7 Short And Fast-Paced Horror Books Under 200 Pages
These kinds of horror books are my favorite. Sometimes, all you need is a book to come
in, f*** things up, and then leave you staring at the wall. All these books are below or around 200 pages, but don't
let that fool you—all of these stories are full-fledged and terror-inducing, still you can read them in one sitting.
There are books of cosmic horror, post-apocalyptic tales, possession stories, and other similar themes.
I also included the page count for each book, as it is important for many people (me included). And don't worry, there are no spoilers here. Let's see the list!
1.) "What Moves The Dead" by T. Kingfisher
Length: 165 pages
This is a short and atmospheric gothic horror story; a retelling of The Fall of the
House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, which in my opinion, starts out slow but picks up after the first 50 pages or so.
We follow our protagonist, Alex Easton, who is a retired soldier. He receives a
message that his childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, so he visits the Usher house and discovers some nasty
things. Fungi. There's also something very wrong with the rabbits around the place. Creepy and uncanny stuff. You
can grab a copy
here.
2.) "Annihilation" by Jeff VanderMeer
Length: 195 pages
I had to include everyone's favorite weird cosmic horror book from the last decade. I
mean, look at this cover artwork. It's insanely trippy.
Annihilation is the first book in VanderMeer's Southern Reach series,
where we follow an expedition to Area X, led by a group of 4 women. I don't think I need to tell you that Area X is
full of mysteries and lifeforms beyond understanding.
While I preferred the movie adaptation, the book is an essential and hallucinatory
read for fans of cosmic horror. If that sounds good to you, grab a copy here.
3.) "The Ballad of Black Tom" by Victor LaValle
Length: 149 pages
And onto the next cosmic horror entry on the list. If you zoom into the cover, you'll
notice the shadows of tentacles. That's right, this one is for the H. P. Lovecraft fans. As LaValle writes in the
dedication:
"For H. P. Lovecraft, with all my conflicted
feelings"
In this occult, dark fantasy-horror tale, we follow Charles Thomas Tester, a
con artist in New York, who walks around with an empty guitar case, trying to get money in any way he can to
keep the roof over his father's head, but then one particular job takes him to places no one should ever go. You
can grab a copy here.
4.) "And Then I Woke Up" by Malcolm Devlin
Length: 167 pages
Devlin's short post-apocalyptic horror book puts a twist on the idea of a zombie
apocalypse. I don't want to spoil
anything so I'll just copy the book summary here:
"In a world reeling from an unusual plague, monsters lurk in the streets while
terrified survivors arm
themselves and roam the countryside in packs. Or perhaps something very different is happening. When a disease
affects how reality is perceived, it’s hard to be certain of anything…"
I really loved how this beautiful book cover ties into the story, because it does. You
can grab a copy here.
5.) "The Patient" by Jasper DeWitt
Length: 224 pages
In this story, we follow Parker through a series of his online posts. He is a young
psychiatrist, who gets a job at a mental hospital in New England, where he learns about the facility's most
dangerous patient on his first day. Despite all the warnings he gets from his colleagues, he is determined to find a
treatment for this patient, who has no known diagnosis and whose symptoms seem to change and evolve over time.
You guessed it: Things get bad. I read it in one day; it's a fun read if
you like psychological horror stories. You can order a copy from here.
6.) "Come Closer" by Sara Gran
Length: 194 pages
Now onto demonic possession. The story is told from the perspective of Amanda, who is
a successful architect in a happy marriage when suddenly things around her life start to go wrong.
Strange noises in her apartment. Tap, tap, tap. Unexplainable behavior, shoplifting,
blackouts, weird dreams about a woman.
It's short, well-written, and creepy as hell, sprinkled with black humor. If you like
demonic possession stories, it's a must. You can buy it here.
7.) "Call Us If You Get Possessed" by Chris Burton
Length: 130 pages
That's right, this is my book! Actually, this is the first one I ever released as a
paperback. It's my little lovechild.
In this story, we follow Samantha, who is hired to a call center of a mysterious
organization; a call center that helps people with paranormal incidents—or at least, tries to.
“The office was a protected area, but it was impossible to cover every attack
surface. Sometimes the phenomenon can spread from the caller, through the wires, radio waves, and cell towers,
straight to the other side of the phone call.”
That's right, something gets through. In case you find it interesting, you can grab a
copy here.
♦
And that's it for now, hope you've found some interesting recommendations. As I love
reading short horror books, this topic is going to be a series here. Also, if you have any recommendations, don't
hesitate to leave a comment, it's much appreciated. Thank you for reading.
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