For every twenty Halloween and autumn horror books there must be at least one winter horror, or dare I say Christmas horror book out there. Chilly snowy horror is especially scary to me because for one, Christmas is creepy and unhinged, and most of all I can’t take the cold. I am not a Chrismtas fan, and indeed I resent capitalizing it. I love the look of winter, the idea of staying cozy, the starving wolves surrounding your cabin at night and firelight to fend off the shortening days. Winter sports are interesting to me but I’d rather chop wood over figure skating, ice fishing over downhill skiing. Snowshoeing and cross country skiing are really great but I’d rather take a winter stroll on a packed trail or winter market for sure.
Even with winter horror I would rather hear the sound of snowfall over carols and seeing the story’s hero melting snow for water to survive over mixing drinks at a family dinner. Most of the big names in horror come out to play, however, and there is something for everyone on a list like this. If you are after more tinsel and mistletoe, there are hundreds of lists online, but I wanted a little list here that is well rounded and offers some of the best names in horror and a few smaller or less known titles too!
The Shining by Stephen King
Black Christmas by Thomas Altman
Snow by Ronald Malfi
Nos4A2 by Joe Hill
The Christmas City Vampire Larry Diebert
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Human Santapede by Adam Millard
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
Snowblind by R. Saint Claire
Served Cold by various edited by R. Saint Claire
Where the Dead Go to Die by Aaron Dries and Mark Allan Gunnells
Krampus by Brom
Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
Voices in the Snow by Darcy Coates
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Hell house by Graham Masterson
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
Let Me In John A. Lindqvist
A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons
Honourable mentions! The Terror by Dan Simmons and The Hunger by Alma Katsu
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I talk horror books; extreme horror, classic, slasher, gothic, and everything in between. Helping you find the next best horror book to read is the goal, and sharing new and old horror from my shelves and new releases is how! Horror, nonfiction and even true crime can be found here as I find that human beings are the scariest thing of all.
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