21 books like Snow

By Ronald Malfi,

Here are 21 books that Snow fans have personally recommended if you like Snow. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Earthworm Gods

Olen Crowe Author Of The Caverns

From my list on reads like B-horror movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

My favorite books as a child were the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine. This began my love of all things horror (including cheesy, campy B-horror). The movies that people love to hate (and also the books that stir up the same emotions) combine humanity's most basic instincts: fear, lust, and humor. Bringing these three together in perfect union creates a combination I can't get enough of. It's what drives my own writing and my insatiable desire to seek out more stories like this.

Olen's book list on reads like B-horror movies

Olen Crowe Why did Olen love this book?

"I want to read a book like the 1990s cult classic movie Tremors; hold the (Kevin) Bacon, please." Funny you ask! Earthworm Gods (or its alternate title, Conqueror Worms) will scratch that itch while throwing in some ancient one worship à la Lovecraft. One day it starts to rain, and then the rain never stops. Monstrous earthworms terrorize the townspeople. What happens next? Probably not what you expect. There's enough quirkiness in here to keep it light, so you can chuckle while watching the world go down in flames (or...er...floods); just what you'd expect from a rainy, Saturday night B-horror film.

By Brian Keene,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Earthworm Gods as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE CULT CLASSIC RETURNS!!!

One day, it starts raining-and never stops. Global super-storms decimate the planet, eradicating most of mankind. Pockets of survivors gather on mountaintops, watching as the waters climb higher and higher. But as the tides rise, something else is rising, too.

Now, in the midst of an ecological nightmare, the remnants of humanity face a new menace, in a battle that stretches from the rooftops of submerged cities to the mountaintop islands jutting from the sea. What hope does an already-devastated mankind have against this new supernatural adversary.

The old gods are dead. Now is the time…


Book cover of Prey

Olen Crowe Author Of The Caverns

From my list on reads like B-horror movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

My favorite books as a child were the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine. This began my love of all things horror (including cheesy, campy B-horror). The movies that people love to hate (and also the books that stir up the same emotions) combine humanity's most basic instincts: fear, lust, and humor. Bringing these three together in perfect union creates a combination I can't get enough of. It's what drives my own writing and my insatiable desire to seek out more stories like this.

Olen's book list on reads like B-horror movies

Olen Crowe Why did Olen love this book?

Most Masterton recommendations start with The Manitou, which is a good choice, but to really get that 'B-horror in book form' rush, Prey is where to turn. What happens when you throw a recently divorced man and his young son into a haunted house in a quaint, seaside village? Did you guess inter-dimensional monsters? Don't turn out the lights, and don't go into the attic when reading this one.

By Graham Masterton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Prey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

There's something in the attic of Fortyfoot House.

Something that rustles. Something that scampers and scratches. Something with fur, far more terrifying than a rat.

Recently divorced, David Williams takes a job restoring Fortyfoot House, a dilapidated 19th-century orphanage, hoping to find peace of mind and get to know his young son. But then he hears the scratching noises in the attic. And he sees long-dead people walking across the lawn.

Does Fortyfoot House exist in today, yesterday, or tomorrow – or all three at once? Only one thing is certain – it is a house with a dark secret…


Book cover of The Town

Olen Crowe Author Of The Caverns

From my list on reads like B-horror movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

My favorite books as a child were the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine. This began my love of all things horror (including cheesy, campy B-horror). The movies that people love to hate (and also the books that stir up the same emotions) combine humanity's most basic instincts: fear, lust, and humor. Bringing these three together in perfect union creates a combination I can't get enough of. It's what drives my own writing and my insatiable desire to seek out more stories like this.

Olen's book list on reads like B-horror movies

Olen Crowe Why did Olen love this book?

