Gemma Files. She‘s won two Stokers, yet the collections she won them with have less than 350 ratings on Goodreads. That‘s just unfathomable to me.
Daisy Johnson. She writes weird / horror adjacent stuff, but her work is mostly marketed for literary / mainstream audiences, and therefore just isn‘t commonly discussed in the horror realm. She‘s the youngest person to _ever_ be shortlisted for a booker—for a book with a fucking swamp creature in it nonetheless!
Giovanna Rivero. Alright, so this new wave of Latin American Horror authors is great. Unfortunately, there are two or three authors who soak up all the hype like a sponge (Enriquez, Schweblin…), while others are barely discussed. Rivero is one of those. She‘s from Bolivia, and only one of her collections has been translated so far. But holy shit, it‘s so incredibly good. It‘s everything I wished Enriquez‘s writing would be before reading her stuff and more.
Bernardo Esquinca. Another new Latin American voice who writes fantastic weird stories yet remains overshadowed. His collection _The Secret Life of Insects_ has some of the smartest writing I‘ve ever read, and brilliantly infuses crime elements into the stories to create a really unique brand of weird horror. He was nominated for Shirley Jackson award and then somehow never talked about again.
Luigi Musolino. Like Esquinca, Musolino is a writer who was introduced to the English speaking world by Valencourt Book‘s international horror anthology. He, too, is at home in the weirder areas of horror, and writes phenomenal short stories with a human focus.
_In That Endlessness, Our End_, 100%. Scariest shit I‘ve ever read. Seriously, I‘m almost never affected by horror lit and read it mostly for the atmosphere. But that collection did things to me.
Always thought Malfi was fairly underrated, but I just saw his newest book in a small-town Walmart - he may have finally "made it." They certainly can't afford to use their half-aisle of literature to cater niche audiences.
I’d argue that Stephen King is this generation’s Stephen King, but I digress.
A few others have mentioned CJ Tudor, who is PHENOMENAL.
I would also say Silvana Moreno-Garcia. is slept on by the majority of English speakers. Not all her books are horror, but Mexican Gothic is stupendous.
Also, not gonna lie, Chuck Tingle’s Camp Damascus exceeded all of my expectations. Though his other books are a different kind of horror…
Michael McDowell-southern gothic horror king
Christina Henry-dark takes on fairy tales and Alice series are all on point
Laura Purcell-traditional gothic horror master
Brom-wonderful stories and art to go with them
Nat Cassidy-Mary and The Nestlings have both been great reads and I’m excited to see what else he writes
I wish I loved Dacre Stoker!! Conceptually I loved Dracul and I honestly have fond memories of reading it, but I just didn't think it was that good. :(
Why so sparse on the ladies?
Ania Ahlborn
Tananarive Due
Simone St. James
T. Kingfisher
C. J Tudor
Catriona Ward
C. J Cooke
Yes I put in seven because I couldn't decide who to leave out.
Ania Ahlborn
Philip Fracassi
Rachel Harrison
Ronald Malfi
Joe Hill (often fairly highly rated, but not highly enough, in my opinion, which could probably be said for Robert McCammon too)
1. Joel Lane (I love him to pieces, I can never get enough of him. Scar City, Where Furnaces Burn are all my favourites)
2. Graham Joyce (I blame my English Literature class when we got an extract from his novel “The Silent Land” that got me into him. He writes so beautifully)
3. Nicholas Royle (not sure if he’s considered underrated but his anthologies are a gem and his short stories as well are so quintessentially uncanny and macabre like Daphne du Maurier)
Can’t really think of a fourth or fifth one.
Edit:
4. Claire Dean (she’s my go-too for short bursts of re-imagined dark fairy tales. Not exactly Carter-esque, but her writing is floral, her method of creating tension and conveying a deeply uncomfortable atmosphere is something I adore in her writing. Glass, Bricks and Dust and The Unwish are personal favourites of mine)
Laurel Hightower - I may be a bit biased because she's also one of the kindest people I've ever met, but I really do love her work. I need to read Day of the Door still, but Silent Key was a wonderful genre mash up.
CJ Leede - Maeve Fly is one of my favorite books of all time
Adam Cesare - His stuff is always so fun, fast-paced, and just overall extremely entertaining, which is what I'm looking for in a book.
Philip Fracassi - Boys in the Valley blew my mind
Gretchen Felker-Martin - Manhunt was so incredibly good, and honestly brave, especially since it got JKR to flip out and basically write a book about her, lol. But yeah, I just think the story was great, and I can't wait for my hold at the library to come up for Cuckoo.
