It may have only been a few weeks since Ryan Coogler’s Sinners came out, but it’s already a classic. This film tears down the old bones of horror, Westerns and historical drama, and rebuilds them into something wilder, fiercer and more terrifying. Set against the backdrop of 1930s Jim Crow America, Sinners doesn’t flinch from the era’s brutal truths. If this film left you haunted, hollow or burning for more, then check out these nine books — if you dare.
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
An apparently young, amnesiac girl with inhuman needs and abilities discovers she is a 53-year-old genetically modified vampire. As she pieces together her stolen past, she must uncover who wants her—and those she loves—destroyed. Facing betrayal and danger, she must fight to reclaim her identity and her future.
Fledgling is a gripping exploration of otherness and what it truly means to be human. Octavia Butler’s 2005 novel remains a fresh take on the vampire novel.
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Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
In 1915, The Birth of a Nation revives the Ku Klux Klan, casting a literal, deadly spell on America. Maryse Boudreaux and her fierce companions — armed with blades, bullets and bombs — fight to send the Klan’s demons straight back to Hell. But something darker brews in their town, threatening to end the world itself, and Maryse must stand against the rising tide before it’s too late.
Ring Shout was absolutely the first book that came to mind when I thought of Sinners. P. Djèlí Clark’s 2020 horror novella is action-packed, fast-paced and full of deep symbolism, all set during the Jim Crow era.
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
After an altercation with the son of the largest landowner in Gracetown, Florida, 12-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr gets a six-month sentence in a reformatory. When other residents go missing, supposedly to work off their crimes, Robbie’s ability to see haints hints at worse fates. While he struggles just to survive, his sister rallies every connection she has to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
By piecing together the life of a relative her family never spoke about, Tananarive Due brought a real-life tragedy to light through the lens of horror. The Reformatory is both a horrifying haunted house story and a masterful work of historical fiction.
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The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
A 1912 diary hidden within a wall reveals a slow massacre tracing back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Through transcribed interviews, a Blackfeet man named Good Stab unravels his haunting story in a series of confessional visits. Stephen Graham Jones’ newest novel is a chilling historical horror novel of the American West. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is an enthrallingly dark read.
The Fervor by Alma Katsu
In 1944, Meiko Briggs and her daughter Aiko are imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp in Idaho, struggling to hold on to their old life. When a strange illness spreads among the prisoners—causing violence, madness and death—Meiko realizes something far more sinister is at work. Teaming up with unlikely allies, she uncovers a horrifying force drawn from the legends of her childhood. In a world already twisted by war and prejudice, an even darker evil is rising.
The Fervor is a supernatural, psychological twist on the horrors of the Japanese American internment camps during World War 2. Alma Katsu’s epically scary story is one that horror fans won’t want to miss.
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The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
Charles Thomas Tester hustles across 1920s New York, using charm and street smarts to survive – and to hide the dark magic simmering beneath his skin. When a delivery to a reclusive sorceress draws the attention of ancient forces, Tom opens a door to a deeper, more terrifying world. As a storm brews in Brooklyn, he must decide whether to resist or embrace the power calling to him.
Victor LaValle’s The Ballad of Black Tom is a powerful reclamation of Lovecraftian horror. While there aren’t any vampires present, fans of Sinners will appreciate the way LaValle masterfully blends cosmic horror with biting social commentary, turning a notoriously racist story into something both haunting and subversive.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle
In 1915, Adelaide Henry flees California after a terrible secret kills her parents, carrying with her a locked steamer trunk—and a deadly burden inside it. Seeking refuge as a homesteader in Montana, she joins the ranks of “lone women” taming the wild land. But Adelaide isn’t truly alone, and what she’s kept hidden may be the only thing that can save her. In the harsh frontier, survival means confronting the monster she’s carried all along.
I had a hard time narrowing down which of Victor LaValle’s stories most fit with the themes of Sinners, so I decided not to choose. Lone Women is a vivid and atmospheric novel. Blending horror, historical fiction and fantasy, LaValle brings readers a vivid and haunting story of life as a lone Black woman in the American West.
RELATED: Book Review: Lone Women
White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
The Silver family grapples with a profound loss in a mysterious house on the Cliffs of Dover after Lily disappears. Her daughter Miranda begins drifting away from her family, taking up magic and talking to spirits. When she eventually vanishes, too, her family is left to unravel her story and the house’s secrets.
Be sure to read White Is for Witching with the lights on. While Helen Oyeyemi draws on Gothic roots, she adds a layer by introducing the house as a malevolent, unreliable and even racist narrator.
Bitter Root by David F. Walker and Chuck Brown, illustrated by Sanford Greene
For generations, the Sangerye family has battled hideous monsters born from hate and racism, protecting humanity from their spread. But now, a new and even greater evil has emerged—one that could not only destroy the world but also tear the family apart. As old wounds resurface and loyalties are tested, the Sangeryes must fight harder than ever to survive.
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Bitter Root is a thrilling, action-packed saga of resilience, legacy, and hope set in the Harlem Renaissance. Two-time Eisner winners David F. Walker and Chuck Brown recently announced a sequel series set during the Civil Rights Movement, promising more supernatural battles and scares.
Each of these books carries the spirit of Sinners by bending genre to bare deeper truths. They don’t just entertain. Instead, they confront the legacies of racism, trauma and resilience. They’re also all available for purchase from your local independent bookstore or Bookshop.org. If you have more to recommend along these themes, let us know below.
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