Get Into Reading

Adult

Horror

The world is full of scary things: some known, some unknown, some very well hidden. From psychological unravellings to desperate fights for survival, horror scratches an itch and comes away bloody.

10 books, curated

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20 September 2026

Where to start with horror, if you think you don’t like horror

Most people who say they do not like horror have only met the loudest version of it. They picture a masked man in a hallway, not the quieter kind of dread that comes from a setting you already trust turning slightly wrong.

Three ways in, depending on what you actually find unsettling:

  • Domestic dread — Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Nothing supernatural happens. The house is the whole horror.
  • Body horror with a point — Tender Is the Flesh, if you want something that argues with you for a week afterwards rather than just scaring you for an evening.
  • Slow-burn folk horror — for readers who liked the atmosphere of a film more than the jump scares.

None of these need you to enjoy gore. They need you to enjoy a feeling that something is slightly wrong, and to sit with it.

Upcoming sessions

Wed 14 October at 19:00

Get Into Reading: Horror

Books on the Hill, St Albans

Ollie gives a background overview of the genre, followed by discussion of what you liked or didn't about your chosen book, and where it sits in the genre. No pressure, and you leave with more for the pile.

£15Tickets