When it comes to horror, there’s no shortage of unique, terrifying tales. Horror authors have a talent for mining our deepest fears and insecurities, then using them to tell fascinating, engaging, and horrifying stories. While there are so many classic horror authors—such as Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Shirley Jackson—you ought to explore, this list focuses on a selection of current, contemporary horror authors whose works are as enthralling as they are terrifying. From serial killers to ghosts to the eerie and unexplainable, these authors offer some of the best that the horror genre has to give.
Stephen King
We couldn't write about the best horror authors and not include the King of Horror! Stephen King is the prolific writer of dozens of horror novels, with a dash of mystery, paranormal, and a little sci-fi thrown in for good measure. He got his start writing short stories (and continues to publish short fiction to this day) before the publication of his debut novel, Carrie, which is narrated in audio by the acclaimed film adaptation’s star, Sissy Spacek. He’s best known for titles such as The Shining, The Stand, It, and so other many unforgettable stories that have inspired countless film and TV adaptations. If for some reason you haven't yet listened to anything by Stephen King, we can't recommend his chilling work enough.
Stephen Graham Jones
Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfeet Native American author best known for his horror audiobooks, but his works are often experimental in nature, ranging from literary to pulp horror. His stories often reflect his background as a Native writer—Mapping the Interior, for instance, is a novella about a 15-year-old boy who sees the figure of his father, who died before he and his family left the reservation. A parody of horror conventions, The Last Final Girl follows the last girl who survived one bloodbath and is determined to survive more horrors to come. Both are narrated by Eric G. Dove. Jones's latest release, The Only Good Indians is a revenge story focused on four Native American men who find themselves facing the repercussions of a youthful elk hunting incident where they made a life-changing choice.
Jonathan Maberry
Beware! Once you step into Jonathan Maberry's postapocalyptic world, there’s no going back. Horror fans know nothing beats a classic, and Maberry's action-packed spins on those classic baddies—zombies—are among the greatest of all time. Take your pick of zombie hunters to follow in his bestselling Joe Ledger, Dead of Night, and Rot & Ruin series, or explore something on the short (but definitely not sweet) side with a chilling ghost story or a twisty werewolf tale. Maberry's knack for thrills and chills keeps fans thoroughly entertained from start to finish. What else can you expect from a multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror genius?
Joe Hill
Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King, and while he may not be quite as prolific as his father (yet!), he's written an impressive array of comic books and horror novels. Early in his career, he decided to use the pseudonym Joe Hill in an attempt to distinguish himself from his famous dad. With the publication of his debut novel 20th Century Ghosts, however, speculation about his family history (and his resemblance to his father) abounded, so he became open about the connection in 2007. Hill is also the author of Horns and Locke & Key, an Audible Original narrated by a star-studded cast that includes Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany, and Kate Mulgrew. If you're looking for excellent horror narrated by a talented actress, look no further—Mulgrew narrates many of Joe Hill's books, including the widely acclaimed NOS4A2.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia was born in Mexico and now lives in Canada, and although she's a prolific writer across all genres, it's only recently that she's become well-known for her horror. Her first horror release, Mexican Gothic is set in a moldering estate in the Mexican countryside and dwells on the horrors of colonialism and eugenics. She's also published numerous horror short stories and has edited anthologies inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft. (Her master's thesis was entitled, "Magna Mater: Women and Eugenic Thought in the Work of H.P. Lovecraft," so trust us when we say she really knows horror!) If you'd like to wade into her body of work, pick up Mexican Gothic, narrated by Frankie Corzo, or her most recent horror release, Certain Dark Things.
Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz is the author of numerous thriller, paranormal, mystery, and horror novels. He got his start writing science fiction before trying his hand at horror and suspense, and throughout the 60s and 70s, he wrote many novels under a wide array of pseudonyms. Whispers, a chilling story of a man driven to kill, became his breakout hit, and Strangers was his first novel published in hardcover. Koontz continues to write in a range of genres, but his notable horror titles include Phantoms, the Odd Thomas series narrated by David Aaron Baker, and Intensity.
Grady Hendrix
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, and now residing in New York City, Grady Hendrix writes horror that will particularly appeal to pop culture fans. His first novel was Horrorstör, a horror satire about a popular Nordic home goods store in the Midwest that opens each morning to find strange destruction and mayhem, and the employees who volunteer to stay overnight in the store to get to the bottom of it. He's also written My Best Friend's Exorcism, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller, and The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, narrated by Bahni Turpin, which both take place in his hometown of Charleston in the 80s and 90s. So far, each of his books have been published to wide acclaim and optioned for either TV or film.
