“The seas did not forgive, and they did not welcome their wayward children home.”
One of the most surreal science facts we always carry around with us is that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean. Not only does that make us excellent value at parties, but it helps sell just how eerie the deep seas are. The crushing weight, the neverending darkness, the array of otherworldly creatures, and the very reasonable fear that comes from the prospect of drowning make the deep sea the perfect environment for a bone-chilling horror adventure. The likes of The Abyss and Sea Fever already have you covered on the big screen, so we here at What We Reading thought we would run you through some of our favourite deep sea horror books! Grab your flippers and don’t forget your oxygen tanks because these horror, sci-fi and thrillers are all guaranteed to take your breath away!
Into The Drowning Deep (Rolling In The Deep #1) – Mira Grant
Kicking off our list of deep sea horror books is Mira Grant’s 2017 story, Into the Drowning Deep. Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a trip to the Mariana Trench. It had set off intending to film a ‘mockumentary’, bringing to life ancient sea creatures from legends. It was lost at sea, with all of its crew sharing the same fate. Some call it the latest maritime tragedy, whereas others dismiss the entire affair as a hoax.
Now, a new crew has been pulled together. Only this time their mission isn’t to entertain. Some of them are looking to validate the work they have dedicated their lives to. Others are looking for the greatest hunt of all time. However, for young scientist Victoria Stewart, their voyage to the depths is all about discovering the fate of the sister she lost. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves.
From Below – Darcy Coates
Our next deep sea horror book sees us plunging below the depths with the SS Arcadia, a ship that vanished without a trace during a routine voyage, in Darcy Coates’ From Below. A strange garbled message was broadcast, but neither the ship nor the crew could be found. Until six decades later, when it is discovered over three hundred miles from its intended course.
Cove and her dive team have been granted access to explore the silent graveyard that is the Arcadia. Their purpose is simple: examine the wreck, film everything and work out how and why it found its way below the waves. But, the Arcadia is yet to have its fill of death; something dark and hungry watches them from below. With oxygen dropping and the ship closing in around them, Cove and her team will have to fight their way free of the unspeakable horrors desperate to claim them.
Our Wives Under The Sea – Julia Armfield
Nominated for Best Debut Novel and Best Horror in the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards, Julia Armfield’s Our Wives Under the Sea follows Miri, a woman who thinks she has her wife back when Leah returns from her deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. But, it soon becomes apparent that Leah is not the same. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying when they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has clearly brought part of it back with her onto dry land.
As they struggle to return to something that resembles their normal life again, Miri soon discovers that the life she once knew might be gone forever. Whilst Leah is still there, she can feel the woman she loves slowly slipping from her.
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The Deep – Nick Cutter
A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes millions of people to forget just small things to begin with. Then they begin to forget things like letters of the alphabet and how to drive. Finally, the plague makes its victims’ bodies forget how to function. And there is no cure. Except, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Marianas Trench, a substance known as ambrosia has been discovered that may just be the universal cure humanity needs.
To study this potential healer, a special research lab called the Trieste has been constructed eight miles underwater. Out of range of communication, it’s up to its brave inhabitants to venture down into the crushing depths. Heralded as ‘The Abyss meets The Shining’, The Deep is a deep sea horror book by Nick Cutter, bestselling author of The Troop.
Sphere – Michael Crichton
Whilst the big-screen adaption might have been a MEG-sized monstrosity, Michael Crichton’s original work remains a classic piece of science fiction and one of the best deep sea and aquatic horror novels.
The story centres on a group of American scientists who are rushed to a huge vessel that has been discovered resting on the floor of the ocean in the middle of the Pacific. What they find upon investigation blows even their most vivid imaginations out of the water. It is a spaceship of incredible dimensions, apparently undamaged by its fall from the sky. Most startling of all, it appears to be well over three hundred years old.
The Fisherman – John Langan
Another one of the best nautical-themed horror books with a real Lovecraftian vibe comes from John Langan in The Fisherman. In upstate New York, in the woods around Woodstock, Dutchman’s Creek rushes out of the Ashokan Reservoir. It offers unparalleled fishing opportunities and something more, a possibility too fantastic to be true. When widowers Abe and Dan hear rumours of the Creek, what might be found there and how it might be the remedy to all their losses, they dismiss it as just another piece of folklore from the fishing world.
Soon, though, the two men find themselves in the middle of a tale as deep and as old as the Reservoir. It’s a tale of dark pacts, long-buried secrets and a shady figure only known as Der Fisher. It promises to bring Abe and Dan face-to-face with everything they have lost, and the costly price they must pay to regain it again.
The Chill – Scott Carson
Another deep sea horror book set in upstate New York, Scott Carson’s The Chill whisks readers down the dark waters of the Chilewaukee reservoir. Early in the twentieth century, the town had been purposefully destroyed. The politicians from Manhatten insisted it was for the greater good, bringing water to millions of people living downstate. The local residents, forced from their land having been settled there since America’s founding, refused to move far. And some refused to move at all.
A century on, the repercussions of human arrogance are beginning to make themselves known. An investigation shows decades’ worth of negligence. What’s more, it turns out more of the village was left behind than was first imagined. The locals didn’t move on without a fight, and it is time for a dark prophecy to be fulfilled. As the dark waters threaten to inexorably rise, the demand for a fresh sacrifice emerges from the deep.
Below – Ryan Lockwood
In all his years as a professional diver, Will Sturman has never encountered a killing machine more ferocious than a Great White Shark, or as deadly as a piranha. Now, just off the Californian coast, something is rising from the deep, and multiplying.
Frenzied, unstoppable and migrating northward, an ungodly life form traverses through the ocean, leaving in its wake a gruesome trail of corpses. With the help of the beautiful and brilliant oceanographer Valerie Martell, Will finds himself in a deadly race against time to bring an end to the slaughter of a predator capable of devasting the world’s oceans. Ryan Lockwood’s Below is the deep sea horror book for anyone looking for a monster-fuelled aquatic adventure.
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).
