Ten terrifying literary horror novels

Mason Coile is a pseudonym of Andrew Pyper, the award-winning author of ten novels, including The Demonologist, which won the International Thriller Writers Award, and Lost Girls, which was a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book of the Year.

[My Book, The Movie: The Wildfire Season; The Page 69 Test: The Wildfire Season; The Page 69 Test: The Killing Circle; My Book, The Movie: The Only Child; The Page 69 Test: The Only Child]

Coile's debut sci-fi thriller is William.

At People magazine he tagged ten "horror novels [that] have something to say about being human while scaring us silly in the most artful ways." One title on the list:

Come Closer by Sara Gran

I like William Blatty’s The Exorcist as much as the next horror nut, but if you’re looking for a nuanced, personal — even funny — account of demonic possession, Gran’s novel tops the list. What begins as an urban woman’s tracking of what may be her descent into madness slides grippingly into the supernatural when she attributes her increasingly violent actions to the influence of a demon who also happens to be her only real friend.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Come Closer is among Lana Harper's five novels that get demon summoning right and Kelly Davio's seven top literary horror titles.

--Marshal Zeringue