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I love a meme that I believe captures my essence. In the central image of this meme, a young girl with long dark hair wearing a white lace dress and a white daisy crown hugs a slobbering beast, all hooves and horns, long tail and evil sharp teeth. In its eyes—tiny pupils swimming in dark sclera—I saw bloodlust. Meanwhile, the girl presses her cheek against the creature’s flank with obvious affection.

The image is from an oil painting by Omar Rayyan titled little darlings. For the purposes of the meme, the text “I” is hovering above the girl and the words “My Taste in Books” are superimposed above the monster.

Ha ha.

When I was young, it was my father’s John Saul and Stephen King books that put me into a funk. Even now, the genre is still populated by cisgender white men, and I still love the work of Grady Hendrix, Nick Carter, Marcus Clare, and Daniel Kraus.

But who knows the true horrors better than those most marginalized by society? Who better to write about horror than someone who regularly experiences some level of horror just to survive? As my list of instant buy authors continues to grow, I’m excited to see more people’s work being platformed and celebrated.

Every October, I share a list of my favorite novels in the horror genre that aren’t written by your average cis white guy on FBC. Immerse yourself in these tales of horror and disgust! Of course, share your own favorites in the comments.

So Thirsty, Rachel Harrison

I feel like Rachel Harrison ends up on all my lists. There is nothing I can do. Since her first novel in 2020 (returnwhich is full of creepy shit, but also contains smart commentary on female friendship), and I simply can’t get enough of her. exist so thirstyReleased just last month, “Harrison” gives us another version of troubled female friendship in the form of two very different best friends. As they go away for the weekend together, protagonist Sloane imagines cozy times sipping wine and wearing luxurious robes. But her troublemaker friend Naomi is looking for crazier times, and when Sloane reluctantly follows, they get more than they bargained for. (I’m sure you can guess what they got based on the cover image, which features a goblet filled with what looks like blood and a jaunty cocktail with a bat and a moon on it.) As usual , I love how Harrison’s books are filled with horror and dark humor, as well as women who cling to friendships even when the going gets tough.

“The Butcher of the Forest” by Premi Mohammed

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed — Book cover features fantasy creatures overlaid on dark flora

This dark folkloric fantasy novella has been on my TBR (it came out earlier this year). exist forest butcherMuhammad turns the horror up to 11, using the metaphor of a fairy tale of two children lost in the woods. In a world where ruthless tyrants bring the populace to submission, the deadly forest casts a shadow. It is said that this forest is full of ancient monsters, stubborn ghosts and other dangers, and no one who enters it can come out alive. Except for one: our protagonist, who is summoned by a hateful tyrant to re-enter the woods when his child goes missing. Veris was given the chance to one day find these children and bring them back to safety. What followed was described by critics as a “fever dream”. I appreciate Muhammad’s intention in writing this novel because of how she interrogates who the real monster is. I think my favorite horror films always explore the evil in human nature.

Amina Akhtar is almost certainly dead

8 horror works by fierce female writers Almost Surely Dead

In this entertaining supernatural thriller, Dunia Ahmed survives an assassination attempt… only to be repeatedly attacked each time. Then, she disappeared. The story flips back and forth between Dunya’s point of view and clips from a true-crime podcast trying to solve the mystery of her disappearance. It’s been a fun ride, but what makes almost certainly dead What’s extra interesting is the inclusion of Pakistani folklore…specifically the jinn tales of our protagonist’s upbringing. As we watch Dunya try to escape death, we gradually learn that even more pernicious is her attempt to escape the guilt of her father’s death when she was young…a guilt that comes from the fact that her family all blames her for his death.

Black Girls Are Here, edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell

Black Girls Are Here to Survive - purple book cover showing a black woman with her hands in front of her mouth and a look of surprise and/or fear on her face

I don’t read too many anthologies, but Tananarive Due wrote the foreword for this YA anthology, and I’ll follow her wherever she goes. You can probably tell from the title, but the 15 stories inside Black girls survived this one Against the horrific pattern that people of color are always the first to die. Instead, what we see is a group of black final girls who are firmly at the center of every story, fighting hard to make another day, no matter what they face.

