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It has been a little over two months since the release of Resident Evil: Requiem, the latest game in the beloved Resident Evil franchise, right before its 30th anniversary,
Even though I am not a survival horror game player, although Leon Kennedy, the man that you are, almost convinced me to become one (it was the clip of his biceps, you know the one), Resident Evil games are by far my favorite to watch streamers play. I think I have watched at least four different streamers play through Resident Evil 8: Village alone, nevermind any of the other games.
I’m a sucker for media with deep lore, and boy does Resident Evil have some deep lore.
Maybe I’ll play a game one day (Requiem is still on my wishlist… I could be persuaded). But for now, I’ll stick to watching and reading books that make me feel a similar way.
So, in honor of Resident Evil’s 30th anniversary, which was on March 22, 2026, here are five book recommendations for fans of the Resident Evil franchise.
Annihilation (Southern Reach #1) by Jeff Vandermeer
Genres: science fiction, horror, fantasy
Page count: 195
Area X is the world’s greatest mystery. Eleven expeditions into what was thought to be a pristine, Edenic landscape have yielded more questions than answers, and countless dead. From suicide and murder, to a strange cancer that infected each and every member of the eleventh expedition. No one knows how or why, but everyone who steps foot into Area X comes back changed, if they come back at all.
Annihilation follows the twelfth expedition into Area X, a group of four women that consist of an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist, and a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, catalogue anything they find, and, above all else, avoid reaching the same fate as all previous expeditions. The Biologist knows what to expect, in a way. Her husband came back from the eleventh expedition, or at least a part of him did. And as crazy as it seems, the more time she spends in Area X, the more she thinks the missing piece of him is still here somewhere.
This is the perfect book to read if you enjoy Resident Evil for the bioweapons and mutations. The premise of the characters actually reminds me a lot of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. There are definitely some similarities between Ethan and the Biologist, but let’s hope the Biologist is more equipped to handle the unexpected horrors of Area X than Ethan was for the evil lurking beneath the surface of the Baker family.
Code: Revenant by Christopher Robertson
Genres: horror, thriller
Page Count: 218
It starts with a distress signal.
Five forest rangers trek deep into Kennedy National Forest to search for missing hikers. What they find, instead, are monsters. Monsters that are seemingly connected to Blackthorn clinic, an exclusive spa for the rich, perfectly isolated within the depths of the forest. As the rangers fight for their lives and uncover evidence, it becomes clear that this is much bigger than missing hikers and that something horrible happened at Blackthorn clinic.
Code: Revenant is a bloody, fast-paced thriller that is the perfect homage to survival horror games. In fact, it is actually heavily inspired by Resident Evil! With names like “Kennedy Forest Rangers” and “Valentine Ridge,” you know this was written by someone who put in a lot of hours playing Resident Evil. But beyond naming inspiration, Code: Revenant also includes boss fights, handwritten notes with interesting lore, hidden labs, and even secret codes and puzzles, the special ingredients of every Resident Evil game you know and love.
If you’re looking for something that reads like you picked up all the beloved mechanics of a Resident Evil game and plopped them into a book, then Code: Revenant is the book for you.
Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena
Genres: horror, science fiction, Japanese literature
Page Count: 320
Ghost in the Shell meets Frankenstein in the novel that inspired the game of the same name, Parasite Eve.
Dr. Nagashima’s wife is dead, but is she really gone? Consumed by grief and the inability to accept his wife’s fate, Dr. Nagashima becomes obsessed with the idea of reincarnation. If all life starts at a cellular level, could he recreate his wife from the cells she left behind? And if he can create life with her cells, would it still be his wife, or something else entirely?
When Dr. Nagashima takes a piece of her liver in exchange for her kidney to save a girl’s life, he aims to find out. But when his dead wife’s cells awaken and start mutating rapidly, he fears he may have created something very different from his wife and far more deadly.
