“You hold on to life until it gets ripped away from you. Even if it gets ripped away in pieces. You just hold on.”
The Troop is one of Nick Cutter’s most famous books and easily one of our favourite horror stories of all time. In it, readers follow Scoutmaster Tim Riggs and his troop of boys deep into the Canadian wilderness during the height of summer. Things quickly go awry, however, when an ill-looking man washes up near their lodge with a ravenous hunger. Unbeknownst to them, Tim and the boys are soon put at the mercy of a bioengineered nightmare, the elements around them and themselves.
Original and innovative in its concept and delivery, The Troop is one of the most suspenseful and gruesome body horror books in the genre. To celebrate its enduring popularity with horror fans, join us at What We Reading for the best books like The Troop!
Infected (Infected #1) – Scott Sigler
For one of the best books like The Troop that captures the horror of humans being transformed into ravenous murdering monsters, look no further than Scott Sigler’s Infected series. The first book in the series introduces a world where a mysterious disease has turned a percentage of the population into raving, paranoid abominations capable of inflicting violent acts on strangers, themselves and even their loved ones.
When Perry Dawsey awakens one day with a series of welts growing on his body, voices in his head and a growing number of strange thoughts in his mind, he realises that he is now infected. The parasites in his body want something in particular, and the very fate of humanity rests on the internal war he is soon subjected to.
Seed – Ania Ahlborn
A Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Horror, Ania Alhborn whisks readers to the vine-twisted swamps of Louisana in Seed. Jack Winter has spent his life running from a near-fatal accident along a deserted road during his childhood, until his six-year-old daughter reveals she has seen the same horrors, and begins to morph into something far more malevolent.
Forced to confront the darkness of his past, the subtly of Seed and its rising tension is sure to strike a chord with any reader who loved the pacing of The Troop.
Intercepts – T.J. Payne
For those readers who loved the theme of sci-fi experimentations going wrong explored in The Troop, T.J. Payne’s Intercepts is the perfect follow-up read. The mastermind behind My Father’s Basement serves up another deliciously gruesome tale where readers are introduced to Joe, a man who works at a facility that performs experiments on human test subjects.
Their latest project is centred around unlocking hidden abilities in the human mind, with the subjects being put in extreme sensory deprivation. Driving most of them mad, the work has finally been perfected, though Joe soon finds his research following him back home.
The Ruins – Scott Smith
In Scott Smith’s The Ruins, two young couples trekking in the Mexican jungle are introduced enjoying lazy days in the sun and nights filled with drunken merriment with other strangers. However, when the brother of one of these couples disappears suddenly, they are forced to journey deeper into the heart of the jungle.
Their fun adventure soon devolves into a hellish battle of survival as they uncover an ancient ruin site, awakening the sinister presence that lurks in its shadows.
Mary – Nat Cassidy
For a great book like The Troop that explores someone attempting to blend into the background as their body slowly changes from the inside out, Nat Cassidy’s Mary is a terrifyingly good read. Mary is introduced as being an unremarkable middle-aged woman who suddenly finds herself fainting when she sees herself in the mirror.
Strange voices in her head begin to tell her to do unspeakable acts, prompting her to pack up and move back to her sleepy hometown. However, when a series of killings rock the town and she finds herself writing the echoes of an infamous serial killer, she is forced into a deep soul search that may mean the difference between life and death for Mary.
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Gone To See The River Man – Kristopher Triana
Easily one of the darkest, most disgusting and most disturbing stories ever put to paper, Kristopher Triana’s Gone to See the River Man, for those who can stomach it, offers one of the most gripping horror experiences going. Readers follow Lori, an obsessed super fan of serial killer, Edmund Cox.
When he tasks her with retrieving something for him, she gratefully accepts. Bringing her disabled sister with her, the two embark on a journey up the river of a serene valley. What begins as a simple journey soon turns into an experience plucked straight from hell, however, delving into Lori’s personal demons and her devotion to this brutal killer.
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Devolution: A Firsthand Account Of The Rainier Sasquatch Massacre – Max Brooks
Another Goodreads Nominee for Best Horror, Devolution is a stunning exploration of human resilience from the bestselling author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z. Presented in Brooks’ unique journalistic style, the book is told through the journals of Kate Holland, a resident in a town known as Greenloop, wiped out in the wake of Mount Rainier’s eruption.
Through his faithful recreation of Kate’s stories and his own investigations, Brooks reveals in this sci-fi thriller turned bloody horror tale that the creature known as ‘Bigfoot’ actually lives among us and that its strength and ferocity have already left plenty dead.
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).
