Traci Thomas Curates 30 Horror Reads for Halloween Weekend
The Stacks host shares a list of 20 novels, 3 anthologies, and 7 nonfiction works to prepare readers for the holiday.
By Daniela Ortega ·
Traci Thomas, host and creator of The Stacks, released a curated list of horror literature on Thursday to mark the upcoming Halloween holiday. The recommendations target readers seeking intense fiction, anthologies, and nonfiction accounts of real-world terrors. Thomas, who operates out of WBUR, provided the list to coincide with the October 31 observance.
The fiction section contains 20 titles that range from classic literature to contemporary short stories. Stephen King appears twice with Carrie and his earlier work, while Toni Morrison contributes Beloved. Recent entries include Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. The list also features short story collections by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Carmen Maria Machado, alongside novels by Shirley Jackson, Ira Levin, and Joyce Carol Oates.
Three anthologies round out the fictional recommendations. Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. edited Never Whistle at Night and its sequel, Back for Blood, which focus on Indigenous dark fiction. Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams compiled Out There Screaming, a collection of new Black horror. Cynthia Pelayo edited Something Followed Us Home, a volume dedicated to Latiné horror.
The nonfiction category includes seven books that document specific historical disasters and criminal cases. Lizzie Johnson’s Paradise details the struggle of a town to survive an American wildfire. Ben Wickey’s More Weight tells a Salem story, while Wright Thompson covers the secret history of a murder in Mississippi in The Barn. Philip Gourevitch’s We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families presents stories from Rwanda.
Additional nonfiction selections examine well-known tragedies. Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry’s Helter Skelter recounts the Manson murders, and Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking describes the forgotten Holocaust of World War II. Daniel James Brown’s The Indifferent Stars Above covers the Donner Party saga, and Heather Ann Thompson’s Blood in the Water analyzes the 1971 Attica Prison Uprising. Richard Lloyd Parry’s People Who Eat Darkness explores murder and grief in Japan.
Thomas grouped these 30 items into three distinct categories for readers. The fiction list emphasizes diverse authors and translated works, including A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young and House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias. The anthologies focus on specific cultural perspectives in horror writing. The nonfiction picks prioritize true crime and historical disasters, offering readers factual accounts of violence and survival to read this weekend.
Source: WEPR
