The Horror Writers Association was formed, in part, to foster a greater appreciation of dark fiction among members of the general public.
In 1996 they compiled a recommended reading list. Bear in mind that since the books that appear here were picked using a survey of HWA's general membership in 1996, many excellent books published more recently do not appear here, and some of those that do are now out of print.
Note: This list is arranged alphabetically by author's last name. No ranking is implied.
- Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood
- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
- Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
- The Hungry Moon by Ramsey Campbell
- The Between by Tananarive Due
- Darklands by Dennis Etchison
- Raven by Charles L Grant
- Dead in the Water by Nancy Holder
- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
- Turn of the Screw by Henry James
- The Ghost Stories of M.R. James
- Dr. Adder by K.W. Jeter
- The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
- Pet Semetary by Stephen King
- The Shining by Stephen King
- The Stand by Stephen King
- Skin by Kathe Koja
- Dark Dance by Tanith Lee
- Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber
- Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
- Songs of a Dead Dreamer by Thomas Ligotti
- Lovers Living, Lovers Dead by Richard Lortz
- The Dunwich Horror and Others by H.P. Lovecraft
- At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
- The Hill of Dreams by Arthur Machen
- Tales of Horror and the Supernatural by Arthur Machen
- Sineater by Elizabeth Massie
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
- Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Book of the Dead edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector
- Ghoul by Michael Slade
- Vampire Junction by S.P. Somtow
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon
- Phantom by Thomas Tessier
- Sacrifice by Andrew Vachss
