The best of Old-school Cosmic Horror books

What sets old-school cosmic horror apart from the newer literature within the genre, is pretty much what sets old classic literature apart from newer literature in any genre–language, surrounding culture, and societal advantage. It goes deeper than that of course, but what is important when getting acquainted with any form of literature is understanding the time within which it was created.

The Willows (1907)

While not exactly a book, The Willows by Algernon Blackwood, is technically the first cosmic horror novella that began to establish the cosmic horror genre. It was originally published among a series of other stories in 1907, as a part of his collection The Listener and Other Stories. It’s a great example of early modern horror and despite not receiving the credit it was due, was very much connected within the literary tradition of “weird fiction,” a genre later realized as cosmic horror.

The Willows is a story that invites fear of the unknown, there is a sense of agitation, fear, exhaustion, and eternal trepidation that does not leave the characters or the readers, because there is never a relief from the situation at hand. Available on Amazon here.

And, apart quite from the elements, the willows connected themselves subtly with my malaise, attacking the mind insidiously somehow by reason of their vast numbers, and contriving in some way or other to represent to the imagination a new and mighty power, a power, moreover, not altogether friendly to us.

Excerpt from The Willows by Algernon Blackwood

Listen to Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows below through HorrorBabble.

The Man Who Found Out (1912)

Another shorter existential horror story, Algernon Blackwood’s The Man Who Found Out really just begs the question about personal religious beliefs–what is the ultimate question and answer when it comes to a higher power, particularly that of “God?” Do we really know anything with any certainty? Or is belief and faith what matters most when seeking a higher truth? These unanswered questions are what make this one of the best cosmic horror books out there. Available on Amazon here.

LibriVox has given us Blackwood’s The Man Who Found Out through audiobook and it’s worth checking out.

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories (1927)

It seems that the most successful additions to the cosmic horror genre are generally shorter stories; short stories are benefitted in this particular genre due to the fact that they limit the amount of information that can be conveyed within the confines of the short story’s maximum of ten thousand words.

All of the stories that appear within this particular anthology are by H.P. Lovecraft and are, of course, part of the public domain, so we have included a list of the stories with external links to the stories themselves. Those interested in reading some of the most well-known cosmic horror pieces can find them below. The entire anthology is available on Amazon here.

What Stories Appear Within This Anthology?

• Dagon / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Statement of Randolph Carter / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family / Audiobook by Intellectual Exercise
• Celephaïs / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• Nyarlathotep / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Picture in the House / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Outsider / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• Herbert West–Reanimator / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Hound / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Rats in the Walls / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Festival / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• He / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• Cool Air / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Call of Cthulhu / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Colour Out of Space / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Whisperer in Darkness / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Haunter of the Dark / Audiobook by HorrorBabble

Shadows of Carcosa (2014)

Yeah, we know that this book came out in 2014–but that doesn’t discount the fact that it is actually full of old-school cosmic horror, because it’s actually an anthology from some of the best horror writers that literary culture has ever had to offer. These stories span almost an entire century, which illustrates how many authors can be credited for their contributions to cosmic or existential horror.

Luckily for readers who haven’t been well-enough introduced to cosmic horror by now, all of these stories are also within the public domain; we hope that these stories from Shadows of Carcosa (2014) give readers a full picture of what cosmic horror is truly about. The collection is available on Amazon here.

What Stories Appear Within This Anthology?

• MS. Found in a Bottle (1833) by Edgar Allan Poe / Audiobook by Priceless Audiobooks
• The Squaw by Bram Stoker (1893) / Audiobook by Edward French
• Moxon’s Master by Ambrose Bierce (1899) / Audiobook by Adventures in Audio
• The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce (1893) / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• An Inhabitant of Carcosa by Ambrose Bierce (1886) / Audiobook by M Nakadai
• The Repairer of Reputations by R. W. Chambers (1895) / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The House of Sounds by M. P. Shiel (1911) / Audiobook by Manfred Arcane
• The White People by Arthur Machen (1904) / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Willows by Algernon Blackwood (1907) / Audiobook by HorrorBabble
• The Jolly Corner by Henry James (1908) / Audiobook by Old Library Audiobooks
• Seaton’s Aunt by Walter De La Mare (1921) / Audiobook by Manfred Arcane
• The Colour Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft (1927) / Audiobook by HorrorBabble

The best of Modern Cosmic Horror Books

Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe (1985)

Thomas Ligotti’s debut short horror story collection Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe possibly made his career–he’s often spoken of in the same manner as authors such as Poe and Lovecraft, and has been referred to as “horror incarnate.” Ligotti never seems to have to try to make his stories work, they take on settings that immediately put the reader into a mood where horror is inescapable without being presumptuous or predictable.

Ligotti’s style is singular and everything he has put into this particular anthology is wholly worth the time to read. Available on Amazon here.

