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Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Our Definitive Ranking of the Scariest Horror Novels and Short Stories of All Time
In recent years, the horror genre has experienced something of a resurgence. From spine-tingling folklore to chilling tales of poltergeists and hauntings, we clearly can’t get enough of being frightened. The genre dominates streaming services, with cult TV shows such as The Walking Dead, Hellbound and the Haunting of Hill House enticing a new generation to the terrifying joy of horror.
According to experts, horror allows us to experience stimulation in a secure setting, triggering the release of adrenaline without actually being in danger. As Halloween approaches, there’s no better time to feel the thrill of fear.
With this in mind, researchers at McGowan Transcriptions present a definitive ranking of the scariest horror books in existence, trawling through thousands of forum posts to find the most chilling books on the market.
Our top 5 scariest horror novels
Unsurprisingly, we crowned Stephen King’s IT as the scariest horror story ever written. IT, first published in 1986, has been terrifying readers for almost four decades. The cult classic has spawned numerous adaptations, including a mini-series. A two-part film was recently released to critical acclaim. The novel centres around the “Losers Club”, a group of seven children isolated from their peers and abused by Henry Bower, the town bully, as they band together to defeat Pennywise the clown. King expertly weaves dark fantasy with real-world childhood trauma, delivering a truly terrifying reading experience.
House of Leaves, penned by Mark Z. Danielewski, ranked second place, receiving 3875 votes from respondents. Danielewski’s debut novel, House of Leaves is centred on a fictional documentary about a family whose house is dominated by an apparently endless labyrinth. The novel is claustrophobic, confusing and extremely disturbing. House of Leaves is an excellent choice for horror fans searching for a psychological thrill, but is better suited to more advanced readers, due to its disorientating and unconventional style. Beware – this novel is said to resonate with readers long after they finish the final chapter.
Pet Sematary, written by Stephen King and first published in 1983, achieved third place on our ranking. Nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and adapted into two films, the novel is responsible for generations of trauma. The story, like many of King’s novels, intersperses fantastical demons with relatable, real-world fears. King took inspiration from his own life when writing Pet Sematary, beginning the novel shortly after his daughter’s pet cat was run over. He has also commented that out of all of his novels, Pet Sematary was the work that scared him the most.
[H3] The top 20
| Book Title | Author | Number of Votes |
|---|---|---|
| IT | Stephen King | 4245 |
| House of Leaves | Mark Z. Danielewski | 3875 |
| Pet Sematary | Stephen King | 3729 |
| Salem’s Lot | Stephen King | 2474 |
| The Shining | Stephen King | 1607 |
| Gerald’s Game | Stephen King | 1507 |
| Bird Box | Josh Malerman | 725 |
| Annihilation | Jeff VanderMeer | 663 |
| Color Out of Space | H. P. Lovecraft | 594 |
| The Yellow Wallpaper | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | 439 |
| The Exorcist | William Peter Blatty | 303 |
| The Hot Zone | Richard Preston | 271 |
| Carrion Comfort | Dan Simmons | 239 |
| Descent | Jeff Long | 236 |
| The Terror | Dan Simmons | 212 |
| The Road | Cormac McCarthy | 150 |
| We Need to Talk About Kevin | Lionel Shriver | 130 |
| Shadow over Innsmouth | H. P. Lovecraft | 125 |
| Dracula | Bram Stoker | 112 |
| The Stand | Stephen King | 110 |
How many pages do I need to read per week to finish a book by Halloween?
IT
Number of pages: 1138
Number of pages per week: 285
House of Leaves
Number of pages: 709
Number of pages per week: 178
Pet Sematary
Number of pages: 373
Number of pages per week: 94
Salem’s Lot
Number of pages: 439
Number of pages per week: 110
The Shining
Number of pages: 447
Number of pages per week: 112
Gerald’s Game
Number of pages: 332
Number of pages per week: 83
Bird Box
Number of pages: 273
Number of pages per week: 69
Annihilation
Number of pages: 208
Number of pages per week: 52
Colour Out of Space
Number of pages: 240
Number of pages per week: 60
The Yellow Wallpaper
Number of pages: 63
Number of pages per week: 16
Methodology
To identify our favourite horror stories we used popular forum site Reddit, which has over 430 million monthly active users. We selected threads and comments at random, trawling through thousands of responses and recording mentions of book titles and comment likes. Overall, our tally of comments and comment likes reached 23 444. We recorded mention of 81 unique titles.
