60 Books Like House of Hunger

Some horror books manage to create a sense of dread that builds slowly over time, dropping little clues and breadcrumbs for the reader along the way, hinting at the horror just around the bend. Other books keep their secrets. If you’re a Devil Wears Prada fan, you will enjoy the trope of “new employee is completely disgusted by the lifestyle & culture modeled by their co-workers but eventually find themselves adapting to the point of getting sucked into it and believing in it.”

I also enjoyed the sapphic longing and desire that developed between some of the main characters. This works in tandem with the complexity of the story and the growing tension. I will not spoil the direction of the storyline and what ultimately makes this book land squarely in the horror genre, but I will say, it does not disappoint.

A well-crafted debut from Ling Ling Huang. This… show more.

This book weaves a slow-burning romance between two rough-around-the-edges characters drawn together by their investment in a crumbling, haunted mansion and the weight of all its secrets. The tension between them simmers beneath every interaction, and I found it undeniably magnetic.

Harrow balances a ghost story, survival in the face of financial insecurity, and unchecked capitalism in a small Kentucky town. I enjoyed the blending of gothic atmosphere in a modern setting and crafting a love story that grows slowly over time instead of an insta-romance. 

Isabel Cañas leans into romance and historical fiction, delivering a slow-burn, Gothic tale of passionate lovers caught between the horrors of war and supernatural terror. The romantic tension generated from the cat-and-mouse dynamic between Néstor and Nina pairs perfectly with the predatory hunt of the vampires.

The monsters are unique, scary, and absolutely worth the price of admission. Cañas knows how to balance the horror with vivid, bloody intensity and the romance at the same time. An atmospheric, scenic follow-up to the Hacienda that hits the sweet spot for readers craving tender romance wrapped in historical horror.

This Kat Dunn book is an immaculately crafted gothic horror novel that builds tension through atmosphere, character dynamics, and psychological unraveling. I listened to the audiobook, and it became a highlight of my day. The horror elements creep in seductively, rooted more in psychological and emotional distress than terror.

Lenore and Carmilla’s magnetism is intoxicating. The novel stays true to the historical period as Lenore wrestles with her liberation in the hands of her new companion. I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation. Hungerstone is ideal for those who appreciate slow-burning gothic horror with a strong focus on character.

If the moody, mysterious marriage dynamic and tension of Rebecca paired with the vampiric, sapphic yearning of Carmilla sounds interesting to you, this book will utterly consume you.

I loved this swashbuckling tale of Shakespeare’s fight master because it took me back to Elizabethan England and right on to the stage at The Globe theater. There’s plenty of action and intrigue (the main character’s not only an actor and fight master but a spy!) that inspired me when I was writing the action scenes in my book. The author fills the pages with an impressive amount of historical detail while maintaining a brisk, page-turning pace.

Having read numerous books about the French Revolution, amongst my favourites is this fascinating biography of Lucie Dillon – who became Lucie du la Tour du Pin – by Caroline Morehead. I unhesitatingly recommend it, certain that, from Morehead’s striking presentation, most readers will experience a keen sense of what it was like to live during the twilight of the Ancien Régime, and thence on, into and through the nightmare that followed. As an Irish-French aristocrat, whose father commanded the regiment of the Irish Brigade of France that bore the family’s name, whilst her mother was a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette, Lucie was in a singular position to observe and chronicle the tragic upheaval. 

Relying in part on Lucie’s own published memoir, as well as numerous primary sources, including family papers, which her meticulous research uncovered, Morehead tells a powerful story of loss and survival. 

This book tells the story of the wars of the Roses through the lens of one family – the Pastons. This family left an extraordinary archive of letters, and it included many fascinating characters, especially women. The Paston women fought off sieges on their houses, wrote Valentine letters to their husbands, ran off with servants, and managed complicated household finances. As a family, the Pastons were social climbers, who tried to get on at court and to improve their position. Through them, we hear about high politics, but also about the domestic life and loves of the gentry in the fifteenth century. In this book, Helen Castor writes a kind of family biography, expansive, gripping, and detailed. It is both first-class research and a great story.

I read this trilogy out of order but I’ll go ahead and recommend the first book. I found these on my hunt for things to do with the Borgias, and this is an absolutely brilliant set of books for it. Centered on a smart, strong woman in late 15th century Rome, it shows us a side usually left to male characters as she is embroiled in politics, plotting, and murder at the behest of the Borgias during the Papacy of Alexander VI. For anyone who loves to see every possible angle to a period of history, this is certainly one to add to their list. The only sad note is the series is, and seems likely to remain, incomplete, without a satisfactory resolution.

So, making this list has rather reminded me that there is a major dearth of queer books in historical romance. Especially of the happy variety—and it’s not a true romance if it doesn’t have an HEA.

I could easily have included The Song of Achilles or Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café or Patience and Sarah, but they wouldn’t have fit the Regency/Victorian time period I was aiming for and they also either have very hidden/obscured queerness (e.g. Fried Green Tomatoes) or no HEA (Song of Achilles, obvs).

I’m going with Lord John even though he’s Georgian era because 1) he has a happy and fulfilling life despite his One True Love ultimately being unrequited, 2) he has some great love affairs and adventures, and 3) best of all this is a series. And a series is almost as good as an HEA!

If… show more.

Tracy Chevalier once again manages to transport readers into iconic works of art, bringing the story of famed images to life, and exploring the personality of every hand that took to create it. Set in 1490, this book invents a tale behind the creation of “The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries.” It has everything an engrossing read should have—romance, ambition, betrayal. But for the medieval aficionado, Chevalier’s incredible research on the creation of a tapestry—from designing the cartoon, to sheering the sheep’s wool to the dying it, to the weaving and the warping—is described as a master class that leaves the reader wanting to pick up a loom.