Best of Horror 2023: Books and Movies
Best of Horror 2023: Books and Movies
This year celebrated so many incredible moments in horror! I read tons of thrilling books and watched plenty of spooky movies. Here are some of my favorites from 2023 (Please note this list is by no means complete. This is simply a list of some of my favorites, but there are TONS of incredible books published this past year!):
BOOKS:
HOW LOVELY TO BE A WOMAN by TIFFANY MICHELLE BROWN
Description:
A woman desperate to achieve the life she’s always dreamed of orders an AI baby online. Mounting workplace misogyny helps an introvert unlock her innate power. A woman obsessed with skincare goes to great lengths to rid her face of imperfections. A frat boy looking to score gets much more than he bargained for when a sexy coed turns the tables on him. Seeking relief from the pressures of everyday life, a woman checks into a hotel that caters to her dark predilections.
Equal parts heartbreaking and grotesque, How Lovely To Be a Woman: Stories and Poems explores the everyday horrors of womanhood and delights in the monstrous ways women adapt, evolve, fight back, and survive.
WHAT I LOVED:
This book is a powerful and intense look at womanhood that soaks into your pores from the first page. Tiffany tackles a variety of beautifully haunting ideas that will resonate with a large audience. Fans of feminist horror and daring short story collections will enjoy this read! Buy it here!
MAEVE FLY by CJ LEEDE
Description:
By day, Maeve Fly works at the happiest place in the world as every child’s favorite ice princess.
By the neon night glow of the Sunset Strip, Maeve haunts the dive bars with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, imitating her misanthropic literary heroes.
But when Gideon Green - her best friend’s brother - moves to town, he awakens something dangerous within her, and the world she knows suddenly shifts beneath her feet.
Untethered, Maeve ditches her discontented act and tries on a new persona. A bolder, bloodier one, inspired by the page
At this point, only a lobotomy will be able to remove the grotesque images invoked by this book from my brain. This is a BRUTAL read, but extremely compelling! A dark and twisted tale that dives not only into the monstrosity of a killer, but a universal desire to find companionship and acceptance. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you made it through KIN by Kealan Patrick Burke, you’ll be able to handle MAEVE FLY! Buy it here!
I WANT CANDY by AZZURRA NOX
Description:
A family of witches. A girl in love.
Hidden away in an old, dilapidated Victorian home, the Dresden witches have been making their prized candies for years. Their secret ingredient would make most people squeamish, but for Lollipop it's just another typical day at home. Lolli spends her days making candies and longing for her classmate Stella. As her infatuation for Stella deepens, Lollipop begins to question her loyalty to her family. Will she choose love or will she do anything it takes to preserve the Dresden legacy at any costs? Does she have what it takes to be the next head witch or will her powers never be strong enough?
Stella Morris has recently moved to Arcana, California after a tragic incident involving her mother. Stella is both beautiful and popular, but she harbors a darkness in her that threatens to make her whole world come undone.
This coming of age queer romance is drenched in blood and sugar.
Why I loved it:
This was a super fast read that pushed the horror boundaries! I kept thinking, there’s no way Azzurra is going to go there, and then, BAM! It’s a lot of story packed into a tiny word count complete with a gripping coming-of-age tale that fans of queer romance and witchcraft will enjoy! BUY IT HERE!
OUT THERE SCREAMING Edited by JORDAN PEELE
Description:
A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele’s anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and—like his spine-chilling films—its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world . . . and redefine what it means to be afraid.
Featuring stories by: Erin E. Adams, Violet Allen, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, P. Djèlí Clark, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N. K. Jemisin, Justin C. Key, L. D. Lewis, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nicole D. Sconiers, Rion Amilcar Scott, Terence Taylor, and Cadwell Turnbull.
Why I Loved It:
Each story carves a place in your mind and takes up residency. It’s packed with unsettling moments, memorable characters, and powerful themes that hit hard. Everyone should check it out! But it here!
MOVIES
SLOTHERHOUSE
Description:
Senior Emily Young wants to be elected sorority president. She adopts a cute sloth, thinking it will help her win, but a string of fatalities implicates the sloth.
Why I Loved It:
Look, it’s a movie about a pissed off sloth hunting down sorority sisters. It knows what it is and everyone is in on the joke, which makes it SO much fun! Fans of VelociPastor will certainly get a kick out of this comedy horror!
ATTACHMENT
Description:
Maja, a Danish has-been actress, falls in love with Leah, a Jewish academic from London. Leah suffers a mysterious seizure, and Maja returns with her to London. There, she meets Leah's mother, Chana, a woman who could hold dark secrets.
When I looked this up, it said it came out in 2022, but maybe it got its US release in 2023? I don’t know for sure, but I watched it this year, and I loved it! It’s dark and harrowing but lovely in a haunting manner that will stick with you long after the credits roll. Fans of character driven horror that is more emotional in its approach to storytelling will enjoy this movie!
UNWELCOME
Description:
Married couple Maya and Jamie escape their urban nightmare to the tranquility of rural Ireland only to discover malevolent and murderous goblins lurking in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden.
This is another that said it was released in 2022, but I saw it this year. Maybe, again, it was released in the US in 2023? Either way, it’s 100% worth a watch! I certainly didn’t see where it was going until the thrilling climax and even then…wow!
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITES FROM 2023?
