Horror books actually date back a lot further than most people think, as the theme of horror is often associated with modern cinema, but books such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein were written in 1818. When you think about it, it is quite strange that humans tend to quite like things that frighten them, but arguably horror books give a far greater sense of suspense and nerves than any other genre of literature.

There are various techniques that writers use to create horror books and provoke a reaction in their readers. Some create supernatural monsters that are frightening to the reader, but others prefer to use the horror of more realistic scenarios instead, basing books around serial killers for example. We are all scared by different things to different extents, but the variation within the horror genre probably means that there are some horror books that really will scare you.

If you are interested in reading some horror books, then here is a list below, containing some old classics as well as some more modern horror books.

Frankenstein- Mary Shelley
Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a monster out of dead corpses. Although the book contains many elements of traditional gothic horror, the monster that Frankenstein creates is actually intelligent and in some respects sensitive.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde- Robert Louis Stevenson
The story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is pretty famous- the plot revolves around a man who creates a potion which transforms him into a beast that is free of mental inhibitions. However Dr. Jekyll is soon dominated by Hyde, even when he doesn’t take his potion.

The Shining- Stephen King
“The Shining” was published in 1970 and has become one of the classic modern horror books. In the story Jack Torrance gets a job as a caretaker at the Overlook Hotel in Colorado, however his son Danny is sensitive to supernatural forces, something that the hotel is full of. The hotel tries to possess Danny, but fails to, instead trying to possess his father in order to kill Danny so that the hotel can absorb his power. The story of a deranged and violent father with no control of his actions undoubtedly puts it well up there within the genre of horror books.

In Cold Blood- Truman Capote
“In Cold Blood” is not a true horror book, but is rather an account of the murder of Herbert Clutter and his family in 1959. Capote did a massive amount of research into the murders and interviewed the two murderers. This is technically a piece of non fiction writing and is all the more chilling for it.