The scariest holiday of the year might come around before the weather turns too cold, but that doesn't mean scary stories weren't meant to be shared on those cold winter nights when the chills sink in and the wind gets up. In fact, winter might just be the perfect season to read horror novels. Think about it: you're locked up in the house all day, with god only knows what or who, forced to stay indoors or die of exposure.
There are other, perhaps more obvious similarities between the coldest time of the year and books with horror themes. Both will give you goosebumps and make you wish that the sun wouldn't set so soon. The quiet of a snowy night is just about the eeriest thing ever, and — whether you've got ghosts or snowdrifts — things could get deadly if your electricity should happen to fail.
The next time the nights get chilly, consider giving one of these horror stories a read-through. The seven novels on this list will make you suspicious of snow and wary of what lurks in the cold darkness outside your windows. Here are the scary stories you should absolutely read on a cold winter's night.
1. The Shining by Stephen King
In Stephen King's classic novel, frustrated writer Jack Torrance takes a job as an off-season caretaker for the Overlook Hotel. When a blizzard blocks all roads in and out, the hotel proves to be a dangerous place with a spirit of its own.
2. Dead of Winter by Brian Moreland
This historical horror novel centers on a detective and an exorcist who must solve a centuries-old, demonic mystery that turns its victims into inhuman creatures with a hunger for flesh.
3. The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
After moving her daughters into a country farmhouse, Alice disappears without a trace. Her family lives off-grid, which makes the investigation difficult for her oldest daughter, Ruthie. In her search for answers about her mother's disappearance, Ruthie uncovers the farmhouse's sordid secrets.
4. Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
In 1937, troubled Jack leaves London on an Arctic expedition he hopes will change his life. They make camp before the long night sets in, but his companions begin to leave him. Now Jack is faced with a choice: escape while he can or stay in Gruhuken, where strange things lurk in the night.
5. 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles
As a month-long darkness makes its way to a small Alaskan town, the inhabitants come face-to-face with an ancient and deadly evil: a band of vampires with a lust for destruction.
6. The Terror by Dan Simmons
An 1845 journey into the Arctic turns grim when two ships disappear. In search of the Northwest Passage, the Franklin expedition gets locked into the ice floes. As disease and disorder kill several of the men, a fearsome creature approaches to finish off the rest.
7. I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
A malevolent spirit attacks three friends renovating the house in which in resides. In a nearby town, an elderly woman consumed with the loss of her son commits suicide. Their stories collide in Yrsa Sigurðardóttir's I Remember You.
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