Top Ten Tuesday | My Favorite Thriller and Horror Books

meltotheanyAside

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018!

Happy October, my loves! Okay, so this week’s real top was “Authors I’d Love to Meet” but I thought it was kind of a weird topic, just because I get so emotional when I meet people I look up to, and I truly don’t believe I would have been able to come up with ten people anyways, so I just decided to really embrace the Halloween spirit! And what better way than to talk about my favorite scary books? 🎃🍂👻

➽ The Lucky Ones by Tiffany Reisz
This is a dark, mystery, thriller that stars a girl trying to discover what truly happened to her thirteen-years-ago. Allison’s mother died when she was very young, so she was put in foster care where she did not have the easiest of times. But one day, a man comes and takes her away and she joins his family. His family consists of a few other fosters kids, three of which he has officially adopted; Roland, Deacon and Thora. And they live in this beautiful home that they call “The Dragon” that is right on the Oregon coast.

➽ Higurashi When They Cry: Abducted by Demons Arc, Vol. 1 by Ryukishi07
Scariest. Manga. Ever. Seriously. This story is set in the summer of 1983, and stars Keiichi, who has just moved to a small, isolated village named Hinamizawa. There is only one school for all of the children living in this village, and Keiichi soon befriends two girls and the rest of their gaming club! The club starts out lighthearted and fun, with the kids pulling innocent pranks on each other, but when Keiichi discovers that the village might be cursed, the book becomes much darker.

➽ Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
This is an anthology (one of my favorites of all-time) but some of the stories in here are so very scary. This collection of short stories heavily emphasizes the violence that we put on women’s bodies. Whether it be sexual violence, physical violence, violence put on us by society, or violence we put on ourselves. This entire collection is absolutely haunting in the best way possible.

➽ Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
This is technically about killer mermaids, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about society and how we don’t take care of the habitats we are inhabiting, let alone the ones we aren’t. It’s about how we view animals as lesser, and we are supposed to use them as a means to further education and technology without ever getting emotionally involved. It’s about how humans do horrible things to our planet that is 71% covered in water, and one day it might be time for someone else, besides humans, to say enough is enough. But this book was so spooky that I couldn’t read it at night with the lights off.

➽ Bad Mommy by Tarryn Fisher
In true Tarryn fashion, this story surrounds two girls and one guy protagonist. One is a psychopath, one is a sociopath, and one is Tarryn a writer. The book is broken down in those three parts, yet the twists and turns are, as always, a roller coaster ride. Like, reading Darius’ chapters felt like I was being punched in the gut over and over. I felt so much surprise, heartbreak, and betrayal.

➽ The Girl in 6E (Deanna Madden #1) by A.R. Torre
The protagonist in this story had a very traumatic event happen to her when she was younger. The event has caused her to 1) be obsessed with murder and 2) scared to leave her home, in fear of endangering innocent people. She actually hires her neighbors to lock her IN her apartment, from the outside, every night.

➽ The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion (Danielle Cain #1) by Margaret Killjoy
Danielle comes to town, a man dies, pretty brutally, from a monster deer demon, named Uliksi, that was summoned to kill anyone in the town that tries to gain power over anyone. Yeah, you read that sentence right. And this tale quickly turns into a mystery of if Uliksi has turned against the town, or if this mystical deer is still only after those who have committed evil acts.

➽ Slasher Girls & Monster Boys edited by April Genevieve Tucholke
You know, this is a pretty good anthology in general, but a few of these were so damn creepy that I still think about them today, and I read this back in 2016. Sleepless by Jay Kristoff end up being my favorite story. It was so beautiful, so thrilling, and had such amazing twists throughout. I loved it, and it has completely motivated me to read his other work.

➽ Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening (Monstress #1) by Marjorie M. Liu & Sana Takeda
My favorite graphic-novel of all time, and also spooky as heck! This story follows a seventeen year old girl named Maika, whose story starts out where she is being sold as a slave. The reader will immediately notice that Maika has a very strange tattoo of an eye on her chest, and she is missing an arm. Yet, it becomes very clear very early that Maika is much stronger than what she seems.

