Tag: Lists

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We each have our own preferred genres of choice. Kate loves horrors and thrillers, really anything that will keep her up at night! And Serena enjoys escaping through hidden doors into realms of magic and adventure. We also read mysteries, historical fiction, graphic novels, etc. etc. And that’s not even counting the multitude of sub-genres contained within each greater genre. In this series, one of us with present a list of our favorites from within a given sub-genre of one of our greater preferred genres.

This past summer I ended up with a free morning as my husband took my daughter to her soccer practice/scrimmages , so I decided to check out the film “Backrooms”. I ended up enjoying it and the weirdness of the mysterious ‘backrooms’ of a furniture store taking over a man’s life and then that of his therapist as he drags her in, making it her problem as well. I did kind of wish, however, that we didn’t really get an ‘explanation’ to what the ‘backrooms’ was, as for me it was far creepier when it just WAS, and didn’t have rhyme or reason. When we don’t know what it is, that’s part of the terror! When you try to explain it, the weird unexplained menace kind of gets defanged at least a little bit, and it made me not as creeped out as I probably would have been if it just was there and we never understood why (I have the same gripe with the film “Us”, though I do really like that movie). It also got me thinking about ‘liminal horror’ as a subgenre, and how it finds ways to get under my skin.

Liminal horror is a subgenre that has to do with a building unease in an otherwise ‘familiar’ space that has been altered in some way, usually abandoned or bastardized from what we would expect the space to serve. Think empty malls, or strange rooms or mazes, or places that seem to go to nowhere even though they seem like they should have some kind of beginning and end. It’s more of an uncanny valley and slow burn of wrongness that grates and quietly builds and finds the horror there. I quite enjoy it when it’s done right. And since “Backrooms” was a pretty big hit this summer I thought it would be fun to list some books that fit in the liminal horror subgenre, just in case others liked it and want a readalike!

“House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski

Okay, ADMITTEDLY this is a bit of an undertaking of a book and kind of a wild one to start off with, but this, to me, is one of the ultimate liminal horror novels. And it is an incredibly complicated book with layers and layers of psychological unease, with multiple stories within stories like a relentless stacking doll that will either completely capture a reader, or make them tear their hair out. The true heart of this book, putting aside the footnotes, the weird scribblings, the format changes, and all the other crazy tangents it takes you on, is a family moving into a new home on a quiet street. But once they move in, they realize that something is off about the house. Somehow, impossibly, the house is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And as they try to explore and figure out why, things slowly start to spiral completely out of control. And yes, there are other narrators who are finding these stories and there are other stories on top of that and it’s incredibly wild, but the thoroughfare tale is a weird house that shouldn’t be possible. The entire book took me a long time to read, and it took a lot of patience, but ultimately I found it got completely under my skin and I kept it in my head long after I turned the last page.

“Horrorstör” by Grady Hendrix

This was the first Grady Hendrix book I read, and it was quite the introduction to who is now a very in demand horror author. And while “Horrorstör” doesn’t break a top three Hendrix book for me (maybe top five?), it’s a really enjoyable horror story with a creepy furniture store and unassuming employees who get in a bit over their heads when they are tasked to stay overnight to keep an eye out for strange happenings. Furniture stores after closing hours are creepy enough, but the employees find some weird things as the night goes on, and realize that not only is the IKEA like business SUPER haunted, it is also built upon the shell and land of an abandoned prison, and a long vanished mental asylum and the ghosts of the inmates are pulling them in and don’t want to let go. One of the most fun things about this book is the design, as it looks like an IKEA catalog, and even has advertisements…. that get more and more uncanny and creepy as the story goes on.

“The Babysitter Lives” by Stephen Graham Jones

I had to include one of my favorite horror authors on this list, so how lucky that Stephen Graham Jones has a creepy and liminalesque horror tale in “The Babysitter Lives”. We follow Charlotte, and teenage babysitter who is hired on Halloween night to babysit two children. Seems easy enough, but Charlotte starts to realize that not only are the charges a little strange, the house itself is perhaps not what it seems. Especially since the kids keep talking about a beanbag portal, and apparently this house was the site of a violent crime years earlier. This one has a weird alternate house, a portal that captures people and spits them into nightmarish scenarios, and a deeply unsettling slow build of dread as Charlotte is pulled further and further from where she is supposed to be and deeper and deeper into a strange other world and other timelines. It’s surreal and heart pounding, and just another great story from Jones.

“The Staircase in the Woods” by Chuck Wendig

Way back in the day Reddit used to have creepy stories about staircases that were randomly deposited in national parks, and I kept thinking about that as I read the book “The Staircase in the Woods”. But while those stories on Reddit stayed pretty much in the woods, Wendig’s story of childhood friends reconvening in the same woods their friend disappeared in years before after climbing up a mysterious staircase goes one step further: Beyond the staircase and what is found once you reach the top. I didn’t know what to expect of this one when I picked it up, but MAN, it really goes crazy from there with weird rooms, hallways, creatures, and a desperation to get out with no obvious way out in sight. Wendig can do horror, fantasy, and sci-fi, and he kind of gets to mix it all in this one with some really creepy staircases and some really complicated characters.

“The Hollow Places” by T. Kingfisher

If you are looking for a kinder gentler horror author but one who still knows how to craft a great and creepy story, T. Kingfisher is definitely a great choice, and her novel “The Hollow Places” brings her trademark creepy but not too upsetting take on horror to the liminal space. A woman named Carrot (it’s a nickname) has left her marriage and returns to her hometown and reconnects with her eccentric uncle, who happens to have a taxidermy and other oddities museum. One day while tending to the museum, she finds a hallway that shouldn’t be there, and finds that it takes her to another plane. Or multiple other planes. But while exploring these strange new worlds and the weird in betweens she encounters, there are darker things that could come out of the space and cause some real problems. Kingfisher always has fun stories, and this one is no different while also creating some weird uncanny worlds and spaces.