The Craft: Stories for the Devil by Ananda Lima

Craft: The Story I Wrote for the Devil - book cover with red and green text

It’s an odd duck, but I like it when things are weird. The framework for the story comes from the author at the center of the story, who meets the devil at a Halloween party and ends up sleeping with him. The rest of the book doesn’t necessarily follow this partnership, although they do intersect again and again. Instead, it’s made up of stories the protagonist creates for the devil, stories that are in some way informed by this earlier encounter. The stories are surreal and haunting, and I felt like they were enough on their own to tie the whole book together. Do we need a framework for the author’s original love affair with the devil? I’m not sure. Is the title——?Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil-deliver? Maybe not, because I sometimes long to know more about the relationship itself. But the stories themselves were so enjoyable that I almost didn’t care. Still, the author said in interviews that she was fascinated by how the devil is used by oppressed people to make sense of their pain, and by those in power to legitimize their horrific actions. This can provide an interesting perspective on these stories.

Model home designed by Rivers Solomon

Rivers Solomon's Model House - Book cover features a sketch of a haunted house (an eyeball occupying an upstairs window) superimposed on a green background

I have just started reading this book and I am already fascinated by the beauty of its language. model house is a haunted house novel – you don’t know if the ghosts are supernatural in nature, ascribed to some more rational explanation, or if they’re all in the characters’ heads. This is my favorite type The haunted house story. Oh my gosh, this is my favorite type of horror story. In this particular story, the Maxwell family moves into an upper-middle-class gated community outside of Dallas, where they happen to be the only black family. Immediately, terrible things begin to happen, which may or may not be otherworldly. No matter what, the family matriarch refused to be forced to give up her home. The three Maxwell brothers eventually fled as adults, leaving behind their parents. But when they learn of their parents’ deaths, they are forced to return home and find out what really happened.

The Book of Witchcraft and Wizardry by C.J. Cook

The Book of Witching by CJ Cooke - book cover features silhouettes of trees and a large raven against an orange-red background

At the time of writing, Cooke’s novel has not yet been released, but will Available as you read this article. So I haven’t read it yet. But if witchcraft is involved, I’m in. book of witchcraftA young woman ends up comatose in the hospital after an ill-fated hiking trip leaves her boyfriend dead, her friends missing. When she wakes up, she doesn’t recognize her mother and insists her name isn’t Erin; it’s Nicks. When her mom goes looking for answers, she stumbles upon the history of a woman who was wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago. Is it related to what is happening now? Welp! I was sold.

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Fetto

8 horror works by fierce female writers Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

The last one won’t be posted until February (sorry, sorry), but I loved it victorian mental patient Then me have Include it in this list. This exciting black comedy follows a bloodthirsty governess who searches for closure but gets it anyway. I don’t read many historical novels, but the protagonist of this book—the living embodiment of #nofilter—was so compelling that I couldn’t stop reading. This woman’s behavior was truly outrageous, and the book goes to great lengths to describe her behavior. At the same time, I couldn’t help but root for her because deep down, I felt like the source of her rage deserved everything he got. As crazy as this book is, it offers some great commentary on women, sex, and desire, and boy do I hope this woman gets everything she wants.

Are there any other horror works by female authors that you’ve liked recently that I should add to my TBR?

Steph Auteri is a journalist who has written for The Atlantic, Pacific Standard, VICE, and more. More of her literary work has appeared in Poets & Writers, Creative Nonfiction, Southwest Review, and other publications. Her memoir “A DIRTY WORD” was reportedly published in 2018. She is the founder of GuerrillaSexEd.org. Favorite genres: horror, comics, horror comics, and narrative journalism.