Softer Scares: Light Horror Books
Welcome to the shady corner between the mundane and the unknown. Light horror, a subcategory of horror, delicately balances all the suspense, eeriness, and supernatural expected from horror with subtlety. Light horror gently calls to the reader, inviting them to explore darker themes without the necessity of jump-scare terror and gore. Think of the imaginative gothic settings of films like Edward Scissorhands over slasher flicks like A Nightmare on Elm Street.Weaving elements of the supernatural and the uncanny with the quietly macabre, light horror is more about creating an environment of quiet unease rather than racketing up the tension and dread.
by Claire Kohda
by Mona Awad
Dreamy and cerebral, this novel explores fairytale themes using horror tropes. Skincare-obsessed Belle travels home when her mother dies unexpectedly. While settling her mother’s debts, Belle watches a video about a miracle spa. Falling through the looking glass, Belle’s transformation is nearly complete. Keeping gore and jump-scares to a minimum, Rouge is all about the unsettling vibes.
by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder
by Guadalupe García McCall
For a bit of middle grade horror fun, The Keeper is just the ticket. When James and his family move from Texas to Oregon, things get weird fast. Mysterious letters from someone called “The Keeper” arrive with threats to James and his sister, but no one will believe James, thanks to his pranking past. Determined to keep Ava and himself safe, James searches for the real “Keeper.”
This book is a fun mystery wrapped up in a family story of transition, with just a hint of scariness.by Kōji Suzuki, Translated by Glynne Walley
by Katrina Leno
Light on scares and gore, Horrid uses the weight of grief and intergenerational trauma to carry this YA horror novel.
by Francine Toon
In rural Scotland, people go missing, the nearby forest is full of ghosts, and the adults that 10-year-old Lauren has known her whole life are becoming strangers. Lauren and her father, Niall, are out driving when they find a woman on the road. They offer her shelter, but in the morning, she’s gone. The neighbors talk, and Lauren is desperate for a connection to her missing mother. Beautiful, yet claustrophobic and menacing, Pine reaches in and disturbs the quiet.
by Johnny Compton
by Elizabeth Hand
This authorized return to A Haunting of Hill House begins with a struggling playwright and a spark of inspiration. With her newest play funded, Holly gathers a group of actors, including her spitfire girlfriend Nisa, at the crumbling mansion that is Hill House.
Time seems to run differently inside the House, and there is something in the air. Deliciously eerie, A Haunting on the Hill feels quite cozy.
Find your comfort zone with horror with some genre-blending horror to mix things up, or try romance-centric horror for some swooning with your scares. If you’re still not sure if you even like horror, try 20 horror books for people who don’t like horror. Put the kettle on, turn on your nightlight, and happy reading!