➽ Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross #2) by James Patterson
All those 25+ James Patterson books are paying off, a little. No, for real, Kiss the Girls was always my favorite Alex Cross novel, and I still think it’s one of the scariest books that I’ve ever read. Plus, it just holds a really special place in my heart.

Okay, friends! Those are my ten favorite thriller and mystery books that I believe with my whole heart are perfect reads for this time of year! But please, give me any and all recommendations of your favorites! I am starting The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter in a couple of days! Hopefully it will be so amazing that it will make my scary recommendations for next year! Happy reading, friends! Stay spooky! 🍂🎃👻

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39 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday | My Favorite Thriller and Horror Books”

  2. You should try giving a horror audiobook a try. Nothing quite as spooky as being in a dark room late at night, a candle flickering, listening to tale of true horror. I remember the first audio book that truly creeped me out as far as atmosphere goes was ‘The Secret of Crickley Hall’. The Narrator really went all out for it.

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  3. I love the topic you chose! I didn’t like the authors I’d like to meet topic either but couldn’t think of anything better. But yours is perfect for October!

    Also, I have read exactly none of these. I’m going to go look some of them up now. And I agree with the above commenter, I enjoy listening to horror/thrillers on audiobook! I drive a lot, so they make the time go by really quickly for me, thankfully.

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    1. Awh, you are too kind, love! I’m pretty sure this month has a freebie in it? So you should totally do your favorites! Or just tell them to me, because I need help! Hahaha!

      Also – you are so dang brave for listening to them on audio book! Half of me wants to try it so bad, the other half realizes that I’m a big baby! Hahahaha! I hope you’re having a wonderful October and happy reading, sweetheart! 💛xx

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      1. Thank you! And Tiffany Reisz is not an orthodox choice of author, really. I’d read more of her books if I wasn’t uncomfortable with Erotica. Happy reading to you too! 💜

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  5. I really need to read Into the Drowning Deep! Hoping I can get to it this month. I also loved The Lamb will Slaughter the Lion, such a great, quick, creepy read. I modified today’s prompt to be for authors I already met xD

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    1. Oh that’s such a cool way to motify this week’s prompt! I can’t wait to read yours! And I hope you love Into the Drowning Deep! Also… you’re like the only other soul I know that’s read The Lamb will Slaughter the Lion and my heart is filled with so much joy! Hehe! Happy reading! 💛xx

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  6. 1) I love this list almost as much as I adore you!
    2) I sent you an IG message about a part that made me actually laugh out loud.
    3) I’ve added like 8 new books to my TBR.
    4) You’re going to get all the late-night messages if I’m scared because honestly this is your doing. ❤

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    1. Hahahahahahaha! I love this fucking comment and you SO much! And I love late night messages from you, because I trade them for messages of me talking about country music shows I know nothing about! HAhahahah! ❤ xx

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    1. I haven’t seen the When You Cry anime, but I’ve played the game it is based off! I really need to continue on with it… and maybe check out this anime now! Haha! Thank you, Kaya love! And I can’t wait for you to read Monstress! It’s such a damn gift, I swear! Happy reading, love! 🧡xx

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  8. Wonderful choices here, Mel! I’ve only read Slasher Girls and Monster Boys from your list, which means that I have tons of new books to try ^^
    I have the exact same opinion as you: it was a creepilicious anthology for sure! One of my favourite stories was also Sleepless (the other one being Stitches) and they definitely left a mark.
    Loved your post ❤

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    1. Hahaha! They are pretty creepy! But I hope you enjoy any and all you pick up! And I hope you’re having an amazing October and having happy reading, sweetheart! 💖xx

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    1. Diana, love! You should totally read the free short story from Her Body and Other Parties! It truly is my favorite of all-time! And it is perfect for this time of year (and always, honestly)! But thank you for your sweet words! I hope you’re having an amazing October and that it is filled with happy reading, love! 💕xx

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  15. Into the Drowning Deep sounds so good. ❤ The book club I'm in is reading another one of Mira Grant's books for November (Parasite, the first book in her Parasitology trilogy) so I'm looking forward to reading her some of her work. 🙂

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    1. Oh wow, that makes me want to pick Parasite up! Into the Drowning Deep is still the scariest book I’ve ever read! Hahahaha! But I’m also a big baby, so….. I hope you have happy reading, my love! 💕xx

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