There’s just something about a weird or haunted small town that just scratches a particular itch for us. It’s not a new concept – far from it, in fact! But everyone and their mother has read Stephen King’s journeys through Castle Rock, Derry, Jerusalem’s Lot, etc. and the many books from the 80s and 90s that were inspired by them.
But what about the road less traveled. The road that leads to places like Renfield County, Goblin, Velkwood, Kettle Springs and their lesser known counterparts are equally as terrifying and important.
This list is not even remotely comprehensive or exhaustive, but focuses on a wildly different grouping of books from the modern age, all the way back to 1973.
The Haunting of Velkwood
We had to include this one as its author is the most recent recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for best novel. The Haunting of Velkwood is horror by way of Jeff Vandermeer and his Southern Reach novels. This novel is full of the nostalgic longing for a home the characters can never truly return to and if that isn’t the most relatable thing, then I don’t know what is.
Midwestern Gothic
In the tradition of Stephen King and his small town terrors, Scott Thomas has not only capitalized on the distinct weirdness and horror of middle America, but he has also chosen to do so in a collection of four novellas. Each novella has its own identity and tone. Thomas zeros in on the mundanity of fly over states and blue collar workers and it’s extremely effective.
Harvest Home
If you love folk horror – think Adam Nevill, Midsommar, The Blair Witch Project – then Harvest Home is a classic that demands to be resurrected and communed with in the dim half-light of the moon. We’ve all been there: you flee the inner-city to live a farm to table life in the countryside, only to realize that the hamlet you moved to has dark secrets and even darker rituals. This book is the epitome of slow-burn terror.
The Auctioneer
The Auctioneer is a tragic anomaly of a novel. While the book was widely regarded at its launch in 1976, it faded into moderate obscurity for decades, aside from being cited as an influence to King and other prominent horror authors, after Joan Samson lost her battle with brain cancer shortly after the book's release. Its premise is a simple one: a small town is held hostage by an auctioneer as he begins to ask its residents for donations to his cause – again and again and again.
Edenville
Sam Rebelein is the most imaginative author that the horror genre currently has to offer. His debut novel, Edenville, is the first of a series of interconnected stories that take place in the fictional county of Renfield where slaughtered families, magical pooping pigs, cursed barnwood, eldritch horrors, and cosmic entities collide! Start here and then dip over to his short story collection, The Poorly Made and Other Things – then wait patiently for 9/23 for Galloway’s Gospel.
The Clackity
I don’t care if this list is populated by mostly adult horror, Lora Senf’s middle grade masterpiece, The Clackity, demands to be shouted about from the highest of mountaintops. If you grew up cutting your teeth on RL Stein and his wacky brand of 90s horror, or if you have kids that you hope to impart that same love of the macabre, well, Lora Senf delivers some of the most chilling fiction for readers of all ages.
Clown in a Cornfield
Maybe I’m biased to like someone because their name is Adam, but Adam Ceasre is in a league of his own. Ceasre has been an integral part of the Great Slasher Renaissance that has been taking over the world. Clown in a Cornfield was at the forefront of the resurgence and has been followed by two sequels, with the third in the series winning this year’s Bram Stoker Award for YA fiction. PLUS Friendo the Clown graced the silver screen at the beginning of the summer with the film adaptation of the first novel.
Goblin
Remember that whole thing about Stephen King and groupings of novellas? Well what if you took that and also made them all take place in the same weird little small town: enter Goblin – a strange and wondrous place full of magic, murderers, creatures, and the unknown. Malerman also utilizes my favorite trick when it comes to Goblin. Often, in his other books, he will drop in little bits of flavor text referring to Goblin by name, or sometimes more subtly, events that have taken place there.
Summer Sons
Lee Mandelo’s addition to this list is quite possibly the most intimate and strangest one to include, but we stand by it. Summer Sons is a story of relationships, death, the afterlife, being haunted (literally) by someone you love, and being queer in America. While Mandelo might not be touting pages upon page of detailed descriptions of stores, roads, town inhabitants, and history – that doesn’t make it any less about what happens when small towns are mean and inhospitable.
Blood on Satan's Claw
We’re going wayyyyyy back and bringing up the deepest of deep cuts. The Blood on Satan’s Claw was a cult classic folk horror film from 1971 that has lived most of the last 50+ years being known as one of the “unholy trinity” of folk horror (see The Wickerman and Witchfinder General). The real horror film nuts know and love it for its engaging narrative of witchcraft in a small British Village, but why are we talking so much about an old ass movie when this conversation is about books? In 2022 a novelization of the film was released. Written by the original screenwriter, Robert Wynne-Simmons, the book is a masterwork of quiet, witchy, folk horror.