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B3 · Find your next book

Choose a reading mood. Each guide explains the story’s appeal, its tradeoffs, and the reader it is most likely to suit.

← Reading lists, writing ideas & book-night guides

Dark & unsettling

Haunted places, unstable realities, and the uneasy feeling that something is wrong.

The Hollow Places official book coverThe Hollow PlacesAn ordinary refuge opens onto an impossible, hostile landscape.House of Hollow official book coverHouse of HollowThree sisters, a missing month, and a dark fairy tale with disturbing bodily imagery.The Turn of the Screw official book coverThe Turn of the ScrewA Gothic novella where a governess’s certainty becomes part of the haunting.Dracula by Bram Stoker book coverDraculaDread Emerges from the Evidence People ShareCome Closer official book coverCome CloserA compact possession story about losing control of an ordinary life.Dark Matter official book coverDark MatterAn Arctic expedition, a long polar night, and a shrinking sense of safety.Ninth House official book coverNinth HouseSecret societies and the cost beneath a prestigious university’s magic.Annihilation official book coverAnnihilationAn expedition into a landscape that resists explanation.Starling House official book coverStarling HouseA gothic house, a difficult town, and the search for a place to belong.The Hazel Wood official book coverThe Hazel WoodA family’s dark fairy tales refuse to remain safely inside a book.What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher book coverWhat Moves the DeadA Familiar Gothic House Made Biologically StrangeMapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones book coverMapping the InteriorGrief, Family, and a House That Cannot Offer ReassuranceRing Shout by P. Djèlí Clark book coverRing ShoutResistance Gives Cosmic Horror a Different EnergyNothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw book coverNothing But Blackened TeethA Haunted Wedding with Damaged Relationships Already InsideThe Mist by Stephen King book coverThe MistA Siege Story About Decisions Made with Incomplete InformationThe Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker book coverThe Hellbound HeartDesire Turns the Doorway into a Horror PremiseThe Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson book coverThe Haunting of Hill HouseA House Story Whose Observer Is Part of the UneaseThe Woman in Black by Susan Hill book coverThe Woman in BlackA Traditional Ghost Story Built Around Isolation and WarningThe Little Stranger by Sarah Waters book coverThe Little StrangerClass, Attachment, and an Observer Inside the MysteryThe Silent Companions by Laura Purcell book coverThe Silent CompanionsA Gothic Household Where Objects Refuse to Stay DecorativeThe September House by Carissa Orlando book coverThe September HouseStaying in a Haunted Home Is the Central QuestionHow to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix book coverHow to Sell a Haunted HouseFamily Responsibilities Make the Property Hard to Leave BehindThe Auctioneer by Joan Samson book coverThe AuctioneerA community pressured into surrendering what it owns.Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia book coverMexican GothicAn Outsider’s Investigation Meets a House That Controls the Terms’Salem's Lot by Stephen King book cover’Salem's LotA Community Becomes the Scale of the ThreatThe Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones book coverThe Only Good IndiansPast Choices Keep Their Claims on the PresentThe Reformatory by Tananarive Due book coverThe ReformatoryHistorical Violence Gives the Ghost Story Its StakesThe Elementals by Michael McDowell book coverThe ElementalsSouthern Gothic dread around an isolated coastal house.The Ruins by Scott Smith book coverThe RuinsA Survival Situation That Keeps Removing Good OptionsThe Other by Thomas Tryon book coverThe OtherA disturbing rural childhood and the danger of appearances.We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson book coverWe Have Always Lived in the CastleA Household’s Protective Routines Become the StoryThe Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle book coverThe Ballad of Black TomA Familiar Cosmic-Horror Tradition Seen from an Excluded PositionThe Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper book coverThe Worm and His KingsThe Search for One Person Opens onto Cosmic ScaleThe Fisherman by John Langan book coverThe FishermanGrief Opens a Story Larger Than Its Initial CompanionsAgents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan book coverAgents of DreamlandCosmic Horror Told Through Fragments and Uneasy ConnectionsThis Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno book coverThis Thing Between UsA Domestic Life Made Unreliable by Grief and IntrusionSongs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti book coverSongs of a Dead Dreamer and GrimscribeA Collection for Readers Who Want the World’s Rules to Feel Untrustworthy
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Mysteries & discoveries

Follow an investigation, question an account, or explore an impossible place.

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Fantasy & folklore

Dangerous bargains, unruly magic, and familiar tales with something new to say.

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Epic & ambitious fantasy

Family, power, and richly imagined worlds worth settling into.

The Goblin Emperor official book coverThe Goblin EmperorAn unexpected emperor learns that kindness has political consequences.The Sword of Kaigen official book coverThe Sword of KaigenA military fantasy whose family conflict matters as much as its battles.Foundryside official book coverFoundrysideA heist shaped by who owns and controls the rules of magic.The City of Brass official book coverThe City of BrassBeautiful magic and competing loyalties in the city of Daevabad.The Poppy War official book coverThe Poppy WarAn academy opening that gives way to a brutal military fantasy.The Spear Cuts Through Water official book coverThe Spear Cuts Through WaterA mythic journey with an ambitious, layered way of telling its story.Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell official book coverJonathan Strange & Mr. NorrellA long, richly detailed return of magic to an alternate England.The Inheritance Trilogy official book coverThe Inheritance TrilogyThree connected accounts of gods, family power, and its consequences.The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch book coverThe Lies of Locke LamoraConfidence Games with Something to LoseMistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson book coverMistborn: The Final EmpireA Heist Gives Epic Fantasy a Clear EngineThe Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin book coverThe Fifth SeasonCatastrophe Is Both Geological and PersonalThe Black Company by Glen Cook book coverThe Black CompanyEpic War Seen from the Company RanksThe Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien book coverThe SilmarillionRead Middle-earth as Myth and HistoryThe Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin book coverThe Broken Earth TrilogyShould You Commit to the Complete Set?The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie book coverThe First Law TrilogyA Grim Fantasy Set Built on Character FrictionA Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin book coverA Game of ThronesFamily Loyalty Meets Political ConsequenceAmerican Gods by Neil Gaiman book coverAmerican GodsA Road Trip Through the Life of BeliefCity of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett book coverCity of StairsA Murder Investigation Opens a Buried HistoryThe Bone Season by Samantha Shannon book coverThe Bone SeasonA Hidden Talent Becomes a Survival ProblemThe Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon book coverThe Priory of the Orange TreeDifferent Beliefs Share an Approaching DangerKings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames book coverKings of the WyldOld Friends Give the Quest Its WeightBlack Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James book coverBlack Leopard, Red WolfA Search Story Makes Truth UnstableThe Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter book coverThe Rage of DragonsTraining Turns Grief into Relentless Momentum
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Science fiction

Unfamiliar societies, artificial minds, altered futures, and new ways of seeing.

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Comfort, classics & belonging

Home, friendship and the work of finding a place in the world.

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Romance & relationships

Love under pressure, from public lives to a world of hidden magic.

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