Snowed-in Horror: Terrifying Reads for Long Winter Nights

Jack Torrance is like any man—wanting to provide for his family and write The Great American Novel. So, when the opportunity arises to become the caretakers of the grand Overlook Hotel during its winter closure, Jack packs up the family and heads to the remote mountain resort. But the Overlook has other plans, soon plunging the family into spectral chaos as the malevolent spirits within its walls awaken, hungry for the couple’s young son. Great party, isn’t it?

A famous author at the mercy (or lack thereof) of his biggest fan, who really doesn’t like what he’s been writing lately. Stephen King weaves his typical mastery of thrills and terrors in this captivating story that will keep you in a vicegrip until the very end. And then some. 

The Crew of the HMS Terror faces insurmountable odds: dwindling rations and coal, a ceaseless winter, and their ship buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But there is something else out in the darkness, something that stalks them from the ice… Blending meticulous historical detail with supernatural elements, The Terror is a horror story unlike any other. 

Using the real-life 1924 disappearance of famed explorers as a backdrop, The Abominable delves into the brutal realities of high-altitude climbing, obsession, and the psychological toll of the mountain, with a mystery that goes beyond a mythical creature.   

Masterfully blending history with supernatural horror, The Hunger follows the ill-fated Donner Party as they make the arduous westward crossing, losing members of the group one-by-one. This grim reimagining takes a deep, unflinching look into the most terrifying creature on earth: man itself.  

Like father, like son. Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill, delivers an utterly engaging vampire epic that stretches across time and genre, with sly echoes of King’s Dark Tower mythos. It’s a horrifying ride about a mother who once escaped an immortal creature in Christmasland, who must now rescue her son from the same fate. 

Told from multiple POVs, Ararat weaves the biblical with the horrifying as a group of explorers descends on an ancient vessel believed to be Noah’s Ark, buried deep in a snowy mountainside. But what they uncover inside a golden coffin within the ship sparks a desperate, brutal scramble to survive.  

Blending real-life horrors with the paranormal, Near The Bone follows Mattie, who is trapped on a remote mountain with William, a man whose temper she’s learned to tiptoe around. When Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox, she realizes they weren’t the only ones on the mountain—and when three strangers appear at their door, it becomes clear that no one is safe.  

Four old friends gather to swap horror stories in their quiet New York town, but one tale hits too close to home. As strange occurrences ripple through their town, the men realize the past they thought they buried is coming back to haunt them.

Clare wakes from a car crash in a stranger’s haunting home, but who is he, and how did she get there? With a constant, looming threat on every page, this apocalyptic atmospheric read will keep you hooked from the start. 

A terrible blizzard in the Colorado mountains forces Darby Thorne to take shelter with four strangers at a remote rest stop. When she steps out to try and find cell service, she discovers a child locked in a cage in the back of a van. What ensues is a gory fight for survival in this tense, nail-biting thriller from Taylor Adams.    

What seems like the opportunity of a lifetime for Alex—a chance to stay at a month-long retreat hosted by a feminist horror author and win a chance at becoming a published author—soon devolves into a twisty, psychological thriller where nothing is as it seems. Dark and satirical, The Writing Retreat is a slow-burning story of obsession, fantasy, and the lengths people will go to get what they want.  

Fans of The Mist and The Day After Tomorrow will find the atmospheric setting of a pub as snow falls outside, strangely comforting, maybe even soothing. But that serenity soon comes to an end when the patrons trapped inside must contend with creatures stalking them right outside its doors and a snowfall that soon blankets the entire earth.  

Ripe with rippling suspense, I’m Thinking of Ending Things follows our unnamed narrator on a drive through a snowstorm with a boyfriend she wished she’d ended things with before they left. This hauntingly bizarre tale will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page,