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Although the last few weeks of fall remain, the signs of winter are all around us, and winter is impatient.
The chill of winter has already begun to settle upon the earth, painting the world in shades of gray and brown. Naked limbs reach towards the sky, a sky that seems almost white now, completely leached of the bright colors and warmth of autumn. The wind bites, its teeth sharpened by the cold.
It isn’t yet winter, but the world feels its chill. And it will only grow colder.
For all the mood readers out there, this is the perfect time for horror. Not the bloody, slasher horror books of October. No. This is the season for books about small towns, so isolated from the rest of the world that the magic of the forest has crept in and taken hold of it, for better or for worse.
While there are a variety of themes and levels of horror in the following books, please check the trigger warnings, as most of them deal with trauma and fighting against that trauma via the horrors that lurk in the depths of the wilderness.
Grey Dog by Elliot Gish
Genres: Horror, Historical Fiction, Queer, Gothic
Ada Byrd wants to disappear. That’s why she chose Lowry Bridge. Here, no one knows her secrets. No one knows her shame. Here in Lowry Bridge, her grief has never felt farther away. But, is she really happy here, trying to fit into the expectations of an unmarried woman nearing her 30s and the town’s idea of feminine respectability, or does she crave more?
When Ada begins witnessing strange things around Lowry Bridge, she starts to believe that there is more to this town than meets the eye, and that something ancient and cruel is lurking in the woods. She doesn’t know what this thing, the Grey Dog, wants, but as she struggles between her repulsion and enthrallment with it, she starts losing her grip on what is real and what is delusion. Because only a mad woman would follow the Grey Dog into the wildness of the woods, right?
Brimming with feminine rage and sapphic longing, Grey Dog is a slow burn, feminist horror that disrupts common tropes in woman’s historical fiction.
Lanny by Alex Porter
Genres: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Horror, Literary Fiction
Dead Papa Toothwart, the village boogeyman, is awake, listening, and enchanted by one of his village’s newest residents: a young boy named Lanny.
Lanny, misunderstood and eccentric, is both ostracized by the village, but treasured for his unusual artistic gift. There is something about the wilderness that calls to him, and when he starts connecting to the magic lingering in the forest, things start to go terribly wrong for not only himself, but the entire village.
Lanny is a magical realist fantasy novel that forces you to think about how the corporate-driven world clashes with child-like freedom and imagination, and question whether or not we all need to kill the child within to succeed as an adult.
The Watchers by A.M. Shine
Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Mystery
How could such a simple job go so wrong? Deliver the parrot, make a quick buck, and go home. That’s how Mina was expecting her job to go. But when her car breaks down and her cell loses reception, she suddenly finds herself stranded on the outskirts of the eerie woodlands of Connemara, Ireland. And then the screaming starts.
With the help of a mysterious woman, Mina finds the bunker, the only refuge in the forest safe from the Watchers. But how safe is she really, when she cannot see them, but only hear their terrible screams when they come at night to terrorize the inhabitants of the bunker. And kill anyone unlucky enough to be outside its walls after sunset. Mina doesn’t know what these creatures are, but one thing is certain: she must escape.
The Watchers is a character-driven, psychological horror perfect for fans of Blair Witch Project and Bird Box.
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White
Genres: Horror, Queer, Young Adult, Thriller
A queer, Appalachian thriller that explores the complexities of human relationships as trans, autistic teen Miles Abernathy fights to end the blood feud plaguing the generations of families living in Twist Creek. But vengeance won’t come easy. Enemies are around every corner and will stop at nothing to keep the bloody truth of the past buried deep. To free Twist Creek from the cycle of cruelty, Miles must be willing to put everything on the line to win the freeform so many in his town desperately crave. But when the time comes, will he be ready?
Brutal, bloody, and full of rage, Compound Fracture explores class warfare, systemic oppression, and generational trauma as Miles fights for a better world.
P.S. the dog doesn’t die.
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
Genres: Horror, Historical Fiction, Queer, Novella
Another queer book set in Appalachia, but this time give it religious trauma.
The Woods All Black follows Leslie Bruin, a WWI nurse and trans man, as he is assigned to the religious Appalachian township of Spar Creek, the perfect setup for a historical fiction all on its own. When he arrives in Spar Creek, Leslie must not only fight against the church locals and their opinion of him as a failed woman, but also the darkness of the woods and the horrors hidden deep within. But Leslie is tougher than the local congregation believes, and finds passion and power in a place he would least expect.
A story brimming with rage, revenge, and even a little “monstrously” fun romance, The Woods All Black is a chilling look at queer life in the 1920s and the struggle between survival and self expression many queer people faced during this time.
The forest is waiting…
There you have it—five books to help you settle into the season of seasonal depression and cold barren nights. Just kidding, I love winter, but if you’re a mood reader like me, then hopefully one or more of these books will match the lonely and chilling atmosphere of this time of year.
Stay warm, and happy reading!
