Editorials
Rolling to Die: 5 Horror Board Games Worth Your Time
Board games used to be something relegated almost exclusively to children. From Candyland or Monopoly, these games were (and are still) the epitome of “fun for the whole family.” Even so, back in the ole’ days, you could find the occasional cardboard box that promised those brave enough to investigate their contents a nightmarish gaming experience. I mean speaking of “nightmare,” anyone remember the game – Nightmare? A “VHS board game” that came with a cassette tape you followed along to while playing, all hosted by the sinister “Gatekeeper.” A bonafide nostalgia booster in itself and a major inspiration for the retro-tinged film Beyond the Gates. So, sure, the horror board game is certainly nothing new. It has, however, come a long way from the days of Nightmare. Here are five creeptastic games inspired by some of our favorite horror films, tv, and literature.
The Thing – Infection at Outpost 31
Perhaps the most high profile title on this list, Infection at Outpost 31, from Mondo and Project Raygun is like a way more complex version of Clue, only set within the world of John Carpenter’s The Thing. You and 3 to 7 of your best friends play as MacReady and a number of other characters from the classic flick (but seriously, who wouldn’t want to be MacReady?) in an attempt to escape the frozen arctic while evading the terror of “The Thing.” Ultimately, one among you is the alien creature in disguise and must do whatever it takes to sabotage the others’ mission. Just be careful not to get caught. Outpost can be a tad time consuming (like those old times spent playing marathon games of Monopoly that seemed like they would never end), but the gameplay is pretty addictive once you get the hang of it. Just be sure to play with people you trust. Much like the characters in the film, I’d hate for you to allow your deep seeded resentments to bubble up as the paranoia starts crawling under your skin. Just a thought.
Eldritch Horror
When it comes to “Lovecraftian” tales of the Ancient Ones and the cosmic fear of what lies just beyond your view, Eldritch Horror, fits the bill. You play as part of a co-op (up to 8 players) on a mission across the globe to gather clues in a race against time to stop an elder being from destroying the world at large. The “Ancient One” can vary depending on the cards drawn at the top of the game, and, yes, Cthulhu is an enemy option. Gameplay is constantly in flux based of the moves and decisions of the players. You’ll find yourself sucked in by Eldritch Horror’s ever expanding lore that unfolds with each passing turn. With over 300 cards and 250 tokens, the replay value on this little gem is high up there. Not to mention, there are currently enough expansion packs to fill all of Innsmouth.
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Taking inspiration from classics of the William Castle canon and a bevy of other cinematic and literary spook-tales, Betrayal at House on the Hill is a fun romp through a haunted house of your own making. Much like Darren Lynn Bousman’s recent Abattoir, you’re literally building the “House on the Hill” (AKA the game board) one room at a time with randomized tiles. It creates a fun layer of tension as you’re never sure just what the hell you’re walking into. Of course, one of the 3 – 6 players is likely a traitor and it’s up to the good guys to snuff them out. Betrayal has been the winner of a number of awards and with a playtime estimated at only about an hour, this is the perfect game to break out spontaneously towards the end of a quickly fading dinner party.
Mixtape Massacre
Mixtape Massacre is a love letter to all things 80s horror, and, perhaps, the most accessible game on this list for tabletop newbs. The board is a representation for the town of Tall Oaks, which happens to have a serious serial-slasher problem. You get to slip on the mask of your favorite screen villian (or at least a non-copywritten facsimile) from a little red headed doll, a pasty-bald white guy with a leather fetish, and even a gaunt girl in a tattered dress and long black hair that conceals her face. Players roll a regular die to move and an “action die” adorned with a fist, knife, and pentagram, each symbol dictating whether your set loose to slay victims or under attack yourself. Gameplay moves quick and is filled with fun nods to tons of horror classics.
Ferox: Invaders and Cannibals
Ferox: Invaders and Cannibals is perhaps not the most politically correct board game you will ever find, but it is inspired by the Italian cannibal cycle of the 70s/80s (Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox), so what do you expect? Needing only two players, one player takes on the role of “cannibal” and the other the role of “invader.” The invaders are made up a film crew that has crash landed on an island lost to time. The cannibals immediately see this collection of film nerds as a threat. Both players go back and forth, picking each other off until there is one final champion.
Each of these games is a reminder that horror can be found no matter what the medium. Roll the die and roll to die! Which is your favorite?
There’s a lot of reading left to do in 2026, between the glut of summer releases and the approach of fall, when horror titles get a special push from publishers, but this has already been an incredible year for horror literature.
Some of the biggest names in the genre have turned in outstanding work, rising stars have made their mark, and we’re only halfway through the year.
To celebrate the midway point of 2026, with plenty of horror books still to come, we’re taking a look back at the best horror books we’ve read this year so far, listed alphabetically by author.