Fans of Bentley Little won't be surprised to find out this book begins with a family moving from southern California to a small town in Arizona, but, in typical Little fashion, this is more than a small-town horror story. Throw in the author's eccentricities and his proclivity for absolutely insane stories and add a dash of heretical, Eastern Orthodox Christians called Molokans (see, horror novels are also educational), and you have the makings of a fantastic B-horror movie sans jump scares and sound effects. Like many authors on this list, it was hard to narrow Little's novels down to just one, but this was one of my first introductions to Little, and that's why it made the list.

By Bentley Little,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Town as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bram Stoker Award-winning horror author Bentley Little proves why you should never go home again in this terrifying novel.

Welcome to McGuane, Arizona. Population: 200...199...198...197...

Gregory Tomasov has returned with his family to the quaint Arizona community of his youth. In McGuane, the air is clean, the land is unspoiled. Nothing much has changed. Except now, no one goes out after dark. And no one told Gregory that he shouldn’t have moved into the old abandoned farm on the edge of town. Once upon a time something bad happened there. Something that’s now buried in its walls. Something now reborn…


Book cover of Blood Games

Olen Crowe Author Of The Caverns

From my list on reads like B-horror movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

My favorite books as a child were the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine. This began my love of all things horror (including cheesy, campy B-horror). The movies that people love to hate (and also the books that stir up the same emotions) combine humanity's most basic instincts: fear, lust, and humor. Bringing these three together in perfect union creates a combination I can't get enough of. It's what drives my own writing and my insatiable desire to seek out more stories like this.

Olen's book list on reads like B-horror movies

Olen Crowe Why did Olen love this book?

This list wouldn't be complete without mentioning Laymon. The 'correct' Laymon recommendation for this list would be every book he has ever written, but alas, there can only be one. This book is full of violence, but it's more than just a slasher. The several flashbacks bring the story back to when the protagonists were in college together and highlight their antics and show how strong their bond is. Blood Games has it all: a group of friends making bad decisions, isolation from the outside world, and a bloodthirsty killer. Turns out, the Totem Pole Lodge's gruesome past bleeds into the present...

By Richard Laymon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Blood Games as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

They meet for one week every year, five young women, best friends since college, in search of fun and thrills. Each year they choose a different place for their reunion. This year it's Helen's choice, and she chose the Totem Pole Lodge. Bad choice.

The Totem Pole Lodge is a deserted resort hotel deep in the woods with a gory, shocking past. Helen has a macabre streak and she can't wait to tell her friends all about what happened at the lodge and why it's now abandoned. But Helen and the others are in for a nasty surprise. The resort…


Book cover of The Savage B's: A Tribute to B-Horror

Kenya Moss-Dyme Author Of Daymares

From my list on horror that deliver the most bang for the bite.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like most writers, I’ve been a voracious reader since I was a child; but my preferences were witches and haunted houses, rather than princesses and talking frogs. As I developed my own writing, I wanted to tell stories that were reflective of my world but with a dark twist. My first completed story was "Patchwork", about a woman emptying the marital home after the breakdown of her marriage. I went on to participate in several popular horror anthologies. I really enjoy the challenge of writing a great short story because you have to get the reader in a chokehold early and then deliver that gut punch sooner than later.

Kenya's book list on horror that deliver the most bang for the bite

Kenya Moss-Dyme Why did Kenya love this book?

I’m a big fan of themed anthologies! Most horror anthologies I find are similar to Night Shift in that they are all random stories of dark fiction but with no recurring theme. It’s extra fun for the reader (and the writer) when all of the stories reverberate around a single topic or scenario. The Savage B’s: A Tribute to Horror is a proclamation of love for B movies. I remember the fun and splashy gore of movies like The Blob or Swamp Thing. You were horrified at the splatter of brains but also tickled by the sheer absurdity of the splatter of brains. From flesh-eating monsters to toxic spills, each of these stories is finely crafted by authors with their own B movie-style spin. 

