5 body horror novels that'll make your skin crawl | Dazed

The Substance5 body horror novels that’ll make your skin crawlGet in the Halloween spirit with this list of visceral books, including a trans tradwife novel and a hair-raising folk horrorShareLink copied ✔️October 30, 2026October 30, 2026Text Eli Cugini Spooky season is in full swing, and sometimes you just want to curl up by the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate and read about people getting their heads ripped off. Luckily, we’re in a real boom time for body horror right now, particularly queer and feminist body horror. When times are bad, 12-certificate narratives often don’t cut it; it can take the most violent, gristly fantasies to actually cut to the heart of how things feel, to express the right amount of anger and depict the right amount of suffering. But as a very jumpy film-watcher, I prefer to get my body horror fix via books – they’re just as intimate as films and TV, but they’re easier to put down if things get a bit much. If you’re a fan of Frankenstein and The Island of Dr Moreau, or you want the literary equivalent of a Cronenberg or Julia Ducournau film, here are some great recent releases to scratch that gory itch. CARRYING, SAMANTHA JOSEPHS Harper Collins Mart...