Loading
Award-winning horror tales of the decade
Read titles that won the Shirley Jackson, Bram Stoker, and other horror awards.
Published on May 19, 2023
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham JonesJones is a national treasure, as proven by his three award-winning horror novels in this list alone. A young Native American woman who relishes gory slasher movies must put her encyclopedic knowledge of the genre into action when something sinister starts stalking people in her gentrifying small town. Scary and thought-provoking in the best way, “My Heart Is a Chainsaw” won the 2022 Locus Award, the 2021 Bram Stoker Award, and the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award, all in the Novel category.
The Last House on Needless Street
Catriona WardWard (“The Girl from Rawblood”) dizzies readers with an eerie story in which no one can be trusted and nothing is what it seems. Ted Bannerman lives in a dark, dilapidated house with his violently angry adopted daughter and a God-fearing cat. Then, a new neighbor arrives, convinced that Ted’s daughter is her kidnapped sister, and things become even more erratic. This unsettling tale won the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel at the 2022 British Fantasy Awards.
Cthulhu Deep Down Under Volume 3
Independent Publishers Group“All the Long Way Down” by Alf Simpson, the first story in this collection of short tales set in Australia, won the 2022 Aurealis Award for Horror Novella. Off the shore of a quiet beach near Sydney, a surfer is swept away by a riptide and sucked into a murky underwater cave. She’s assumed dead — until her GoPro surfaces with shocking footage.
A Fig for All the Devils
C. S. FritzIn this emotional but hopeful book, a young man named Sonny wishes for death and meets The Grim Reaper, who decides to train Sonny as his replacement. Along the way, Sonny begins to see the beauty in living. Fritz's novel explores grief, abuse, and the meaning of life, with funny moments adding levity to a heavy plot. “A Fig for All the Devils” is the 2022 Gold Winner of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award in the horror category.
The River Has Teeth
Erica WatersIn an all-too-familiar story, a young woman goes missing, and the police don’t believe her sister, Natasha, when she tells them she suspects the boyfriend. So Natasha turns to Della, a local witch her age, to help find her sister. A mostly female cast uses their tenacity and supernatural powers to shine a light on violence against women, perpetrated by men. “The River Has Teeth” won the Stoker Award for Best YA Novel in 2021.
Flowers for the Sea
Zin E. RocklynIraxi and her community of fellow survivors live at sea after a flood destroys their homeland. A pregnant loner, Iraxi grapples with fear and anxiety over the upcoming birth of her child, who isn’t fully human. Rocklyn’s gothic tale of desperation and destiny won the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novella.
Confessions of a Gentleman Killer
Johnny PayneOn the outside, Kilcairn has it all together. On the inside, he yearns for something darker. Eventually, he can’t help but act on his twisted fantasies. “Confessions of a Gentleman Killer” offers a first-person account of how and why a “gentleman” turns to violence. Told from the perspective of the killer, it’s a macabre journey of psychopathy that won the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for Horror Fiction in 2021.
The Only Good Indians
Stephen Graham JonesCalled “scary good” by author Tommy Orange (“There There”), this gory thriller won the Shirley Jackson Award and the Bram Stoker Award in 2020. Years after four young friends go hunting on forbidden land, an eerie supernatural being stalks them, hellbent on vengeance.
The Attic Tragedy
J. Ashley-SmithGeorgina and Silvie, both social outcasts at school, bond when Silvie shares a secret ability to communicate with ghosts. Their friendship (which Georgina wishes was something more) deepens, until they reach adulthood and Silvie distances herself. Ashley-Smith’s emotionally fraught story, winner of the 2020 Shirley Jackson Award for Novelette, centers on unhealthy obsession and dark experiences that cloud coming of age.
Night of the Mannequins
Stephen Graham JonesWhen things go awry in Jones’ stories, they go really, really awry. A group of Texas teens prank their friend using an old mannequin. Harmless enough, right? But then the mannequin starts acting of its own accord, racking up a body count along the way. This story effortlessly moves between horror genres, from supernatural to psychological, while exploring coming of age and friendship. In 2020, it won the Shirley Jackson Award for Novella and the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction.
Clown in a Cornfield
Adam CesareWhat’s scarier than a killer clown? A horde of killer clowns, slaughtering a bunch of teens in a cornfield. This gory, high-octane slasher set in a small town full of modern American societal ills won the 2020 Stoker Award in the YA novel category.
Velocities: Stories
Kathe Koja“Velocities” won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Collection in 2020. Koja (“Buddha Boy”) writes a series of short stories ranging in genre from classic horror to thrilling sci-fi. Read about a janitor working in a morgue, an artist reliving his father’s death, and a caretaker who adopts a dog after losing her mother, to name a few. Plots and topics vary, but each tale is unequivocally bleak and thought provoking.
The Deep
Rivers SolomonSolomon’s “The Deep” is based on a Hugo Award-nominated song from Clipping, the rap group headed by Daveed Diggs. It’s about a group of mermaid-like people who are descended from pregnant slaves who perished when they were tossed overboard crossing the Atlantic. This 2020 Lammy Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror winner defines the word haunting.
Into Bones like Oil
Kaaron WarrenA mother who tragically lost her daughters visits a seaside boarding house, hoping to grieve and rest. But The Angelsea is far from peaceful, as ghosts of souls lost in shipwrecks channel their final messages through the sleeping guests. Winner of a 2020 Aurealis Award in the horror novella category, Warren’s concise story is understated horror at its finest, drawing you in with creeping dread while exploring guilt, redemption, and madness.
The Reddening: A Gripping Folk-Horror Thriller from the Author of The Ritual.
Adam L.G. NevillA journalist and a woman looking for answers after her brother’s suspicious suicide are drawn to the same archeological site. The cave, home to cannibals in prehistoric times, emits eerie noises and attracts an odd group of people with something to hide. Nevill’s (“The Ritual”) gory occult folk tale stands in stark contrast to its setting — the beautiful English seaside — and features strong women protagonists. “The Reddening” won The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel in 2020.
Whitetooth Falls
Justin JoschkoA homicide detective investigates a string of deaths that appear too brutal to have been committed by a human, yet too strategic to have been animal attacks. Meanwhile, a grad assistant notices her boss is behaving erratically. Detective noir meets supernatural thriller in Joschko’s 2020 Gold Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award for Horror.