By David O'Hanlon, Mya Lairis, Killian Crane , C. Courtney Joyner , Zame Hill , Bert Edens , Bret Bouriseau , Jay Wilburn , Dennis Freeman , Christopher Dowell

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Savage B's as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Join 13 authors as they take you on a gory stroll down Memory Lane in this anthology inspired by B-Horror! Relive the good old days of picking up bad movies from your local video store. We've got killer dolls, killer sludge, killer firemen, killer amphibians. This book should come narrated by Joe Bob Briggs if we weren't too low budget to afford him. Buy yourself a copy, because this is one you'll want to rewind and enjoy again!


Book cover of Slaves of the Volcano God

Justin Robinson Author Of City of Devils

From my list on bridging high art and B-movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

The best stories are the ones that take very silly ideas seriously. This doesn’t mean that they’re not funny; on the contrary, you don’t really hear the truth until it makes you laugh. These books all lean heavily on tropes, specifically B-movie tropes. I used to write detailed reviews of terrible movies, afterschool specials, and creature features. I host a podcast all about the funnier parts of TV criticism. Figuring out how something simple speaks to the core of us is the height of fiction, and all five of these do that and do it with humor. 

Justin's book list on bridging high art and B-movies

Justin Robinson Why did Justin love this book?

I’m cheating a little with this one since this is technically three books but go with me. Slaves of the Volcano God, Bride of the Slime Monster, and Revenge of the Fluffy Bunnies are some of those series that used to be thick on the ground but now are harder to find.

They’re adventure novels that play with the tropes of B-movies, and not only are they hilarious, but they made a young Justin like B-movies more. Playing with tropes can get exhausting, but when it’s done with genuine love, as it is here, it makes for an airy joy of a series.

By Craig Shaw Gardner,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Slaves of the Volcano God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Redshirts

Justin Robinson Author Of City of Devils

From my list on bridging high art and B-movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

The best stories are the ones that take very silly ideas seriously. This doesn’t mean that they’re not funny; on the contrary, you don’t really hear the truth until it makes you laugh. These books all lean heavily on tropes, specifically B-movie tropes. I used to write detailed reviews of terrible movies, afterschool specials, and creature features. I host a podcast all about the funnier parts of TV criticism. Figuring out how something simple speaks to the core of us is the height of fiction, and all five of these do that and do it with humor. 

Justin's book list on bridging high art and B-movies

Justin Robinson Why did Justin love this book?

It’s hard to beat Scalzi for nailing the execution of a high concept.

Redshirts could have so easily been nothing but a gimmick, but Scalzi really gets into the guts of the horror and humor of being a character written for the sole purpose of dying. I picked up the book with a cynical eye, expecting to hate it, but it drew me in.

Scalzi went so much further with the concept, shined a light on every corner of the idea, that he managed to create a deconstruction and reconstruction of the same trope at the same time. 

By John Scalzi,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Redshirts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'I can honestly say I can't think of another book that ever made me laugh this much. Ever' Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It's a prestige posting, and Andrew is even more delighted when he's assigned to the ship's Xenobiology laboratory. Life couldn't be better ... although there are a few strange things going on:

(1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces

(2) the ship's…


Book cover of Women Scientists in Fifties Science Fiction Films

Natacha Guyot Author Of The Science is Out There: Scully's Feminism in The X-Files

From my list on women in American film.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been creating female-fronted Science Fiction stories since I was a child. My love for Star Wars motivated me to go to film school and then spend years working on the representation of women in Science Fiction movies, TV series, and video games. I’ve written about characters like Leia Organa and Hera Syndulla in Star Wars, Dana Scully in The X-Files, Sarah Connor in The Terminator, and Elisabeth Shaw in Prometheus. I have recently started sharing some of my research on Medium. Some of the books on this list have supported my research for over 15 years while I discovered others during my doctoral studies. 

Natacha's book list on women in American film

Natacha Guyot Why did Natacha love this book?

To say I had high expectations of this book would be an understatement and it certainly delivered!

