Similarly to my original Intro to Indie posts (which you can check out here: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi) this is an idea I’ve been brewing for months. Also feel free to check out my original Intro to Indie + Rep post for Fantasy here. Not just where to start with horror or underrated horrors, but horror from authors you may have never heard of, authors that may not look, sound, or think like you, authors that are marginalized or even ‘own voice’ writers. These are the authors I aim to highlight in this second string of posts.
Much like last time, I asked my bookstagram, my twitter, this blog, my discord channels, and gathered a list of ten horror books from different people. I also allowed authors to suggest themselves this time, as long as the picks weren’t coming from me! I’m just putting the list together. Regardless of if they are independent/small press releases or self published, the point was to pull people away from traditional publishers to try something new, both in terms of indie reads and representation. These authors have stood by their stories, perhaps even surviving the trenches that is traditional querying, and worked tirelessly to make them the best they can. Every word of their efforts is worth checking out.
If you think I’m missing some important ones, just comment below!
Below I will include the cover, purchase links, sub-genres, the kind of rep, and synopsis of each. Please remember these are all endorsed by avid readers too!
Synopsis (Occult & Haunted House Horror) Hispanic Rep
“A haunted house story that will give you The Conjuring vibes.”—Kasha’s Book Sematary
Fleeing an abusive boyfriend, Cindy moves into her late grandmother’s creepy old house with her young daughter. At first, the home is comfortable and nostalgic. But soon, ghosts randomly appear day and night, doors open and close, a streak of bad luck begins, and Cindy and her daughter have unsettling nightmares. Cindy’s mental state is pushed to the edge.
When Cindy’s video recording of paranormal activity goes viral, she gets the attention of famous ghost hunters. With nowhere else to turn, Cindy accepts their help to find and eliminate the source of the haunting.
Can Cindy and the team of paranormal investigators survive the haunting of The House on Moon Creek Avenue?
Synopsis (Gothic & Dystopian Horror) LGBTQ Rep
Forsake the world that hates you. Embrace its monster.
Tresor Institute accepts only the worthy, and Ada Călinescu is anything but. Intractable, mannish, a child of convicted terrorists, she can at best hope to be overlooked. Yet somehow the Institute accepts her application for transfer. Her ticket to the polar town of Heilung, home of the Institute, arrives free of charge.
Her only chance to forge a brighter future.
Except Heilung welcomes Ada with news of a brutal murder. Militiamen stalk the town, keen to fill their arrest quotas—and Ada knows she could make an easy scapegoat. At every turn the bloody conspiracy follows her, from the halls of Tresor to the arms of a stranger she yearns to make hers. What starts as a dalliance risks putting Ada at odds with the Bureau itself.
And then expulsion will be the least of her concerns.
Synopsis (Folk, Mythology & US Horror) Native American Lit Rep
“A Lovecraftian horror tale inspired by Native American Myths and colonial times”
Harvest Nights is a story told through a young boy named Chua (Snake), who narrates the story of how the days were gone and replaced by nights when a strange shooting star appeared in the sky in 1811 Colonial America (Great Comet of 1811). During those dreadful nights, Chua, and later three other people, will have to survive the other worldly creatures that will stop at nothing to eat. A Lovecraftian horror story featuring famous historical figures and creatures inspired by Native American myths.
“It was the surgically-precise gore, the sensations of body horror, and the tenticular terror that Ahmed Alameen penned that will stick with me for a long time.”—Michael Arnzen, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Play Dead and 100 Jolts
*Here’s one I’ve read if you’d like to read my review!*
Synopsis (Horror Novella) Trans Rep
Bram Stoker Award-winning author Hailey Piper joins Bad Hand Books with a supernatural crime novella.
What’s been happening at Cranberry Cove? It’s unspeakable. It’s unspoken.
Emberly Hale is about to take a dark journey inside the derelict hotel—and inside her own past—to find out the horrible truth.
“Cranberry Cove feels like a more thoughtful and nuanced episode of Tales from the Crypt with its harrowing examination of masculinity and gender roles inside a carnivorous hotel. Exquisitely written with Piper’s signature lush and haunting prose, this bleak and undeniably upsetting novella will provoke and excite like all excellent works of art should.” —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
Synopsis (Short Story Horror) Hispanic Rep
Enter “Nightmares from a Desk.” A chilling collection of horror stories bound to take you on a rollercoaster of terror and suspense. Each tale is meticulously crafted to take you through twists and turns, designed to lure you into a world of spine-tingling encounters, unearthly creatures, and unspeakable nightmares.
