Becky's Top Horror of 2023 w/ Links to a Few Other Major Lists

Today I have my official Best Horror of 2023. This is my personal best list with links to my review and a little more information as to why they made the list. But Tis the season for everyone's opinions and I wanted to make sure that I pointed you to 2 other great Best Horror of 2023 Lists.

• Neil McRobert who produces the Talking Scared Podcast, also writes about Horror for Esquire. Here is his Top Horror of 2023 article for Esquire.
• Paste Magazine's Top 15 Horror Books of 2023 which also has a very long honorable mention list. 

Finally, before I get to my personal list, wanted to tease my 2023 Wrap Up Column for The Lineup Weekly which will go live tomorrow and I will post on both blogs because it is about trends as much as it is a "Best" list.

Here is Becky's Official, On the Record,  Top 10 (ish) Horror Books for 2023

These are in no particular order, but I will go on the record that if I had to pick a single BEST Horror novel of the year it is The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, which almost seems unfair to every other book because it was a masterpiece.

All titles link to my detailed review with plenty of appeal info and readalikes.

• The Reformatory by Tananarive Due [engrossing, 360 degrees of fear, nuanced] 
• Lone Women by Victor LaValle [pervasive unease, strong sense of place, masterfully paced] 
• Whalefall by Daniel Kraus [harrowing survival thriller, moving character study]
• Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones (which is EVEN BETTER now that I have read the final book in the trilogy) [multiple povs, fast paced, ingenious] 
• How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix [terrifying, family trauma, evil puppets] 
• The Shoemaker's Magician by Cynthia Pelayo [gripping, love letter to Horror, haunting] 
• A Light Most Hateful by Hailey Piper [thought provoking, weird, small town Horror] 
• Chlorine by Jade Song [Weird, wonder, extreme unease] 
• Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle [neurodiverse MC, cinematic, religious cults]
• Best Novellas: The first 2 novellas in Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman and "The Beast You Are," the novella that closes out the collection by the same name by Paul Tremblay. Those three novellas are among the best Horror novellas I have EVER read.

Some of these books will end up on my Official Best Books I Read This Year list that will go up on the main blog on 12/28 at 7 am central in the regular blog.