Comics & graphic novels, horror book series in reading order

by Joe Hill

Robert Kirkman

181 books• 31 series

Robert Kirkman, born 30 November 1978, is an American comic book writer, screenwriter and producer. Kirkman co-created The Walking Dead, Invincible, Tech Jacket, Outcast, Oblivion Song and Fire Power for Image Comics, wrote Ultimate X-Men, Irredeemable Ant-Man and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics, and worked with Todd McFarlane on Haunt. Kirkman is one of the five partners of Image Comics and serves as its COO. The catalogue gathers 181 volumes published between 2001 and 2026, listed as graphic novel and omnibus collections, from Battle Pope, Vol. 1: Genesis (2001) to The Emissary (2026). Charlie Adlard shares the credit on 2 volumes and Sean Phillips on 1.

Neil Gaiman

199 books• 41 series

Neil Gaiman, born Neil Richard Gaiman on 10 November 1960, is an English writer of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre and screenplays. The Sandman comic series ran from 1989 to 1996, and the novels include Stardust (1999), American Gods (2001), Coraline (2002), Anansi Boys (2005) and The Graveyard Book (2008). The Graveyard Book made Gaiman the first author to win both the Newbery and Carnegie medals for one work, and other awards include the Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker. Gaiman co-created the television adaptations of Good Omens and The Sandman. The catalogue runs from Duran Duran (1984) to The Silver Age (2024) and includes Sandman and Death graphic novels and children's books.

Joe Hill

69 books• 17 series

Joe Hill is the pen name of Joseph Hillström King, an American writer born June 4, 1972. Hill's novels include Heart-Shaped Box (2007), Horns (2010), NOS4A2 (2013) and The Fireman (2016), with King Sorrow following in 2025. 20th Century Ghosts (2005) and Strange Weather (2017) are story collections. Hill also wrote the comic series Locke & Key (2008 to 2013). Awards include Bram Stoker Awards, British Fantasy Awards and an Eisner Award. The catalogue lists 69 Hill books from 2005 to 2025, and its subjects include horror, ghost stories, short stories and comics.

Mike Carey

109 books• 30 series

Mike Carey, born in 1959, is a British writer of comics, novels and films who also uses the pen name M. R. Carey. Carey's credits include Lucifer, a spin-off from The Sandman; three years on Hellblazer; Crossing Midnight and The Unwritten for DC's Vertigo imprint; an extended stint on Marvel's X-Men; and the 2014 novel The Girl with All the Gifts, adapted for film in 2016. The catalogue lists 109 books from 2000 to 2025, with series including Felix Castor, X-Men Legacy, Suicide Risk and Rampart Trilogy.

Laurell K. Hamilton

60 books• 11 series

Laurell K. Hamilton is an American writer of fantasy and romance, born February 19, 1963, and the author of two main series. Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter, a New York Times bestseller, features Anita Blake, a zombie raiser, vampire executioner and supernatural consultant to the police; the series spans novels, story collections and comics, with six million copies in print. The Merry Gentry series follows Meredith Gentry, a princess of the Unseelie court of Faerie who works as a private detective and faces repeated assassination attempts. The catalogue holds 60 titles from Nightseer (1992) to A Glimmer of Death (2026), with Guilty Pleasures dated 1993. The Zaniel Havelock series is also listed.

Stephen King

223 books• 25 series

Horror fiction is the field most closely tied to Stephen King, an American author born on September 21, 1947, and nicknamed the "King of Horror". King's work also reaches into suspense, crime, science fiction, fantasy and mystery, and includes roughly 200 short stories, most later gathered in collections. Carrie (1974) was the debut that set King in horror; Different Seasons (1982), four novellas in one volume, marked the first major step outside it. The catalogue lists 223 books from 1971 to 2026, starting with The Blue Air Compressor, a short story, and reaching Other Worlds Than These (2026). Series on file include Holly Gibney, the Bill Hodges Trilogy, Green Mile, Shining and Talisman.

Clive Barker

80 books• 19 series

Clive Barker, born 5 October 1952, is a British writer, filmmaker and visual artist. The Books of Blood, a series of short stories from the 1980s, made Barker a leading horror author, and the catalogue opens with those volumes in 1984 and 1985, along with Dread and Rawhead Rex. Films adapted from Barker's work include the Hellraiser series, whose first installment Barker also wrote and directed, and the Candyman series. Barker's paintings and illustrations have hung in US galleries and appear in the books. Imajica and Abarat are among the listed series, and Spook City (2024) is the newest title.

Junji Ito

32 books• 6 series

Junji Ito writes horror manga. Tomie (1987) is the earliest title in a catalogue of 32 that reaches Moan (2025), with Uzumaki, Gyo, Museum of Terror, Black Paradox and Souichi among the collected works. Japanese horror tales, comics and English translations fill the subject tags. Ito is still publishing.