What Stories Appear Within This Anthology?

Songs of a Dead Dreamer

• Dreams for Sleepwalkers
  • The Frolic
  • Les Fleurs
  • Alice’s Last Adventure
  • Dream of a Manikin
  • The Nyctalops Trilogy:
    • The Chymist
    • Drink to Me Only with Labyrinthine Eyes
    • Eye of the Lynx
  • Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story
• Dreams for Insomniacs
  • The Christmas Eves for Aunt Elise
  • The Lost Art of Twilight
  • The Troubles of Dr. Thoss
  • Masquerade of a Dead Sword: A Tragedie
  • Dr. Voke and Mr. Veech
  • Professor Nobody’s Little Lectures on Supernatural Horror
• Dreams for the Dead
  • Dr. Locrian’s Asylum
  • The Sect of the Idiot
  • The Greater Festival of Masks
  • The Music of the Moon
  • The Journal of J.P. Drapeau
  • Vastarien

Grimscribe

• The Voice of the Damned
  • The Last Feast of Harlequin
  • The Spectacles in the Drawer
  • Flowers of the Abyss
  • Nethescurial
• The Voice of the Demon
  • The Night School
  • The Glamour
• The Voice of the Child
  • The Library of Byzantium
  • Miss Plarr
• The Voice of Our Name
  • The Shadow at the Bottom of the World

The Imago Sequence and Other Stories (2007)

Laird Barron’s first short story collection The Imago Sequence and Other Stories set a precedent for the rest of his career; what could be expected from him in his other works really was set up with this collection. The fact that it received the Shirley Jackson Award for best collection was not even the most wondrous part of this particular body of work–Barron has an ability to create an image within the reader’s mind that is unlike any other author. He has been compared to the likes of Stephen King, but with the advantage of making his details count for more than just words towards an ultimate goal. Available on Amazon here.

What Stories Appear Within This Anthology?

• Old Virginia (2003)
• Shiva, Open Your Eye (2001)
• Procession of the Black Sloth (2007)
• Bulldozer (2004)
• Proboscis (2005)
• Hallucigenia (2006)
• Parallax (2005)
• The Royal Zoo Is Closed (2006)
• The Imago Sequence (2005)

White is For Witching (2009)

Helen Oyeyemi’s White is For Witching reads almost like a journal, which has always given the reader less of a feeling that they’re getting the full picture. Why look at the forest when you can see the trees more clearly? In truth, focusing on the details from a personal perspective often leaves much more to the imagination and that is a huge part of weird fiction and cosmic horror.

When you don’t know what is going on outside of the perspective of the narrator, it leaves you with a sense of emptiness–what is happening beyond their ideal truth? Available on Amazon here.

Cthulhu’s Reign (2010)

Another anthology designed to pay tribute to the father of cosmic horror, this collection of short stories gives a more complete image of what would happen once the old ones have taken over the world as we know it–when humans are no longer the dominant force on the Earth and when we can no longer rely on what we have become accustomed to.

What kind of horror would we endure when the old ones take over the world? What would we be able to expect from an uncaring force of nature and could we really hate the force that overwhelms society as we know it when it is not maliciously ending our world, or would it simply be something that we fear beyond anything else? Available on Amazon here.

What Stories Appear Within This Anthology?

• The Walker in the Cemetery (2010) by Ian Watson
• Sanctuary (2010) by Don Webb
• Her Acres of Pastoral Playground (2010) by Mike Allen
• Spherical Trigonometry (2010) by Ken Asamatsu
• What Brings the Void (2010) by Will Murray
• The New Pauline Corpus (2010) by Matt Cardin
• Ghost Dancing (2010) by Darrell Schweitzer
• This is How the World Ends (2010) by John R. Fultz
• The Shallows (2010) by John Langan
• Such Bright and Risen Madness in Our Names (2010) by Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
• The Seals of New R’lyeh (2010) by Gregory Frost
• The Holocaust of Ecstasy (2010) by Brian Stableford
• Vastation (2010) by Laird Barron
• Nothing Personal (2010) by Richard A. Lupoff
• Remnants (2010) by Fred Chappell

The Croning (2012)

The Croning can be considered, without a doubt, the debut cosmic horror novel by Laird Barron–unlike his collection of short stories, The Imago Sequence and Other Stories, this is a full-length novel within the genre of cosmic horror.

We see cults, dark magic, and a plethora of other themes that are common fixtures of the genre and we can’t look away–we highly recommend this particular literary spectacle, it’s a novel that without which, this list would be incomplete. Available on Amazon here.

Dreams From the Witch House (2016)

This particular anthology, Dreams From the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror, while honoring the origins of the genre is something different and singular. This anthology of short stories contains, as can be derived from the title, stories of cosmic horror that were written by female authors in the genre. Available on Amazon here.

What Stories Appear Within This Anthology?

