Every genre has its stereotypes, but even fellow fright fans might recognize horror’s as some of the worst. From violence against women to racial stereotypes to transphobia, horror’s history alone has put many marginalized people off the genre altogether.
Fortunately, authors of color have revolutionized horror, enriching it with their voices and gifts of great storytelling while using the conventions of the genre to unpack the traumas of racism, sexism, classism, and more. The writers collected here are game changers, their mastery of the craft extraordinary. So much so that whether you’re listening at home or on the go, you might want to make sure the area is brightly lit...and that there’s nothing lurking in the shadows. Check out the best horror authors of color and some of their most terrifying tales below.
Victor LaValle
If you're going to make a list of the best horror authors, Victor LaValle better be at the top. He is one of the foremost Black horror authors writing today. LaValle is an expert at exploring staples of the genre and picking them apart to see what makes them tick: he covered asylums in The Devil in Silver, changelings in The Changeling, and even H.P. Lovecraft's racist legacy in The Ballad of Black Tom, which won the 2016 Shirley Jackson Award for best novella. Seasoned audiobook narrator Kevin R. Free brings the scary up a notch as his narration adds even more chills to the final product.
The Devil in Silver
Pepper is a rambunctious big man, and, suddenly, the surprised inmate of a budget-strapped mental institution in Queens, New York....
Jessica Johns
Lending fresh, Indigenous perspective to a genre that often relies upon characters to trust their intuition, debut author Jessica Johns illuminates the wisdom that thrives where dreams begin and reality (supposedly) ends. Bad Cree opens on a chilling scene as Mackenzie finds the crow’s skull from her nightmares staring back at her and knows it can only mean one thing: She must return to the family she left behind because in their culture, “you aren’t ravens, you are crows,” meaning “you travel together everywhere.” Still, as narrator Tanis Parenteau (of Plains Cree descent) reveals in a tender performance, the realities of processing grief are rarely so straightforward.
Bad Cree
In this gripping, horror-laced debut, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home...
Alma Katsu
Alma Katsu has lent her writing talents to multiple genres, penning spy novels like Red Widow and paranormal adventures like The Taker. Even her horror entries tend to blur the lines between historical fiction and horror—in her modern horror classic The Hunger, Katsu reimagines the wagon train known as the Donner Party with mystical prose and a supernatural atmosphere. Even better, Kristen Potter's narration will drop you deep into the California mountains, where hunger and evil lie in wait.
Red Widow
Lyndsey was once a top handler in the Moscow Field Station, where she was known as the "human lie detector" and praised for recruiting some of the most senior Russian officials. But now, three Russian assets have been exposed - including one of her own....
Octavia E. Butler
There's no understating how much Octavia Butler completely changed the horror and science fiction genres—we'll be studying her works for decades to come. From the dystopian Parable of the Sower to the historical epic Kindred, Butler showed the publishing world that African American authors could sell to and influence audiences in a new way. In her horror novel Dawn, Butler begins a series about aliens who make contact with humanity. But these aren't the nice green men humanity has been picturing—they're absolutely terrifying, and they want something from Lilith that will change the future of the human race.
Parable of the Sower
Among the first fictions that you might term “eco-feminist,” if you were in a terming mood. This series is now a classic, and underlines a true thing: The condition of women and the condition of the environment are closely joined. These three books follow the small community of Earthseed as it struggles against both horrible conditions and horrible people. Much to ponder.
Hye-young Pyun
As this best-selling South Korean author's work has taught us, horror translates well. A master of haunting and grotesque imagery, Hye-young Pyun tells stories of often ordinary people in situations you soon realize won't end well at all. For example, everything starts off relatively normal in Pyun's Shirley Jackson Award-winning novel The Hole, where Oghi, now paralyzed and widowed after a terrible accident, is under the care of his mother-in-law as he recovers. But why is she digging a hole in their yard? Narrator Tim Campbell expertly eases the listener into this quiet, claustrophobic journey about neglect and grief.
