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!
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Hungerstone by Kat Dunn (Zando, February 18) — a feminist retelling of the classic vampire novella Carmilla.
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.
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.
The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig (Del Ray, April 29) — a group of friends investigates a mysterious set of stairs discovered in the woods.
The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li (Avid Reader, May 6) — Two Chinese families fight to inherit a crumbling, spooky mansion once owned by a Hollywood starlet.
Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang (Dutton, May 13) — The story of an obsessive friendship between two women who meet in art school and get involved with a new, innovative technology that is supposed to heighten empathy.
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!