You know that specific thrill of recommending a book nobody else is talking about?

That's what today is about. These are the horror and thriller books I think are criminally underrated, the hidden gems I keep waiting to see blow up and they just… don't. So I'm taking matters into my own hands.

Add these to your TBR and then go be insufferable about how you discovered them before everyone else. You have my full permission, and I’ll join you!

But first, I got to talk with Nick Roberts this week on Talking Horror and you are going to want to hear this conversation.

Nick Roberts is one of the most reliably terrifying voices in indie horror. He's the award winning author behind the bestselling Exorcist's House trilogy, Mean Spirited, and his debut novel Anathema, and he builds dread out of the most ordinary things: family, belief, and the fear that everyone is out to get you.

We talk about his path from a bike ride to Blockbuster and a stolen VHS copy of Pulp Fiction, to teaching high school English while secretly running horror film electives. Nick walks me through his hybrid publishing life, splitting his time between Crystal Lake, Wicked House, his own imprint Spooky WV, and now Zando's new horror line Evil Twin.

He opens up about writing addiction and recovery into Anathema and Mean Spirited, and the dog named Conehead who completely hijacked the latter. We also get into structuring The Exorcist's House: Genesis like The Godfather Part II, and building suspense the way Stephen King does in 1408.

Plus, a first look at his possession anthology Haunted Minds with a foreword by Stephen Graham Jones, his next novel Can You Help Me With an Exorcism?, and his story in the Shining anthology Views from the Overlook.

So grab your copy of The Exorcist’s House and check out the episode on on Youtube, or listen on Spotify or Apple Music.

You can grab all this weeks book on my shelf here!

I think this is so underrated. Every time I bring it up, people go, "wait, he wrote that?" If you have any kind of religious trauma, or you remember the everybody-is-a-Satanist panic of the 1980s, you are going to be completely hooked. Creepy, clever, and rattling around in my head months later.

This book is horrifying and incredibly violent, so please, genuinely, check your triggers before you pick it up. But it is so good, and hardly anybody ever talks about it. Part murder mystery, part haunted house. If you like your horror to actually go there, this one goes there.

Deep family secrets, summer-camp vibes, and the ever-important question of what is really happening in that lake. It was surprising, engaging, and super entertaining, and I genuinely don't understand why more people aren't shouting about it. Perfect for a one-sitting spooky night.

The central mystery here is top tier, and the way it slowly unravels and reveals itself completely got me. If you're into mystery and thriller, this needs to be on your list immediately. Three childhood best friends, a decades-old secret, and a reveal I did not see coming.

This is bad-teacher-behaving-badly at a prep academy, and it is delicious and macabre in equal measure. I don't think I've ever seen a single person recommend this, which is a crime, because it's such a wicked good time. Downing writes villains you love to hate.

If you love a horror author doing something genuinely different with a completely unique voice, you have to read this. Buehlman is one of the most distinct writers working, and this one has a slow-burning dread that pays off in a big way. An easy rec for anyone tired of the same old thing.

A beautiful but horrifying look at postpartum and motherhood, with a mid-book twist that had me clutching my chest and gasping for air. And no, that is not me being dramatic. (Okay, it's a little dramatic. But it's also true.) A quietly devastating one.

So tell me, what's an underrated horror or thriller book I need to add to my TBR?

Host of Talking Horror Podcast