Fellside Author M.R. Carey Shares the 10 Scariest Books on His Shelves

M.R. Carey’s debut novel The Girl with All the Gifts was the kind of smash authors dream of: the white-knuckle horror drama with the hush-hush premise was a word-of-mouth sensation, selling big and quickly attracting the attention of film producers, who hired Carey himself to adapt (She Who Brings Gifts opens in cinemas this fall). Of COurse, Carey is not really a debut author at all—under his given name, Mike Carey, he’s penned everything from graphic novels (for Marvel and DC), to novels (the Felix Castor series), to radio dramas, and, yes, screenplays. This week, he’s back with a new book, Fellside, a supernatural twist on the women-in-prison genre. To celebrate, we asked him to share his list of 10 books guaranteed to chill your bones.
I’m a bit ashamed to say that I was a late convert to horror. As a teen, I mostly went for sci-fi and fantasy. Kubrick’s movie version of Stephen King’s The Shining was what made me see the light, and I’ve been pretty much an addict ever since. My wife is not a fan, and only one of our three kids has the bug. We swap novels and movies when we’re apart, binge when she comes to visit.
The contents of my bookshelf tends to ebb and flow as Lou and I trade, but these ten books are perennials, and I guarantee they won’t let you down.

NOS4A2, by Joe Hill
Hill’s third novel presents the most one-sided duel in the history of the genre. On one side, a monstrous immortal with a vampiric Rolls Royce and as many psychotic helpers as Dracula. On the other, a traumatised little girl with a magic bicycle. You’ll never feel the same way about luxury cars–or Christmas–again.

The Haunting Of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
I grew up watching the 60s movie version of this amazing novel, and discovered the novel quite recently. Jackson’s haunted house is feral, and like all predators it’s cunning in its choice of victims. An inexorable slow build leads to a climax that’s all the more terrifying for being absolutely inevitable.

The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes
I am not a fan of serial killer narratives. The Silence Of the Lambs aside, I rarely find them readable. But Lauren Beukes’ corkscrewing, endlessly interwoven story of a driven madman who can travel in time is an exception. It’s a snake that swallows its own tail, and you with it.

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Yes, it’s a children’s book. It’s also a tiny masterpiece. And it pulls off the incredibly difficult trick of being scarier for adults than it is for kids. Your sprogs will thrill to Coraline’s cleverness and courage, while you turn quietly green at the existential terrors.

Doctor Sleep, by Stephen King
I could just as easily have picked The Shining, but its sequel is exquisite. Where the original novel is a thinly disguised metaphor for the loss of self that comes with substance abuse, Doctor Sleep is a reflection on recovery and atonement. Don’t worry, it will still scare the pants off you: the True Knot and most especially their leader, Rose the Hat, are genuinely terrifying.

Jack Faust, by Michael Swanwick
The Faust myth has probably been retold more often than almost any other story, but in my view nobody has ever done it better than Michael Swanwick. The devil is usually seen as the father of lies, but Swanwick’s Mephistopheles delivers on every promise he makes, even when you pray that he won’t.

Cuckoo Song, by Frances Hardinge
Is Hardinge’s tale of the fair folk, their human victims and the desperate people caught in between horror, folklore or fairy tale? Whatever you call it, it’s one of the most enthralling YA novels of recent years, and has one of the most moving and surprising finales. I keep re-reading it and it never disappoints.

The Tooth Fairy, by Graham Joyce
The best horror stories force us to confront our own inner darkness, and the best monsters are little poisonous pieces of us that have somehow broken off and become autonomous. Joyce’s tooth fairy is an amazing creation, and her morphing relationship with the protagonist, Sam, is unlike anything I’ve ever read in horror or out of it.

Dinner At Deviant’s Palace, by Tim Powers
This is an oddity in Powers’ oeuvre. The set-up is pure sci-fi, but the Jaybird cult with its chilling and ultimately lethal version of holy communion feels like a very contemporary nightmare. And Sevatividam is one of the best monsters since Dracula. Twisty reveals serve a darkly inventive plot that cost me more than one night’s sleep, and the dinner of the title makes for an unforgettable climax.

The Green Mile, by Stephen King
One of the many reasons why Stephen King deserves his crown is that his books always make you reflect on real evils in the midst of the supernatural ones. In the case of The Green Mile that includes both the death penalty and some of the men who’ve come to face it. Like The Shining, this book presents a protagonist with a precious gift–then plunges him and the reader into a succession of nightmares. And like The Shining, it wrings you out emotionally at the same time as terrifying you. A masterpiece.
What novels do you turn to when you need a good scare?