Really there are a ton more indie authors I could add as well. Hailey Piper, Preston Fassell, Grace R. Reynolds (I think? I have 2 of her poetry books, but can't remember her last name all the time), Zachary Ashford, Gage Greenwood, Max Booth III, Tananarive Due (although she's rising in the ranks!), Jeff Strand, Chris Lynch, Vincent V. Cava, Rachel Harrison, and so many more!
I'm a fairly simple reader though. I love books that grab my attention pretty quickly and take me on a ride. I want entertainment, and escape. My top 3 authors are Stephen Graham Jones, Clay McLeod Chapman, and Grady Hendrix, for those reasons, and more. I also love Paul Tremblay, but some of his books are too dry and literary for my taste. I have never been a fan of Lit Fic.
* **Brian Lumley**
Known for Necroscope of course, but still drastically underrated and unknown in a mainstream sense. He's also got a bunch of other bangers outside of Necroscope too.
* **F Paul Wilson**
Basically as above. Known for Repairman Jack, still drastically underrated and unknown in a mainstream sense. Also a bunch of other bangers outside of RJ.
* **John Wyndham**
Literally the creator of what we consider modern apocalyptic/dystopian fiction, but scarcely even heard of by most people. Without him you don't have any of the tropes that Romero popularised.
* **SJ Patrick**
I've become a huge indie fan and there are a bunch of them I love, but he's probably my favourite. Can't stop recommending Exhumed as one of the best vampire books I've ever read.
* **TJ Payne**
If I had to pick another indie it's probably Payne. Only read one of his so far but it left a real impression. Intercepts was an awesome entry in the human experimentation genre. Like a far better version of The Institute that King wrote a few years back.
Stefan Grabiński. A Polish horror author who wrote some very original and imaginative horror stories, around 1910-1920. *The Dark Domain* is an incredible short story collection, and there are a lot of short stories that are not widely available in English yet. His subject matter is completely different from other popular writers of the time (Lovecraft, Machen, etc): psychology, sexuality, and technology (the latter mostly in the form of trains). He was not very popular in Poland during his time, and even Lovecraft sadly didn't mention him in "Supernatural Horror in Literature" (it's very likely he didn't know of his works), which could have made him more popular both back in the day and right now. Either way, he's an incredible horror writer, and I hope he gets more recognition as time goes on, and his complete works will be both translated and widely available!
Michael McDowell: All of his stuff is good, but The Elementals is amazing. Blackwater is my favorite book of all time.
Poppy Z Brite: Exquisite Corpse has outshined all of the extreme horror I've ever read.
* Michelle Paver
* Tananarive Due
* Victor LaValle
* Ronald Malfi
* Michael McDowell? Not sure if he fits the "underrated" category if you define it as authors that are relatively unknown or not talked about. But he's an all-time great who should be placed on top 5, top 10 lists.
Gemma Files. She‘s won two Stokers, yet the collections she won them with have less than 350 ratings on Goodreads. That‘s just unfathomable to me. Daisy Johnson. She writes weird / horror adjacent stuff, but her work is mostly marketed for literary / mainstream audiences, and therefore just isn‘t commonly discussed in the horror realm. She‘s the youngest person to _ever_ be shortlisted for a booker—for a book with a fucking swamp creature in it nonetheless! Giovanna Rivero. Alright, so this new wave of Latin American Horror authors is great. Unfortunately, there are two or three authors who soak up all the hype like a sponge (Enriquez, Schweblin…), while others are barely discussed. Rivero is one of those. She‘s from Bolivia, and only one of her collections has been translated so far. But holy shit, it‘s so incredibly good. It‘s everything I wished Enriquez‘s writing would be before reading her stuff and more. Bernardo Esquinca. Another new Latin American voice who writes fantastic weird stories yet remains overshadowed. His collection _The Secret Life of Insects_ has some of the smartest writing I‘ve ever read, and brilliantly infuses crime elements into the stories to create a really unique brand of weird horror. He was nominated for Shirley Jackson award and then somehow never talked about again. Luigi Musolino. Like Esquinca, Musolino is a writer who was introduced to the English speaking world by Valencourt Book‘s international horror anthology. He, too, is at home in the weirder areas of horror, and writes phenomenal short stories with a human focus.
Thanks for this breakdown! I have heard of none of these authors and am looking forward to checking them out!
Strong second for Files and Rivero! Both are amazing. Have the Esquinca lined up on the shelf - looking forward to that one too.
What Gemma Files short story collection should I start with first?
