Best 5 Horror Novels I Have Read in the Last Decade

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It has taken me a long time to find the best horror novels I have discovered. It took me a whole decade to find the best horror novels ever made. 

I believe these books are the most memorable horror stories, because these books could never get out of my head after I finished reading the book. 

Either out of fear or admiring the author for having the balls to write a story like that, I think it’s awesome that the story always remained in the back of my mind.

Here are the five best novels I have ever read, and yes, I own each of these novels!

5. The Ruins 

The Ruins is a dreadful story. I think Stephen King is right when it comes to it being the best book of the century. The Ruins does not give a shit, the story does a full dive into horror, and you will feel so sorry for the main characters who are pulled into a world of death. 

The main characters decide to go on a tourist trip, where they are accidentally stumble upon a site of plant monsters, and they are forced to stay with these monsters, to become sacrificed. 

If you want to read a book with no happy moments or ending, go look for The Ruins in a nearby bookstore. 

I guarantee you will freak out!

4. Imajica 

I’m so picky about fantasy novels, but this one is perfect. Clive Barker sure knows how to balance fantasy and horror in one story, and what we get is an insane masterpiece. 

We follow the story Gentle and Judith, a couple that fell out of love. They both get sucked into another world, where they both learn of two people who look just like them, reside. 

Gentle falls in love with a shapeshifting creature, and Judith falls in love with Gentle’s evil twin. Their different paths lead to many consequences, that follows Gentle and Judith all the way to their own world. 

It’s a fascinating story that really took me by surprise, and it’s also pretty damn romantic at the same time!

3. Rose Madder

In my opinion, Rose Madder is Stephen King’s best work. 

I’m not sure how he wrote this story, but wow, he was on his A — game when he wrote this story. The novel focuses on a woman named Rose, who is trapped in an abusive marriage with a human being that is pure evil. 

Rose snaps one day over a nosebleed, and decides to run away for good. Her journey takes her on a new path in life, where she finally gets to experience a better world. 

She gets a job as an audio book recorder, she meets a kind man she gains feelings for, she gets her own home, and she meets wonderful people who helped her escape from her old life. 

Then she finds a painting titled Rose Madder. Where a woman who looks just like her is on this specific painting, who promises to kill her husband for her, who is determined to find Rose. 

What makes Rose Madder such an interesting horror novel, is the journey we get of Rose and her husband. We get two points of view, as they both go on their own journeys of transformation. 

Viewer discretion is advised for this story, due to the heavy content that takes place. Rose Madder is deeply disturbing…I still can’t believe a TV show or movie doesn’t exist yet.

2. Little Heaven

Little Heaven was written by Nick Cutter, another horror novelist I have really come to love. He is a master of body horror, his monsters will scare the complete shit out of you.

The story follows three hitmen who find themselves agreeing to a job that requires them to search for a young boy who was taken into a cult known as Little Heaven. 

The three hitmen are pulled into a world of terror, that becomes impossible to escape. The cult leader is a ruthless individual who is willing to murder his own people to get his way, there are monsters invading the land, and some sort of ancient evil is behind all of this carnage. 

The three main characters have a lot to deal with, and damn, do you feel bad for everything that they go through…this is 100% Nick Cutter’s best horror novel. It’s extremely well written, and you will never guess where the story will take you next!

And the evil in this book will freak you out!

1. The Season of Passage

The Season of Passage will always remain the most fucked up horror story ever made. I have talked about this story before on Medium, due to how messed up this story was. 

It’s crazy getting to read this story again after 10 years, and wow, I remembered the entire book like the back of my hand. This novel was written by Christoper Pike, a horror author that became popular in the 70s. 

The Season of Passage follows the story of a doctor named Lauren Wagner, who embarks on a journey to Mars with her crew of astronauts. What she discovers is a planet of terror and evil, and what happens next is disgusting and beyond terrifying. 

Lauren discovers that vampires are living on the planet of Mars, and they are hands down the freakiest bastards you will meet, and in my opinion, are even more messed up than the vampires than 30 Days of Night.

If you have a hard time believing me on this one, go and grab a copy of this book. But viewer discretion is strongly advised for this book. It does not hold back on anything that takes place, and you will be disgusted in a lot of scenes. 

This book will always remain my favorite horror novel ever written…Christopher Pike had a lot of balls to write this story.

These horror novels are some of my absolute favorite stories. 

These are the total number of times I have read these stories:

The Ruins — 1 (Would read again, I might very soon).

Imajica — 1 (Would read again, but this story is long as hell).

Rose Madder — 5 (Not playing when I say this, I have read this story that many times. I freaking love it).

Little Heaven — 1 (Would read it again and again).

The Season of Passage — 2 (I would read this book again, but my mind would be broken for a long time).

I’m a massive horror fan lol.