When I was writing the Third Edition of the Readers' Advisory Guide to Horror, I originally had over 20 annotated choices per subgenre appearing in chapter 4-13. However, for word count sake, I had to reduce each lists to a well packaged dozen. Obviously making the cuts was hard, but I was able to include the tittles of those deleted annotations in an appendix at the end of the book with a promise that the annotations would run here on the blog.
And that promise begins today. Each list will be posted on the blog over a series of 10 weeks, every Tuesday, beginning June 1, 2021 and running through August 3, 2021. This weekly series will serve to promote the book's upcoming release in August of 2021, but I have also created an archive of all of the lists that will live here. That page is the official index of this bonus content.
In the book, my top three choices in each list are marked to denote Becky's Picks. I will also do that in these lists to give you a place to begin as you suggest. Just like the titles in the print book, every title appearing here is a great options for all public libraries. You can use these lists for collection development, displays, lists, and suggestions. Each subgenre has an essay discussing its history and appeal in the book which you can order here.
Bonus Annotations
Chapter 7: Witches, Curses, and the Occult
[+] Denotes Becky’s Picks
Campbell, Ramsey. Wise Friend. 2020.
Proof that an established author can produce original and stellar works of horror, Campbell takes the occult head on in this unflinchingly menacing tale of a family’s connection to dark magic. Patrick’s Aunt, an artist, died under suspicious circumstance when he was a teenager. Now his son Roy is interested in the paintings she left behind and what happened to her. Their journey into family history becomes mortally dangerous as Patrick, Roy, and Roy’s odd friend, Bella, end up uncovering magical details that put them and the entire world in jeopardy. Filled with dread infused details on every page, this is a compelling trip into black magic that will terrorize readers even as they cannot stop turning the pages. Also try Pact of the Fathers and The Darkest Part of the Woods in this subgenre.
DiLouie, Craig. The Children of Red Peak. 2020.
The only survivors of a religious cult’s mass suicide were 5 children; but when they were rescued, all of the bodies of the victims had disappeared into thin air. 15 years later, the survivors gather as still troubled adults, at the funeral of one of their own. Told from the frequently alternating viewpoints of three of the survivors, a stylistic choice that allows for a brisk pace that provides both flashbacks into their lives in the cult and a look into their current situations, the dread builds relentlessly toward the horrific climax readers know is coming. Along the way DiLouis introduces a historic, supernatural backstory about the place, bringing the four survivors back to face the unexplainable force with unknowable motives at Red Peak for a conclusion that is both beautiful and terrifying.
Donohue, Keith. The Motion of Puppets. 2016.
Kay, a cirque performer, and her husband, Theo, a French professor, are spending the summer in the old portion of Quebec City. Walking home one evening, Kay enters an old toy store and finds herself held prisoner, transformed into a puppet, surrounded by souls similarly trapped, who can only come alive between midnight and dawn. The narrative alternates between each puppet having a turn to tell their own story and Theo’s desperate search to find Kay and convince her to return to the human world before she forgets who she was. This macabre story is intricately plotted, immersive, and suspenseful. A dark fairy tale, a moving love story, and a terrifyingly realistic novel that will ensnare readers, pulling the strings of their emotions, as they compulsively turn the pages. This is a great choice for fans of the creepy doll trope.
+Henderson, Alexis. The Year of the Witching. 2020.
Bethel is a town ruled by the strict Prophet, but Immanuelle is awarded some freedom because she is an aberration. Born of a man from another race with a mother who may have had ties to the witches who rule the dark woods, As Immanuelle comes of age she enters those forbidden woods to look for answers about her mother, but the answers she received also introduce her to a dark magic, one that may open up her community to grave danger. This dark fantasy, dystopian debut populated with witches, family secrets, and folk horror elements features a strong heroine, fast pace, and a pervasive menacing atmosphere while still managing to seriously contemplate racial and sexual inequality head on.
Hunt, Laird. In the House in the Dark of the Woods. 2018.
A Puritan woman, known as Goody, walks into the woods to pick berries for her family and finds herself trapped in there. As she wanders, Goody meets the witches trapped in the woods and even is tricked into doing their bidding. She is also afforded the time to retrieve her own painful memories. This is a story that begins uneasy and intensifies throughout. By playing off its classic, New England frame, the sinister tone of the story is immersive, but where this novel shines is at the end, as Goody has to decide whether or not to leave the wood. A perfect starting point for non-horror readers to enter this trope.
