Wednesday, September 03, 2025

Eight top folklore-inspired horror novels

Daphne Fama was born in the American South, embedded in its tight-knit Filipino community. When she’s not writing stories about monsters and the women who love them, she’s writing about video games. And when she’s not writing, she’s spending every minute adoring her partner and pup.

Fama's new novel is House of Monstrous Women.

At Electric Lit she tagged "eight unforgettable folk horrors [that] will crawl beneath your skin and make your blood run cold." One title on Fama's list:
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

On the last day of hunting season, four young Blackfeet men trespass on sacred ground and commit an act they’ll come to regret. The consequences are long-reaching—and they come on hooves. More than just a tale of supernatural vengeance, The Only Good Indians is a haunting novel of intergenerational trauma, guilt, and a past that refuses to let go.
Read about another title on the list.

The Only Good Indians is among Alena Bruzas's seven best literary horror novels, Samsun Knight's seven top horror novels about mysticism, B.R. Myers's ten quietly effective suspense novels, and Gus Moreno's top ten groundbreaking horror novels.

--Marshal Zeringue