95 Books Like Bleedthrough and Other Small Horrors

This book originally consisted of six short collections of novellas and stories, but they’ve since been gathered into a two-volume set, so I’m hoping I can count them as one. They go together, and I think they’re nearly all excellent.

When I was a kid, these stories helped build a bridge for me, from the likes of Stephen King (whom I still adore) to new imaginative worlds of horror that include all kinds of transgressive imagery.

I love how Barker combines the fantastic with the visceral, blurs lines between the monstrous and the human, and makes desire dark, dirty, and wonderful. I also love these stories for all they taught me and helping usher in modern extreme/hardcore horror.

Thomas Ligotti is one of the few writers whose work genuinely, profoundly scares me. His vision is underscored by an all-too-convincing commitment to pessimistic philosophy (which is accessibly detailed in his 2010 book The Conspiracy Against the Human Race). Songs of a Dead Dreamer is haunted by the philosophical outlooks of E. M. Cioran, Arthur Schopenhauer, H. P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Allan Poe, but Ligotti’s fixation on marionettes, dolls, and the illusory nature of human agency is singular and distinctive. This is a masterpiece of existentially disturbing dark literature.   

Kathe Koja changed everything with the release of The Cipher in 1991, emerging as the most exhilarating new voice in American dark fiction since the arrival of Stephen King nearly two decades prior. Her work is characterized by hyper-sensory immersion into complex subjectivities, achieved by an inimitable, modernism-tinged voice. Koja is a master novelist, and it’s a rush to read her style within the more condensed form of short fiction; once you’re finished with Extremities, be sure to pick up her genre-expanding 2020 collection, Velo/Cities.

This book's heightened literary consciousness suggests a lifetime of practice, but it is, in fact, Gwendolyn Kiste's debut (she has quickly become one of contemporary dark fiction’s most celebrated, leading figures). Throughout Untether, the author examines both societal and individual forms of suffering (e.g. depression, dissociation, and the dangers of socially imposed normativities). My favorite piece is “Skin Like Honey and Lace,” which depicts a group of women who achieve social induction by taking skin from strangers and applying it to their own bodies. A staggeringly accomplished collection. 

This is an easy-to-read introduction to magic for people who don’t want to join organized groups or participate in spiritual traditions in order to learn. It allows readers to experiment with practices and techniques on their own and includes everything a beginner needs to know about the art and craft of magic, including visualization, ordinary ethics, ritual practices, and vital safety measures.

Wise Women. Ancestral Worship. Charms and rituals: Thank you—to author, performer, and ritual priestess, Luisah Teish—for this reminder that “our foremothers knew things that modern science is still struggling with.”

Originally published in 1985, this eclectic mix of memoir, spiritual teachings, and practices is a delightful and accessible road map to New Orleans Voudou, which, like Jamablaya—“a spicy dish with many fine ingredients cooked together”—blends the practices of African ancestor reverence, Native American earth worship, and European Christian occultism into one tradition.

Reading this book, I find myself pulled into the mysteries of the natural and spiritual worlds, and the centuries-old traditions of the ancestors, whose voices echo through time, guiding us and blending with our own.

I pull this book off my shelf all the time. It is so beloved that I might need a new copy; some of those pages look old. This is the oldest book I recommend and the only reference book, but if you’re practicing witchcraft, you need reference books.

I find that the internet can be very helpful for research, but also weirdly unreliable. You just don’t know what you’re getting. But I know I can trust Scott Cunningham, I know he researched every word in his books and that the information is grounded in that research. So when I’m doing a spell and I need an herbal concoction, or I just want inspiration, this book is my go-to.

I’ve read this book as a child, I was probably around 10 years old. I loved that a regular person was able to conquer the world given the right tools. I was also intrigued by the occult and mystical elements in this book. I found all the geographical and cultural references fascinating and I loved that it had a happy ending.

This book is, hands-down, one of my top “Stranded on a Desert Island” books. Why? Let me count the ways! For one, the author himself is a walking encyclopedia—trust me, I’ve spent time with him! John-Michael is also a practicing Druid and is a member of various occult orders and fraternal lodges. Basically, he’s a genius.

I adore this monumental book’s approachability and depth of knowledge. The information is academic but easy to read. Regardless of a person’s mystical, metaphysical, or occult leanings, there’s a rabbit hole of wisdom waiting to be uncovered. The investigation of one topic quickly leads to another. In fact, I’ve found myself (on numerous occasions) researching one occult term, only to realize that hours had passed; studying one fascinating entry led to another, and another, and another!

This is an indispensable book for spiritual seekers of all ages and all varieties. Without question, I’ll continue… show more.

A long time ago, back in the mid-1970s, my Greek history professor told me that Dodds’ Greeks and the Irrational was one of the most important books on Greek history of the 20th century. He was right. It is a wonderful book, full of amazing facts about magic, ritual, and religion. It has had a huge impact on the field of classical studies and is still in print 70 years after its first publication. Dodds was a distinguished Greek scholar (the Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford) but wrote for a wide audience interested in not only Greek civilization but social science as well. I have thought hard and long about his book ever since reading it on my professor’s recommendation.