My Top 13 Reads for 2024:
- Anthony Roberts
- Dec 29, 2024
- 5 min read
Another Dark and Enthralling Year In the Books!
As we drive a stake into the heart of 2024, I present you with my Top 13 reads over the past year. Publication dates range from 1898 to 2024. All but one of these books are in the speculative fiction genre. I do love my things that go bump in the night.
1. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, 2017. This is the only non-fiction book on the list and one I didn’t want to read because the subject matter hits too close to home. In the end, I felt obligated to read it in honour of my Osage brothers and sisters and I’m glad I did. Killers of the Flower Moon is a despicable and heartbreaking tale of greed and murder in 1920s Oklahoma. It concerns the systematic killing of Osage Nation members for their oil wealth by their presumed friends and white relatives. Grann’s meticulous research and straight-forward storytelling bring to light the sinister depths of this foul and supremely racist page of American history.
2. Burn, Witch, Burn! by Abraham Merritt, 1932. 30’s Gangsters vs. a Badass Witch in a blend of pulp noir and occult horror. Merritt’s novel night be the first one that gives us the sinister doll troupe. One of the finest examples of the pulp horror story writing and a damn cool genre blender before there really was such a thing. You can be pulp and innovative too and this story proves it.
3. The Troop by Nick Cutter, 2014. Ghastly. I loved it. A group of scouts are stranded on a remote island when their attempt at merit badges quickly descends into terror as they encounter a flesh-eating parasite. Think Lord of the Flies meets Night of the Living Dead with The Fly as the bloody cherry on top. Nick Cutter delivers body horror at its most grotesque and I’m happy to eat it up with a spoon.
4. The Willows by Algernon Blackwood, 1907. A haunting novella of cosmic terror, The Willows follows two travellers navigating a desolate river, where the eerie landscape becomes a portal to the unknown. Blackwood’s atmospheric prose turns nature itself into a malevolent force. Dark, dreamy, and oh so dreary. The dreadful atmosphere of this story is a template that leaves a long shadow across the genre. ‘The Bad Dream as Reality’ is a troupe I love using myself and kudos go to the OGs (original goths) like Algernon Blackwood for laying the groundwork.
5. Kindred by Octavia Butler, 1979. Part historical fiction, part sci-fi, all horror. Butler’s tale of a modern Black woman transported back to the antebellum South is a harrowing journey through time. Each time jump forces the protagonist—and the reader—to confront the inhumane terror (and abject normality) of slavery back up by good Christian patriarchy. It's not hard to see how the lingering trauma of slavery still haunts the USA.
6. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, 1986. Sex and horror, two of my favourite things. Here's the origin story of the infamous chattering Cenobites from Hell before they bacame a film franchise. When a puzzle box unleashes unspeakable pleasures and terrors, you’ll find yourself questioning the cost of desire, and you’ll probably develop an aversion to fish hooks too. This novella oozes with horniness and horror, not that there's anything wrong with that.
7. The Fisherman by John Langan, 2016. I almost gave up on this one but it eventually drew me in. A grief-stricken man’s search for solace leads him to a cursed fishing spot with ties to eldritch horrors. Let’s go fishing with H.P. Lovecraft! John Langan’s novel weaves folklore horror and familial tragedy into a slow-burning nightmare.
8. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, 1898. This might be the birth of the unreliable narrator. A young governess battles spectral forces—or does she? This is a classic gothic tale but James’ ambiguous storytelling takes it a notch above ‘just another ghost story’. It’s clear why Shirley Jackson loved this story so much, and how much Nell in The Haunting of Hill House was influenced by Henry James’ young governess.
9. The Best of Richard Matheson by Richard Matheson, 1975. May I say for the record that Richard Matheson is the GOAT of speculative fiction. From psychological horrors to dystopian futures, this collection captures the best of Matheson’s dark imagination. Each story feels like a whispered warning from the void. This man can do it all and do it dark. My favourite summer read involved The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Hell House by Richard Matheson read back-to-back - two radically different styles on the same subject matter and both deliver horror classics.
10. Lakewood by Megan Giddings, 2020. Big Pharma is evil (fact) and it certainly is in this novel. This timely book guides us on a young woman’s desperate attempt to pay off family medical debts by entering into a top-secret pharmacological study. Giddings’ novel blends social commentary and horror, where the real monsters hide behind corporate facades. It’ll also put your head in a spin as the medical experiments involve ‘adjusting’ brain chemistry for a Brave New Doped Up World. The longer it goes, the creepier it gets.
11. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, 1951. A True Classic. I’m ashamed it took me so long to get around to this one. A post-apocalyptic nightmare unfolds as humanity is blinded and left vulnerable to monstrous, carnivorous plants. Wyndham’s vision of survival is as eerie as it is prophetic. This novel is essential to any horror collection.
12. You Like It Darker by Stephen King, 2024. True to its name, the King once again plunges his constant readers into twisted tales of obsession and mortality. The man is known for his horror novels but he is a fantastic short story writer too, in fact, one of the best. All Hail the King! Long May He Reign!
13. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, 1962 by Shirley Jackson In this macabre masterpiece, two sisters live in eerie isolation, guarding secrets that the outside world can only guess at. Are they murderous witches or just batshit crazy? Jackson’s prose is a spellbinding dance of menace and whimsy. This novel and The Haunting of Hell House are the reasons I love Shirley Jackson and place her most high amongst the pantheon of the speculative fiction gods.
And because I can’t leave it off the list…
14. The Ghost Pirates by William Hope Hodgson, 1909. I frickin’ loved this book. I loved the detail and depth of knowledge the author demonstrates about sailing vessels and their crews. I admire the gradual building of dread, and that the supernatural elements are kept ambiguous and literally stay in the shadows, and yet they remain threatening, violent, and deadly. THIS is how you tell a ghost ship story, folks. Forget about your Pirates of the Caribbean Disney-fied, CGI-driven, abominations - this is a story that can shiver your timbers.
Each book on my list brought its own unique shade of darkness to my 2024 reading journey. Some are classics that I’ve always meant to read and some were new to me. Whether you're drawn to the eldritch, the gothic, or the grotesque side of horror, I hope this list inspires you to delve into the deliciously disturbed. Come into the darkness, my friends. We all float down here.