• Shadows of the Evening (1998) by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Genesis Mausoleum (2015) by Colleen Douglas
• The Woman in the Hill (2015) by Tamsyn Muir
• The Face of Jarry (2015) by Cat Hellisen
• Our Lady of Arsia Mons (2012) by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• The Body Electric (2015) by Lucy Brady
• The Child and the Night Gaunts (2015) by Marly Youmans
• All Our Salt-Bottled Hearts (2015) by Sonya Taaffe
• Every Hole in the Earth We Will Claim As Our Own (2015) by Gemma Files
• But Only Because I Love You (2015) by Molly Tanzer
• Cthulhu’s Mother (2015) by Kelda Crich
• All Gods Great and Small (2015) by Karen Heuler
• Dearest Daddy (2015) by Lois H. Gresh
• Eye of the Beholder (2015) by Nancy Kilpatrick
• Down at the Bottom of Everything (2015) by E.R. Knightsbridge
• Spore (2015) by Amanda Downum
• Pippa’s Crayons (2015) by Christine Morgan
• The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward (2012) by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
• From the Cold Dark Sea (2015) by Storm Constantine
• Mnemeros (2015) by R.A. Kaelin

The Ballad of Black Tom (2016)

Victor LaValle grew up reading the horror stories that came from the life of H.P. Lovecraft, but it wasn’t until much later in his life that LaValle realized the excessive amounts of racism and agoraphobia that was present in Lovecraft’s body of work. As an African-American man, he used this eye-opening moment in his life to respond in kind, from one writer to another, by reinventing Lovecraft’s short story The Horror at Red Hook from the perspective of a black man.

LaValle’s re-imagining of this story was invigorating, riveting, and a triumph of creative responses to unacceptable biases–he succeeded in showing that Lovecraft’s work would have been even better had it not been rife with bigotry and bias for those who were not like Lovecraft. Available on Amazon here.

It’s important to understand that while we here at Puzzle Box Horror greatly appreciate the body of work that Lovecraft added to the horror genre, we recognize his biases and do not endorse them or agree with them. We were more than ecstatic when we found that there were actually literary responses to these particular issues and hope that such responses continue to appear within the literary community. Read the original story, by Lovecraft, that this novella was based off of, The Horror of Red Hook, then read Victor LaValle’s The Ballad of Black Tom.

Lovecraft Country (2016)

Following The Ballad of Black Tom, the novel Lovecraft Country also addresses the topic of racism within the context of Lovecraftian horror–this particular book has been adapted to screen recently and will soon be seen on HBO as a series–we certainly hope it will be as good as it looks, because the prospect of this one making it to infamy on screen makes us incredibly excited. The novel is available on Amazon here.

From executive producer Jordan Peele, we believe that this production will be worth every minute of time it takes to watch!

The Fisherman (2016)

Another from our list of best cosmic horror boos is The Fisherman. Described as a captivating read from beginning to end, John Langan’s The Fisherman gives us a dark, mysterious, fictional assertion of horror and cosmic fantasy. It follows the story of two widowers through their quiet and powerful story of loss and grief, by acknowledging the melancholy situation and the fact that things are never the same after the loss of a loved one. A definite addition to any cosmic horror novel list and one of the best out there. Available on Amazon here.

It would be a lie to say the time passes quickly. It never does, when you want it to.

What the Hell Did I Just Read (2017)

The third installment in the trilogy that started with John Dies at the End (2007), was followed with This Book is Full of Spiders (2012) and finally What the Hell Did I Just Read (2017). This book is largely hinged upon the narrative–we live in a world where we largely base our opinions on the story that the narrator presents, but what happens when the narrator isn’t exactly the most trustworthy of sources? Does it change how we view the story? Do we realize before it’s too late that our entire perception has been incorrect? Available on Amazon here.

The true weird tale has something more than a secret murder, bloody bones, or a sheeted form clanking chains. An atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces must be present; a hint of that most terrible conception of the human brain—a malign and particular suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space.

H. P. Lovecraft

We’re curious to know what you thought about these best of cosmic horror books, novellas, and anthologies. Have you read anything that’s not listed here that fits the cosmic horror genre? We’re interested in reading it too, so leave us a comment and let us know!

Don’t feel like reading about cosmic horror? No problem, check out our list of recommended cosmic horror movies too.

Macabre Mary

Georgia-based author and artist, Mary has been a horror aficionado since the mid-2000s. Originally a hobby artist and writer, she found her niche in the horror industry in late 2019 and hasn’t looked back since. Mary’s evolution into a horror expert allowed her to express herself truly for the first time in her life. Now, she prides herself on indulging in the stuff of nightmares.

Mary also moonlights as a content creator across multiple social media platforms—breaking down horror tropes on YouTube, as well as playing horror games and broadcasting live digital art sessions on Twitch.

www.macabremary.com

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