10 Must Read Horror and Thrillers Written by Women

February is Women in Horror Month, so there's no better time to talk about 10 of my favorite horror and thriller books written by women. What are your favorite books written by women?

Let's become spooky besties~

[NakiasHideaway]

Great list, Mandy! I really need to get to The Woman in Black cause I keep hearing people talk about it and it sounds right up my gothic supernatural horror alley. 😁

[bernardmulligan]

I took a trip to Salem a couple years ago. There, I bought a book called "Literary Witches" by Taisia Kitaiskaia. It basically highlights about 30 important female authors. I'll be honest, I only knew of about 1/4 of them before buying that book. I'm glad I got it. It introduced me to some good books and stories I never heard of before.

[michaelhenze]

I like Laurell K. Hamilton for her Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series', and Deborah Harkness who wrote the All Souls series (source for "Discovery of Witches" on Shudder).

[WarrickRanger]

Catriona Ward! The Last House on Needless Street is amazing.

[shamblepants]

A little off topic, but still horror related - did you ever see the Spanish 8 part religious-horror series '30 Coins'?

They've confirmed a second season for 2023. I'm very happy about it (finally) returning - dang, this show gets seriously dark!

If you haven't seen it but are interested, you're in for a real horror treat!

[books-on-a-wire]

I listen to a lot of my horror through audiobooks and there definitely feels like there is a disparity between male and female authors. I have a lot of female horror novels on my shelves but it just takes me longer to get through them when I have to physically read. I'm also reading Waif right now!

[christirandazzo]

Oh wow. I have a few of these you mentioned. I think I am going to give None Shall Sleep a try. You make them all sound so good. Thanks for the reviews on these. 😉

[tiffanieenlow]

I can't stop staring at Chucky...waiting for him to move. 😰

[shamblepants]

Great list of book recommendations!

I became absolutely obsessed with the film location of Osea Island, where 'The Woman in Black' was filmed, after I saw the folk/horror mini-series 'The Third Day' (2020, starring Jude Law).

If you haven't seen that one, it's a heck of a ride! And what a strange island! There's also a special episode for real die hards where it's twelve hours on the island filmed in one continuous take.

As for books, yikes! I have been on a "kitchen sink/domestic thriller" binge for a while. Gillian Flynn type stuff. This genre has been completely nailed down by incredible and inventive women. I can't even begin recommending them...I'd be here for hours!

[ldanforth]

The audiobook for Sadie is incredible! It’s the book that got me into audiobooks. My favorite thrillers by women are They Never Learn by Layne Fargo and In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead. Also, I haven’t read it yet, but Take Your Turn, Teddy by Haley Newlin is on my TBR and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.

[austindolan]

all the missing girls by megan miranda,
josie and jack by kelly braffet,
and my lovely samantha downing
they are each fantastic thriller/suspense authors and i've loved everything i've read.

[imborednow]

yessss the merciless is one of my all time favorite books/series!!! it's so sad that no one ever talks about it because it's just so damn good!!

[cocoaboy]

Found my eyes bouncing between you and your Chucky doll waiting for Chucky’s hair to fall and his EYES to pop out 😳😂 Your videos atmosphere is on point!

Can’t wait to pick a few of these reads up! Which 2 or 3 were your favorite of the bunch???