Trend Desk · Horror
Horror this week: a new King lifts his old books, and dark romance moves in
A new Talisman novel pushed Stephen King's older books up the Kindle Horror chart, and dark fantasy romance holds a big share of the top 50.
What's on the chart
We read the Kindle Horror top 50 from Saturday, November 7.
A new book is pulling its backlist up. Stephen King's Other Worlds Than These, his newer Talisman novel, is #2. Right behind it, the original The Talisman jumped 14 places in a day to #8, the biggest gain on the chart. Its sequel Black House is back in the top 50 at #23. King has six books in the top 50 this week, including Carrie and It. The newer book looks to be sending readers back to the earlier ones.
Dark fantasy romance holds a big share of the chart. Liv Zander's Heartstring Duet (#7 and #17), Keri Lake's Eating Woods books (#12, #14 and #26), Rachel Gillig's books (four in the top 50), Sable Sorensen's Wolves of Ruin and Carissa Broadbent's The Serpent and the Wings of Night are all here. These are love stories with monsters, curses and real menace, and they're listed in horror as well as fantasy and romance.
Game-world fantasy is here too. Dungeon Crawler Carl books are #1 and #4. Shelving a book in horror as well as its main genre puts it in front of more readers.
Classics and steady sellers stay. Frankenstein, The Exorcist, Riley Sager's The Only One Left, Hidden Pictures and We Used to Live Here have all been on the chart for weeks.
The China watch
On Fanqie, China's largest free-reading platform, suspense and eerie stories are a steady genre. Guishe (The Eerie Lodge) has trended again and again on social media, and Fanqie's suspense hit Shiri Zhongyan has sold more than 4 million print copies. Fanqie says the most-read stories keep a complete plot, a world that hangs together and clear payoffs for the reader.
What this means for your next book
- A new book in a series sells the old ones. With a newer Talisman novel at #2, The Talisman climbed 14 places in a day. When you release, make sure the earlier books are easy to find: link them at the front and back of the new one.
- Horror romance has room. Love stories with real darkness take many of the top 50 spots. If your romance has monsters or menace, list it in horror too.
- Use every category that's true. Many books on this chart sit in horror as well as fantasy, romance or thriller. If horror readers would enjoy it, put it in front of them.