The Hole
In this tense, gripping novel by a star of Korean literature, Oghi wakes from a coma after causing a devastating car accident that took his wife's life and left him paralyzed and badly disfigured. His caretaker is his mother-in-law, a widow grieving the loss of her only child....
Stephen Graham Jones
Stephen Graham Jones has been in the horror scene for quite a while, having published 22 books so far. Some of his past hits include Mongrels and Mapping the Interior, both excellent examples of his very character-focused, inwardly terrifying novels. But the best one to start with is certainly The Only Good Indians, a skillful exploration of revenge, identity, and horror as four Native American protagonists reckon with their past. Native American actor Shaun Taylor-Corbett (who, like Jones, belongs to the Blackfeet Tribe) provides a haunting atmosphere through his arresting narration.
Mongrels
A spellbinding and darkly humorous coming-of-age story about an unusual boy whose family lives on the fringe of society and struggles to survive in a hostile world that shuns and fears them.
He was born an outsider, like the rest of his family. Poor yet resilient, he lives in the shadows with his aunt Libby and uncle Darren, folk who stubbornly make their way in a society that does not understand or want them. They are mongrels, mixed blood, neither this nor that.
The boy at the center of Mongrels must decide if he belongs on the road with his aunt and uncle or if he fits with the people on the other side of the tracks. For 10 years he and his family have lived a life of late-night exits and narrow escapes - always on the move across the South to stay one step ahead of the law. But the time is drawing near when Darren and Libby will finally know if their nephew is like them or not. And the close calls they've been running from for so long are catching up fast now. Everything is about to change.
A compelling and fascinating journey, Mongrels alternates between past and present to create an unforgettable portrait of a boy trying to understand his family and his place in a complex and unforgiving world. A smart and innovative story - funny, bloody, raw, and real - told in a rhythmic voice full of heart, Mongrels is a deeply moving, sometimes grisly novel that illuminates the challenges and tender joys of a life beyond the ordinary in a bold and imaginative new way.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Another long-time horror writer, Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a master of both short and long fiction, having published three collections of short stories and seven novels since 2013. If you’re not familiar with any of her award-winning works, I'd suggest starting with her most popular. The gorgeous cover of Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic accurately reflects the enchanting beauty within—Moreno-Garcia's spellbinding prose brings you deep into the Mexican countryside as main character Noemí navigates the eerie and mysterious High Place.
Mexican Gothic
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find....
Cassandra Khaw
A perfect choice if you're looking for a short, scary listen, Cassandra Khaw has written several deliciously creepy works of short fiction. One of her best is a recent release entitled Nothing but Blackened Teeth, which follows a group of estranged friends who reunite for a wedding. Unfortunately, they decide to stay the night in an old mansion, which brings nothing but trouble and chaos to those inside.
Nothing but Blackened Teeth
Cassandra Khaw's Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists....
Tananarive Due
In her fiction, Tananarive Due, a scholar of Black horror, effortlessly puts Black characters in situations in which we rarely get to see them represented. In her African Immortals series, she invites listeners to discover a new type of vampire and the costs of such a life. In the absolute masterpiece The Good House, Due writes about a Black family that moves into a haunted house. It's an unrelenting experience, and one you won't forget for years after, especially with legendary narrator Robin Miles bringing every character to life.
The Good House
Tananarive Due, author of The Living Blood won the American Book Award and is praised as Stephen King's equal by Publishers Weekly....
Owl Goingback
In so many horror classics, we've sadly seen Native American characters and concepts watered down or completely disrespected in the name of the genre. Thankfully, Owl Goingback works to disrupt those familiar narratives, drawing from real Native American mythology and heritage to create suspense and scares without exploitation. His Darker than Night is a retelling of the haunted house plotline, and his Bram Stoker award-winning Crota invokes a mythical beast that terrorizes a small town.
Darker Than Night
Horror novelist Michael Anthony decides to move his family from New York City to the small Missouri town where he was raised by his eccentric grandmother....
