Horror and mystery have always intrigued me, but often, the quality of these kinds of stories has left more to be desired. I’m looking for horror, mystery, or detective fiction; bonus points if it includes two or more of the genres, that is very well written. It can be written by an author from any part of the world. Some of my favorite written works are *Never Let Me Go*, *Blood Meridian*, *If On a Winter’s A Traveler*, and even the visual novel *The House in Fata Morgana*. While they aren’t all necessarily related to the topic of my post, they represent my taste in reading.
by PinkMoonogatari
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Blackwater by Michael McDowell is a wonderful southern Gothic novel.
T. Kingfisher’s novels are another good choice, I particularly enjoyed The Twisted Ones.
Can’t do better than the extremely well written 19th century classics by Wilkie Collins; all the mystery, gothic vibes and drama you want. I like The Woman in White, The Moonstone [the world’s first detective story], Armadale and No Name.
Kate Summerscale – modern writer – has written a mystery book [faction?] based on a true crime in Victorian England. Called The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, it has a Collins feel but has the benefit of something that actually happened. It’s well written.
Brian Lumley’s Necroscope series goes well with the main character *Harry Keogh* working with a branch from MI5 using his ESP to speak with the dead to fight spys & vampires.
Phillip Kerr’s Berlin Noir!
Ben Aaranovich’s Rivers of London
And you can’t go past American Gods by Neil Gaiman, a perfect mix of all three genres
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters is a ghost story set in an old British manor house. Very creepy and very well written!
{Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia}
If you haven’t read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, you might want to give it a try. It’s the best gothic novel I’ve read; even on the sentence level, the writing is exceptional.
For literary horror:
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova (a mother takes a piece of her dead child and it grows into a monster)
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (a woman’s deep sea exploring wife goes on an expedition and comes back changed, it has amazing prose)
Chlorine by Jade Song (a girl on a competitive swim team thinks she’s a mermaid, body horror)
Organ Meats by K-Ming Chang (magical realism and a lot of beautifully written gross imagery)
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith (An interconnected mystery of a ghost story told through different time periods and characters in fractured pieces)
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (not literary but a well written mystery thriller with some horrifying aspects to it)
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
Carmen Maria Machado and Mariana Enriquez write unsettling stories that are also beautiful prose.
For mysteries, you might like Dorothy Sayers.