by Lisa Morton
This collection presents 14 tales of terror and suspense by 14 different authors. This is a great collection on its own, with a stories for just about every horror fan. More important to note, this is the first release from Darkhouse Publishing, "a collective of writers, editors, and booksellers dedicated to publishing quality horror and speculative dark fiction." Look to this collection to find the next big horror writers. (annotation by me)
Dark Delicacies III: Haunted edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb
A stellar cast of horror writers comprise this third entry in the Dark Delicacies anthology series. These twenty-one short works will examine and lay bare all the ways in which we are haunted—both literally and figuratively. With a new novella from David Morrell and a short story Chuck Palahniuk is writing as a teaching class on his blog, interest in this anthology will prove that the third time is no trick and all treat! (This collection contains works by more well-known horror writers.)

Horror 2009: Part 4 will appear on Monday, when I will be featuring my favorite horror resources.

And later in the week look for my What I'm Reading report on The Unseen, Castaways, and Locke and Key: Head Games.

Horror 2009: Part 1

Due to my reputation as a horror maven, I get many requests to compile lists of the best horror books. Although I pass on some through this site throughout the course of the year, I try to post an annual list which coincides with my work for the October display at the BPL.

This year, I am taking this list rather seriously since I am also in the research stages of working on the second edition of my horror book for the American Library Association. I also have the added benefit of now being a member of the Horror Writers Association.

This has been a year dominated by non-horror vampire books like the Twilight series and the Sookie Stackhouse series, and a few very high profile horror titles such as The Strain by director Guillermo del Toro and the Jane Austen horror remakes Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, just to name a few.

The popularity of these titles with a general audience has been exciting, but there are also many horror titles that deserve more press. This time of year is when people pay the most attention, so here is the first of three posts in the coming days that will highlight some great horror reads, publishers, and resources.

As part of my regular promotion of our displays at the BPL, I posted my Horror display annotations here.

The books I included had a few requirements. I could only list 10, they had to have come out in 2009, and we had to own them at BPL. I also wanted to focus on some of the non-bestselling authors who are popular at Berwyn. Again the list can be found here, but here are the books I included:

• He is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson edited by Christopher Conlon: If you only read one horror collection this year, this is the one
• High Bloods by John Farris
• Castaways by Brian Keene: I will have a separate post on this title
• The Bone Factory by Nate Kenyon
• The Red Tree by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry: which I wrote about here and here
• Blood and Ice by Robert Masello: historic and horror
• Basilisk by Graham Masterton
• The Unseen by Alexander Sokoloff: I will have a separate post on this title
• The Midnight Guardian by Sarah Jane Stratford: a new author who Sokoloff told me to check out

Please note, this year, I included at least 1 readalike for each book. Use the link to take a look at what I have to say about each title to see if you would enjoy them.

Now on to some of the big name releases right now. Of course, everyone is excited for the new Stephen King, Under the Dome, which is coming out on November 10. Under the Dome follows the residents in a small town in Maine after an unexplained force field blocks them off from the rest of the world. This book is getting a lot of press both because it is part of these current book price wars and because it is Stephen King! Seriously though, this one man has captured the imagination of our entire country. People who do not read horror, love his books. No matter in which genre you try to place his works, Stephen King is one of our national treasures. Don't believe me, click here or here.

Besides giving us some wonderful books to read, the next best thing Stephen King has given the world is his son, Joe Hill. Hill has only written a few books, but each has won him critical praise, awards, and millions of fans. He has been working on a horror graphic novel series called Locke and Key with the artist Gabriel Rodriguez. I read the first one, Welcome to Lovecraft and wrote about it here. The next installment, Head Games, came out a few weeks ago and is even more creepy and unsettling than the first. Although I will write in detail about this book on this blog in a few days, I wanted to leave you with this quote from the introduction by Warren Ellis, "...these comics are really remarkably good, among the best written comics I have seen in the last two years..."

I also wanted to remind you that the first official sequel to Dracula has just been published. Co-authored by a Stoker relative, Dracula The Un-Dead is based on Bram Stoker's handwritten notes and follows Jonathan and Mina's son. The reviews are so-so, but it is worth mentioning.

In the next Horror 2009 post I will write about some other lesser known 2009 titles that are worth your time and highlight the key horror publishers. Part three will focus on horror resources. I will also have a special 3 book What I'm Reading post highlighting three recent horror releases.

Horror 2009: Part 4

In today's Horror 2009 report I want to share my favorite horror resources with you. These are were I go to learn more about horror fiction.