+Keene, Brian. The Complex. 2015.
Meet the residents of a single apartment building, one by one, through their point of view, strangers who barely interact, that is until hordes of crazy naked people are on a murderous rampage outside and the world may be on the brink of the apocalypse. Keene manages to build a realistically diverse set of well developed characters, both good and evil, and introduces a terrifying supernatural threat while keeping the pace and the action at full blast. This is a occult themed, cinematic story that is tons of gory fun. The Complex is an excellent starting place for people new to Keene as it brings together all of the things he does best in his varied works of horror. Keene also has an extremely popular series featuring Levi Stoltzfus, an ex-Amish magician which fits into this subgenre. Dark Hollow is the first in that series.
+Malerman, Josh. Unbury Carol. 2018.
In this Weird Western, dominated by its pervasive, sinister tone, Malerman crafts an original and breathtaking retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Carol has a condition which makes her prone to falling to deep comas that mimic death; she is sentient but completely immobile. Told with multiple points of view following Carol, inside her coma rendered with beautiful, terrifying prose, Dwight, the dastardly husband trying to bury her alive, Moxie, Carol’s long lost, outlaw love, Smoke, a steampunk, villain tracking Moxie, and Rot, a supernatural evil entity that is trying to kill Carol, this is an intricately plotted, character centered, occult tale that plays off of the universal human fear of being buried alive and featured a female lead who doesn’t need the men to save her.
McCammon, Robert. The Listener. 2018.
It’s 1934 in New Orleans and cons John and Ginger hatch a scheme to kidnap the children of a rich businessman, but Curtis, a Black, railroad worker has a special gift that might be able to thwart them. Curtis is a “listener,” a skill that allows him to communicate with the other “listeners” near him, but it is a skill that has also left him ostracized. The layered plot, held together by an omniscient narration that enhances the tension and fear, is filled with supernatural details, nefarious actors, and suspense. This is a gritty, violent, and terrifying occult thriller that is enhanced by superior character development, an authentic historical setting, and a serious contemplation of the real life horrors of race and class in America, told by a modern master of the genre.
Miskowski, S.P. The Worst is Yet to Come. 2019.
Life in a boring small town in Washington State has been particularly hard on 14 year old Tasha, who has never really been able to find a best friend, that is until Briar moves to town. Briar is different, rebellious, and exciting. But when the two girls are privy to a violent secret they also unknowingly awaken a dark, occult force that has been haunting the town, undetected, for generations and it does not want to stay in the shadows any longer. This is a slow burn of a novel where the details are held back and parsed out, one by one, a stylistic choice that adds extra anxiety to the tale and keeps the pace steadily intensifying. An excellent choice for fans of the subgenre who want to explore the subgenre in a different setting.
Shipp, Jeremy C. Bedfellow. 2018.
A stranger comes through a window, into the Lund’s house, terrifying the family until they realize it is Marvin, the man who saved their son from choking earlier that evening. Beginning with this high tension moment, and never pulling back enough to let the reader catch their breath, Shipp quickly introduces Marvin’s occult powers, powers that entrance the Lunds, eventually putting them against one another as they battle for Marvin’s approval. The alternating first person point of view from each family member, as their obsessions and unreliability each increase, creates a compulsively readable pace, ratchets up the anxiety, and sets a tone of claustrophobic terror for both characters and the reader.
Snyder, Scott. Wytches. 2014.
After witnessing a murder, a young girl and her parents try to start over in a new town, but this town has dark, murderous secrets in the woods. Expertly combining the well known New England witch trope with the small town monsters, Snyder creates an engaging and creepy story, while the art in this graphic novel employs a brighter palate for the flashback scenes contrasted by a darker and more muted one for the present, a combination of prose and art that keeps the pace moving briskly without sacrificing the necessary details. But ultimately, it is the family and their relationship with each other that shines here, allowing the emotional pull of the story and its resolution to be even more gut wrenching.
Straub, Peter. A Dark Matter. 2010.
In 1966 four friends participate in an occult ceremony that had gruesome consequences. Now adults, they come together to recount their experiences, realizing that their childhood game might have unleashed an evil force onto the world. Straub mentions more blood and gore than he shows here, as he introduces the terrifying idea that all hope is lost. This newer title garnered this established author some of the highest praise of his distinguished career.
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