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Delve into darkness with these dark fantasy novels
If you're looking for reads that will devastate and disturb you, you've come to the right place.
Haunted houses with terrifying secrets. Bloody wars that threaten to tear apart entire kingdoms. Magic with a mind of its own. Shadowy monsters, dangerous curses, tyrannical rulers, and morally complex characters who'll do anything to achieve their desires: dark fantasy comes in all shapes and sizes. These books represent the best dark fantasy has to offer, from horror novels tinged with supernatural magic and atmospheric gothic ghost stories to action-packed adventures and sprawling epics.
The Ballad of Black Tom
Victor LaValle is one of the most exciting horror/fantasy writers working today. In this novel, he confronts the racist legacy of H.P. Lovecraft—and in doing so, he creates something transformative and unforgettable. in 1920s New York, Charles Thomas Tester works whatever jobs he can find to keep his family fed and afloat—until one of those jobs leads him into a dark world of dangerous magic. This is a terrifying and emotionally resonant story that uses supernatural happenings to lay bare the horrors of racial injustice.
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The Book Eaters
Fans of dark, atmospheric, gothic-tinged fantasy with a touch of body horror will not want to miss this deliciously eerie and disturbing book. Set mostly on the windswept Yorkshire Moors, it's about a secret, ancient group of people who eat books—literally—and take in all the knowledge contained in the pages. Devon is a young woman with a weighty secret: her son was born with a rare condition that means he craves not books, but human minds. Desperate to keep him alive, she flees her family in search of somewhere to raise him in safety.
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The City of Dusk
In this dark epic fantasy, the heirs to four powerful noble houses join together in order to prevent war from destroying their entire kingdom. Each heir possesses a divine gift, bestowed on them by the god of the Realm their house represents. Only by using their gifts in concert do the heirs have any hope of saving the world they love. Sim's intricate world-building is brimming with detailed historical lore and fascinating magic, but it's the complex relationships between the four main characters that make this book so compelling.
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White is for Witching
Is there anything darker or more sinister than a mysterious house with its own carefully kept secrets? In this gothic fantasy, Luc and his twins live in an old house on the Dover cliffs; they're all mourning the loss of their mother and wife, Lily. The house seems to be mourning, too, and soon strange things begin happening, until one of the twins vanishes. This is a haunting story about memory, grief, and the dark magic that's slowly tearing a family apart.
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Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology
This anthology of Indigenous horror and dark fantasy stories includes work by such luminaries as Tommy Orange, Cherrie Dimaline, and Waubgeshig Rice, among many others. The stories feature a wide variety of settings, belief systems, and magic. Some are about monsters, while others explore the violent legacies of colonialism. There are ghost stories, revenge stories, and chilling tales of ancient curses. Bestselling horror author Stephen Graham Jones thoughtfully introduces the collection, offering readers some background on the history and future of Indigenous lit more broadly.
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These Violent Delights
Any Romeo and Juliet retelling should be dark by definition, and Chloe Gong's bloody historical fantasy, set in 1920s Shanghai, more than delivers. The city is run by two rival gangs. Former flapper Juliette is the heir of the group of criminals known as the Scarlet Gang; Roma—her first love and the first man who ever broke her heart—is the leader of the White Flowers. When a mysterious madness starts causing members of both gangs to claw out their own throats, Juliette and Roma put aside their charged history to try to save the city they both love. With its richly textured historical setting and imaginative twists on the original story, this heartbreaking retelling is YA fantasy at its best.
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The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
In her adult debut, Roshani Chokshi draws on the power of dark fairy tales to tell a mesmerizing story about a marriage threatened by dangerous secrets and an ancient curse. When Indigo gets married, she makes her husband promise that he'll never look too deeply into her past. But when tragedy forces the couple back to her childhood home, he finds that the house itself wants to share Indigo's secrets—and the more he learns, the more terrified he becomes. Lush and atmospheric, this novel is the perfect blend of mystery, magic, and romance.
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Queen of the Conquered
Often the darkest fantasies are ones based on the horrors of the real world. This epic fantasy is set in a Caribbean-inspired world and draws on the very real history of violence and colonization throughout the Caribbean. Sigourney Rose is the only surviving member of a long lineage—when she was a child, the people who colonized her island murdered her entire family. Now, an adult, she's set on revenge, and she'll do whatever it takes to get it. This book is perfect for readers who crave challenging, thought-provoking, and ultimately satisfying stories that don't look away from the darkness of the world we live.
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