25 Best Horror books to read this Winter

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates

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It’s not the snow you should fear―it’s the person next to you. Christa hoped a retreat to the Rocky Mountains would help her escape her haunted past, but a brutal snowstorm strands her in an abandoned cabin with eight strangers―and a killer who won’t stop until no one is left.

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The New York Times bestselling author of The Invited will shock you with a simmering psychological thriller about ghostly secrets, dark choices, and the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters. • “One of the year’s most chilling novels.” —The Miami Herald

The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn

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Ryan Adler and his twin sister, Jane, spent their happiest childhood days at their parents’ mountain Colorado cabin―until divorce tore their family apart. Now, with the house about to be sold, the Adler twins gather with their closest friends for one last snowboarding-filled holiday. While commitment-phobic Ryan gazes longingly at Lauren, wondering if his playboy days are over, Jane’s hopes of reconciling with her old boyfriend evaporate when he brings along his new fiancée. As drama builds among the friends, something lurks in the forest, watching the cabin, growing ever bolder as the snow falls…and hunger rises.

Maynard’s House by Herman Raucher

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Austin Fletcher, a disturbed young Vietnam War vet, is willed a small house deep in the woods of northern Maine. He comes to own it by the generosity of a brother-in-arms—a fellow soldier and confidante, Maynard Whittier, killed in action by a wayward mortar shell. The rugged landscape of Maine is an intoxicating blend of claustrophobic interiors and endless frozen wastelands. Little by little, the mysterious force in the house asserts itself until Austin isn’t exactly sure what is in his mind and what is real. And just when our hero’s had enough and is ready to quit the place, a blizzard arrives and the real haunting begins.

Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes

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A “wonderfully chilling” (Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author) polar gothic about a Victorian explorer in search of his lost shipmate–and redemption–from the Bram Stoker Award–nominated author of All the White Spaces.

Where the Dead Go to Die by Aaron Dries & Mark Allan Gunnells

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There are monsters in this world. And they used to be us. Now it’s time to euthanize to survive in a hospice where Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible.

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor

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A detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town in this riveting novel from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man.

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

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An American documentarian travels a haunted highway across the frozen tundra of Siberia in New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden’s Road of Bones, a “tightly wound, atmospheric, and creepy as hell” (Stephen King) supernatural thriller.

A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke

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A  deserted shipwreck off the coast of Iceland holds terrors and dark secrets in this chilling horror novel from the author of The Lighthouse Witches.

Misery by Stephen King

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The #1 New York Times bestseller about a famous novelist held hostage in a remote location by his “number one fan.” One of “Stephen King’s best…genuinely scary” (USA TODAY). Adapted into the classic film Misery (1990).

Thin Air by Michelle Paver

The Himalayas, 1935. Kangchenjunga. The sacred mountain. Biggest killer of them all. Five Englishmen set out to conquer it. But courage can only take them so far. And the higher they climb, the darker it gets.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

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In this “dark and compelling…unputdownable” (Booklist, starred review) literary thriller, debut novelist Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude.

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

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With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

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A woman trapped on a mountain attempts to survive more than one kind of monster, in a dread-inducing horror novel from the national bestselling author Christina Henry.

Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell

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A romantic cabin getaway doesn’t go exactly as planned. High up on the windswept cliffs of Pale Peak, Faye and Felix celebrate their new engagement. But soon, a chorus of ghastly noises erupts from the nearby woods: the screams of animals, the cries of children, and the mad babble of a hundred mournful voices. A dark figure looms near the windows in the dead of night, whispering to Faye. As the weather turns deadly, Felix discovers that his terrified fiancée isn’t just mumbling in her sleep – she’s whispering back.

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

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From an author “destined to become a titan of the macabre and unsettling” (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), a haunting debut—soon to be a Netflix original movie—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit.

Bone White by Ronald Malfi

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A landscape of frozen darkness punctuated by grim, gray days.
The feeling like a buzz in your teeth.
The scrape of bone on bone. . .

Chills by Mary SanGiovanni

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It begins with a freak snowstorm in May. Hit hardest is the rural town of Colby, Connecticut. Schools and businesses are closed, powerlines are down, and police detective Jack Glazier has found a body in the snow. It appears to be the victim of a bizarre ritual murder. It won’t be the last. As the snow piles up, so do the sacrifices. Cut off from the rest of the world, Glazier teams up with an occult crime specialist to uncover a secret society hiding in their midst.

Voices in the Snow by Darcy Coates

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Clare remembers the cold. She remembers abandoned cars and children’s toys littered across the road. She remembers dark shapes in the snow and a terror she can’t explain. And then… nothing. When she wakes, aching and afraid in a stranger’s gothic home, he tells her she was in an accident, a crash in the snow. He claims he saved her. Clare wants to leave, but a vicious snowstorm has blanketed the world in white, trapping them together, and there’s nothing she can do but wait.

Underneath by Robbie Dorman

Death waits underneath the ice. Mary Jensen, a trained medic, needs a new start and she’s getting one at Research Station Tau, in remote Antarctica. Called in as an emergency replacement, Mary soon finds out Tau’s mission: to find a lost elementary particle, deep down in the ice.

My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon

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From the New York Times bestselling author of The Children on the Hill, a psychological thriller “that delivers both chilling scares and genuine emotion” (Chandler Baker, New York Times bestselling author) about a woman who, after taking in her dying, alcoholic mother, begins to suspect demonic possession is haunting her family.

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

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A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes in this juicy, thrilling novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep.

Leech by Hiron Ennes

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A surreal and horrifying debut, Hiron Ennes’s Leech defies our understanding of identity, heredity, and bodily autonomy. In an isolated chateau, as far north as north goes, the baron’s doctor has died. The doctor’s replacement has a mystery to solve: discovering how the Institute lost track of one of its many bodies.

Ancient Enemy by Mark Lukens

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Ancient Enemy – it wants things . . . you have to give it what it wants . . .Seven hundred years ago the Anasazi people built massive cities in what is now the southwestern United States . . . and then they vanished.Stella, an archaeologist specializing in Anasazi culture, and David, a mysterious Navajo boy, are on the run from something terrifying. As they flee up into the snowy mountains of Colorado, they are carjacked by criminals escaping a botched bank robbery. Caught in a blizzard, they must take refuge in what they believe is an abandoned cabin. It’s at this cabin where they will face horrors beyond their imagination.

A Cold Place for Dying by Kristopher Triana

It’s Christmas Eve. Having lost his wife, Joe Whitaker is spending the day hunting deer with bow and arrow. Wanting to free himself from the everyday world, he even leaves his phone in his truck. But his peace is soon interrupted by Nicole, a frantic woman running barefoot through the snow. She claims she was kidnapped and managed to escape, but now, the man who imprisoned her is on her tail.