Rin Chupeco
Just because a book is for young adults doesn't mean it isn't incredibly spooky—just ask any of Rin Chupeco's fans. Chupeco always features strong women, making sure sexist horror tropes never make it into their work. There's the creeping, suffocating suspense of The Girl From the Well, or the mystical, magic-centered story of The Bone Witch. The start of a series, this novel involves a sister accidentally resurrecting her brother from the dead. Necromancy, anyone?
The Girl from the Well
Okiku wants vengeance...and she gets it. Whenever there's a monster hurting a child, her spirit is there to deliver punishment....
Jewelle Gomez
Jewelle Gomez is so many things—a playwright, a scholar, a poet, a critic, and of course, an author. She's also considered one of the foremothers of "Afrofuturism," a speculative genre that specifically centers Black stories in science fiction. Her foray into horror resulted in The Gilda Stories, a cult classic novel that made waves for its portrayal of its Black and lesbian protagonist (who just so happen to be a vampire as well). Narrator Adenrele Ojo brings her extensive theatre expertise to this audiobook, infusing rhythm and life in every line.
The Gilda Stories
This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who "shares the blood" by two women there, Gilda spends the next 200 years searching for a place to call home....
Carmen Maria Machado
Best-selling writer Carmen Maria Machado represents a very different type of horror author from the others on this list. Her work is incredibly unique and strange; it also draws heavily on metaphor, often creating entirely new worlds and rules. Take, for example, "The Husband Stitch," one of the award-winning stories in Her Body and Other Parties, which took the world by storm. In this story's universe, every woman has a ribbon around their necks, which is a very private part of their body. Absurd and completely mystifying, this is just one of the entries in her collection of horror unlike anything we've seen or heard before.
Her Body and Other Parties
In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction....
Hari Kunzru
The scariest things in life don't even need to be invented, as British novelist and Fellow of the American Academy in Berlin Hari Kunzru knows very well. Consider his latest work, Red Pill, which traps the listener in the nihilistic mind of a blocked writer at a German think tank, or his most straightforwardly scary title, White Tears. Performed by three different narrators, this audiobook about music, cultural appropriation, and revenge will have you deep in the dark world of the music underground.
Red Pill
After receiving a prestigious writing fellowship in Germany, the narrator of Red Pill arrives in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee and struggles to accomplish anything at all....
Justina Ireland
New York Times best-selling author Justina Ireland has not only changed the landscape of the young adult genre by being a fierce advocate for diversity and authentic representation; she's also reinvigorated of one of the most overly saturated horror tropes: zombies. Even diehard fans of the undead were getting a bit tired—then came Ireland, with a spin unlike any other. In her Dread Nation, an alternate history unfolds: the Civil War ended in this story because the undead started rising from their graves. And it's up to girls like Jane to train and protect the wealthy elite from those zombie clutches. Refreshing and jam-packed with action, that audiobook veteran Bahni Turpin tells Jane's story makes this a must-have-listen.
Dread Nation
Dread Nation series by Justina Ireland
In the middle of the American Civil War, zombies rise to walk the earth. The Union and the Confederacy are forced to put their battles on hold to combat this new menace—and desperately need more fighters. The zombie invasion provides an unprecedented opportunity for young Black girls like Jane McKeene. Thanks to laws like the Native and Negro Education Act, Jane is sent to combat schools and trained in the fine art of zombie hunting. Jane wants more from life than fighting and bloodshed, but fighting and bloodshed have a habit of finding her wherever she goes. Whether searching for missing families or unlocking the secrets of a supposedly safe town, Jane does not lack chances to use her training... no matter how much she wishes she could just get away from it all.
Author Justina Ireland has created a truly unique zombie series in Dread Nation. The audiobooks are narrated by Bahni Turpin, an award-winning Hall of Famer who has performed several moving and groundbreaking listens on race. Deathless Divide, the second book in the Dread Nation series, was released in 2020, so you can look forward to plenty more adventures featuring Jane and this dark universe to come.
