Horror Books by Native American Authors

Andrea L. Rogers’ horror short story collection follows one Cherokee family across many centuries, starting in the 1830s and spanning into the future. These stories use horror elements like vampires, werewolves, and other monsters to explore the terrors of colonialism, the systemic oppression of Indigenous peoples, and generational trauma. Each story is also accompanied by illustrations by Cherokee artist and language technologist Jeff Edwards.

This horror novel is inspired by the Canadian Métis legend of the Rogarou, a hairy werewolf-like creature that stalks the woods. Joan comes from a small-town, tight-knit Métis community that knows of the legends. But no one truly believes them. Then Joan’s husband goes missing, and after he’s gone for over a year, Joan finds him in a revival tent in a Walmart parking lot. Even though he has changed his hair and his clothing, Joan knows it’s him. Still, he insists he is someone else and does not recognize her. Not to mention that there’s something suspicious (and potentially evil) about Reverend Wolff, the charismatic preacher who has taken Joan’s husband in.

Stephen Graham Jones has written many must-read horror novels exploring the intergenerational trauma and racism experienced by Native Americans. But the most haunting one of all is The Only Good Indians, a supernatural revenge story. This novel follows four Blackfeet Indian men who go out to hunt elk in their youth and make a mistake that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Quite literally. As they get older, each of the four men is relentlessly tracked by a vengeful supernatural entity who will not stop until the men pay for their wrongdoings.