
The Edge of Horror
October 14, 2025
While October is, as far as we’re concerned, indisputably the most wonderful time of the year, it does come with a bit of a wrinkle.
It’s the same wrinkle that plagues us in our research.
As you may have noticed, we adore all things Gothic. Atmospheric. Uncanny and sinister. Seasonally spine-tingling.
And also, we don’t do horror. Slasher movies? No thank you. Gore? We will leave the room. A jump scare WITH gore? We will scream and claw our way under the sofa. #dignity
We have theories about why this is, but it tracks with our general lack of thrill-seeking behavior. Adventure and novelty? Yes. Adrenaline dumps? Nope, we’re all good. We already have several humans’ worth of it coursing freely through our veins.
And this presents a bit of a problem when your favorite things in the world – and almost every part of your research agenda – are all dancing right on the edge of your zone of tolerance and one misstep means you won’t sleep normally for the next two months.
(You might think we’re exaggerating, but Sara once accidentally saw Event Horizon and left all the fluorescent lights on overnight in her apartment for the next 8 weeks.)

But tis’ the season. And, since we got many emails in response to Sara’s list of vampire recs last week, we thought that this week, we would share our favorite almost-but-not-quite horror-adjacent recs. Some Gothic, some psychological horror (ish), some folk horror.
(If you’re curious what the difference is between the Gothic and horror and folk horror and terror, tell us! If there’s interest, maybe we’ll talk about that next week?)
In the meantime, want to be lightly terrified? READ ON!
House of Leaves (2000) by Mark Z. Danielewski – Basically an extremely meta haunted house book. Written in epistolary style (i.e. made of fictional documents like letters or newspaper articles presented to look as if they are real), the novel has multiple narrators and is made to appear vaguely academic in style, which we find delightful and hilarious. The story itself is about the making of a fictional documentary called The Navidson Record, which details the harrowing experiences of a family who discovers that their house is seriously messed up. New doors and rooms keep appearing and disappearing. A seemingly bottomless stairway descends forever into unknown depths. Endless subterranean mazes unfold, and the house’s owner becomes increasingly obsessed with the mystery instead of RUNNING AWAY. This book has the best, weirdest, creepiest atmosphere, which can be enhanced by simultaneously listening to Poe’s (Mark Z. Danielewski’s sister) album Haunted.
Slashed Beauties (2025) by A. Rushby – This one is not for the faint of heart. The official description reads: “A gothic feminist body horror in two timelines revolving around three Anatomical Venuses—ultrarealistic wax figures of women—that come to life at night to murder men who have wronged them.” Content warnings for, like, everything: gendered violence, abuse, pet death, medical trauma, and more. But if you are not easily fazed and think Gothic feminist body horror sounds like a good time, this was one of the most compelling and unputdownable books we’ve read this year so far – Sara tore through it in less than 24 hours last week.
Gideon the Ninth (2019) by Tamsyn Muir – We mention this book every chance we get. It’s both incredibly hilarious and incredibly creepy, and we like to describe it as Agatha Christie does The Hunger Games in space with lesbian swordfights and necromancy. Incidentally, we would also call this one Gothic feminist body horror. The scene in the basement with Gideon and the Fourth still haunts our nightmares, and it’s still one of our favorite books ever written.
A Sorceress Comes to Call (2024) by T Kingfisher – T. Kingfisher is one of those authors that, when we read her, we are WRATHFUL because her books are simply too good to be allowed. How dare she? We love everything of hers that we’ve read (and that’s almost all of her many, many books), but for our money, her absolute finest so far are Nettle and Bone, What Moves the Dead, and A Sorceress Comes to Call. Sorceress is our October book club pick, so check out this absolutely terrifying yet somehow wholesome retelling of “The Goose Girl” with the scariest horse in the world and then come talk with us about it on October 21st at 7PM ET (or catch the replay – both are available for anyone who supports our Patreon at the $7+ tier!)
The Spirit Collection of Thorne Hall (2025) by J. Ann Thomas – We don’t want to say too much about this one because we’re about to say A WHOLE BUNCH (can you guess what our next course is going to be?), but it’s about a very haunted house and some very creative ways to deal with it. We LOVE the magic system in this one and the ways that it intersects with folklore. And also that it’s based on a real, historical house!
The Masque of the Red Death (1842) by Edgar Allan Poe – We wanted to throw a short story in here for a quick read, and Poe’s “Masque” is a classic Gothic masterpiece that was extremely formative for us as young teens. It’s also about 100 times more disturbing after living through the early 2020s.
Night Film (2013) by Marisha Pessl – If you enjoy your verge-of-horror with a pinch of thriller, some meditation on the nature of art and obsession, and a dash of enchantment, you’ve absolutely got to check out Night Film. Marisha Pessl is an incredible writer (Brittany is plowing her way through all of her books right now and insisting Sara join her ASAP), and this one, about an investigative reporter trying to figure out the mysteries behind a cult-horror film director, is absolutely terrifying and brutal and magic. Also, Enchantments (an occult magic shop in NYC that we have frequented many times) features heavily, which is delightful.
Wylding Hall (2015) by Elizabeth Hand – Folk horror can be a little bit hit or miss for us, if you want to know the truth. The fact that it so often relies on the premise that “folk” = uneducated, pagan, violent harbingers of past terrors can be, well, a little annoying and reductive to folklorists. It also tends to involve a lot of animal sacrifice, which is a BIG no for us. When it’s done well, though, it can also be the exact kind of shiver-inducing thrill we love. Hand’s Wylding Hall hits the right notes – a story about a band whose lead singer disappears while they’re recording at a crumbling manor in the countryside, we particularly love the way she weaves in traditional ballads.
The Haunting of Hill House (1959) by Shirley Jackson – This one teeters VERY close to being too scary for us, but it’s so brilliant that we just can’t help but be completely captivated anyway. From the iconic first lines, to the cup of stars, to the writing on the walls, and finally to the completely horrifying but perfect ending, Jackson shows here exactly why she’s on so many lists of the masters of terror. If you haven’t ever read this one (and its authorized sequel, A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand), give it a try. We can pretty much guarantee Hill House will draw you in… and compel you to stay even when you kinda want to run away, as it has so many before.
Turn of the Screw (1898) by Henry James – James is the master of the ambiguous ghost story because of this text – are the ghosts real? Is the governess mad? Is Miles demonic? Does any of it even matter when you’re terrified anyway? No, it really doesn’t. For the best kind of psychological headache (with an unbeatable Gothic atmosphere written in gorgeous late Victorian prose), we always TURN back to this (*”ahhh,” Brittany hears Sara scream, “that was terrible!” “Whatever, you loved it,” she responds gleefully.*)
If you read any of these, reply in the comments or via email and tell us what you thought! Happy October-ing!
P.S. Seriously, come talk with us in book club about A Sorceress Comes to Call! Our book club has been going strong (and has never missed a month) in OVER FIVE YEARS, it’s just $7 a month on Patreon, and it’s always such a good time!
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