Horror and Thriller Books with Final-Girl Energy

I love a book with slasher-movie vibes. Characters getting picked off. Final girls. That feeling that absolutely nobody should be going anywhere alone.

And if you're putting together your spooky-season reading list, I have five suggestions for the part of your brain that wants popcorn and terrible decisions.

But first, Taylor Grothe was on the show this week and lets just say, I’m a huge fan!

Taylor Grothe (also known as T.G. Laine) writes adult and YA horror, horror romance, and dark fantasy, including their YA debut Hollow and their brand new sapphic dark academia horror romance, Lethal Kiss. Their stories are full of tenderness and terror, as they always ask what it costs to find your people.

We go back to a Catholic kid begging their dad for cemetery trips, and a first word that was somehow "chandelier." Taylor tells me how COVID lockdown with a one year old and a three year old turned them into a writer, and how Hollow helped them work through growing up autistic and queer. They walk me through drafting a whole book in three and a half weeks at 3,000 words an hour, followed by cat therapy on the floor. We get into the real Duke professor who inspired the dean in Lethal Kiss, and finally writing their happy ending.

Plus, a first look at Monstrous Beautiful Things, out February 9, 2027, and The Mage and the Liar Knight as T.G. Laine, a mushroom haunted house horror romance coming next fall.

So grab your copy of Lethal Kiss, and check out the episode on Youtube, or listen on Spotify or Apple Music.

Now for the Horror and Thriller Books with Final-Girl Energy.

Find all the books listed below on my shelf here

This is one of the closest things to a slasher film I've found in a book. But the commentary on health and wellness culture is also funny and fascinating, which makes the whole thing even better. Come for the slasher nostalgia. Stay for a very questionable wellness experience.

A slasher-obsessed girl who starts to think her town is becoming the real thing. You can imagine how well that goes. This has a more literary, dense feel to it, so just know that going in, but I really enjoyed it. Apparently knowing every horror-movie rule does not get you a peaceful life.

Nineties slasher nostalgia in book form. So much fun, so well done, and Adam Cesare is a fantastic writer. If you've somehow been missing this series, start with book one. The title has already told you how concerned to be about the local scenery.

A creepy Halloween attraction paired with slasher vibes. Yes, please. This is a fast-paced, read-in-one-sitting kind of book, and the setting makes it such a good fit for this list. Apparently a regular haunted attraction wasn't enough of a problem, they also needed a psychopath.

Slasher vibes, a terrifying demonic presence, and a haunted film-set connection. Everything about that combination is fun to me. From a reading perspective, obviously. I am not volunteering to be on that set.

Also, I used the word slasher more in this email than I ever have in my life. You’re welcome.

Now I need more: what's your favorite book that feels like a slasher movie?

Host of Talking Horror Podcast