Print Reference Sources:

Hooked on Horror III: Guide to Reading Interests in Horror Fiction by Anthony Fonseca and June Michelle Pulliam

The Horror Readers’ Advisory: The Librarian’s Guide to Vampires, Killer Tomatoes, and Haunted Houses by Becky Siegel Spratford and Tammy Hennigh Clausen

Read On…Horror Fiction by June Michelle Pulliam and Anthony Fonseca

The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (annual publication)

Titles by Horror writers on appreciating the genre:

Danse Macabre by Stephen King

Horror Isn't a 4-Letter Word by Matthew Warner

On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association, revised edition edited by the Mort Castle and the Horror Writers Association

Writers Workshop of Horror edited by Michael Knost

Horror Web Resources:

The Horror Writer’s Association and their Blog, Dark Whispers

Buried.com: "Everything that is horror."

Gothic.Net: "...a friendly community site designed to provide a supportive venue for Gothic culture and horror literature and the creative and artistic people interested in them."

The Horror Fiction Review

Horror World: a horror community where authors and readers can connect

Monster Librarian

Horror Mall The self proclaimed #1 independent, horror literature shop on the web. Includes detailed books, author, and magazine sections.

Horrorfind

Horror Awards:

The Bram Stoker Awards

What I'm Reading: August 2025 Issue More Reviews

I have 5 reviews in the August 2025 issue of Booklist. I am breaking them up into 2 posts. Yesterday I had the three starred reviews of three very different books (novel, stories, nonfiction). Today I have 2 more reviews from this issue, both are by up and coming writers who you MUST keep your eye on.

But first, a reminder that these posts are my draft reviews with added appeal info including my three words.

Her Wicked Roots

By Tanya Pell

Aug. 2025. 352p. Gallery, $29  (9781668087299); e-book (9781668087312). 
REVIEW. First published August 2025 (Booklist).

Cordelia (Cordi) is on the run from the city orphanage, on her way into the country, to the last place her older brother was living before his letters abruptly stopped, in Pell’s original, creepy and queer retelling of Hawthorne's, “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” When Cordi arrives, everyone denies having known her brother. Desperate for answers, Cordi gets a job at Edenfield, home of botanist Lady Evangeline, a lush but disconcerting estate, a place she knows her brother visited. The all female staff pray to the “garden,” while the Lady’s mysterious daughters, Primrose and Briar, seemingly full of life, are kept locked away, the servants who tend to them forced to wear masks and gloves. Readers follow Cordi as she unravels layers of poisonous secrets, searches for her brother, and falls in love with Briar. Will Edenfield be the place where Cordi can finally thrive or will she be called to the garden? For fans of Tripping Arcadia by Mayquist or Mexican Gothic by Moreno-Garcia, featuring a Gone Girl-esque twist that will plant this story’s wicked roots deep into readers' souls.

Three Words That Describe This Book: retelling, botanical horror, Gothic 

Further Appeal:  This one was a solid 4 out of 5 until I got to the ending and then it shot up to a 4.5. 

I have so many spoiler notes on the ending that I WILL NOT SHARE here. You will have to read it. I did settle on that line in the review about a "Gone Girl-esque twist." I actually told Pell about this review and that line when I saw her at StokerCon and she totally agreed. I was worried it was too spoilery but she thought it was perfect!

As I said above this is a queer Retelling of Rappaccini’s Daughter by Hawthorne. Whil you don't need to know the details of that original to enjoy this story, I did want to share the basics of that story here. It is about Giacomo Rappaccini, a medical researcher in Padua who grows a garden of poisonous plants. He brings up his daughter to tend the plants, and she becomes resistant to the poisons, but in the process she herself becomes poisonous to others.

Botanical horror is hot! I need to let you all know this if you do not. Keep an eye on this subgenre. Plants can be very deadly and a variety of authors use that underlying dread and danger to tell a great story. But this is more than the poisonous plants and the daughters Lady Evangeline created to be poisonous as well. The horror here also comes from the traditional Gothic story with a great modern ending.

For this book we are in England, Victorian times (when the original Hawthorne was written). Cordelia is an orphan on the run from the city where she has lived in the home her whole life. She is trying to find her brother who went away and was sending letters....until they stopped.

She ends up in the town where he last lived but the family he worked for won't admit he was there. She finds the grand, lush, and secretive estate-- Edenfield where clues have led her to find that her brother might have worked at. She asks for work and they take her on.

Well, as you can imagine this grand, secretive house, that everyone in town is scared of is....well creepy is the nicest thing you can say. Again, no spoilers because this is a retelling of Rappaccini’s Daughter-- so we know the botanical horrors-- that the Lady is into poisons and we are not surprised when Cordi (her nickname) is asked to mask and glove up to help[ tend to the Lady's daughters-- for you see-- they have been made poisonous by their mother.

There are chants and prayers to the garden-- which they thank for giving them "all." Cordi is new and not privy to all the rules and backstory so the reader must investigate with her. She may have had a rough life before Edenfield, but she is still very naive as she never lived outside the walls of an orphanage.

Men are forbidden, and straight out hated, by Lady Evangeline and the other female workers. The townsfolk stay far away. It is very creepy. But also beautiful and lush. The story unfolds like a myth in many ways and a thriller in others. Cordi's unreliableness is because of lack of info but is she being taken advantage of? How evil is Lady Evangeline? Is she just a protective mother and a brilliant scientist? Where is her brother? Cordi keeps finding clues that he was there at one point.

