The cast of the Castle of Horror Podcast gather together their favorites, featuring the top ten horror films the show has covered, plus top lists of themes, from slasher to gothic, 80s to Eurohorror.

We've reached out to the finest minds in horror, from best-selling authors to fresh new voices, to bring you a collection of stories to chill the blood. Join us as we explore Hawaiian myth and intrigue from Jessica Lee Anderson, sexy, contemporary vampire horror from Dark Shadows star and author Lara Parker, zombie mystery horror from New York Times Best Seller Kevin J Anderson, Mexican mythology horror from David Bowles, grim sci-fi horror from PJ Hoover, home invasion terror from Jason Henderson (that's me), Gothic horror from Leanna Renee Hieber, spooky American ghost horror from Michael Aronovitz, survivalist horror from Tom Waltz, demonic family horror from Tony Bloodworth, Central American folklore horror from Julia Guzman, hilariously dark genie horror from Mario Acevedo, strange, mind-blowing mythology horror from Guadalupe Garcia McCall, demonic desert family horror from Barry Barclay, and genre-bending science fiction horror from In Churl Yo.

The theme is Gothic-- the horror of Gothic romance. Throughout the mid-century, paperback Gothic romance books dominated the shelves, always featuring a woman running away from a house. (Go ahead, Google "women running from houses.") Gothic romances tended to tell stories of women coming into conflict with old families, old houses and old traditions. So we've asked a bevy of best-selling writers to celebrate the movement with their own horrific takes on gothic. Run from the house with us! In Churl Yo offers a Bradburyesque sci-fi take on the Gothic, Alethea Kontis also chooses sci-fi in her tale of a futuristic medical procedure gone awry, John Ohno brings a classic governess-arrives-and-things-go-bad story, Jim Towns sets his story in 1972 with his movie-world horror tale, Amanda DeWees has a Gothic tale with an ingenious and tech-savvy female, Jeremiah Dylan Cook gives us a mysterious mansion-and sexy maybe-ghost, Leanna Renee Hieber brings us a ballad-like ghost origin story, Rob Nisbet makes a Lovecraft story out of Lovecraft himself, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam comes to us with a ghost story of a house with its own ideas, Jason Henderson brings the beginning of a serialized story about an expedition into the fabled and haunted House of Usher, Charles R. Rutledge returns with a Carter Decamp psychic mystery, Henry Herz turns to folklore with his tale of a supernatural being wreaking vengeance on Scottish shores, Tony Jones spins us in the direction of violent, supernatural creatures with a taste for the nightlife, Michael Aronovitz weaves a tale about a person coming to terms with what it takes to escape an attic, Sam Knight perfectly evokes the smells and textures of life at an orchard, and Scott Pearson returns us once again to the contemporary era with his feminist commentary on the Modern Gothic.

WINNER OF THE 2015 BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL A chilling thriller that brilliantly blends psychological suspense and supernatural horror, reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shining, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist. The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents’ despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie’s descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts’ plight. With John, Marjorie’s father, out of work for more than a year and the medical bills looming, the family agrees to be filmed, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy, the show and the shocking incidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend. Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie’s younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories that clash with what was broadcast on television begin to surface—and a mind-bending tale of psychological horror is unleashed, raising vexing questions about memory and reality, science and religion, and the very nature of evil.

Inspired by a terrifying true story, acclaimed author Guadalupe Garcia McCall creates a twisty tale about a boy desperately trying to survive in a new town with a secret past. James always knew moving from Texas to Oregon was going to be horrible.. But no sooner have he and his family arrived in their "perfect" new home in their "perfect" new town than he starts getting mysterious letters from someone called the Keeper. Someone who claims to be watching him. Someone who is looking for “young blood.” James and his sister, Ava, are obviously in danger. But the problem with having a history of playing practical jokes is that no one believes James—not even his parents. Now James and Ava need to figure out who is sending the letters before they become the next victims in their neighborhood’s long history of missing children. Because one thing is clear: Uncovering the truth about the Keeper is the only thing that will keep them alive.

Witty and charming, New York Times-bestselling author Kerstin Gier's contemporary young adult novel A Castle in the Clouds follows a girl as she navigates secrets, romance, and danger in an aging grand hotel. Way up in the Swiss mountains, there's a hotel steeped in tradition and faded splendor. Once a year, when the famous New Year's Eve Ball takes place and guests from all over the world arrive, excitement returns to the vast hallways. Sophie, an intern at the hotel, is tasked with ensuring everything goes as planned. But the unexpected seems to lurk in every corner, and she soon realizes that not all the guests are as they appear to be. As Sophie finds herself embroiled in a thrilling adventure, risking not just her job but her heart, readers will be captivated by this whimsical tale of romance and mystery. Find yourself lost in the winding hallways of our grand Swiss hotel where secrets, romance, and danger coalesce into one unforgettable experience.

Finalist for the Chicago Review of Books Fiction Award, Dan Chaon's Best of 2017 pick in Publishers Weekly, one of Vol. 1 Brooklyn's Best Books of 2017, a BOMB Magazine "Looking Back on 2017: Literature" Pick, and one of Vulture's 10 Best Thriller Books of 2017. Jac Jemc's The Grip of It is a chilling literary horror novel about a young couple haunted by their newly purchased home Touring their prospective suburban home, Julie and James are stopped by a noise. Deep and vibrating, like throat singing. Ancient, husky, and rasping, but underwater. “That’s just the house settling,” the real estate agent assures them with a smile. He is wrong. The move—prompted by James’s penchant for gambling and his general inability to keep his impulses in check—is quick and seamless; both Julie and James are happy to start afresh. But this house, which sits between a lake and a forest, has its own plans for the unsuspecting couple. As Julie and James try to establish a sense of normalcy, the home and its surrounding terrain become the locus of increasingly strange happenings. The framework— claustrophobic, riddled with hidden rooms within rooms—becomes unrecognizable, decaying before their eyes. Stains are animated on the wall—contracting, expanding—and map themselves onto Julie’s body in the form of painful, grisly bruises. Like the house that torments the troubled married couple living within its walls, The Grip of It oozes with palpable terror and skin-prickling dread. Its architect, Jac Jemc, meticulously traces Julie and James’s unsettling journey through the depths of their new home as they fight to free themselves from its crushing grip.