“This is all it takes for people to plunge into insanity: one night alone with themselves and what they fear the most.”
Hex is the first English-translated horror novel by Hugo and World Fantasy award-nominated Dutch author, Thomas Olde Heuvelt. In it, readers are whisked to Black Spring, a pleasant Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a seventeenth-century woman whose mouth and eyes are sewn shut. Muzzled, she ambles freely down the town’s streets and freely into the residents’ houses. The elders of the town have effectively quarantined Black Spring and the witch from the wider world thanks to high-tech surveillance. But, bored by their existence and hoping to viral with the haunting, a number of the Black Spring teenagers inadvertently send the town spiralling into a terrifying array of dark, medieval practices. If you’re looking for spooky supernatural stories filled with witches and hauntings, join us at What We Reading for the best books like Hex!
Harvest Home – Thomas Tryon
First up on our list of books like Hex is another great folk horror tale, Thomas Tryon’s Harvest Home. It was almost as if time hadn’t touched the village of Cornwall Coombe. With its colonial houses and white-steepled church, it was almost as if this tranquil, quiet place had been preserved in another era.
Ned and Beth Constantine came across Cornwall Coombe by chance, and both instantly fell in love with it. This was exactly the haven they had always dreamed of. Or so they thought. For Ned and his family, Cornwall Coombe was to become a place of absolute terror.
The Ritual – Adam Nevill
Four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the depths of the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. Over the years, they have drifted further apart and, with little still in common, tensions soon begin to bubble. Frustrated and tired, they decide to take a shortcut that turns their trek into a nightmare that could spell the end of their lives.
Lost, hungry and surrounded by dense forest untouched for millennia, the friends stumble upon an old cabin. Inside, they discover an array of bone-chilling old rites, pagan sacrifices, ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. This dark abode is home to a bestial predator. And they’ve just stumbled their way to becoming its prey. Atmosphere, slow-burning and full of deliciously dark pagan vibes, Adam Nevill’s The Ritual is the perfect follow-up book for anyone who loved Hex.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Ritual
Kill Creek – Scott Thomas
At the end of a dark prairie road, nearly forgotten in the Kansas countryside, lies the Finch House. For years, it has remained empty, overgrown and abandoned. Soon, its front door will be open again for the first time in decades. But something is waiting, lurking in the shadows and eagerly anticipating its new guests.
When bestselling horror novelist Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the most haunted houses in the US, he begrudgingly agrees. Joining him for the evening are three other writers, all of whom have made their mark on the genre. But, what starts out as a simple publicity stunt soon turns into a deadly fight for survival. The entity that they have unknowingly awoken will follow them, torment them and do all it can to make them the latest chapter in Kill Creek’s bloody legacy.
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Under The Dome – Stephen King
If you’re looking for another book like Hex with the feel of a small town being plagued by a malevolent force, Stephen King’s Under the Dome needs to be on your TBR list. The story centres around Chester’s Mill, Maine, which inexplicably finds itself suddenly sealed off from the world by an invisible force field. No one can get in, and no one can get out.
When food, electricity and water start to dwindle, the normal rules of society are upended. A new and more sinister social order emerges. Dale Barbara, a young Iraq veteran teams up with a number of the locals to fight back against the corruption sweeping through the town and discover the source of the Dome, before it’s too late.
A Head Full Of Ghosts – Paul Tremblay
The lives of the Barretts, an ordinary New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to show signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents’ dismay, doctors are unable to prevent her slump into mental instability. As their once stable home descends into a modern-day house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest, Father Wanderly, for help.
Father Wanderly suggests performing an exorcism and invites a production company to film the event. With few other options, the family go along with the plan. Which is how the Barretts find themselves as the stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. Fifteen years later, a writer interviews Merry, Marjorie’s younger sister. As she recalls the events from when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories that clash with what was broadcasted in the final cut soon come to light.
Witch Bottle – Tom Fletcher
Daniel once had a baby brother; but he died, a long time ago. He also had a wife and a daughter of his own. But that didn’t work out, so now he’s alone. The hardest part of his job as a milkman in the rural northwest of England is dealing with unreasonable customer demands. But, things are changing. Daniel has begun to have nightmares, seeing things that can’t possibly be real.
It’s not just during the night that bad things are starting to happen either. Becoming increasingly unnerved by the developments, he turns to a local witch. She isn’t able to discern the origins of the haunting, but she can protect him with a ward – a witch bottle – if, in return, he delivers her products during his round. But, not everyone is happy to learn about people meddling with witch bottles. Gothic, atmospheric and haunting, Witch Bottle is the perfect follow-up for readers looking to match the feel of Hex.
The Watchers (The Watchers #1) – A.M. Shine
This forest is marked on any map. Every car splutters to a halt by its treeline. Mina’s no exception. Stranded, she is forced into the dark woodland, only to find a woman screaming at her to take cover in a concrete bunker. As the door slams shut behind her, the building is besieged by shrieks.
Mina finds herself in a room with a wall of glass, and an eclectic light that activates during the night when the Watchers come above ground. These creatures emerge to observe their captive humans. And horrifying things happen to those who do not reach the bunker in time. Terrified and locked in with strangers, Mina is desperate for answers. Who are the Watchers? Why are these creatures keeping them imprisoned? And, crucially of all, how can she escape?
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
