The narrator — the voice behind it all. You’d like to think you could at least trust them to tell the story straight. But what happens when they’re lying? Enter the unreliable narrator. Discover what happens when truth becomes slippery, and the line between fiction and reality starts to blur…
Trigger Warning: The themes of violence, substance abuse, mental illness, trauma, and other difficult aspects of psychological horror may be triggering for some readers; please exercise personal care while reading
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
The iconic, eye-crossing novel by Mark Z. Danielewski is the epitome of unreliable. It’s a story within a story — or more accurately, a story about an essay about a documentary. Sorry, what?! The tale follows a family who moves into a house that seems impossibly larger on the inside than it is on the outside. Narrated by Johnny Truant, who discovers the unsettling essay, the reader will spiral alongside him, confronted with a series of murky truths.
Not only is the narrative a complicated maze, but the novel itself is fragmented and messy, with some claiming there are actual puzzles for the reader to solve. It’s completely metafictional and deeply disturbing.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
I feel mildly paranoid even thinking about this one. A young woman takes a trip with her boyfriend to visit his parents, who reside in a remote farmhouse. As the journey takes shape, she begins to contemplate their relationship, but gradually, the details begin to distort. Reid perfectly captures the essence of the unreliable narrator, unearthing questions of identity, memory, and existential dread. By the time you finish, his writing will have you sleeping with the lights on for a week.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Calling back to the classics, The Yellow Wallpaper is a cornerstone of psychological horror. The narrative follows an isolated young woman, locked in a bedroom at the insistence of her physician husband. With nothing to do but let her mind wander, she becomes fixated on the room’s decrepit yellow wallpaper. Time passes, and there’s just something about the wallpaper that feels increasingly off. You’ll find yourself questioning the truth, and maybe even questioning yourself.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Speaking of strange walls, The Haunting of Hill House is another twisty, unreliable classic. When Dr. Montague invites Eleanor Vance to investigate the allegedly haunted Hill House, she has no idea what she’s walking into (not sure what she was thinking, to be honest). Imagine eerie echoes at night, ghostly breezes, and chairs that move on their own. As the nights stretch on, Eleanor must face up to dark truths, some of which lie within herself. Hill House might be on your TBR, but it’s definitely not on your preferred list of places to spend the night.
Adela’s House in Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez
Keeping with the theme of the haunted house, Adela’s House is waiting to get under your skin, page by page, room by room. Enriquez illuminates the shadows of contemporary Argentina while telling the story of Clara, who recalls her childhood friend Adela and their sinister obsession with a strange, abandoned house. The horror of this tale is psychological, rooted in everyday fears and traumas. You’ll be left questioning what just happened, and whether Clara is really telling the full story.
You by Caroline Kepnes
This brings us to one of the most unreliable narrators you’ll ever meet. Joe Goldberg, an obsessive bookstore manager, with his warped perception of love and desire, will go to extreme lengths for the one he’s chosen. As the reader, you almost become complicit in his actions, watching as he relentlessly lies and manipulates his way through situations. The horror here isn’t supernatural, and it’s rooted in twisted human behavior. Kepnes’s novel has also been adapted into a hit Netflix series, where you can follow TV Joe’s unnerving story.
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
Told from the perspective of Eileen, the novel follows a young woman trapped in a bleak existence as she cares for her sick father and works at a prison. When she meets the alluring Rebecca, she’s drawn into a precarious friendship, where fiction and reality become dangerously entangled. Moshfegh’s debut is the perfect horror read; it’s dark, unsettling, and guaranteed to grip you until the last page.
And so the story concludes. You’ve reached the end of the list, encountered some of the most unreliable narrators out there, and maybe even found a few top picks for your next spooky TBR. That is — if you can believe a word I just said.
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Find these books and more on our Spine-chilling Horror Novels Not for the Faint of Heart on Bookshop.org.
