In recent years, African genre fiction has been growing at an unprecedented rate. Where before, literary fiction dominated the African literary scene, several authors have now emerged in several genres, including romance fiction, science and speculative fictions, thriller, and even horror. Although I have never quite enjoyed horror (whether in film or literature) I’ve always been fascinated by why some people do. A quick Google search reveals that those who swear by the genre do because of the thrill of experiencing a controlled sense of danger. Fair enough. If that’s the case, then horror fiction must be more rewarding than horror movies, since, to top the thrill of fear are all the wonderful benefits that come with reading.
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven books that will send chills down your spine. From the story of a mansion haunted by the spirit of a grieving lover to the chilling exploration of a disastrous expedition to the Arctic, these books are so eerily terrifying they will raise the hairs on your skin to attention!
Read our recommendations below.
BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF AUTHOR: MARLON JAMES GENRE: FICTION
Black Leopard, Red Wolf is Jamaican author Marlon James’s intriguing follow-up to the Booker-Prize-winning novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. Coming in 2019, five years after the award-winning masterpiece, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is a dark fantasy novel that follows the adventures of Tracker, a mercenary with a reputation as a skilled hunter. He is hired to find a boy who disappeared mysteriously three years ago.
Tracker embarks on this quest as part of a group, betraying his own rule never to work with others. The group is made up of different intriguing characters with their own secrets, including Leopard, a shapeshifter, and Kava, a young Ku man with whom Tracker soon becomes sexually involved.
In this mysterious masterpiece, James expertly combines African history, mythology, and his own incredibly fertile imagination to thrill and terrify readers.
THE DJINN WAITS A HUNDRED YEARS AUTHOR: SHUBNUM KHAN GENRE: FICTION
South African author Shubnum Khan’s 2024 The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a novel about a ‘ruined mansion by the sea, the djinn that haunts it, and a curious girl who unearths the tragedy that happened there a hundred years previous.’
Akbar Manzil is a great estate built about a century ago off the coast of South Africa. Now, however, it is in ruins and functions as an abode for ‘misfits seeking to forget their pasts’. When Sana and her father join these misfits by taking up residence in the mansion after a terrible loss, Sana becomes increasingly drawn to the mysteries and history of the house.
In a bedroom in the uninhabited East Wing of the mansion, she finds old photographs of a couple and a diary that tells of the story Meena, a woman who died a tragic death in the house a hundred years ago. As Sana becomes increasingly drawn into Meena’s story, she is followed by the spirit of Meena’s lover. The secrets Sana will uncover in her quest for the truth about what happened to Meena will change her life and that of everyone in Akbar Manzil.
AFRICAN GHOST SHORT STORIES EDITOR: CHINELO ONWUALU GENRE: FICTION
Edited by Nigerian speculative fiction writer and editor Chinelo Onwualu, African Ghost Short Stories is an anthology of supernatural stories from Africa. The stories in this collection are inspired by ancient cultures from across Africa, featuring spirits, ancestors, and even ogres. In this collection, new stories sit side-by-side with ancient folktales. It also includes works by notable authors of previous generations, such as Amos Tutuola and Thomas Mofolo, constituting a comprehensive handbook of African horror stories.
WHITE IS FOR WITCHING AUTHOR: HELEN OYEYEMI GENRE: FICTION
White is for Witching is Helen Oyeyemi’s third novel about a haunted house and the lives of its inhabitants. Lily Silver and her husband Luc Dufresne run a bed-and-breakfast in Lily’s childhood home in which they live together with their twins, Miranda and Eliot. The house is located at number 29 Barton Road in Dover. When Lily suddenly dies, the family is thrown into despair, especially Miranda, who has always been a strange child.
Miranda, who has a pica eating disorder, has always been keenly aware of spirits. After Lily’s death, she becomes even more aware of them in the house haunted by the ghosts of generations of women. Slowly, she begins to draw more and more into herself and away from her brother and father, until, one day, she finally disappears.
DARK MATTER AUTHOR:MICHELLE PAVER GENRE: FICTION
British-Malawian author Michelle Paver sent thrills down readers’ spines with the 2010 publication of her novel Dark Matter. The book, which has been described as part horror and part ghost story, is set in 1937. It follows the life of a 28-year-old man, Jack, stuck in an undesirable job and desperate for a better life. When the opportunity comes to join an expedition to the Arctic, he happily takes it, excited at the prospect of trying out something new.
They set out from Norway by sea and soon reach Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost settlement, where they are warned not to go anywhere near Gruhuken, the uninhabited place they plan to set base for the year. But the expedition fails to listen, and shortly after they reach Gruhuken, terrifying things begins to happen. Day by day, Jack’s companions leave, until he’s the only one left. That is when Jack realizes that the island is not uninhabited, and something terrifying roams about at night.
THE WOLF AT NUMBER 4 AUTHOR: AYO TAMAKLOE-GARR GENRE: FICTION
The Wolf at Number 4 is Ayo Tamakloe-Garr’s debut novel about a strange friendship between Desire Mensah, a schoolteacher in her thirties, and Wolfgang ‘Wolf’ Ofori, an eleven-year-old prodigy.
It is the 1990s in Ghana and Desire has just moved to Cape Coast, where she hopes to escape a shameful secret. It is in this slow, quiet city that she meets and befriends Wolf, a development that will prove deadly for both of them as they navigate a world determined to destroy them.
THEM AUTHOR: MIQUE WATSON GENRE: FICTION
South African author Mique Watson’s 2023 novel, Them, is set in a world that suddenly becomes strangely terrifying.
After a long and exhausting week, all Jeanette wants to do now is to curl up in bed with Nico, her beloved Labrador. But she won’t get that opportunity. The TV suddenly blacks out and a single message appears on the screen ‘They look like people.’ Then the power goes out. This, no doubt, terrifies a confused Jeanette, but her heart stops when someone suddenly starts knocking on her door. She soon realizes that the world she once knew has come to an end, transformed into a terrifying place that will test her ability to survive⎈
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