“Parachute” by Holly Rae Garcia

And now one that isn’t as well known but I read and really liked a few years ago: “Parachute”! What if a liminal horror story didn’t involve backrooms, weird houses, strange hallways, or staircases in the woods….. but a gym class parachute? A group of friends are about to leave high school for new pastures and are feeling nostalgic and nervous and decide to break into their elementary school gym for one last hurrah. They find a parachute and start to play…. but it transports them from weird place to weird place, and things get more and more dire and dangerous with each toss of the fabric. It is SUCH a creative idea, and it was one that just had me grinning from ear to ear as I read it while also being wholly unnerved by the very concept of it all. It’s definitely one of the most creative liminal space horror stories I’ve read, and I hope that more people check it out.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here .

We each have our own preferred genres of choice. Kate loves horrors and thrillers, really anything that will keep her up at night! And Serena enjoys escaping through hidden doors into realms of magic and adventure. We also read mysteries, historical fiction, graphic novels, etc. etc. And that’s not even counting the multitude of sub-genres contained within each greater genre. In this series, one of us will present a list of our favorites from within a given sub-genre of one of our greater preferred genres.

I am once again copying Kate’s theme! She’s did vampire horror, I did vampire fantasy. She did werewolf horror, I did…well, you get the idea. But it truly is funny seeing the places where horror and fantasy overlap. For this reason, Kate and I have had some good luck find authors who write books that we both can appreciate, perhaps for different reasons.

So, unlike werewolves in horror, werewolves in fantasy are often paired with romance. I’m sure there are exceptions, but it’s hard to think of any! Beyond this, there’s always a decent chance that the main character will also end up being a werewolf and the concept will be explored from an insider perspective. Werewolves in fantasy often have much more control over their “curse” than the ones you’d see in horror; more often than not, it’s just another magical power rather than something that has any true downside. They’re also more likely to show up in urban/paranormal fantasy than a straight fantasy novel.

So, let’s get to the list!

“Blood and Chocolate” by Annette Curtis Klause

Thinking back, this may have been the first werewolf book I ever read. I have clear memories of checking it out from the library and whizzing through it. Now, with many years and many other werewolf books under my belt, it still stands out as one of the more unique version of the werewolf story I’ve come across. Mostly this comes down to the way that the romance was handled. I remember being completely shocked by the direction this book took in the end, and I think even now, it subverts some expectations that readers would have going in. Alas, this was then made into a movie where the director completely butchered it. I mean, actually butchered it! Totally changed the ending, undoing all that made the book stand out as unique and depriving the heroine of the conclusion to her personal arch. Truly tragic stuff. So, yes. Read the book but do not, I repeat, DO NOT, watch the movie.

“Written in Red” by Anne Bishop

While this series had a fairly steep and disappointing decline towards the final few books, it stands out for having one of the more unique versions of werewolves in fantasy. The book manages to straddle both the urban fantasy genre as well as a more straight, second-world fantasy novel. In this world, the Others are powerful magical creatures (including werewolves) and the humans are very much living at the grace of these beings. The first few books are particularly strong, following the main character Meg and the very beginnings of her romance with the resident werewolf leader of her small corner of the world.

“Moon Called” by Patricia Briggs

There are a bunch of urban/paranormal fantasy series out there that feature werewolves. I can probably name half a dozen off the top of my head. But I think one of the most popular has been the “Mercy Thomas” series by Patricia Briggs. Mercy herself is a coyote shifter, but her romantic interest(s) are both werewolves. Much of it is stand werewolf fare, but as the series progresses, we get more lore about werewolf society and the role they play in the supernatural society, as well as the “real world.” There’s also a companion series called the “Alpha and Omega” series that features a female werewolf, so if this series is up your alley, there’s more to be had from this world featuring a main character werewolf to boot!

“Shiver” by Maggie Stiefvater

At this point, this author is best known by her “Raven Cycle” series. But before she had that, she produced this interesting YA werewolf series! Given how much creativity was present in the “Raven Cycle” series, it should come as no surprise that Stiefvater also brought a lot of creativity to her interpretation of werewolves. Here, the change between wolf and human is determined by the temperature, not phases of the moon. That being the case, Sam, our werewolf character, is doomed to be wolf for large chunks of each year, with only a few summer months of life as a human boy. And, of course, there’s also Grace, the young woman who meets Sam as a boy but who suspects a similarity between him and a yellow-eyed wolf she’s seen in the woods.

“The Last Werewolf” by Glen Duncan

Up to this point, most of these books have had fairly tame versions of werewolves, especially as compared to their horror compatriots. But here, Duncan gives a fantasy version of werewolves that doesn’t shy away from the violent, chaotic existence that would be life as a werewolf. This book is definitely on the dark side and is more literary than the other picks as well, so if you’re a fantasy reader who leans in that direction, this would be a good one to check out. It also features a male werewolf as the lead character, which also feels a bit unique compared to other titles on this list so far.

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by J.K. Rowling

Granted, werewolves are way down the list of important fantasy tropes in this series, but I thought to include it because it’s one of the few truly negative-only versions of werewolves in fantasy I have on this list. There’s no upside to being a werewolf in this world; we see Lupin not only struggle with the effects of the transformation itself, but also with the bigotry of this world towards werewolf. As the series continues, a villain werewolf is introduced and is portrayed as one of the more horrific enemies out of many horrific options. Lupin also continues to struggle with his own life choices and the realities of his curse. So, not a central part of the series, but this is definitely a different version of werewolves in fantasy than we’ve seen in the other books on this list.

What werewolf fantasy books have you enjoyed over the years? Let us know in the comments!