My top 10 HORROR reads of 2023

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Books mentioned:
Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
Dark Gods by TED Klein
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
Nocturnes by John Connolly
Mary by Nat Cassidy
Enter Boogeyman by Various
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Lone Women by Victor Lavalle
Silent Key by Laurel Hightower
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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Olly Clarke
PO Box 2225
SHOREHAM-BY-SEA
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Music: Who's Afraid of Halloween by Alfred Grupstra from Pixabay

[nikholman]

Nice call on The Yellow Wallpaper. It's been a personal fav for years. Took a road trip a while back and I played the audio for the wife and kids and everyone loved it. Timeless.

[chrisgomes]

Great video, as usual. I'll have to check out Silent Key. I love Dark Gods. TED Klein's The Ceremonies is an amazing epic horror novel - one of my all-time favorites. Happy Holidays!

[CliffsDarkGems]

Great Top Ten. Good to see Dracula on the list. Mary is on my radar for next year. Agree with you on Nocturnes, amazing collection. Thanks for the recs.

[michellesmelancholia]

Great list, Olly! Love seeing short story collections / anthologies making the list! It's a format I love but I think it doesn't get as much attention as it deserves.

[kaelinreads]

I'm glad you brought up Laurel Hightower as I just got her book Below and I'm excited to get into that. I love the Mothman premise which I really haven't seen before besides in "nonfiction" books

[kufujitsu]

It's been a while since I've read it, but I remember thinking that Dark Gods was an excellent collection of 4 novellas.
Maybe our tastes differ...but to me, "The Children of the Kingdom", which concerned what lurked in the sewers underneath the pavements of New York - & the Lovecraftian "Black Man with a Horn", were brilliant. Both stories rely on a gradual accumulation of weird events - as does "Nadalman's God", which won The World Fantasy was good as well, but it was surpassed by the other three IMO.
Back in the 80s, T.E.D. Klein was highly regarded among his peers, & a long time editor of The Twilight Zone short fiction magazine - I highly doubt he would have intentionally made his stories to come across in the way that you had stated - he was simply telling 4 stories in a classic & descriptive style.

He also wrote a great novel - "The Ceremonies", with echoes of Lovecraft & Machen, written in a literate style - it was nominated for the World Fantasy Award as well - so he was definitely highly thought of.

[mattgrosse]

I've only read Mariana Enriquez's short fiction collections, Things We Lost in the Fire and The Dangers of Smoking in Bed. I really like her style, so I'm glad it translated to a full length novel. I'll have to pick it up.

[RovingReader]

I love that you put a QR code with all your info. I am so surprised that it looks like horror is one of my top categories on Storygraph this year. I thought I was too much of a baby for it, but I guess not. I'm excited to see what you discuss! Still watching :)

[ragedyfairy]

Our Share of Night is amazing. Truly enjoying it and taking it slow, so sad I’m more than 60% through the book now. Will def be a book I reread.

[IngaNoniFayJeth]

I had to read "The Yellow Wallpaper" for English class in high school! One of the few things I was made to read in school that I genuinely really liked. Good one!

[shalimarlittle]

Thanks as always, these all sound great!

[lukethomas]

Reading Silent key this week while the wife and kids are visiting Harry Potter World. Bought off your recommendation (and I love the cover) so I’ll let you know my verdict 😁

[NovelFindsByKassi]

I whole-heartedly agree with Our Share of Night. It wasn't a matter of whether or not it would make your top 10; I was just wondering where on it that it would land. I was floored by it and still think of it daily which says something for me as I'm such a voracious reader.

[fiberartsyreads]

Enjoyed seeing your top faves! I need to get my list together.

[needleshooksandbooks]

My favorite horror read of the year was the short story collection At Home with the Horrors by Sammy Scott. I think it ruined a lot of horror for me this year because it just blew me away so much that nothing else was able to live up to it. Every story was 4 or 5 stars for me and some of them are still living rent free in my brain 10+ months after reading it. The kind of stories that make me think about what i would do in those situations...and what thats says about me.

[adriennelee]

My favorite of the year was Mary by Nat Cassidy. I've read a few others on your list as well, and the ones I read were all very good.

[M-J]

Let’s get spooky! 😄 Great video buddy. Happy to say I have waiting or have read the books on this list! On brand! I agree with your top pick. It’s powerful and so different. 😂- MJ

[troychurch]

Wow! Great list. My favourite horror read was Tender Is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. Nat Cassidy's other novel Nestlings is a great read too.

[larindanomikos]

I read The Yellow Wallpaper as a teenager. I'm almost 70 now.

[seamusgaelic]

Reading "Our Share of Night" at present. Just finished part one. I have the feeling the writer did a lot of research in preparing to write this story, because the realism in regards to the rituals and the personalities of the participants within the cult makes the impact of the horror really gut churning at times. I'm familiar with the Mexican cult of Santa Muerta, but never knew there was an Argentinian variant until reading this novel. The fact that there is a degree of realism to the details described within the story makes it really disturbing to read. I find the degree of human evil and amoral malevolence is downright chilling!

Anyway, another great vlog, Olly!