This Collider feature argues that horror novels can outdo horror films for pure fright, since books immerse readers in disturbing minds and let their own imagination fill in the terror rather than relying on jump scares or visual shocks. The piece rounds up a selection of notable horror novels chosen for how effectively they build dread through psychological unease, ambiguity and unsettling imagery rather than conventional scares.

Highlights include Joe Hill's debut Heart-Shaped Box, about a rock star haunted by a malevolent ghost tied to a suit he buys online, and Paul Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts, which blurs the line between demonic possession and psychological breakdown within a family exploited by reality TV. Mark Z. Danielewski's cult favourite House of Leaves is noted for its experimental, disorienting format mirroring a house that grows impossibly larger inside than out, while Richard Matheson's Hell House sends investigators into a notorious haunted mansion that preys on their individual fears.