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Nick Cutter's Top Three Horror Books

A recommended reading list by the author of the new thriller The Queen

Book Cover The Queen

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Book Cover William

William, by Mason Coile

This book has been getting a lot of very well-deserved buzz. It’s a read-in-one-sitting novel (as I did over the course of an afternoon, unable to stop) that can be described as a precision-calibrated chamber piece: a small cast of characters, a plot that constantly keeps you guessing as it ratchets up the tension, and one hell of a third-act twist that you almost certainly won’t see coming. It’s scary, propulsive, and wise in what it has to say about the uneasy alliances humans have made with the machines we’ve built.

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Book Cover The Marigold

The Marigold, by Andrew F. Sullivan

Another book that got a lot of great and well-deserved reviews in 2023. Part horror, part social and environmental commentary, part character study of the occupants of The Marigold, the newest apartment complex to grace the Toronto skyline … but all’s not well at the Marigold. Embrace the rot, readers, and dig deep into the mysteries that lurk beneath the earth.

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Book Cover Infested

Infested, by C.M. Forest

Penned by another Canadian writing under a nom de plume, this novel has got a true grand guignol feel to it. The plot concerns bugs (a personal favorite obsession of mine) and—in kinship with The Marigold—an apartment complex where those bugs run amuck. It’s great fun, a throwback with eighties horror vibes, and it goes very very hard. Gird yourself to do psychic battle with this one, but again, for readers who like this style of horror (as I certainly do) it’s a rip-roaring time. 

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Book Cover The Queen

Learn more about The Queen

On a sunny morning in June, Margaret Carpenter wakes up to find a new iPhone on her doorstep. She switches it on to find a text from her best friend, Charity Atwater. The problem is, Charity’s been missing for over a month. Most people in town—even the police—think she’s dead.

Margaret and Charity have been lifelong friends. They share everything, know the most intimate details about one another…except for the destructive secret hidden from them both. A secret that will trigger a chain of events ending in tragedy, bloodshed, and death. And now Charity wants Margaret to know her story—the real story. In a narrative that takes place over one feverish day, Margaret follows a series of increasingly disquieting breadcrumbs as she forges deeper into the mystery of her best friend—a person she never truly knew at all…

Nick Cutter is the author of the critically acclaimed national bestseller The Troop (which is currently being developed for film with producer James Wan), The DeepLittle Heaven, and The Handyman Method, cowritten with Andrew F. Sullivan. Nick Cutter is the pseudonym for Craig Davidson, whose much-lauded literary fiction includes Rust and BoneThe Saturday Night Ghost Club, and, most recently, the short story collection Cascade. His story “Medium Tough” was selected by author Jennifer Egan for The Best American Short Stories 2014. He lives in Toronto, Canada.