Thrills That Chill: 7 Horror Thriller Books To Add To Your TBR!

Set in Los Angeles, the city that practically invented impossible beauty standards, this horror thriller combines sapphic romance, celebrity worship, and beauty culture. Lila Devlin was a top actress with an enviable career, an amazing husband, and a baby, Josie (what a great name!). But when Josie is kidnapped, Lila’s entire life falls apart.

Ten years after fleeing Hollywood, Lila returns to LA to start a skincare brand. However, her fresh start is soon spoiled when a blogger dies after an encounter with her, leading her to discover a secret ingredient for her beauty products. The body count continues to rise along with the tension as Lila starts to untangle the mystery surrounding Josie’s kidnapping.

Kylie is a community college student trying to become a successful social media influencer, just like her best friend, Erin. She longs for likes, sponsors, gifts, and to outshine Erin. But no matter what she does, she can’t find success.

That’s until a video of a classmate's murder is leaked online and Kylie stumbles upon an invite-only app called MonoLife. Among other cryptic rules, users are not allowed to talk about MonoLife, and Kylie gains impressive amounts of followers through the app by posting violent videos. Each post is more disturbing than the last, yet the more she posts, the more both her audience and her social media addiction grow.

As Kylie becomes more immersed in her online world, her real world starts to fall apart, until you can’t tell what's real and what isn't.

Winifred Notty manages to be both horrifying and hilarious as a murderous governess. It’s clear from page one that she IS a Victorian Psycho. Sprinkled throughout the book are asides about past transgressions, but it starts with Miss Notty, the newly hired caretaker of the insufferable Pound children and their equally insufferable parents. The parents and children constantly use their wealth, power, and privilege to humiliate and demean Miss Notty and the other servants, but Miss Notty is playing the long game, and she will not let those microaggressions go unpunished.

The climax of the story unfolds in spectacular fashion, and though it’s not for the faint of heart, it’s infinitely satisfying. The perfect combination of gothic horror and psychological horror, this was a five-star read for me, and Winifred Notty is the ultimate villain that you can’t help but admire.

The book opens at the height of the E.T. craze when new girl Gretchen is the only person to show up to Abby’s E.T.-themed tenth birthday at a roller rink (the DJ is playing Journey’s “Open Arms.” How could this day not become the moment that bonds them together?).

Fast forward to 1988: the girls are in high school, and the nation is clutching its pearls at the height of the Satanic Panic. After a night of skinny dipping goes awry, Gretchen starts behaving oddly. As things get weirder and weirder, Abby eventually pieces together that Gretchen is possessed by a demon.

Spoiler alert: This book isn’t called “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” for nothing! As any decent bestie would do, Abby goes to great lengths to save her friend from the devil inside her. Never before have I read a book that blends suspense, tension, nostalgia, humor (and more than a few gross-out moments), and depicts the subtleties of female friendship so perfectly. I don’t cry easily at books these days, especially horror, but this one had me full-on bawling at the end, in the best way possible.

Sixteen-year-old Carrie White is the awkward, naive only child of fanatically religious Margaret. Despite Carrie’s attempts to make friends, the other students at her high school find her odd and bully her. But Carrie has been concealing something from Margaret and everyone else: she can move objects with her mind, often hurting others.

As Margaret becomes more abusive in an attempt to tighten her grip on her daughter, Carrie begins to come into her own, recognizing and wielding her power. The tension grows as Margaret soon starts to fear her daughter, while Carrie is befriended by a classmate and invited to the prom.

But even her newfound power is not enough to protect Carrie from betrayal, resulting in one of the most iconic (if not THE most iconic) prom scenes in history. This is the ultimate story of female rage and revenge, redefining what it means to go scorched earth.