Horror has always been popular. But this year, horror is the genre everyone is talking about.

In 2025, I think it’s safe to say we’re all a little on edge, and horror speaks to our fears and anxieties most directly. 

Horror fans everywhere are noticing that the once-subversive stories they reach for are also the stories all their coworkers, family members, and friends are gravitating towards.

Just look at the Academy Awards! Ten years ago, would you ever have predicted that a creepy, campy body horror film like Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance would be nominated in so many categories?

Not only is horror mainstream now, but readers and audiences are letting horror’s freak flag fly.

Horror might be getting more popular, but it’s also getting weirder, and we are so here for it.

With horror really having a moment in 2025, here are the horror novels you can expect everyone to be talking about this year.

Prepare your shelves now! Level up your reading life!

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn (Zando, February 18)

A feminist retelling of the classic vampire novella Carmilla, this novel is bound to sink its teeth into readers who love atmospheric horror with a fresh, modern twist.

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica (Scribner, March 4)

Remember how everyone was talking about Bazterrica’s Tender is the Flesh? Yeah. This one is going to be a big deal too.

Expect intense, thought-provoking horror that will linger long after you turn the last page.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga, March 18)

If you’re a long-time horror reader, then you know any time Stephen Graham Jones releases a new book, it’s going to be the talk of the horror town.

This one features vampires, and given Jones’s knack for genre-defying narratives, expect something wholly unique and terrifying.

This is the year that horror goes full-on mainstream, so get ready for these novels to be on the top of the bestsellers list and on the tips of everyone’s tongues!

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