My top 10 HORROR reads of 2023

[@chrisgomes5048]

Great video, as usual. I'll have to check out Silent Key. I love Dark Gods. TED Klein's The Ceremonies is an amazing epic horror novel - one of my all-time favorites. Happy Holidays!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

This is Ollyfy Wrapped: Horror Genre.

[@nikholman1287]

Nice call on The Yellow Wallpaper. It's been a personal fav for years. Took a road trip a while back and I played the audio for the wife and kids and everyone loved it. Timeless.

[@michellesmelancholia]

Great list, Olly! Love seeing short story collections / anthologies making the list! It's a format I love but I think it doesn't get as much attention as it deserves.

[@CliffsDarkGems]

Great Top Ten. Good to see Dracula on the list. Mary is on my radar for next year. Agree with you on Nocturnes, amazing collection. Thanks for the recs.

[@RovingReader]

I love that you put a QR code with all your info. I am so surprised that it looks like horror is one of my top categories on Storygraph this year. I thought I was too much of a baby for it, but I guess not. I'm excited to see what you discuss! Still watching :)

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Glad you like the QR code! I think horror is more and more a genre with something for eveyone

[@kaelinreads6748]

I'm glad you brought up Laurel Hightower as I just got her book Below and I'm excited to get into that. I love the Mothman premise which I really haven't seen before besides in "nonfiction" books

[@shalimarlittle8374]

Thanks as always, these all sound great!

[@ragedyfairy]

Our Share of Night is amazing. Truly enjoying it and taking it slow, so sad I’m more than 60% through the book now. Will def be a book I reread.

[@mattgrosse943]

I've only read Mariana Enriquez's short fiction collections, Things We Lost in the Fire and The Dangers of Smoking in Bed. I really like her style, so I'm glad it translated to a full length novel. I'll have to pick it up.

[@fiberartsyreads]

Enjoyed seeing your top faves! I need to get my list together.

[@larindanomikos]

I read The Yellow Wallpaper as a teenager. I'm almost 70 now.

[@mikepratt6481]

I'm curious, in regards to DARK GODS: is the racism coming from the characters or the author himself? And if from characters, are we supposed to not like those characters?

[@brendanwesterfield-sf3dr]

Just stumbled upon your channel Olly- and I simply adore your analysis of books! Probably a dumb question: but have you read much Shirley Jackson? “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” is one of my all time favorite spooky reads- Hangsaman isn’t bad either. Have a good day Olly!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Yes have read a few things by Jackson - Castle and Hill House and a lot of her short stories

[@christine7956]

Hangsaman is my favorite Shirley Jackson book.

[@lukethomas216]

Reading Silent key this week while the wife and kids are visiting Harry Potter World. Bought off your recommendation (and I love the cover) so I’ll let you know my verdict 😁

[@kufujitsu]

It's been a while since I've read it, but I remember thinking that Dark Gods was an excellent collection of 4 novellas. Maybe our tastes differ...but to me, "The Children of the Kingdom", which concerned what lurked in the sewers underneath the pavements of New York - & the Lovecraftian "Black Man with a Horn", were brilliant. Both stories rely on a gradual accumulation of weird events - as does "Nadalman's God", which won The World Fantasy award......."Petey" was good as well, but it was surpassed by the other three IMO. Back in the 80s, T.E.D. Klein was highly regarded among his peers, & a long time editor of The Twilight Zone short fiction magazine - I highly doubt he would have intentionally made his stories to come across in the way that you had stated - he was simply telling 4 stories in a classic & descriptive style. He also wrote a great novel - "The Ceremonies", with echoes of Lovecraft & Machen, written in a literate style - it was nominated for the World Fantasy Award as well - so he was definitely highly thought of.

[@IngaNoniFayJeth]

I had to read "The Yellow Wallpaper" for English class in high school! One of the few things I was made to read in school that I genuinely really liked. Good one!