Ian Rankin

74 books• 13 series

Sir Ian Rankin is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, born in Fife on 28 April 1960, and the creator of the Inspector Rebus novels. Rankin was the first member of the family to go to university and held several jobs before turning to writing. The Rebus novels belong to the tartan noir genre, have won domestic and international awards and have sold more than 35 million copies. Knots and Crosses (1987), the first Rebus book, placed eighth in a 2016 poll of the best Scottish novels. The catalogue holds 74 Rankin books, from The Flood (1986) to The Heights (2026), including the Malcolm Fox series and Edinburgh-set police procedurals.

Joe R. Lansdale

156 books• 24 series

Joe R. Lansdale, born Joe Richard Lansdale on October 28, 1951, is an American writer and martial arts instructor who works across Western, horror, science fiction, mystery and suspense and has also written comic books and screenplays. Lansdale's honours include the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award and eleven Bram Stoker Awards, and several novels have been adapted for film and television. The catalogue begins with Act of Love (1981) and includes Dead in the West (1986), The Magic Wagon (1986), The Nightrunners (1987), The Drive-In (1988) and Cold in July (1989); Petrified Dreams (2026) is the newest. Hap Collins and Leonard Pine head the Hap and Leonard series, and Texas features in the subjects.

Alex Grecian is an American writer of novels, short fiction and comics. Grecian's 20 catalogued books open with Seven Sons (2006) and run to The Boatman (2026), covering historical detective fiction built on the London police alongside the Proof and Rasputin graphic novels. Scotland Yard's Murder Squad is the sequence Grecian is known for, beginning with The Yard (2012) and taking in The Black Country (2013) and The Blue Girl (2013). The Yard drew Strand Award and Barry Award nominations for a first novel, and The Black Country a Dilys Award nomination.

Alan Moore

89 books• 17 series

Alan Moore is an English comics writer, born 18 November 1953, whose work includes Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, The Ballad of Halo Jones, Swamp Thing and Batman: The Killing Joke. The catalogue begins with Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book One (1983) and lists Tom Strong, Promethea, Miracleman and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen among the series. Some entries also credit collaborators such as Dave Gibbons. Moore has used pseudonyms including Curt Vile and Translucia Baboon, and some reprints carry the credit The Original Writer at Moore's request.

Kelley Armstrong, born 14 December 1968, is a Canadian writer working mainly in fantasy since 2001. Thirty-one fantasy novels carry the Armstrong name, thirteen of them in Women of the Otherworld, five in Cainsville, six in the Rockton books, and three each in Darkest Powers, Darkness Rising and Age of Legends. Armstrong also wrote the Nadia Stafford crime trilogy, three standalone teen thrillers, and the middle-grade Blackwell Pages trilogy with Melissa Marr. The catalogue runs to 177 titles, from Bitten (2001) to Last Resort at Haven's Rock, scheduled for 2027, with subjects including werewolves, witches, vampires and the supernatural.

Serena Valentino works in comics and in fairy tale retellings. GloomCookie Volume 1 (2001) opens a catalogue of 28 titles that reaches Heartbroken (2025), and the Disney Villains books are among the series, with GloomCookie, Nightmares & Fairy Tales and a Villains graphic novel line beside them. Goth subculture, horror, monsters and good versus evil fill the subject tags.

Max Brooks

16 books• 3 series

Max Brooks, born May 22, 1972, is an American writer and actor, and the son of actors Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. Zombie stories run through much of Brooks' writing. Brooks was a senior fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point. The catalogue holds 16 Brooks books from 2003 to 2024, beginning with The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead (2003) and followed by World War Z (2006). The Harlem Hellfighters (2014) and Tiger Chair (2024) are also listed. Subjects include zombies, war, survival skills, humor and comics.

Christopher Golden is an American writer, born in 1967, with 139 catalogued books published between 1994 and 2026. Horror, fantasy and science fiction run through the work, alongside vampires, the supernatural and murder. Of Saints and Shadows (1994) opens the catalogue and Carry Me to My Grave (2026) is the newest entry. Golden's series include the Shadow Saga, Baltimore, Joe Golem, Body of Evidence, Prowlers, Hollow, Hidden Cities and the Secret Journeys of Jack London, and the listing also carries Buffy the Vampire Slayer and X-Men titles. Mike Mignola is credited alongside Golden on 4 books.

Brian Keene, born September 22, 1967, is an American author, podcaster and film producer working in horror, dark fantasy, crime fiction and comic books. Keene received the 2014 World Horror Grandmaster Award and two Bram Stoker Awards, and has written for Doctor Who, Thor, Hellboy, Alien, Masters of the Universe and The X-Files. The catalogue lists 83 books from Jobs in Hell (1998) to Island of the Dead (2024), including The Rising (2003) and Terminal (2004). Series include Clickers, Earthworm Gods, Levi Stoltzfus, Lost Level and LeHorn's Hollow.

Duane Swierczynski (Duane Louis Swierczynski, born February 22, 1972) is an American crime writer whose work spans non-fiction, novels and comic books. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Frauds, Scams, and Cons (2002) is the first catalogued title, and Secret Dead Men (2005) and The Wheelman (2005) are early titles. Series in the listing include Cable, Birds of Prey, Bloodshot, Black Hood, Level 26 and Charlie Hardie. Comics, superheroes, Judge Dredd, ex-police officers and Philadelphia appear among the subjects.