Religious horror usually features themes of cosmic-level threats such as damnation, eternal consequences and the salvation of the soul. It goes way beyond physical survival and usually features mental or physical violation of the body through stigmata, demonic possession or mutilation. Religious horror is one of my favourite horror sub-genres because it usually involves a crisis of faith and the battle to find it again when the horror unfolds around you. Religious horror usually features some kind of redemption arc or a character facing the terror or the supernatural.
The books I’ve listed below are my favourite religious horror books of all time. I’m sure I’ll be adding some more to the list as I continue reading through the genre.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty is the most famous religious horror novel out there, and this is for good reason. In my opinion, it’s perfect. At the time of its publication in 1972, it was labelled ‘the scariest horror book ever written’ and when you consider that this was at the height of 20th century Satanic Panic, you can see why. A single mother struggles to find help when her 12 year old is possessed by a demon.
This book is about grief, regret, guilt and temptation as much as it is about the destruction of innocence, demonic possession and the battle between good and evil. The horror is subtle, and the dread builds carefully through the story. The best horror is the one that challenges us, and this book does exactly that.
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
While you might not strictly label this ‘religious horror’, Ira Levin’s novel does present us with some religious themes. The big, modern city is full of waifs and strays who become isolated and lost as they leave their communities for better work and life opportunities. Rosemary and her actor husband have just moved in to an apartment in Manhattan. It’s situated in an old Gothic building and it is littered with rumours of strange goings on.
Rosemary and Guy are befriended by the elderly neighbours who turn out to be members of a Satanic cult.
This book hollowed me out. The betrayal, the self-doubt, the anxiety and the horror of what happens behind closed doors in inner-city New York was terrifying. This story parallels the story of Jesus’ conception and birth, and it makes your skin crawl. This story is also a metaphor for the fight over women’s bodily autonomy in 20th century America.
The Loney by Michael Andrew Hurley
This one was hard to read. I should not have read it when I was heavily pregnant. At the beginning we are presented with a news story of a child’s body being discovered, leading two adult brothers to talk about what happened there several decades before when they were kids.
Hurley is a master of creating isolated, haunting settings and he sets this on the 1970s Lancashire coast. I was so uncomfortable reading this, and it builds and builds, never letting you look away. It’s a heady mix of folk horror and religious horror. This book covers a lot of Catholic themes and we find that there’s a miracle that happened at a dark, deadly cost. Chilling.
The Rite by Matt Baglio
This is non-fiction about the rise in demand for exorcists in the 20th century. Yes, you read that right. Around the time Baglio published this book, ‘in the autumn of 2004, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent a letter to the various Catholic dioceses around the world, starting with those in America, asking each bishop to appoint an official exorcist.’
This book is mind-blowing because it follows the journey of an American priest who doesn’t even believe in exorcism but after surviving a potentially fatal fall off a cliff, answers the call. He goes to Rome to become an exorcist at a Vatican-affiliated university, delving deep into a world he didn’t know even existed.
This is a great read, though it is hard to get through at times due to the nature of the stories of exorcism and possession. There is also a film of the same name (though I was a bit disappointed with the main character) featuring Anthony Hopkins.
Have you read any of these books? Is there anything you would add to the list?
I’m Hanna, and I’m a horror author from Liverpool. I published my debut in 2024. I have a BA and an MA in English Literature and I am obsessed with Gothic fiction, particularly Gothic Horror.
If you love Gothic horror and vampires, you might be interested in my next book which is about a Catholic nun who becomes a vampire slayer in 1880s Liverpool.
- My favourite religious horror books of all time.
- Six Gothic Vampire Stories To Sink Your Teeth Into
- ‘everyone around here has a Sasquatch story’: S.E Reid talks scary movies, Halloween and ghosts.
- The Exorcist: Reviewing One Of The Greatest Horror Novels Of All Time.
- ‘Come into me!’: Possession, Consent and Courage in The Exorcist.
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