Victor LaValle
Victor LaValle is a writer of essays and novels, and although not all of his works are in the horror genre, it's perhaps what he's best known for. His novel Big Machine won the Shirley Jackson Award, and he followed it up with The Devil in Silver, a story about a man living in a mental institution where a monster lurks. The Ballad of Black Tom is a retelling of the H.P. Lovecraft short story "The Horror at Red Hook," with an African American protagonist. Explores the fears surrounding being a new parent, his dark horror fantasy The Changeling won the World Fantasy Award and is currently being adapted for the screen.
Alma Katsu
Alma Katsu was born in Alaska and worked as an analyst for the federal government before turning to fiction. Her novels tend to combine historical events, supernatural occurrences, and horror elements. Katsu's debut novel was The Taker, about a woman who walks into a small-town ER as a murder suspect and tells a fantastical tale about immorality and darkness. She followed up the Taker trilogy with The Hunger, a dark supernatural take on the tragic course of events that befell the infamous Donner Party. Her latest listen, The Deep is about the evil that lurked on the Titanic—and two survivors of the sinking who meet years later on a WWI hospital ship.
Yoko Ogawa
Yoko Ogawa is a Japanese writer who widely publishes fiction and nonfiction alike. Although her first book to be translated into English and published in the US isn't horror, her other releases include Revenge, a collection of 11 dark and disturbing tales, and The Memory Police, which was a National Book Award finalist. Narrated by Traci Kato-Kiriyama, The Memory Police is an Orwellian nightmare about an island where objects disappear—and those who dare to remember them are targeted by the titular Memory Police.
Tananarive Due
Tananarive Due has written numerous books in the speculative and supernatural genres and is a Bram Stoker Award finalist. In addition to writing, she's also a film historian with a focus on Black horror and an educator who has taught at an MFA program. (She even teaches a course on Jordan Peele's groundbreaking film Get Out at UCLA!) Her novels include The Good House, narrated by Robin Miles, about a young woman who returns home to her grandmother's mansion only to face demonic forces, and Joplin's Ghost, the story of a young singer haunted by the past. And don't miss her debut short story collection Ghost Summer, released in 2020.
Jennifer McMahon
Jennifer McMahon writes suspenseful, eerie ghost stories. She grew up in Connecticut and now lives in Vermont; her New England background certainly inspires her work, which often incorporates elements of history and local lore. Her debut novel, Promise Not to Tell is about a woman who has returned home to care for her ailing mother only to be alarmed when certain events mirror her disturbing childhood. She followed it up with Don't Breathe a Word, the story of a man forced to face the truth about what really happened when his sister disappeared when they were children.
Christopher Buehlman
Christopher Buehlman might be one of the most interesting multi-hyphenates in contemporary horror. A novelist, poet, performer, and, in his spare time, a Ren Faire icon known as “Christopher the Insulter,” he also turns out acclaimed horror and fantasy bursting with literary prose and wild imagination. In Between Two Fires, Buehlman’s medieval expertise informs an epic 14th-century saga framed by religion and the Black Death, while his self-narrated novels, like the sinister vampire tales The Lesser Dead and The Suicide Motor Club, are among the best author performances of all time.
Catriona Ward
Few horror writers have made a splash over the past few years quite like the DC-born, Oxford-educated Catriona Ward. Arguably her breakout novel was 2021’s riveting The Last House on Needless Street, a dark and creepy psychological horror told from the POV of three compelling characters—one of whom is a cat. Little Eve, her Shirley Jackson Award-winning novel about a Scottish clan anticipating the apocalypse, was released in audio in 2022. Fans are eagerly awaiting the release of her next novel, Looking Glass Sound, in 2023.
Rachel Harrison
Wickedly funny and super prolific, Bram Stoker Award nominee Rachel Harrison has become a major author to watch since her 2020 debut, The Return. Since then, she’s published four more books, each one a delightfully original take on classic horror tropes. Cackle is a witty addition to witch lit, Such Sharp Teeth gives the werewolf novel fresh fangs, and Bad Dolls is a collection of four funny and frightening short stories. At under an hour and included in Audible Plus, her 2021 ghost story The Veil is one you absolutely have to hear.