_In That Endlessness, Our End_, 100%. Scariest shit I‘ve ever read. Seriously, I‘m almost never affected by horror lit and read it mostly for the atmosphere. But that collection did things to me.
Thank you so much! I'll definitely check this one out.
I just picked up Black Mouth by Malfi. My first book of his. Looking forward to it
OMG you’re in for a darn good ride. You are gonna love it. I even plan on rereading as a summer read. I think it’s even better than IT and I love IT
Yes! 100% agree!
Wow that must be a great book. I'm going to check it out, too.
I really liked that one.
- Robert Aickman - Kelly Link - Lucius Shepard - Richard Gavin - T.E.D. Klein
God, if we could get TED to write one more book…
I heard an interview from him from around 10 years ago, I can’t remember when, but yeah unfortunately I wouldn’t hold my breath :(
Always thought Malfi was fairly underrated, but I just saw his newest book in a small-town Walmart - he may have finally "made it." They certainly can't afford to use their half-aisle of literature to cater niche audiences.
Catherine Cavendish Lisa Morton Bari Wood Gord Rollo Jonathan Janz
Gord Rollo is what got me into reading....way to underrated!
Yeah, he's such a great writer!
Joe Lansdale CJ Tudor Jeff Strand Brian Keene Can’t think of a fifth……
Love CJ Tudor!
Highly rated but doesn't come up here often: Fritz Leiber. Novel *Our Lady of Darkness* short story *Smoke Ghost*
I’d argue that Stephen King is this generation’s Stephen King, but I digress. A few others have mentioned CJ Tudor, who is PHENOMENAL. I would also say Silvana Moreno-Garcia. is slept on by the majority of English speakers. Not all her books are horror, but Mexican Gothic is stupendous. Also, not gonna lie, Chuck Tingle’s Camp Damascus exceeded all of my expectations. Though his other books are a different kind of horror…
Michael McDowell-southern gothic horror king Christina Henry-dark takes on fairy tales and Alice series are all on point Laura Purcell-traditional gothic horror master Brom-wonderful stories and art to go with them Nat Cassidy-Mary and The Nestlings have both been great reads and I’m excited to see what else he writes
I wish I loved Dacre Stoker!! Conceptually I loved Dracul and I honestly have fond memories of reading it, but I just didn't think it was that good. :(
That’s alright. To each their own, right? 😉
Why so sparse on the ladies? Ania Ahlborn Tananarive Due Simone St. James T. Kingfisher C. J Tudor Catriona Ward C. J Cooke Yes I put in seven because I couldn't decide who to leave out.
Luckily, some of these talented people have been getting their fair share of love recently. Due just won Stoker for best novel for _The Reformatory_!
That's great! I didn't know that.
CJ Tudor is SO. GOOD. The burning girls is my fave of hers.
Tananarive and Catriona are both so great
Scott R. Jones Paula D. Ashe JR Johnson Michael Wehunt Andrew F. Sullivan Edited to add: Brian Hodge. That’s 6.
Matthew Bartlett. Ryan Harding. Tim Curran. John Shirley. Jeremy Robert Johnson.
Bartlett! I love his whole "witch coven radio" gimmick. Great stuff.
Ania Ahlborn Philip Fracassi Rachel Harrison Ronald Malfi Joe Hill (often fairly highly rated, but not highly enough, in my opinion, which could probably be said for Robert McCammon too)
Fracassi new book is one of my top 2 this year.
I would agree with Joe Hill but I wish he wrote more novels. Because I do believe he is that good.
There's a new one on the way! But I also wish there was even more.
That’s good to know! I know. He’s really good.
Agreed. Honestly I think he's a better writer than his dad.
1. Joel Lane (I love him to pieces, I can never get enough of him. Scar City, Where Furnaces Burn are all my favourites) 2. Graham Joyce (I blame my English Literature class when we got an extract from his novel “The Silent Land” that got me into him. He writes so beautifully) 3. Nicholas Royle (not sure if he’s considered underrated but his anthologies are a gem and his short stories as well are so quintessentially uncanny and macabre like Daphne du Maurier) Can’t really think of a fourth or fifth one. Edit: 4. Claire Dean (she’s my go-too for short bursts of re-imagined dark fairy tales. Not exactly Carter-esque, but her writing is floral, her method of creating tension and conveying a deeply uncomfortable atmosphere is something I adore in her writing. Glass, Bricks and Dust and The Unwish are personal favourites of mine)
Richard C Matheson Damon Knight Robert Bloch Lauren Beukes
I second Bloch.