Although quite niche, this book gives us a detailed look into professional women and women scientists, among other roles, in 1950s Science Fiction B movies. 

Although we often believe that more recent films are more progressive, Noonan shows how even gender limitations in the 1950s still provided room for qualified women to shine in different scientific fields, both in traditional and pioneering roles. She also studies how women could have important roles at the periphery of science like computer operators or darkroom technicians.

By Bonnie Noonan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Women Scientists in Fifties Science Fiction Films as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book proposes that the social ideology of the 1950s, which was partly concerned with gender issues, saturated the ""B"" science fiction films of that era and inspired a new appreciation for the role of women in scientific advancements and other social achievements. Drawing on feminist literary and cultural theory, the author offers detailed, historically situated readings of 10 films and compares cinematic representations with real female professionals of the time.


Book cover of Feet Of Clay

Justin Robinson Author Of City of Devils

From my list on bridging high art and B-movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

The best stories are the ones that take very silly ideas seriously. This doesn’t mean that they’re not funny; on the contrary, you don’t really hear the truth until it makes you laugh. These books all lean heavily on tropes, specifically B-movie tropes. I used to write detailed reviews of terrible movies, afterschool specials, and creature features. I host a podcast all about the funnier parts of TV criticism. Figuring out how something simple speaks to the core of us is the height of fiction, and all five of these do that and do it with humor. 

Justin's book list on bridging high art and B-movies

Justin Robinson Why did Justin love this book?

Liking Terry Pratchett is a bit like liking pizza: not terribly remarkable.

Pratchett is a master storyteller who commands not only tropes but the idea behind them with such skill that I can read one of his books and never realize I’m getting the most profound lesson of my life. I could have recommended any of his books, and more to the point, any of his City Watch books, but I single out this particular book for a reason. I’m a humanist, like Pratchett, and this book explores his humanism most effectively.

And it’s also an amazing mystery and incredible comedy. 

By Terry Pratchett,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Feet Of Clay as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Vimes is back, in all his curmudgeonly glory, in this classic, perceptive and laugh-out-loud Discworld mystery that will keep you turning the pages.

'In my opinion, this is the book where Pratchett *really* hits his stride in terms of the city watch books . . . Is this book worth your time? Yes. A thousand times yes' Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind

THERE'S A WEREWOLF WITH PRE-LUNAR TENSION IN ANKH-MORPORK. AND A DWARF WITH ATTITUDE AND A GOLEM WHO'S BEGUN TO THINK FOR ITSELF.

But for Commander Vimes, Head of Ankh-Morpork City…


Book cover of Detecting Women: Gender and the Hollywood Detective Film

Natacha Guyot Author Of The Science is Out There: Scully's Feminism in The X-Files

From my list on women in American film.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been creating female-fronted Science Fiction stories since I was a child. My love for Star Wars motivated me to go to film school and then spend years working on the representation of women in Science Fiction movies, TV series, and video games. I’ve written about characters like Leia Organa and Hera Syndulla in Star Wars, Dana Scully in The X-Files, Sarah Connor in The Terminator, and Elisabeth Shaw in Prometheus. I have recently started sharing some of my research on Medium. Some of the books on this list have supported my research for over 15 years while I discovered others during my doctoral studies. 

Natacha's book list on women in American film

Natacha Guyot Why did Natacha love this book?

This is a must-read if you are interested in women investigators in mainstream film, B movies, niche genres, or television.

Gates studies over 300 films and goes back to not only early cinema but even to 19th-century fiction that brought certain figures such as the sleuth, to the screen several decades later. 

By exploring the evolution of women detectives, Gates addresses various topics such as women in the workforce, intellectual women, age, race, and sexuality. This historical analysis played a key role in my research on Scully beyond the chapter on women criminalists such as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.

By Philippa Gates,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Detecting Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ambitious and comprehensive history of the female detective in Hollywood film from 1929 to 2009.


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