I've been trying to get more into horror novels lately, and I'm looking for stories where the horror element is some kind of monster, or something purely nonhuman and supernatural.
I'd especially enjoy recommendations for stories in a rural setting, stories inspired by American folklore, urban legends, or regional legends/myths/cryptids, and stories with a vivid sense of setting for a specific time or place.
And, specifically, I would like to avoid books where there is a real supernatural element, but the twist is that the real horror all along was the awful things people will do each to each other and justify. Some of the books I read were excellent, but I've come to realize I really just want a scary entity driving the horror. Human perfidy making the effects worse can still be a theme, but I'd like the main focus on something with alien, inhuman motives or morals. (Basically, Nope but not Get Out.) Ghost stories/hauntings are a maybe if they fit the bill. Literal aliens, eh, maybe? I generally don't think they're scary enough, so if the twist is "the monster is aliens!" then probably not.
Read and bounced off of: Nothing But Blackened Teeth, Mexican Gothic, The Spite House, How To Sell A Haunted House
Read and enjoyed: You Let Me In, Experimental Film, The Hollow Places (everything by T Kingfisher honestly), The Magnus Archives (Not a book, but still hits the right "there's a spooky thing doing scary stuff" notes for me.)
I would prefer recommendations for books published in the 2000's, since I'm trying to get into contemporary horror authors. Please do not recommend The Haunting of Hill House, House of Leaves, or anything by Steven King; I promise you I am already aware of them 😉
by BlueSpruce17