These 7 Social-Horror Books Are Equal Parts Thought-Provoking and Terrifying

Arguably the most popular book on this list thanks to its 2020 HBO adaptation, Lovecraft Country ($10) highlights the terrors of life under Jim Crow America in the 1950s while melding Lovecraftian horror and fantasy in one gripping novel. When 22-year-old Atticus Turner's father goes missing, he embarks on a road trip to find him, accompanied by his childhood friend Letitia and his uncle George. While travelling, they encounter both the mundane terrors of white America and supernatural spirits straight from . . . well, a Lovecraftian novel.

Not to be confused with the Netflix series by the same name, The Circle ($16) is the world's most powerful internet company, and Mae Holland feels as though she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle links users' personal emails, social media, banking, and purchases to their universal operating system, creating one online identity that ushers in a new era of online transparency never before seen. As Mae settles into her new job on a sprawling California campus, she's shaken by a strange encounter with a colleague, and her life outside the Circle becomes a distant memory . . .

Glamorous debutante Noemí Taboada heads High Place, a sprawling mansion in the Mexican countryside, after receiving a frantic cousin from her newly-wed cousin Catalina, begging her to save her from a mysterious doom. Noemí isn't afraid of anything, especially not the house itself, which begins appearing in Noemí's dreams, along with horrifying visions that cause her to sleepwalk. Mexican Gothic ($15) explores themes of colonialism, misogynist patriarchy, and working class exploitation wrapped up inside an enigmatic house that may truly be impossible to leave.

Penance ($15), a short, fast-paced novel, opens with a murder — Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko were tricked into leaving their friend Emily with a stranger, who is found dead hours later. Because the four girls were unable to describe the stranger to the police, the trail goes cold, and Asako, Emily's mother, is beside herself with grief. She curses the surviving girls, vowing that they'll pay for Emily's murder if they don't find who killed her before time runs out.

Set in U.S.-occupied Baghdad circa 2005, Frankenstein in Baghdad ($13) follows Hadi, a scavenger, who collects human body parts to stitch together to create a corpse after losing his best friend in a bombing. His goal is for the government to recognise the individual body parts as people and give them a proper burial. But when the body goes missing, a wave of murders sweeps the city, with eye-witnesses reporting a horrendious-looking killer who cannot be killed despite being shot. Hadi realises he has created a monster who survives on human flesh — and no one is safe from it.

Fans of Get Out will enjoy The Only Good Indians ($15) — the novel follows the lives of four Native American men and their families who are all connected by a deadly event that took place in their youth. Now adults, they find themselves being followed by an entity bent on revenge, as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up with them in a violent way.

When she was a child, Miranda Silver developed pica, a rare eating disorder that causes its victims to eat nonedible substances, such as chalk or plastic. When Miranda is sixteen, her mother dies, and it only exacerbates her condition. As her family's home in Dover, England, is converted into a B&B, Miranda becomes plagued by nightmares from what seem like the house itself — and the spirits who inhabit it. White is For Witching ($15) weaves in themes of bodily desire and the politics of family and nation into an unforgettable mystery.