[@needleshooksandbooks1332]

My favorite horror read of the year was the short story collection At Home with the Horrors by Sammy Scott. I think it ruined a lot of horror for me this year because it just blew me away so much that nothing else was able to live up to it. Every story was 4 or 5 stars for me and some of them are still living rent free in my brain 10+ months after reading it. The kind of stories that make me think about what i would do in those situations...and what thats says about me.

[@M-J]

Let’s get spooky! 😄 Great video buddy. Happy to say I have waiting or have read the books on this list! On brand! I agree with your top pick. It’s powerful and so different. 😂- MJ

[@NovelFindsByKassi]

I whole-heartedly agree with Our Share of Night. It wasn't a matter of whether or not it would make your top 10; I was just wondering where on it that it would land. I was floored by it and still think of it daily which says something for me as I'm such a voracious reader.

[@adriennelee26]

My favorite of the year was Mary by Nat Cassidy. I've read a few others on your list as well, and the ones I read were all very good.

[@chriscze6153]

If you loved Tell Me I'm Worthless, I can guarantee you Brainwyrms is far better. Hope you get to it sometime, it's one of my favorite publications this year for sure.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

An fantastic! I have a copy waiting to be read

[@GentleReader01]

I admit to having some struggle to find much racism in Children of the Kingdom and Black Man with a Horn. Not so much struggle with the latter - Tcho-Tcho come with some that has to be dealt with. But the whole context seems to me to point away from a racist reading toward one about deceptive humanity and discovering how alien what’s underneath is. And as someone who was an American teen when Children of the Kingdom came out, I just keep looking at it and seeing a very realistic, sympathetic, humane look at what urban relations were like then. Of course that may make me part of the problem in this case. It wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last, no matter how much I try not to be.

[@RamAbballah]

I'm gonna have to go back and have another look at these stories. You can't miss the racist bits, of course, but I think I remember them striking me as from the point-of-view of racist characters rather than from the author.

[@wadejohnston4305]

A bit late but congratulations on 30k man! Youve earned every single one!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you!!! I’m still amazed 😂

[@KitsuneCool]

Olly if you like John Connolly you should read “The Book of Lost Things”. I really enjoyed that one and I think you might like it if you haven’t already read it.

[@troytradup]

Hope you're feeling better, Olly!

[@seamusgaelic6447]

Reading "Our Share of Night" at present. Just finished part one. I have the feeling the writer did a lot of research in preparing to write this story, because the realism in regards to the rituals and the personalities of the participants within the cult makes the impact of the horror really gut churning at times. I'm familiar with the Mexican cult of Santa Muerta, but never knew there was an Argentinian variant until reading this novel. The fact that there is a degree of realism to the details described within the story makes it really disturbing to read. I find the degree of human evil and amoral malevolence is downright chilling! Anyway, another great vlog, Olly!

[@toedrag-release]

I haven't finished mary yet but i haven't been able to put it down. I was shocked that this is a debut horror novel by the author it really is well written i love how every chapter ends on a cliff hanger.

[@troychurch5064]

Wow! Great list. My favourite horror read was Tender Is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. Nat Cassidy's other novel Nestlings is a great read too.

[@ericad3397]

I really want to read our share of night. I loved how to sell a haunted house. I’m currently reading Mart 😊📚🕯️☕️.

[@Mirage238]

So happy I found you

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you!

[@shoegal]

I liked How to Sell a Haunted house. So glad I didn't grow up with dolls.

[@johnmelanson1159]

Actually found a copy of Dark Gods in a bookstore last week!

[@johnnythepillpopper1974]

I read Dracula too

[@caroleclarke5064]

❤thanks, not I should be listening @ 1am. Can’t sleep.

[@edlewisnoctreviews]

I've heard great things about The Yellow Wallpaper (I might have that story in a collection somewhere) and Enter Boogyman. Dracula, the immortal classic. I've heard some views on both sides of the fence on How to Sell a Haunted House.

[@nicoles.6819]

Dealing with Missouri is a horror show.

[@michaelkhosravi5464]

Ok...just ordered the last copy of Dark Gods on thriftbooks. Thanks for the recommendation.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Hope you enjoy!

