Cozy Horror Books

Societal horrors can be labeled as cozy, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have any jump scares. Imagine thinking that you have it all. The perfect career, the perfect family, and you lead the picture-perfect life. Suddenly, you find yourself the victim of recurring nightmares you can’t control. That’s what happens to Annabelle, who tries to downplay the frightening dreams at first. Maybe less coffee and more sleep with help? Soon, Annabelle realizes these dreams are not stemming from her unrestricted imagination. These horrific dreams are premonitions of her loved ones and their demise. Readers will be horrified as they try to put themselves in Annabelle’s situation.

Mix a haunted house with sibling rivalry and grief, and you have one intriguing paranormal, horror saga. Louise and her brother Mark are complete opposites of each other. Louise is ambitious, successful and has a lot on her plate, juggling motherhood and her career. When she is alerted that her parents have died, she dreads traveling back to South Carolina to finish their final affairs. Additionally, her brother Mark, who has never left the town their family is from, harbors resentment for his sister. Now, together, they have to work to sell their family house, but only if the house allows them to do so.

This high-octane story turns people’s desires into weapons of power as five people who are nothing more than acquaintances to each other find themselves intertwined in a fast-paced, dark thriller. Aima and Kalu are a couple that are on the verge of breaking up. One night, Aima and her friends find themselves flirting with the dark, Nigerian nightlife scene when they are swept up in the crosshairs of the wealthy and elite class who publicly denounce the acts they enjoy behind closed doors. This action-packed story combines depravity, antiquated societal expectations and temptations in a seductive web of fear.

Not everything creepy and scary is set in the past. In this modern horror-thriller, a powerful family is forced to reevaluate their standing once their longstanding luck turns into a deadly battle between family members. The Berisha family has been in the import and export business for years. Some say the key to their success lies in luck, but Zef Berisha knows better. As he prepares to pass the family business to his children with their appointed positions, his children aren’t so eager to embrace the family’s legacy. When their luck hits a snag, the siblings find themselves in a battle with each other and only the strongest will survive.

Set in the beautiful and vivid backdrop of Argentina, this translated short story collection by renowned author Mariana Enriquez explores the societal ills that plague the beautiful country. From systemic structures that separate classes to surviving a dictatorship, this horror collection uses historical references, magical realism and lived experiences to paint a chilling picture. Follow teens who turn to drugs to disconnect from their deadly reality involving a government-mandated blackout, to women protesting domestic violence to fight against corrupt politics and the patriarchy. However, despite the real-world threats many of the citizens of Argentina face, there’s still the presence of black magic that looms amidst the constant turmoil of events.

Of course, you can’t have a cozy horror list without a little romance. Belladonna is a bookish gal who is doing everything she can to keep her spiteful and incompetent boss from running their bookshop out of business. Between work and keeping up with her witchy rituals, she finds herself burned out. This all comes to the surface when her coven wants to convene for her 30th birthday. Now, the last thing she wants is for her coven to know she is losing her magic. But Belladonna gets lucky and lands herself an unlikely mentor just in time to fix things. You’ll be thrilled to welcome the fall in with this cozy read that has the right amount of darkness and spice.

Not all ghost stories are the same, but sometimes the paranormal realm has a way of connecting people unexpectedly. Two women find themselves having more in common than they could ever realize, despite being two generations apart from each other. Rachel, driven by the grief of losing her mother, decides to sell her late mother’s old and secluded farm home in England. But once she arrives, she can’t shake the feeling that there’s an unexplainable darkness materializing. Rachel doesn’t discover that another woman lived in her home initially, but when she does, she struggles to connect how a housemaid in the 19th century is connected to her family.

Who doesn’t appreciate it when magical realism and fantasy get a horror makeover? Travel back in time to 1914 on the coast of South Africa. Meena dies tragically in her family’s mansion known as the Akbar Manzil, a celebrated estate throughout the land. Fast-forward to the present and Sana, along with her father, attempt to learn more about their family’s history after the death of their matriarch and her twin sister. Now, the daughter and father duo arrive at the Akbar Manzil estate, which is now updated into apartments. As they try to fit in with the peculiar locals, Sana continues to seek more clues to her family’s past and finds herself drawn to a mysterious locked room. Once Sana opens the door, she discovers a room seemingly locked in time with a grieving, lonely djinn.

Southern Gothic takes a sinister turn in this historical fiction speculative mystery read. Jemma is excited about the opportunity to start anew when she receives word of possible employment as a tutor with the prominent Duchon family. Jemma leaves Chicago to settle into her new job and life but is met with the scorching heat of New Orleans in the summer. While the locals are nice, she can’t help but notice how people look at her and treat her when she mentions the Duchon family. While the Duchons are a Black family from Louisiana, they all have passe blanc, distinct features, which adds a complex colorism aspect that is often considered taboo. As Jemma tries to save herself, she realizes that the Dunchon family is stuck in time – figuratively and literally.

Spanning dual timelines, this eerie, atmospheric gothic story perfectly blends family saga and generational secrets. Towards the end of the First World War, a couple decides to relocate to Miami to build a better future. The ambitious and wealthy businessman and husband, Robert, seeks upward mobility by hosting lavish parties at his newly built home, known as the Marbrisa Estate. On the other hand, his wife Anna has no interest in entertaining the company that her husband wants to bond with. When a woman is murdered at their estate, the property is left in ruins until a new buyer takes over two decades later.

For readers who welcome a dark, chilling horror romance as the temperatures continue to drop, this unforgettable story will leave you wanting more. Set in Mexico during the 1800s, right before the events leading up to the Mexican-American War, both Nena and Nestor are childhood sweethearts who plan on marrying each other when they come of age. But their dreams come to a halt when a vampire attacks Nena, and Nestor is left to believe she is dead. Heartbroken, he leaves the ranch he grew up on but returns almost a decade later to discover that his Nena is alive.

Here’s a daunting blend of witches, dark academia, and horror for those who are ready to embrace slightly chilling reads. This multigenerational horror story centers on three women living in different time periods. First, there is Minerva, and she has dedicated her life to all things horror, with the help of her great-great-grandmother, Nana Alba. As she prepares for her graduate thesis, her ghastly research has put her on the path to a relatively unknown but influential horror author named Beatrice Tremblay. The more she learns about Beatrice, the more she discovers how strange the woman was. After unearthing her manuscript, she finds that there was a mysterious and beautiful roommate that the horror alumni author shared living quarters with while attending university. Between the manuscript and the stories her Nana Alba has passed down to her, Minerva believes whatever dark spirit that followed Beatrice still lives on campus with her now.

Embrace a touch of fear in a novel that seamlessly bridges tradition, mystery, and horror in 19th-century Sri Lanka. Amara has not had an easy life because she is the daughter of her village’s demon-priest. She has enough self-awareness to navigate her people despite their ridicule of her. However, as more British colonizers invade Sri Lanka, their customs begin to negatively affect the natives. Both she and her father become outcasts to their own people as the villagers embrace European customs. But something is preying on locals in the jungles and to survive, Amara will have to embrace her talents to save herself and her community.

Some cozy horror readers don’t require monsters or ghosts to scare them because reality is scary enough. This satirical horror follows a promising and gifted pianist who is forced to abandon her dreams of becoming a musician to support her family after a traumatic accident leaves her parents with limited mobility. She finds a decent-paying job at a high-end beauty and wellness brand. Now that she is part of the team, she finds herself wrapped up in the company’s culture, starting with her obsession with the founder’s niece, Hellen. While readers will find humor in how ridiculous the narrator behaves in the scope of consumerism, the real horror lies in acknowledging how society’s beauty standards harm women.