The Bestselling Horror Books of All Time

A great white shark preys on the inhabitants of a small beach town, while three men try to catch and kill it. That description doesn’t seem like much of an interesting story, and yet it is a huge staple of pop culture. The iconic shark movie that we all know from a mere two notes of its score, is actually based on one of the bestselling horror books of all time. It has sold over 20 million copies to date, and ruined the beach for an entire generation.

With over 13 million copies sold, The Exorcist has earned its place on this list. As a horror aficionado, I am embarrassed to say that I watched the movie for the first time last year and did not enjoy it. I know, I know. It was groundbreaking in its time and I totally respect that. What I can say, however, is that the book is better. I read it last year and found it absolutely horrifying. I would love to see it adapted with today’s technological advances, but I know Hollywood would just mess it up.

I know you’re picturing Anthony Hopkins’s skin-crawling take on Hannibal Lecter. His performance was one of many amazing aspects of the movie adaptation. However, the book is not to be overlooked. With over 10 million copies sold, this bestseller is every bit as engaging as the popular movie version.

I have never wanted to watch or read this classic because I find the concept of motherhood inherently frightening. Even if you aren’t carrying the spawn of Satan, growing and then caring for an entire human is a huge undertaking. Also, the very realistic gaslighting that happens to poor Rosemary is too much for me. I am in the minority, however, as it has sold over 4 million copies to date and was the bestselling horror book of the 1960s.

Instead of making this list like 50% Stephen King, I’m highlighting just a few of his popular works. To date, the story of telekinetic teenager Carrie White has sold over 4 million copies. It is also one of the author’s best and most beloved movie adaptations. King’s other bestsellers include The Stand at over 4.5 million copies sold and Misery, which was the fourth-most-popular hardcover book of 1987 and the 15th most popular book of the decade.

If you’ve heard of the horror movie The Ring, you know it’s an American adaptation of the popular Japanese horror series. What you might not know is that the Japanese movies are based on books. This, the first in the series, has sold more than 2.8 million copies. It follows a reporter who is the grieving uncle of one of four teens to die mysteriously and simultaneously after returning from a holiday resort. As it turns out, the teens all watched a cursed videotape that kills anyone who views it.

With over 1 million copies sold, World War Z brought zombies to the bestseller lists. This unique take on the sub-genre is written as a collection of firsthand accounts of individuals who have survived a pandemic that changed much of the world’s population into a zombie horde. The hardcover version spent four weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List and has been loosely adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt.

Not all of Stephen King’s bestsellers have passed the million mark, but they’re still doing impressive numbers. The Shining, the popular story of Jack Torrance’s descent into madness over a winter of isolation at the haunted Overlook Hotel, has sold over 700,000 copies and been adapted into one of the undisputed best horror movies of all time. Among King’s other popular books that spawned excellent movie adaptations, Pet Sematary has sold 800,000 copies. It has also been a bestseller, with an admittedly dubious source estimating it at 300,000 copies sold.

First published in 1886, this classic sold over 40,000 copies in its first six months in print. By 1901, it had allegedly sold 250,000 copies in the United States. This enduring novella is considered the defining book of the gothic horror sub-genre. Jekyll and Hyde have become more than book characters in our culture, making the names an easy shorthand to describe someone mercurial or secretly evil despite a kind demeanor.

I read the illustrated version of this tale and was completely unprepared for something that looked so harmless to be this disturbing. Published in 1962, We Have Always Lived in the Castle sold close to 30,000 copies in its first three months of publication, hitting The New York Times Best Seller List in month four. For comparison, Jackson’s previous novel, The Haunting of Hill House, sold about 12,000 copies in its first six months of publication.

Four American Indian men go hunting and end up haunted in this psychological horror. Years after the ill-fated hunting trip, their families are stalked by a ghostly figure carrying an elk’s head. According to a favorable review on NPR, “[b]esides the creeping horror and gory poetry, The Only Good Indians does a lot in terms of illuminating Native American life from the inside, offering insights into how old traditions and modern living collide in contemporary life.”

This New York Times bestseller follows the only Black woman working at a New York publishing company. She is understandably delighted when another Black woman joins the staff. Unfortunately, that’s when something strange begins to unfold. In a New York Times book review, it is described as “tak[ing] on traits of the horror genre with a dash of magical realism…there is certainly something very Jordan Peele-esque about the plot.”

With a 4.3/5 star review on Amazon, this horror novella is a frightening story of magic and monsters. “A tribute to and a criticism of the early 20th century horror writer H.P. Lovecraft,” LaValle’s book is a spin on “The Horror of Red Hook,” which is considered to be one of the classic author’s most racist and xenophobic works. According to a review on Tor.com, “The Ballad of Black Tom should delight and disturb fans of cosmic horror.”

The story of the Donner Party is so disturbing that it has lingered in our collective consciousness for nearly two centuries. Ninety people were trapped in a freezing mountain range, forced to cannibalism to survive. Katsu gives this true story a supernatural twist in this suspenseful tale. Horror titan Stephen King said this book is “deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down, not recommended reading after dark.”

Described as a Korean take on Stephen King’s Misery, this story follows Oghi, a man paralyzed after a car accident that killed his wife and child. With only his grieving mother-in-law to care for him, Oghi is bedridden and neglected. All the while, his mother-in-law obsessively digs holes in his late wife’s garden. The New York Times called it “a surreal and mesmerizing tale.”

Already a proven modern classic, The Gilda Stories recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. If I have any say, this will be one of the bestselling horror books of all time. One of my friends texted me and said, “You have to read this book. It’s about a bisexual Black vampire who is an ex-slave and joins a coven of lesbian vampire women.” I was SOLD. Dear reader, it did not disappoint in the least. With badass Black and Indigenous women vampires navigating the world as it changes around them, while they never change.