10 Creative Horror Books That Defied All The Tropes

Horror books are hugely popular, and although readers often become fed up with the same clichés and plot devices, some titles are truly creative and defy the genre’s most notable tropes. While a lot of twisted horror books are mind-blowing, they often rely on tropes that everyone is familiar with, which takes away from the overall scariness of them. However, some get inventive and throw readers off.

A great way for authors to do this is to write a multi-genre story. Many books that perfectly blend fantasy and horror stand out because the story is typically unpredictable, and readers never really know which direction the author is taking things next. Sparking fear into readers’ hearts and minds is a difficult thing to do, but when these horror books subvert tropes, it makes the unexpected even more terrifying.

10

Bury Your Gays (2024)

By Chuck Tingle

Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays doesn’t initially seem like a horror book, considering its name, but those who are familiar with the bury your gays Hollywood trope will know exactly why this term can be so fearful. This novel follows experienced screenwriter Misha, who faces pressure to kill off a homosexual character after his first Academy Award nomination, but the lingering guilt of his past decisions makes things even more complicated for him.

Bury Your Gays not only features a lot of elements of psychological and physical horror, but the book also delves into the harrowing realities of queer erasure and how the movie and TV industry thrives on greed. The discussion of artificial intelligence and the ethics surrounding it is also incredibly intriguing, but it is creepy enough that it keeps readers in the right mindset. It’s unusual to come across a horror book that purely relies on real-life dangers, but this is what makes Bury Your Gays so unique and a stand-out title.

9

Tales From The Gas Station (Series) (2018-2022)

By Jack Townsend

Tales From The Gas Station is a four-volume collection of novels by Jack Townsend set in a strange paranormal world, and is based on the Creepypasta of the same name. The first entry introduces Jack, an exhausted gas station employee who starts an online diary to record the odd events that occur to him on a daily basis, only for a group of conspiracy theorists to take an interest in him.

While each installment from the Tales From The Gas Station series is still horror-focused, there’s a comedic edge to Townsend’s writing that makes these stories that much more intriguing. What’s so fascinating about this series is that the main character is named after the author, who is also a former gas station worker.

There is also a Tales From The Gas Station blog (via Gas Station Jack) so readers can read about Jack’s escapades on a deeper level after finishing the four books. Jack is a unique horror novel protagonist because he doesn’t try to make out that he’s a detective or hero, simply a retail worker who doesn’t get paid enough to deal with the shocking run-ins he has with various demonic and psychopathic threats.

8

The Library At Mount Char (2015)

By Scott Hawkins

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is both a dark fantasy and horror book, which follows Carolyn, a woman who is overseen by an enigmatic man she calls Father, and who she believes may actually be God. When Father goes missing, Carolyn fears that God is dead, which gives her the opportunity to ascend to power and take over. The Library at Mount Char is rather trippy, and leans heavily on mythology and themes of religion, specifically about what, or who, a “God” actually is.

Carolyn’s hunt for vengeance is enthralling, but the more details that readers learn about Father and the children he kidnaps and manipulates, the more gripping her story becomes. The Library at Mount Char initially appears to be a YA read about a young woman in a supernatural world, but it’s a lot deeper than that.

Rather than being passive about her past and just wanting to escape Father, Carolyn’s desire to outdo her captor is a rather unique premise. There’s no doubt that The Library at Mount Char is a weird read, but the sheer eeriness of it creates a heart-thudding reaction in readers that encourages them to return to the title.

7

The Lesser Dead (2014)

By Christopher Buehlman

The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman is an incredible vampire book that would make a great movie. While vampire stories are rather common nowadays, especially because of the success of the Twilight books and film adaptations, The Lesser Dead takes things in a different direction. The book is set in the ‘70s and focuses on a group of vampires who live underneath New York. The Lesser Dead is interestingly told through the self-proclaimed unreliable narrator, Joey, who has been a vampire since the age of 14.

The Lesser Dead stands out because it’s not a hot romance book series with vampires, which is typical for this occult, but also because the vampires themselves aren’t the scariest thing about the story.

While this initially seems similar to TV shows like What We Do in the Shadows, The Lesser Dead is far gorier. The imagery of the subway system and the unnerving, not quite human, children that Joey meets is spine-tingling, and it makes the book’s most horrifying moments even more disturbing when details of Joey’s own strange backstory are littered in between. The Lesser Dead stands out because it’s not a hot romance book series with vampires, which is typical for this occult, but also because the vampires themselves aren’t the scariest thing about the story.

6

Mongrels (2016)

By Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones’ Mongrels offers a unique take on werewolves, in a fascinating coming-of-age story about a young boy struggling to find his place in the world. Mongrels is a great supernatural book, but it also delves into the difficulties of living on the edge of society and tackles both class and race divide. As a novel, Mongrels subverts a lot of typical werewolf traits. The story follows the narrator, a young boy who ages from 7 to 17 throughout the book, who grows up in a werewolf family and is raised by his aunt and uncle.