If you missed any of these books earlier in the year, consider this your reminder to catch up.
Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
A student running from a crime he may or may not have committed escapes to his father’s country home in Japan, only to find himself haunted by strange apparitions, while in the past, a young samurai tries to find salvation for her family and finds a door to the future instead. Kylie Lee Baker’s Japanese Gothic begins with this dialogue between past and present, and then blossoms into so much more, a cross-time ghost story about old wounds and what it really takes to finally heal them. I got so happily lost in this one that I would have read at least 200 more pages.
Persona by Aoife Josie Clements
In this tale of shut-ins, sex workers, artists, and the horrors they both summon and recoil from, Aoife Josie Clements weaves something that feels less like a story to be experienced and more like a psychic wound to be endured, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. Evocative in its prose and nightmarish in its imagery, Persona is a story of the masks we wear, and the understanding that not all of our masks are particularly pretty or even easy to breathe through. It’s a dense, literary, unnervingly vicious book, and while it’s already attracted an audience, it deserves a much bigger one.
Dead First by Johnny Compton
Johnny Compton’s latest novel opens with a throwing down of the gauntlet, a sequence that made me instantly think “How on Earth is he going to top this?” It’s a story that begins with a billionaire hiring a private investigator to determine why, despite trying in many brutal ways, he cannot die. That premise, and the scene which sets it all off, is so alluring and delightfully gruesome that you almost can’t believe it’s the way a book begins, and then Compton just keeps going, delivering a supernatural mystery that I could not put down.
Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey
A woman grieving for the life she wanted visits a mysterious island renowned for the healing salt its residents harvest and sell, seeking renewal and relief. What she finds instead is a strange cult with a twisted history with surprising resonance in her own life, and a people who are more than willing to grant the relief she wants, for a price. Laced with beautiful prose and moments of profound realization alongside folk and even cosmic horror, this is vintage Sarah Gailey.
Partially Devoured by Daniel Kraus
If you love horror film history and analysis, Partially Devoured is an essential. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Daniel Kraus, the book is a deep dive into his favorite movie of all time, George A. Romero‘s Night of the Living Dead, complete with exhaustive research into the making of the film and passages of deeply moving memoir woven in. If you’ve ever wanted to know what the eerie music that opens the film is called while also bursting into tears at how horror movies can save your life, this is a must-read.
Wretch by Eric LaRocca
Our reigning King of Extreme Horror, Eric LaRocca weaves books of uncommon beauty out of the most nightmarish parts of humanity, and Wretch is no exception. The story of a grieving man who longs for relief and searches for it amid a strange support group that might be a cult, Wretch is a brutal journey into the darkest part of us all, and explores what salvation we might find when we get to the rotten core of the world and peel back its layers. LaRocca’s on a tear of great work right now that few other genre writers can match.
Headlights by CJ Leede
A mystery, a serial killer horror show, a tribute to Stephen King‘s The Shining. All of these things describe CJ Leede’s Headlights, and yet they don’t begin to cover the full breadth of horror awaiting you in this novel. The story of a former FBI agent drawn back into the cold case that haunts him most, it’s a shocker brimming over with vivid moments that’ll live behind your eyes. CJ Leede has now published three novels, and they’re all bangers, so it’s time to get on board if you haven’t already.
It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo
Cynthia Pelayo has been one of our finest genre writers for years now, but It Came From Neverland is my favorite thing she’s written, and it’s not even close. A dark take on Peter Pan from the perspective of an adult Wendy Darling living in World War I-era London, Pelayo’s book works as both a satisfying horror narrative and a rich exploration of what it really means to never grow up. The horror never loses its potency, but it’s the search for the meaning behind the Peter Pan phenomenon in our own lives, and what we can do about it, that sticks with me most.
Filth Eaters by Ito Romo
Ito Romo’s Filth Eaters is a slim volume, one you can read in just a couple of hours if you’ve got the inclination, but it has the feel of a generation-spanning epic. The story of a breed of vampires born in Central America, the European vampires who encounter them, and the offspring they eventually produced, it spans centuries and packs loads of juicy lore into its pages while never losing its grip on character and narrative drive. I would read hundreds more pages of this world, but I’ll settle for this uncommonly grand-scale novella for now.
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay
A former pro gamer gets a job at a tech company to pilot a brain-dead human body across the country, and so Paul Tremblay’s sci-fi-horror juggernaut begins. Indebted to Philip K. Dick, the primal snarl of Harlan Ellison, and the quirky comedy of The Big Lebowski, and yet wholly original, this is a towering and ambitious novel by one of horror’s most respected voices. What starts as a high-concept tech thriller soon becomes a startling meditation on the value of stories, who gets to tell them, and what happens when we cede too much control to machines we don’t understand. It’s a stunner.
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