[@gamineglass]

My favorite this year was Don’t Fear the Reaper

[@oldsalt4798]

Listen to The Yellow Wallpaper old time radio drama, with Agnes Moorehead in the main role. Outstanding.

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

I can't wait to try out Nat Cassidy's writing. I just got Nestlings. I skipped over Mary because of the content/trigger warnings, so I'm glad I can now read another one of his books. And that cover is just so creepy!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

The cover is super creepy! Definitely want to read Nestlings too

[@martinelanglois3158]

I read Dracula over 30 years ago and loved it. Maybe it'll be a reread in 2024.

[@caroleclarke5064]

Great video

[@DDB168]

Haven't read any of those, but might give the Hendrix and Hightower books a try.

[@pandorabox82]

You and I had *SUCH* a different experience with Mary. It’s probably my least liked read of the year, because Mary never felt real to me. The way Cassidy wrote a 50 year old women didn’t differ from the way he wrote Eleanor, a teenager, or from the ABCs, and that just deflated the story so badly. Add in the unnecessary and graphic SA in the final third that I’m SO glad I was spoiled for just… I really hope Nestlings is better.

[@eimajtl]

I'll have to check out many on your list. For some reason How to Sell a Haunted House didn't do it for me. I adore Hendrix, but I didn't enjoy this as much as his other books. Maybe it was the dolls, I've never understood the fear of them and to see that trope used kind of killed my enjoyment.

[@LiterateTexan]

My Best Friend's Exorcism is the best horror book I read this year, but to be fair, I haven't read a lot of horror this year. I hope you're recovering from Covid quickly.

[@richiearkarich]

Hey Olly did you check out THE AUCTIONEER and SOME OF YOUR BLOOD?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Not yet!

[@BigDog366]

The Auctioneer is absolutely superb and hardly known. Very, very chilling.

[@jwood194]

I just finished Our Share of Night. I was really excited for this one. But…..I thought it was just so boring. Gave it one star and wish I had just DNF’d it. Definitely not for me. I really liked Mary, Dracula, and Lone Women. Have some others you mentioned on my TBR. I hope I like them more than Our Share of Night.

[@scottweedman4575]

I just finished 'The Yellow Wallpaper', LOVED it (found a 1st edition for $4,900 on Ebay). Thanks for the recommendation. I just purchased 'Mary' for my wife who's going through Menopause right now. Curious ... I wrote a short horror story that won an award and was featured on a narrator's KZbin channel. Care to listen if I send you the link (completely understand if you're too busy)?

[@jjcrazi]

Wait till you read Dark River Orchard by Chuck Wendig! It’s one of my best reads this year!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I do need to read that!

[@jackwalter5970]

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. Creepy and extreme.

[@nicoles.6819]

Yellow Wallpaper.

[@wendyvilla2904]

💚🖤

[@hollyc4624]

What about Holly by Stephen King? Is that one on a different list? I think it’s technically considered horror but I had trouble considering it horror like these selections. Great list!

[@shoegal]

It's in his thriller list

[@ahem88]

books must not come with trigger warnings, they can become "ready to burn tags" when the book burning starts.

[@alloralou4722]

Yes

[@nikkivenable73]

Thank you!

[@angelwalker979]

fr

[@Blech-h9z]

Sad, but true.

[@dgage1776]

Mostly agree, but sexual violence should be listed prior to reading

[@augustwillman2690]

I read quite a bit of horror this year but only.one was amazing, Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum. Fantasticland was good, as was Mary but none of the others were reallyneven worth memtioning unfortunately.

[@eriebeverly]

I thought you said you didn't read many new books? Look at them stacking up in your top ten.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

LOL yeah I guess maybe I did - in the horror genre at least

[@christine7956]

Not really horror but horrific,my favorite read of the year is Our Wives Under the Sea.

[@drs1078]

How to sell a haunted house- BORING. Different taste I guess

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Absolutely, we can't all like the same stuff!

[@nicoles.6819]

I hate trigger warnings. I’m grow up.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ok

[@Dacre1000]

You are, but Olly isnt.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@Dacre1000😢

[@j_shelby_damnwird]

Yes, using the "problematic" in a review is such a turn-off.