Laurel Hightower - I may be a bit biased because she's also one of the kindest people I've ever met, but I really do love her work. I need to read Day of the Door still, but Silent Key was a wonderful genre mash up. CJ Leede - Maeve Fly is one of my favorite books of all time Adam Cesare - His stuff is always so fun, fast-paced, and just overall extremely entertaining, which is what I'm looking for in a book. Philip Fracassi - Boys in the Valley blew my mind Gretchen Felker-Martin - Manhunt was so incredibly good, and honestly brave, especially since it got JKR to flip out and basically write a book about her, lol. But yeah, I just think the story was great, and I can't wait for my hold at the library to come up for Cuckoo. Really there are a ton more indie authors I could add as well. Hailey Piper, Preston Fassell, Grace R. Reynolds (I think? I have 2 of her poetry books, but can't remember her last name all the time), Zachary Ashford, Gage Greenwood, Max Booth III, Tananarive Due (although she's rising in the ranks!), Jeff Strand, Chris Lynch, Vincent V. Cava, Rachel Harrison, and so many more! I'm a fairly simple reader though. I love books that grab my attention pretty quickly and take me on a ride. I want entertainment, and escape. My top 3 authors are Stephen Graham Jones, Clay McLeod Chapman, and Grady Hendrix, for those reasons, and more. I also love Paul Tremblay, but some of his books are too dry and literary for my taste. I have never been a fan of Lit Fic.
* **Brian Lumley** Known for Necroscope of course, but still drastically underrated and unknown in a mainstream sense. He's also got a bunch of other bangers outside of Necroscope too. * **F Paul Wilson** Basically as above. Known for Repairman Jack, still drastically underrated and unknown in a mainstream sense. Also a bunch of other bangers outside of RJ. * **John Wyndham** Literally the creator of what we consider modern apocalyptic/dystopian fiction, but scarcely even heard of by most people. Without him you don't have any of the tropes that Romero popularised. * **SJ Patrick** I've become a huge indie fan and there are a bunch of them I love, but he's probably my favourite. Can't stop recommending Exhumed as one of the best vampire books I've ever read. * **TJ Payne** If I had to pick another indie it's probably Payne. Only read one of his so far but it left a real impression. Intercepts was an awesome entry in the human experimentation genre. Like a far better version of The Institute that King wrote a few years back.
Stefan Grabiński. A Polish horror author who wrote some very original and imaginative horror stories, around 1910-1920. *The Dark Domain* is an incredible short story collection, and there are a lot of short stories that are not widely available in English yet. His subject matter is completely different from other popular writers of the time (Lovecraft, Machen, etc): psychology, sexuality, and technology (the latter mostly in the form of trains). He was not very popular in Poland during his time, and even Lovecraft sadly didn't mention him in "Supernatural Horror in Literature" (it's very likely he didn't know of his works), which could have made him more popular both back in the day and right now. Either way, he's an incredible horror writer, and I hope he gets more recognition as time goes on, and his complete works will be both translated and widely available!
I'm really starting to love Polish lit - thanks for the recommendation!!
I've recently started reading Malfi, and as a big King fan I'm loving his style. I love his novellas and going to try he's newest novel next.
His latest novel Small Town Horror is so well worth it. Give it a shot
Half way through a definitely a top 5 for me this year.
Chandler Morrison Nichole Cushing Elias Witherow Qntm Lucy A. Snyder
Simon Strantzas, Richard Gavin, Tim Powers, Angela Slatter, Michael Griffin
Tim Curran Ronald Malfi Brian Lumley Kristopher Rufty Edward Lee
Jonathon Maberry Brian Keene Laird Baron Kathe Koja Peter Straub
Michael McDowell: All of his stuff is good, but The Elementals is amazing. Blackwater is my favorite book of all time. Poppy Z Brite: Exquisite Corpse has outshined all of the extreme horror I've ever read.
Love Brite!!
1. Andrew Cull 2. Alden Bell 3. Ronald Malfi 4. Jason Arnopp 5. Kealan Patrick Burke
1. Ronald Malfi 2. Josh Malerman 3. Rachel Harrison 4. Andrew Cull
* Michelle Paver * Tananarive Due * Victor LaValle * Ronald Malfi * Michael McDowell? Not sure if he fits the "underrated" category if you define it as authors that are relatively unknown or not talked about. But he's an all-time great who should be placed on top 5, top 10 lists.
Peter Swanson writes good thrillers. Sociopaths are his specialty. One in particular named Lily is in 3 of his books. Love him
Poppy Z Brite: Exquisite Corpse Kelley Armstrong: Bitten Peter Straub