★★★★★ out of ★★★★★
By Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann
If you are a horror book fan who is active on Instagram, Goodreads or TikTok, you are probably familiar with Sadie Hartmann. She goes by Mother Horror and is a voracious reader and editor with hundreds of horror reviews.
Now she has compiled that knowledge into a fantastic resource: 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered. Part catalog, part guidebook, it gave me the joyful feeling I had as a kid perusing the Scholastic book fair flyer deciding how I would spend my hard earned allowance.
The book has everything a horror reader could want. It is divided into categories like Haunted Houses, Eco-Horror, Cosmic Horror and Creepy Kids. She provides a reference primer using icons to alert the reader to books that have been adapted to film, books with strong women, books intended to gross you out etc. She also notes each book’s tone and style so you can find the perfect mind bending locked-room mystery with a human monster (it’s Penpal, one of my all time favorites).
Another wonderful thing about this book is that the focus is on contemporary horror of the now (2000-2023), so while Hartmann lauds Stephen King and writes about his influence on her as a reader, he’s not included here…but his son is.
By the time you get to the end of this book, your TBR list will have grown exponentially. Luckily, the book has a handy checklist in the back to track your progress. But wait, there are only 91 books listed! The list is followed by 10 authors spotlighted throughout the book, and comes with a recommended book list of their titles! Time to add another 72 books to your TBR for a total of 163 horror books to read before you’re murdered…you’re going to need a bigger bookshelf…
Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann is the co-owner of the horror book service Nightworms. (Follow Nightworms on Instagram @night_worms if you want package spoilers.) 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered is available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or wherever you buy your books.
