Spookathon 2022: Vivika's Horror Lit Picks

The Most Dangerous Game

by Richard Connell

This short story ended up being a favorite in my high school English class. It’s about a hunter named Rainsford who, while sailing on his ship, falls overboard and finds shelter with a Cossak man named General Zaroff and his servant Ivan. Zaroff reveals that he is also a hunter, but Rainsford quickly learns that Zaroff's approach to hunting is much different from his own. The less you know about this story, the more enjoyable it is. But what I will say is that this story explores themes regarding human nature, civility, and morality. It’s a very quick read, but it will definitely stick with you.

Black Hole

by Charles Burns

Black Hole is a coming of age graphic novel about sex, drugs, and contagion in the 1970s. It’s an exploration of adolescence and teenage depravity, and at the center of the story is something called “the bug,” a sexually transmitted disease that causes teenagers to morph into disgusting creatures and cast themselves off from society. This novel can get pretty unsettling, but it’s easy to spot some of Burns’s quite meaningful allegories that speak to the problems that most angst-ridden teenagers face, and that’s what makes the graphic nature of the story feel ultimately meaningful. I also think the black and white art style in this novel is really compelling and helps to create the dark, trippy world of Black Hole. It’s a great, albeit, untraditional horror novel for readers who love stories about the precariousness of adolescence and growing up. Check this one out if you can!

Misery by Stephen King 

Of course I had to include a Stephen King novel, and this is one of my favorites. It’s about a romance novelist named Paul Sheldon who is kidnapped by Annie Wilkes, an obsessed fan who wants Paul to write her favorite character, Misery, back to life. Annie is unpredictable and sociopathic, and knowing that she’s capable of doing anything is what keeps you on the edge of your seat. The book is a really interesting subject matter with a really captivating villain, and not only is Annie well-written, but Paul is a great character as well. He has his flaws and isn’t exactly a likable guy, but because Annie is such a disturbing character, we’re able to put Paul’s faults aside and root for him. King’s personal tie to this story is pretty fascinating, too. He has explained that he sees Annie as a metaphor for addiction and Paul’s reluctance to keep writing romance novels reflects expectations from his own fans for him to keep writing horror novels which I think is interesting to dissect. I found this to be one of the more terrifying King novels because it’s a realistic story where real people are the villains. You know these events could really happen and there aren’t any supernatural deus ex machinas to resolve the problems Paul is facing. I honestly can’t recommend this book enough- but prepare yourself for some brutal, graphic scenes.


The Haunting of Hill House

by Shirley Jackson

This book by queen of horror Shirley Jackson is a great novel to get you in the Halloween spirit. Maybe you’ve read her equally compelling short story ‘The Lottery,’ (which I also highly recommend), or maybe you’ve watched the Netflix series (which I’ve heard is nothing like the novel), but regardless of how familiar you are with her work, I think anyone who just appreciates good storytelling would enjoy this book. The magic of this novel is in the way Jackson delves into her characters- especially Eleanor, a classic unreliable narrator that you continue to empathize with and root for. The story actually revolves around 3 characters—Eleanor, Theodora, and Luke— who all gather at Hillhouse at the request of Dr Montague, an investigator looking for supernatural activities at Hillhouse. Jackson’s gothic writing style reminds me of other female authors like the Bronte sisters, Carmen Maria Machado, Sylvia Plath, and Virginia Woolf, who are all known for exploring the characteristics of their strong, yet troubled, female characters. So if you love these authors, give The Haunting of Hill House a try. The characters in this story are well-developed and you get to know them intimately, so if you’re looking for a horror novel with a character study, this is the one for you.

Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror

by Junji Ito

Uzumaki is a horror manga about a society’s fatal obsession with spirals. But before you shrug it off as dumb- hear me out: this book will affect you psychologically in a way you  you never thought a book could. Funnily enough, this manga was like spiral hypnosis, and after reading Ito’s anecdotes involving spirals, I started to associate the shape with something dreadful, and I couldn’t look at spirals the same way ever again. It just made me think about how interesting the psychology behind fear really is, because how could I possibly find a shape unsettling? It’s something you can only understand by reading the manga yourself. If you’re a fan of body horror, I think this book is worth checking out for the artwork and originality, because some of these frames, though they are gory, are beautifully drawn. This story is definitely unlike anything I’ve read before- and I’ll refrain from revealing much else, because I think the less you know about this book before reading it, the better. 

Vivika Cheemakoti