SHIP OF FOOLS)Ī generation ship, torn apart by politics, comes across an abandoned human colony with a horrible secret. Answers are good, but sometimes too many answers can diffuse the tension and fear.

MYSTERY/SATISFACTION: Whether the book has a gripping mystery at its core, and the level of satisfaction left in the reader as to how that mystery is revealed/solved.

SCIENCE FICTION: How good the book is as a science-fiction story, including the quality of its plot, and getting the science right.

HORROR: The effectiveness of the book in generating terror, an oppressive atmosphere, horrific imagery, and general creepiness.

In rating each work, I used an overall score out of ten, as well as three specific ratings for different elements of the works. I write this in the hopes that someone out there might find it useful when they’re searching for a novel with the vibe of the great space horror movies I listed. However, since finishing The Burning Dark by Adam Christopher I thought I’d do a little post reviewing five recent works in this subgenre.

I haven’t read all of the books on the list - in fact I’ve barely read any. While Goodreads’ lists are prone to spamming by self-published authors (who are the bane of Goodreads and of the writing industry in general), I think the list has evolved into a generally good survey of the space horror genre. Over on Goodreads I created the “Space horror” list which I’ve been adding to (as have others) for a few years, any time I hear about something space-horror-ish. Sadly, there have not been too many space horror novels. Count me in as one person, by the way, who actually enjoyed Prometheus as a horror film, even though it was ridiculous as a SF film.

Hollywood has exploited this idea for ages, producing such creepy films as Event Horizon, Pandorum, Sunshine, and of course the incredible Alien series - although we all know the latter is a mixed bag quality-wise. Outer space, being so vast, cold and unknowable, is a rich setting for some really scary stories.

Space horror is one of my favourite subgenres of science fiction.

Unto Leviathan by Richard Paul Russo