5 Horror Novels that are Not for the Faint of Heart

 

Credit to Here’s why R-rated horror movies are making a comeback on the big screen

I have recently started on my second batch of books, and I have been so impressed with the horror stories I have read this year. It’s like 2026 was the year meant for extreme horror, and so far, I have not been the least disappointed in the books I have found!

The deaths in these novels are also pretty tough to read, and I can’t believe that I accidentally found a bunch of horror novels that stuck to the genre of gore. Only one of the books wasn’t as gory, but the implications behind the deaths was pretty shocking enough, so I thought it had to be included in the list!

I guarantee that many horror fans are going to love these messed up stories!

Picture of the five books. 

5. Psycho by Robert Bloch

I was so happy that I finally got to read the book, that was the story behind Alfred Hitchcock’s movie version of the novel! I was not expecting the over the top murders depicted in the story! We follow the story of Norman Bates, a man who lives all alone in a house with his mother, while running a hotel to make ends meet. 

The buildup works so well in the novel, leading to the iconic twist of Psycho that many horror fans are familiar with! Norman’s character is so damn scary, and he made me so uncomfortable when it came to how he viewed each of his victims before death. 

Even though this book is a pretty short read, the twists and turns truly make this novel a wild ride for any horror fan!

4. American Rapture by CJ Leede

This author is known for extreme splatterpunk gore, and I knew I was going to be thrown into another insane horror tale. We follow the story of a young girl, who is raised in a religious household. She is unhappy with her life, dearly missing her brother, who was kicked out of the house by her parents. 

Her life completely changes when the zombie apocalypse happens, and she is forced to leave home, to go on a crazy journey to search for her brother. She teams up with multiple people, and each of them experience absolute terror when they discover the true horrors of the world when the end is here. 

This novel was also a pretty heartfelt story, and I felt so bad for the main character and her friends. They did not deserve any of the horror that awaits them, and the kills in this book are not for the faint of heart. 

Extreme warning here if you want to read the book: I never do this, but this book definitely needs a warning for all readers. We get a brutal dog and kid death in this novel. Viewer discretion is strongly advised for the violence depicted in the book too. 

3. Insomnia by Stephen King

This is one of those rare King novels that I feel deserves a lot of love from his fans. This story I feel is massively underrated, and it features one of the most original horror ideas I have read in his stories. We follow an older man who is struggling to get a good night’s sleep after the death of his wife. He learns that he has gained powers, and he meets an unlikely person to help him win a battle that they are both forced to partake in. 

The evil in the book is pretty extreme, and the creature that is behind everything is one of the sickest bastards I have read in a King book. He is kind of like a God, who delights in ending the lives of people, and other Gods like him hire the two main characters to help them put a stop to this madman. 

This may sound super weird out of context, but the book definitely does a good job explaining what the hell is going on. 

Warning: I should also mention that we get another dog death in this one too. And we also get another kid death. The chances of reading several books with extreme deaths like this was not in the cards for me…

2. The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon 

This was one of the shocking horror novels I have ever read in my life. The final twist in this book left me a little scared, and I will never step foot into a cave for as long as I live! We follow two girls who discover that their mother is missing, and are determined to locate her. They find strange evidence connected to their mother’s disappearance, including diary entries back in the early 1900s, based on the past events of a young woman named Sara. 

The girls learn that something far darker is taking place with the vanishing of their mother, and as they uncover more clues, they learn that there is something that lives inside of the cave near their home…something that is not human and is very hungry. 

The ending twist caught me off guard so bad. I knew that we were heading into a supernatural sort of twist, but the reveal was pretty bold, and I can see why some horror fans consider this to be McMahon’s best work!

1. Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

I have already talked about this book before, but I have to mention it again! This is already one of my favorite horror novels of 2026! I kept hearing from multiple horror fans that this was a masterpiece of horror fiction, and I’m so glad that I listened to fans for this one!

I could not stop reading the story, it was filled with thousands of twists and turns, and the reveal was pretty unique and freaking horrific! A middle aged woman named Mary wants to learn the truth about her past, after her present life goes to shit. She goes back to her childhood home, where she learns that sometimes it’s best for dark secrets to stay buried forever. 

How Mary was able to handle the truth was shocking…but the fact that she embraced her dark nature was beyond unexpected!

Stay tuned for another future article of book recommendations! I’m now working on another batch of five new books for you guys to check out, ones that could actually be even better than this batch!