Back in October, Goodreads posted a list that got everyone in a tizzy. It was “The 78 Most Popular Horror Novels of the Past Five Years”. And it’s exactly what the title claims. Some felt the list didn’t include enough indie picks, some felt they doubled on authors too much, and some created their own lists in response.

Me? I cockily thought I’d probably already read most of the list considering I spend most of my time reading horror novels. So on October 24th, I pulled up the list and started counting. Surprisingly to me (and my ego), I had only read 34 of the 78 novels. Which is only a 44% success rate (don’t check my math).

So I decided to print off the list and tackle it myself to see if I truly agreed with it. Luckily, I had almost all of the books already in my home library, so I could get started right away.

But before starting - here’s everything I’d already read before going on this journey on October 24th:

Since October 24th I’ve read 4 more. First up was Gwendy’s Final Task, but I needed to re-read the first two before officially ending the trilogy. I will say, I think the final book (Final Task) is by far the strongest. And the saddest. I was sobbing through the entire last 20 pages. But it’s not a Stephen King book if I don’t cry at least once. So I gave that an easy 5 stars and moved onto the next.

I chose Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas. I’d previously read The Hacienda and given it three stars. I’m not really a historical girly. But I definitely enjoyed Vampires a lot more. Most specifically for the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope which I am an absolute hot mess for. The banter in this story was phenomenal and I was genuinely cackling out loud in some points. Which was super embarrassing when I was reading on the train. I gave it 4 stars.

Most recently, I read A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher which was my first Kingfisher book. She has three books on this list, which I thought was kind of dramatic, but after finishing A House With Good Bones….hot damn! If they’re all as strong as this one, then their placements are well deserved. A House With Good Bones is a southern gothic horror novella that has some really creepy moments and a complicated look at grief and family values. I gave it 5 stars.

The fourth book was Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth which I DNF-ed. I’m very sad about that, but for personal reasons, I can’t enjoy this book at the moment but I hope in the future I can pick it up again in a better head space as it does seem right up my alley.

So far, I do agree with the list as far as my tastes go. As of today (December 1st 2024) I have read 38 of the 78 and rated 26 out of those 5/5 stars. Which is a 68% success rate (don’t check my math). Much better that I did in college, let’s be real.

I’ll keep posting as I make my way through the list and hopefully by the end of all 78 I can have a definitive viewpoint on whether this list is fantastic, or a hot mess.

If you’ve read any on this list let me know your favourites! What do you think of the list in general? Which books would you have included? Let me know in the comments below…