Screen Rant's 25 Horror-Style Fantasy Books

Screen Rant has published a list of the 25 best fantasy books that are basically horror stories. The list is organized by subgenre, which makes it a useful starting point for Halloween reading.

Intrusion fantasy

Critic Farah Mendelshon uses the term "intrusion fantasy" for a supernatural world invading everyday life. Many of these books add a sinister twist to real-world objects, bringing them to life in unsettling ways. Screen Rant notes that readers looking for this kind of horror have plenty of options beyond Stephen King.

Portal fantasy

Portal fantasy sends characters into a hidden world, like C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia" or J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter." Screen Rant says the horror-leaning versions twist that world into something corrupt.

Gothic fantasy

Gothic fantasy is brooding and atmospheric, exploring death, madness, forbidden knowledge, and isolation. It often features demons, vampires, zombies, and werewolves, but with immersive magic systems, per Screen Rant.

Folk horror

Folk horror fantasy draws on traditional folklore and mythology, set in the present or in its own time. The source says it uses mythology to build an atmosphere of dread.

Dark academia

Dark academia is set in scholarly worlds, with isolated communities becoming obsessed with magical secrets. Screen Rant warns that in these stories, the characters often gaze into the abyss, and the abyss gazes back.

Urban fantasy

Urban fantasy puts the supernatural in a contemporary city or modern society. This lends itself to intrusion fantasies, and variants like Sarah J. Maas's "Crescent City" create exotic worlds where modern civilization coexists with magic.

Screen Rant's full list covers these six flavors, so you can pick the one that fits your mood.

• Books
• fantasy
• Halloween reading
• horror
• Screen Rant
• Subgenres