Have you ever been browsing for a book and come across one bearing the same name as your favorite horror film? As someone who considers themself real-well, this has happened to me countless times. The most recent surprise was I Know What You Did Last Summer, a vastly different novel than its adaptation, but one that inspired one of the most influential horror films of all time. The list of classic horror films that started off as books is one that is both expansive and shocking. As you prepare your watchlist for Halloween, scare yourself silly with these terrifying literary classics.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
In one of the most controversial novels ever written, Washington, DC actress and mother Chris MacNeil finds herself experiencing a slew of new difficulties with her daughter Regan. Eleven-year-old Regan has been having fits that range from spasms, to spewing cruel curse words, to self-mutilation. Desperate for answers medical science cannot provide, Chris enlists the help of a priest named Damien Karras, who immediately recognizes something evil and malevolent in her daughter.
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Clarice Starling is put on the case of a serial murderer known as Buffalo Bill, who has motives no one in the FBI can quite fathom. Her assignment is to interview Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal the Cannibal) and to suss all the knowledge she can out of a man with once equally grisly intentions. Dr. Lecter is a former psychiatrist with an intimate understanding of the dark corners of the human mind, an understanding that will push Clarice past her limits. A literary classic, The Silence of the Lambs is the second book in a genre-defining series about the infamous Hannibal Lecter.
The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
In December of 1975, the Lutz family moved into their dream house, unknowingly inhabiting a bloody history jump-started by Ronald DeFeo and the murders of his parents and siblings. What follows this move is a psychic phenomenon that is supposedly true and incredibly horrifying.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Robert Neville may be the last living man on Earth, but he is not alone. Everyone on the planet has become a vampire, and they all hunger for Robert’s blood. By day, he is a hunter. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for daylight. How much longer can Robert survive in this apocalyptic hellscape before he surrenders to the monsters hunting him?
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
Last summer, four friends made a pact to conceal a secret. This pact ruined their lives and drove a wedge between them. Now, someone has learned the truth and is out for revenge. Can they survive this terrifying avenger and his thirst for their blood? Or will his want for vengeance reach far and wide and spill their deadly secret?
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
In the early 1980s, a bullied 12-year-old boy named Oskar befriends a mysterious child named Eli. When a string of blood-drained bodies starts appearing around their Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg, Oskar slowly begins to discover the true nature of his friend and is forced to decide if he will shield his friend from discovery or doom them both.
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
A young wife moves into an old New York apartment in this novel that inspired an equally chilling adaptation. After Rosemary’s husband Guy lands a major acting role, she becomes pregnant and begins to experience a string of very frightening events. As her pregnancy develops, Rosemary begins to suspect that her husband and their neighbors are in a Satanic cult plotting to take her child.
Psycho by Robert Bloch
A secretary steals a large sum of money from her job and meets a horrible fate in this novel that inspired the Hitchcock classic. Mary Crane hopes to seek refuge at Bates Motel, but is instead killed by Norman Bates and his alter ego, known as “Mother.” Mary’s sister, Lila, won’t rest until she finds out what happened to her sister, even if that brings her and a private detective face-to-face with a very sick man.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
In this 1983 ghost story, a young solicitor named Arthur Kipps travels to a remote village to settle the affairs of a deceased client. It is there that he comes face to face with the Woman in Black, a vengeful ghost that is said to haunt the town and its residents. Over the next several days, Arthur experiences a sequence of very terrifying events that will transform his life and take him closer to solving a tragic mystery.
The Ring by Koji Suzuki
In this first novel of Koji Suzuki’s Ring series, a journalist seeks to investigate the mysterious deaths of four teenagers after the sudden death of his niece. Kazuyuki Asakawa’s investigation leads him to a cursed videotape that is said to kill its viewer within seven days of viewing.
As you prepare for a night of spooky festivities, settle in with a book that embodies the spirit of the horror classic it inspired. Who doesn’t love a good literary scare? Be sure to check out these books and add them to your TBR. Happy Reading!
Interested in more books to add to that ever-expanding TBR? Check out some more recommendations here.
Find these titles and more on our Spine-chilling Horror Novels shelf.