Even if you don't know the original story this is a retelling for, the book is solid. That is a key factor when assessing a retelling. It has to stand on its own but also add something to the original. This absolutely does. 

The word wicked in the title is well placed here. Actually, the title itself is pretty great after you finish the book. This one packs a nice surprise and I am excited to read more from Pell in the future. 

Readalikes: I mention a botanical, queer horror title and Mexican Gothic above. I have read both. This is a great Gothic in the mold that came after SMG's subgenre redefining work. Anyone who likes her reimagining of the Gothic, bit also keeps the story in its time and place but giving the female protagonist a bit more agency and not making it "all in her head." And titles that have actual supernatural monsters alongside the human ones.

Specifically, I thought of Midnight Rooms by Coles when I read this. It has the same traditional Gothic meets consensual sex storyline and both a built on a family secret and our protagonist not having all the info about the real secret.

More botanical horror that readers might enjoy can be found here or here.

Galloway’s Gospel
By Sam Rebelein
Sept. 2025. 384p. Morrow, $30  (9780063423954); e-book (9780063423992). 
REVIEW. First published August 2025 (Booklist).

Rebelein’s (Edenville) third book in his Renfield County mythos (connected but can be read in any order) sets loose imaginative humour and unrelenting dread on a cult themed horror novel. Told in 2 timelines, narrated by 2 Rachels– Galloway and Durwood– readers know from the terror-inducing opening that something very dangerous has escaped through a previously collapsed tunnel. Teenager Galloway, bored in her history 2009 class, makes doodles about a lost American colony where a pig eats her teacher’s arm and poops out flowers. In 2019, Durwood, a member of the X-Files-esque Renfield County Guard, is trying to solve the mystery of what happened ten years ago when Galloway and her disciples sowed a path of death and destruction before sealing themselves off from the rest of the world. As the two timelines collide, Rebelein organically morphs the attention grabbing, comic aspects of the story into a nuanced, compelling, and thought-provoking tale of terror that will linger with readers. For fans of Kiste’s The Haunting of Velkwood and Khaw’s The Library at Hellebore.

Three Words That Describe This Book: cults, connected world, X Files vibes

Further Appeal: Like Edenville-- this is bonkers in all the right ways. Unrelenting dread because we know what is coming. Also, imaginative monsters -- both human and supernatural. Compellingly paced especially with the dual timelines switching back and forth. Well formed characters as well. 

This is the story of 2 Rachels. Rachel Galloway in 2009 and Rachel Durwood in 2019. Their last names are used to keep them apart.

Galloway is a bored HS student whose doodles about a made up lost colony become a prophecy and create a cult that before they sealed themselves off form the rest of the world (physically) caused a lot of death in Burnskidde (a town at the edge of Renfield County). The cult involved her doodles coming to life-- pigs that when someone sacrifices a piece of themselves poop out a plant of whatever that person wants or bats that eat "bad flesh" and turn it into animals  for example. The believers survived a fog that killed many and have been living and surviving through their pigs, bats, and more.

In 2019, Durwood who works for the Renfield County Guard is drawn into the cult after one of her fellow Guard members goes in and tries to escape but is killed. He leaves enough notes for Durwood to make it through the recently opened tunnel that connects the two worlds.

As the two timelines collide, Rebelein brings the 2 stories together organically. The "bonkers" parts from 2009 start to make sense in the world he has created. As readers go through it is less bonkers and more thought-provoking-- which was clearly his point. Grab your attention at the start and make you read to see how he is going to put it all together. Really it is a very imaginative and original story.

The investigative, X Files parts, in Durwood's timeline will draw new readers to Renfield County for sure. 

There are tethers to Edenville and The Poorly Made here. Meaning all three books are tethered to each other but the great part here is, you can read them in any order. Rebelein gives you the lore you need for each book to make it makes sense. It is there and seamlessly incorporated into the story. 

Previously I have said that Rebelein's Renfield County books are reminiscent of Lovecraft Country and Josh Malerman's Goblin universe. But what I like about Rebelein's stories is that while everything is in a shared world and each story build on the overall world, each book is unique. So while Edenville was more Cosmic Horror, and The Poorly Made stories were more Folk Horror-- building the history and lore of the place over a longer time frame and also entrenching some of the monsters of the mythos into the land itself-- this one is a horror novel about cults with serious X Files vibes. I thought of completely different readalikes. 

That is very good and says a lot about Rebelein as a writer-- that he can connect everything effortlessly and they are all unique. It also means each book will bring in new readers.

Readalikes: I had a whole list but I had to settle on two for the review. Those two together give you a full sense of everything in this book. Also just above I mentioned Lovecraft Country and Josh Malerman's Goblin universe. Also, another book I just reviewed in Booklist-- 8114 by Hull works very well here too.