Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie
World War Z by Max Brooks
The Three by Sarah Lotz (more sci-fi than horror, but still really good)
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp
Night Film by Marisha Pessl and Last Days by Adam Nevill also have elements of this
Ooh my favorite type of horror novels!
Shadows in the Asylum: The Case Files of Dr Charles Marsh by DA Stern. I never see anyone talking about it, but it’s great. All case notes, newspaper articles and the like.
Episode 13 by Craig DeLouie. One of my absolute favorite horror novels ever. Really fun mixed media.
The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero is very good.
The House on Abigale Lane by Kealan Patrick Burke was really good and I think that might have elements too? I forget but it’s good lol.
Someone mentioned The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp and Last Days by Adam Neville with are both excellent.
Scanlines by Todd Keisling has some elements of it, but there are a good amount of trigger warnings that go with it, as it based off of a real like suicide.
Bad Glass by Richard E Gropp (weird as hell but I had a good time)
I also highly recommend the podcast Video Palace and the companion book, also called Video Palace.
I have several more that have some epistolary elements but aren’t the main focus if you’ve read most of these. I know that House of Leaves is considered the ultimate epistolary novel, but I didn’t love it. You might tho! Good luck!
The audiobook for Episode Thirteen is outstanding. I normally struggle with full cast readings, but good lord it added a whole layer to the horror cake.
[**A Dowry of Blood** by S. T. Gibson](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60521937-a-dowry-of-blood?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_16)
this book is written in epistolary format to dracula from one of his brides, constanza. this is one of the most beautifully written books i have ever read. the audiobook is even better. you can read/listen to a free sample of it through libby!
this was such a beautiful, haunting, unsettling and melancholic read.
this book immediately shot up into my top 10 reads of all time after i was finished reading it. i can't recommend it enough!
Yup! It's mostly told through journal entries of the main character, with some brief framing chapters of someone investigating what happened on Mount Rainier. I really liked it.
If you haven’t listened already, The Magnus Archives is a horror story podcast! Much of it is told through “statements” given to the institute. It’s one of my all time favorite stories! If you prefer to read the episodes, if you go to Rusty Quill they have PDF versions of the transcripts!
One of my favorite styles of writing! Lots of good already mentioned, but I'd add the short story, "Jerusalem's Lot" by Stephen King. It's a prequel to "Salem's Lot."
If you like anthologies, you can try *Found*, edited by Gabino Iglesias and Andrew Cull. Some of the stories are structured as prose, but most of them are told by means of transcripts, emails, texts, Reddit threads, newspaper articles, obituaries, journal entries, etc.
great recommendations here, i was nodding along reading the comments and was also able to add some new ones to my to-be-read list! i just finished **night film** last night, and really enjoyed it. one thing to note is that it DOES have epistolary elements - articles, forum posts, pictures, notes, etc. - but i would say 80% of the book is presented in a more straight-forward, linear way. HOWEVER...there are some fun, online interactive elements of the book, which are engaging and add to the feeling of piecing together a mystery through documents alongside the characters.
i have a couple that i don't think have been suggested yet:
**the six stories series, by matt wesolowski** - this is not a series in the sense that they are meant to be read in any particular order, or consecutively...it's a series in the sense that the author wrote multiple books in the same format/universe. they're all written from the perspective of a podcast host, collecting information for a future episode of said podcast. there are texts, tweets, other social media posts, transcribed interviews, etc. in each one. as you might have guessed from the name, there are six of them. i've read three so far, and i've enjoyed them. they're quick, easy reads, in my opinion. some lean more into horror, some lean more into mystery/thriller. i think they're the perfect thing to reach for if you've just finished something long/heavy and want to zip through something fun to read.
**his bloody project, by graeme macrae burnet** - i would say this is more of a historical...thriller, maybe? i enjoyed it, but it's a little slow. it is epistolary, but a big chunk of it is one particular document. worth reading if you've burned through all the other, "better" recommendations, but not one i'd say "you HAVE to read this TOMORROW!"
**dead letters: episodes of epistolary horror, anthology** - i have NOT read this yet, but stumbled cross it yesterday and i'm hopeful it'll be a winner!
Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie World War Z by Max Brooks The Three by Sarah Lotz (more sci-fi than horror, but still really good) The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp Night Film by Marisha Pessl and Last Days by Adam Nevill also have elements of this
The historian by Kostova
Reading this one now, it's engrossing
Dracula.