Synopsis (Western & US Horror) Jewish & LGBTQ Rep
The settlement of Grey’s Bluffs is a prosperous town. An independent community dwelling in the shadows of the mountains known only as The Hungers.
Esther Foxman and Siobhan O’Clery have grown up in Grey’s Bluffs, thriving out on the western territories in the aftermath of the Civil War. Devoted to one another and their home, the two set out to complete a regular pact at the Hungers to ensure that Grey’s Bluffs continues to prosper.
Cyril Redstone is a man who knows death well. Becoming a mercenary after the Civil War, Cyril leads the marauding Blackhawks from one slaughter to the next. Hired to destroy Grey’s Bluffs, Cyril cares little for morality, nor that he owes its founder his life.
Esther and Siobhan are left to defend the only home they have ever known from the Blackhawks, their confrontation driving them deep into the mountains.
Where the darkest secrets of the Hungers await them.
Synopsis (Financial Thriller & Ghost Horror) LGBTQ Rep/POC Character Rep
Within the carcass of Detroit’s prosperity, something dark has arisen.
James, Harvey, and Alice have all lost their jobs- victims of the 2008 financial crisis. Listless and scared for the future, they explore an abandoned shopping mall along with their friend Latisha, in the hopes of going viral on YouTube. Their adventure takes a turn when a mysterious fog takes them to another world, where pain, fear, and loss manifest, and their dreams blur with reality.
How can one escape a place that doesn’t want them to leave? James and his friends might just be rats in a maze.
Where Dreams Are Lost is the second entry in the Eight Nightmares Collection, a collection of horror stories about the dreamlike, the surreal, and encounters with the fantastical. Where Dreams Are Lost is rated R for gore, homophobia, suicide, death, homelessness, poverty and implied drug use. Reader discretion is advised.
Synopsis (Small Town Holiday & Slasher Horror) Disability & LGBTQ Rep
Oh what fun it is to DIE!
When Austin’s parents drag him and his little sister Fiona to a remote cottage for Christmas, he’s less than thrilled about the forced bonding exercise. But after learning that their holiday getaway was the site of a horrific crime, this family on the rocks will have to fight for their lives against a legendary killer… because Candy Cain is slashing through the snow with a very long naughty list.
Synopsis (Horror Novelette) Queer Rep
In When the Devil, Libby finds salvation in a new sapphic partner, homebrewed poison, and facing a God she no longer believes in.
Synopsis (Historical Mystery, Thriller & Horror) Gay Rep
Nebraska city, 1901.
There’s a curse on Arbor Lodge—an elusive demon reclaiming the illustrious home in the name of the prairie—and its owner,
J. Sterling Morton, proud statesman, is desperate. It couldn’t be more fortuitous for lumberjack Neville, whose greatest desire is to prove himself a true man to the world.
Morton offers respect, security, pride, even the father figure Neville never had; and all the lumberjack has to do is find and kill this creature.
There’s no doubt in Neville’s mind that he deserves to rise to the status of legend. He will prevail. It’s in his blood.
Or else, his blood will be in the prairie.
If you don’t mind me being so bold again, I am also an indie horror author. I have a free novelette out now, that is a free sampler of my work to come. I’d love if you checked it out! BestGhost was nominated for the Queer Indie Awards under Best Friendship for 2023!
Synopsis (Ghosts & Paranormal Thriller/Horror) Bisexual Rep
A debut sample from the forthcoming Tales From Cemetery, this novelette is a FREE SAMPLE from the author’s site!
The Old Mayor’s Mansion sits just a few miles outside the town of Cemetery.
When best friends Sean and Devon want to increase views on their ghost investigation channel, they know the mansion is the perfect spot to film.
Armed with a slew of new equipment, the buddies set out to capture the paranormal hotspot that will make them famous—just maybe not in the way they were hoping.
Download Free GoodReads Author Site
Regardless of the kind of reader you are, I truly believe there’s something above for everyone. All hailing from different places and peoples across the world. Now I want it to be known that I am not saying that these should be read solely because of their representation, it’s not my place, all I want is to further help diversify reads! But these are also worthy reads just because.
I’m excited to check out the ones I haven’t read yet. I have plans to do one for sci-fi + rep still too, so if you’re a fan, be on the lookout–-or contact me with suggestions!
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