“Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?”
When it comes to the history of horror, some of the best and most chilling stories have originated from grassroots sources. Whether through small-time writing competitions, blogs, or viral creepypastas, self-published and small-press authors aren’t nearly as constrained when it comes to all the horror goodness that more ‘commercial’ stories typically have to adhere to. This is why we want to pay homage to authors who let their imaginations run wild with some of the best indie horror books! Join us at What We Reading as we delve into haunted gothic mansions and across gruesome rural woodlands for the best horror stories penned by self-published and smaller-sized publishers.
Too Near The Dead – Helen Grant
Kicking off our list of the most chilling indie horror books is Helen Grant’s Too Near the Dead, a suspenseful haunted house tale set in the Perthshire countryside. For Fen Munro and her fiancé James, Barr Dubh represents the ultimate dream come true. Escaping the chaos of London, the modern building is stunning and the picturesque surroundings of Perth are to die for.
The only issue for the pair is the woman who is constantly walking the building’s grounds, always dressed in lavender. A terrible secret about the building and the woman resides beneath a lichenous stone in an abandoned graveyard. Fen’s fiancé becomes concerned about her declining mental health as horrifying nightmares soon plague her. Someone, or something, is trying to sap her happiness and nothing, not even death itself, will stop them. Vividly told and delivered with a blistering pace, Too Near the Dead is a captivating and eerily beautiful horror read.
The Nightmare Girl – Jonathan Janz
Jonathan Janz’s 2015 horror book, The Nightmare Girl, is the blend between The Wicker Man and Annabelle we never knew we needed. With cults, creepy children, and plenty of bloody mayhem, it is the perfect indie horror read for any reader looking for a suspenseful build-up that leads to an all-out gory finale.
Protagonist Joe Crawford is an everyman and a contractor who kicks off the events of the plot when he confronts a young mother neglecting her child. Joe places the child in a foster home, unaware that the mother is a member of an ancient fire cult, a malevolent sect of killers who will stop at nothing to reclaim their child and make Joe pay in blood for taking them in the first place.
Mr. Shivers – Robert Jackson Bennett
Indie author Robert Jackson Bennett blends horror with the historical setting of America’s Great Depression in his 2009 novel, Mr. Shivers. During an era when thousands have left their homes in search of a better life, the only thing Marcus Connelly is looking for is revenge.
The United States’ Dust Bowl is being haunted by a vagrant known as Mr. Shivers. He stalks the Hoovervilles rides the rails, and takes the life of Marcus’ daughter in one of the most grotesque ways imaginable. Joined by several other hobos, all with their reasons for wanting this disfigured grey man dead, Jackson Bennett’s story is one of death, desperation, and the lengths one individual will go to for his satisfaction.
Anoka – Shane Hawk
One of the most terrifying indie horror books from Shane Hawk whisks readers to the rural outskirts of Minnesota, a town dubbed the ‘Halloween Capital of the World.’ In Anoka, Hawk blurs the lines between real-life fact and folklore-inspired fiction for a collection of short stories that explore themes of family, grief, loneliness, and identity through a Native American lens.
Anoka is home to stories ranging from cloned children, skeletal bison, werewolves, pagan witch clans and bone collectors. All of them capture the spirit of the spooky season perfectly on the back of Hawk’s vivid descriptions and storytelling capabilities.
Shadows Of The Woods – Duncan Thompson
Duncan Thompson’s Shadows of the Woods depicts a stag party choosing to spend a weekend camping in a forest, with readers experiencing the story through the eyes of Joe, the groom-to-be. This weekend of bonding and reminiscing rapidly faces disruption as a series of strange occurrences – something malevolent in the darkness – hunts the group.
Joe soon begins to unearth all the sinister and twisted secrets this forest has to hide, and he must lean on everything he has to survive the night. With shades of The Ritual, “Shadows of the Woods” is an adrenaline-pumping rollercoaster of blood, sweat, and tears that evokes the nostalgia of the heyday of the slasher era.
The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters
In another one of the best indie horror books with a historical setting, novelist Sarah Waters takes readers to the heart of postwar rural Warwickshire and the eerie halls of Hundreds Hall in The Little Stranger. Dr. Faraday, a respected country physician, has been called to the crumbling Georgian estate owned by the Ayres family to attend to a patient.
Once a proud family, the Ayres now find themselves isolated and increasingly at odds not only with themselves but also with an ever-changing society threatening to leave them behind. Little by little, strange events begin to unfold around this gothic structure, with their frequency and severity growing at an alarming rate. Are the Ayres being haunted by something more sinister than just their dying way of life? And will Dr. Faraday be able to untangle himself from them before his fate becomes terrifyingly entwined with theirs?
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).