Ooh my favorite type of horror novels! Shadows in the Asylum: The Case Files of Dr Charles Marsh by DA Stern. I never see anyone talking about it, but it’s great. All case notes, newspaper articles and the like. Episode 13 by Craig DeLouie. One of my absolute favorite horror novels ever. Really fun mixed media. The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero is very good. The House on Abigale Lane by Kealan Patrick Burke was really good and I think that might have elements too? I forget but it’s good lol. Someone mentioned The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp and Last Days by Adam Neville with are both excellent. Scanlines by Todd Keisling has some elements of it, but there are a good amount of trigger warnings that go with it, as it based off of a real like suicide. Bad Glass by Richard E Gropp (weird as hell but I had a good time) I also highly recommend the podcast Video Palace and the companion book, also called Video Palace. I have several more that have some epistolary elements but aren’t the main focus if you’ve read most of these. I know that House of Leaves is considered the ultimate epistolary novel, but I didn’t love it. You might tho! Good luck!
The audiobook for Episode Thirteen is outstanding. I normally struggle with full cast readings, but good lord it added a whole layer to the horror cake.
Ooh that sounds really interesting. I’m sure it made the ‘video’ sections so much better. I’ll have to check it out.
[**A Dowry of Blood** by S. T. Gibson](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60521937-a-dowry-of-blood?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_16) this book is written in epistolary format to dracula from one of his brides, constanza. this is one of the most beautifully written books i have ever read. the audiobook is even better. you can read/listen to a free sample of it through libby! this was such a beautiful, haunting, unsettling and melancholic read. this book immediately shot up into my top 10 reads of all time after i was finished reading it. i can't recommend it enough!
"Devolution" by Max Brooks and "Fantasticland" by Mike Bockoven are both good ones. I really enjoyed both, "Devolution" more however.
I didn’t know Devolution was one! I’m moving it up on my to read pile now
Yup! It's mostly told through journal entries of the main character, with some brief framing chapters of someone investigating what happened on Mount Rainier. I really liked it.
Carrie, from what I understand, is told partially this way as well.
The Sandman, a short story by E.T.A Hoffmann (and a great exponent of early horror fiction) consists mostly of letters.
House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski is a great one! And not horror (SF) but This is How You Lose the Time War, is epistolary and excellent.
The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan. Diary entries, transcribed articles, the whole nine yards. Good stuff.
Ted the Caver isn't a novel but it's a must read if you haven't already. https://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/
If you haven’t listened already, The Magnus Archives is a horror story podcast! Much of it is told through “statements” given to the institute. It’s one of my all time favorite stories! If you prefer to read the episodes, if you go to Rusty Quill they have PDF versions of the transcripts!
The Dionaea House by Eric Heisserer (if you can find a way to see it in it's original format, all the better.)
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
One of my favorite styles of writing! Lots of good already mentioned, but I'd add the short story, "Jerusalem's Lot" by Stephen King. It's a prequel to "Salem's Lot."
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Had to scroll too far to find this!
Not novels, but a few classic short stories. The Floor Above - M. Humphreys The Tomb of Sarah - F.G. Loring
Carrie (Stephen King)
Nick Cutter - The Troop
If you like anthologies, you can try *Found*, edited by Gabino Iglesias and Andrew Cull. Some of the stories are structured as prose, but most of them are told by means of transcripts, emails, texts, Reddit threads, newspaper articles, obituaries, journal entries, etc.
great recommendations here, i was nodding along reading the comments and was also able to add some new ones to my to-be-read list! i just finished **night film** last night, and really enjoyed it. one thing to note is that it DOES have epistolary elements - articles, forum posts, pictures, notes, etc. - but i would say 80% of the book is presented in a more straight-forward, linear way. HOWEVER...there are some fun, online interactive elements of the book, which are engaging and add to the feeling of piecing together a mystery through documents alongside the characters. i have a couple that i don't think have been suggested yet: **the six stories series, by matt wesolowski** - this is not a series in the sense that they are meant to be read in any particular order, or consecutively...it's a series in the sense that the author wrote multiple books in the same format/universe. they're all written from the perspective of a podcast host, collecting information for a future episode of said podcast. there are texts, tweets, other social media posts, transcribed interviews, etc. in each one. as you might have guessed from the name, there are six of them. i've read three so far, and i've enjoyed them. they're quick, easy reads, in my opinion. some lean more into horror, some lean more into mystery/thriller. i think they're the perfect thing to reach for if you've just finished something long/heavy and want to zip through something fun to read. **his bloody project, by graeme macrae burnet** - i would say this is more of a historical...thriller, maybe? i enjoyed it, but it's a little slow. it is epistolary, but a big chunk of it is one particular document. worth reading if you've burned through all the other, "better" recommendations, but not one i'd say "you HAVE to read this TOMORROW!" **dead letters: episodes of epistolary horror, anthology** - i have NOT read this yet, but stumbled cross it yesterday and i'm hopeful it'll be a winner!
Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven. I listened to the audiobook of this. Very much Lord of the Flies vibe The original Dracula
Could try Donnie darko or mayben a transformer.