Another 7 Short Horror Books Under 250 Pages

Background photo by Irina Iriser.

Welcome Stranger, to the second part of my short horror book post series. If you missed the first part, make sure to check out these 7 Short And Fast-Paced Horror Books Under 200 Pages.

If you've read my other post about the Fever Dream-like books, one entry on this list will be familiar to you, but I wanted to include it regardless, as it is short and unnerving. 

While you're reading this post, I'm still waiting for my new books to arrive. Until then, I keep lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Anyway, here's the list:

1.) "Foe" by Iain Reid

Length: 261 pages (sorry, it's a tiny bit more than 250, but it feels less, I swear!)

I've said it several times (and I will do it again), but Iain Reid is my favorite horror author right now. All three of his books ("Foe", "I'm Thinking of Ending Things", and "We Spread") have this underlying sense of dread, unease, and general uncanniness throughout, which I realized I enjoy too much. You know something is wrong from the start, but you can't tell what it is until the end (though as I saw in the Goodreads reviews, not everyone was able to put the pieces together).

2.) "We Had to Remove This Post" by Hanna Bervoets

Translated from Dutch, this short book got varying reception from readers. Some people seem to enjoy it, while others straight up dislike it. I'm going to be honest; I'm somewhere in the middle.

Our protagonist is Kayleigh, who accepts a job as a content moderator for a social media platform. She has to review all the things people upload to the platform. You can already see where this is going.

There were a couple of dark things in this short novella, though I found it less disturbing than I expected it to be. I finished the book feeling like this idea could have been executed better. Still, I say it's worth a shot. You can grab a copy here.

3.) "A House at the Bottom of a Lake" by Josh Malerman

This was my first book by Josh Malerman (who is also the author of the widely popular "Bird Box" by the way) but I'll try out more in the future.

This trippy little book is about two young lovers, who go on a date to a lake; they hop into a boat and start rowing around. The date starts awkward, but then they discover something: that's right, a house, which is apparently at the bottom of the lake.

It's spooky and atmospheric, I found it to be an easy and fun read. You can order a copy from here.

4.) "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson

This gothic horror tale is Shirley Jackson's second most popular book (as far as I know); written in 1962, though it reads as if it was a contemporary work.

We follow a "broken" family (broken meaning most of them are dead, possibly murdered), namely Merricat, our narrator, and her sister, Constance, who live in their isolated, remote estate, far from the village.

Going into this book, expect mystery, witchcraft, well-developed characters, manipulation, family tragedies, and a bit of weirdness. Grab a copy here.

5.) "Our Wives Under the Sea" by Julia Armfield

And now, onto the weirder entries on the list. Our Wives Under The Sea is a bleak, dreamlike, underwater(ish) horror book (though a good amount of the book's narration takes place on the surface), with the main themes being love, loss, and grief.

Miri's wife, Leah, is a marine biologist, who goes on a deep-sea mission that ends in a catastrophe, and when she returns, she seems like she's not entirely herself anymore.

It's a book of uneasiness, but it's also very sad. Highly recommended. You can grab a copy from here.

6.) "Fever Dream" by Samanta Schweblin

I already wrote about this one in a previous post, but I had to include it here as well.

Fever Dream, living up to its title, does absolutely feel like one. The story is about a woman who is lying on a hospital bed while she is talking to a boy next to her. They are trying to reconstruct where things went wrong. That's basically all you need to know before you jump into it.

Throughout the book, I felt this underlying tension. I couldn't really figure out what was happening, but most of the events and characters make sense in the end. I really, really, really enjoyed it. 

There is also a Netflix adaptation but I haven't seen it yet. You can order your copy here.

7.) "You Are What Eats You" by Chris Burton

Length: 70 pages (though it feels like an eternity... no, just kidding)

Now let me take a minute for shameless self-promotion. May I? Thank you, kind soul.

I'll sum it up in one sentence: You Are What Eats You is a fast-paced cosmic horror story in epistolary format about gym and fitness culture, illegal anabolic steroids and very bad decisions, with a pinch of black humor and sprinkled with a little bit of gore.

If that sounds good to you, you can either get it as an e-book here, or there is a print version on this link that also includes my other short horror story, Shadows Over Sanviero.