Everyone faces issues during their formative years, but Mongrels provides an unusual perspective on the matter. While the main character experiences typical teenage struggles, he is also trying to understand where he belongs as a werewolf outcast. Although Mongrels isn’t as traditionally scary as some other horror titles, Jones uses some incredibly unsettling metaphors and imagery at times that are nothing short of memorable, and establishes the inner workings of a teenage boy in a truly notable way.

5

Bunny (2019)

By Mona Awad

While a horror title, Bunny by Mona Awad is also a creative fantasy book that defies tropes, too. The balance between fantasy and horror in Bunny is fascinating, and the story focuses on Samantha, an MFA student who struggles to gain the acceptance of her peers in her writers’ workshop. This initially seems a simple premise, but Samantha’s involvement with the titular Bunnies sends her down a path filled with rituals, monsters, and the loss of reality.

Other than the Bunnies’ demonic creations, Awad gets inventive when it comes to scaring readers. There are themes throughout Bunny that highlight the realities of loneliness in women, specifically when it comes to forming relationships with other females, too. Although the idea of a sorority-type group of girls being involved in the paranormal isn’t new, and Bunny seems cliché at a glance, Awad executes this story in such an unexpected way that readers continue to think about it long after finishing the final page.

4

Winter Tide (2017)

By Ruthanna Emrys

Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys is a truly unusual horror book, but that’s what makes it stand out. The novel is set in an alternate history within H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos universe, and follows two siblings who are Innsmouth survivors. While Lovecraft’s “Shadow Over Innsmouth” depicts the cultists as monstrous beings living under horrifying religious standards, Emrys offers a new perspective in Winter Tide, and the story’s villains are simply humans whose way of life is different to that of others.

Winter Tide brilliantly uses both real-life and invented events throughout, which adds to the eerie tone of the book, as it’s hard to predict whether the outcome will follow fact or fiction. There is always a sense of looming anxiety throughout, and Winter Tide’s world of discrimination through Aphra and Caleb’s lens is fascinating. While the pacing of this historical fantasy book is slow at times, it only increases the fear in readers’ hearts, especially as the story can be so unpredictable.

3

The Shining Girls (2013)

By Lauren Beukes

Lauren Beukes’ The Shining Girls isn’t officially categorized as a horror book, but because of its August Derleth award for Best Horror Novel win, it is considered as such. However, the fact this book subverts so many horror tropes, covers so many themes, and is rather layered, The Shining Girls is definitely an amazingly creative title in the genre. The Shining Girls focuses on Harper Curtis, a time traveling serial killer who bounces across several decades and targets the titular group.

The story leaves Curtis’ motivation a little vague at times. It’s unclear whether his murderous rampage is just because he is a killer, because he is influenced by the strange house he comes across at the beginning of the book, or a bit of both. However, the fact that this is unclear adds to the unsettling tone throughout. The narrative also jumps between Curtis’ events and a future investigation, but because it is told out-of-order, readers never really know what is coming next.

2

John Dies At The End (2007)

By David Wong (Jason Pargin)

John Dies at the End is a comic horror novel by David Wong, Jason Pargin’s pseudonym, which is a Lovecraft-inspired title. Paranormal investigators David and John’s story is silly and wonderful, but the humorous angle doesn’t take away from the fact that John Dies at the End is rather dark. There are several examples of very eerie and unsettling imagery throughout, even despite the comical ways they appear.

For example, John’s drug-fueled visions of a monster Dave can’t see, Robert Marley exploding into a huge swarm of bugs, and John’s voice coming out of Molly’s mouth. While the humor of John Dies at the End isn’t for everyone, there’s no doubt that the situations the pair end up in are ridiculous, but this doesn’t take away from the overall horror atmosphere of the story.

The book feels like a parody or mocking of the typical horror story, and while the dramas occur one after the other and border on absurd sometimes, it paces these events in such a way that it’s hard to put it down. Unfortunately, the adaptation isn’t as strong as the book, hence why the John Dies at the End sequel never happened.

1

Perdido Street Station (2000)

By China Miéville

Many often describe China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station as weird fiction, which makes sense, considering it is set in Bas-Lag, a world full of the strange combination of magic and steampunk technology. Perdido Street Station follows Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin, a scientist who accidentally releases a terrifying flying creature called a slakemoth into society.

The slakemoth isn’t the only harrowing monster that features in Perdido Street Station, and several inventive yet petrifying creations like the Weaver also appear throughout. The implementation of magic within a Victorian-themed world creates an odd yet endearing tone in Perdido Street Station, but the story is the true horror.

At a glance, Perdido Street Station seems like just a fantasy book, but once readers get invested, it’s apparent that it’s a horror story that truly defies the genre’s tropes.

The slakemoths’ brutal violence, Mr. Motley’s dangerous dealings and attitude, and the political tension between species in Bas-Lag are all unnerving. At a glance, Perdido Street Station seems like just a fantasy book, but once readers get invested, it’s apparent that it’s a horror story that truly defies the genre’s tropes.