Parasite Eve is perfect for any Resident Evil fans who love the lore behind the monstrous creations brewed deep in the Umbrella Corporation’s secret labs. Honestly, Dr. Nagashima is very much giving Mother Miranda, someone who is so consumed with grief that they create a monster in an attempt to bring their loved one back to life. Even though Parasite Eve has its own game, I think it is an interesting look at the person behind the monster that fans of Resident Evil would definitely enjoy.
The Troop by Nick Cutter
Genres: horror, thriller, science fiction
Page Count: 358
Once a year, Scout Leader Tim Riggs leads his troop into the wilderness for a weekend retreat surrounded by nature. There is no technology to disturb them. Only roasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories, earning merit badges, and the responsibility that comes with keeping the forest safe. It’s a tradition he and the boys enjoy, but this year, isolated on the tiny and uninhabitable Falstaff Island, he can’t help but feel like something is dreadfully wrong.
It comes in the middle of the night. A man. A stranger who washed up on shore. A living nightmare. It is clear the man is unwell, but Tim and the boys could never have imagined the horrors he is host to, and the voracious hunger that plagues him. As the unnatural sickness within him spreads, Tim and his troop must fight for their lives if they are to survive the weekend.
If only they covered bioengineered zombies in the Troop Leader manual.
The Troop is part Lord of the Flies and part 28 Days Later, perfect for fans who enjoy the elements of body horror and isolation found in Resident Evil games. Books with zombies are always a good recommendation for fans of Resident Evil, and The Troop hits the nail on the head with this science experiment gone wrong.
The Strain (The Strain #1) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Genres: horror, science fiction, thriller
Page Count: 403
Dr. Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather has had to handle some pretty serious stuff as the head of the CDC’s rapid response team. But when a Boeing 777 lands in New York and goes dead on the tarmac, what he finds inside gives him a run for his money. Everyone is dead. The passengers. The crew. And while Eph doesn’t have the answers for what could have possibly done this, someone else does.
Former professor Abraham Setrakian is not the ally Eph was expecting as a vampiric virus begins infecting the streets of New York, but he may be the key to stopping the infection before it turns into an all-out war for the survival of humanity. They must work together to find a way to contain the virus and save the city, if it doesn’t get to them first.
While Resident Evil 7: Village only played with the idea of vampires with Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters, Del Toro’s version of vampires would fit perfectly into the world of Resident Evil as a type of biological outbreak. So it is perfect for fans looking for something a little different while still feeling like something that could be part of the Resident Evil franchise. Plus, Del Toro always has a knack for creating cool monsters, so you can’t go wrong either way!
But wait, there’s more!
While I wanted to recommend books that had the elements of a Resident Evil game, but maybe fans hadn’t heard of, I couldn’t make this article without mentioning the actual Resident Evil books. There are five books that follow the plots of the games and two with familiar characters but new stories.
The series includes…
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy by S.D. Perry, the novelization of the first Resident Evil game.
Resident Evil: Caliban Cove by S.D. Perry, which follows the surviving S.T.A.R.S. members in the aftermath of the first game and the consequences of trying to tell the world about what they found in Umbrella Corporation’s research facility.
Resident Evil: City of the Dead by S.D. Perry, the novelization of the second Resident Evil game, Resident Evil 2.
Resident Evil: Underworld by S.D. Perry, which takes place shortly after the events of Resident Evil: City of the Dead as Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy team up with a few former S.T.A.R.S. members to take down a secret Umbrella facility in Utah.
Resident Evil: Nemesis by S.D. Perry, the novelization of the third Resident Evil game, Resident Evil 3: Genesis.
Resident Evil: Code Veronica by S.D. Perry, the novelization of the game Resident Evil CODE:Veronica.
Resident Evil: Zero Hour by S.D. Perry, the novelization of the Resident Evil game of the same name.
So whether you’re craving a story with your favorite Resident Evil characters or something completely new, there’s something here for everyone. Happy reading!
