5 Must-Read Horror Books According To Thriller Queen Jeneva Rose (Exclusive)

Published Sep 23, 2026, 12:45 PM EDT Rose Graceling-Moore is an author, poet, and content manager, who has been writing about film, TV and comics since 2013, when she began writing for a local print magazine in Vancouver, BC. Since then, Rose has written for Horror Honeys, Moviepilot and Quirkbooks as well as Screenrant, initially focusing on comics and television, as well as diversity and representation on screen. Rose also co-hosted the DC Movies Podcast, and has guested on other nerd and entertainment podcasts over the past ten years. Now, she leads the Books team, and her own debut novel, The Second Chance Summer, was released in 2026. EXCLUSIVE: Bestselling author Jeneva Rose talks her upcoming adaptation, and her best horror recommendations, as well as the release of her new short story collection. Best known for her thrillers, Jeneva Rose is a writer who is happy to cross genres, having published in thriller, romance, and now, just in time for Spooky Season - horror. Rose's latest book is the wonderfully titled Sometimes I Scare Myself, although based on her conversation with ScreenRant, very little scares this author, who loves all things dark and twisty! Earlier this year, it was announced that Jeneva Rose's bestselling psychological thriller debut novel The Perfect Marriage is being adapted for film, to be directed by Sigal Avin, with a script is by William Broyles. While it is still early days for the production, Rose has read the script, and confirmed that more news is on the way about the project: [There is some news] I can't share yet. But I can say that it is moving forward and it's very, very exciting. In other upcoming project news, Rose confirmed that she is hard at work on the sequel to Dating After The End Of The World, the post-apocalyptic romance that led (in a way) to her latest release: I'm excited to continue in that world just because it was so. It was so unhinged and fun and it actually really geared me up for doing something that was completely horror with this next collection, being able to dabble with a zombie apocalypse as the background of that story. The horror collection is, of course, Sometimes I Scare Myself, which is a series of three novellas that use horror to explore themes like grief, motherhood, paranoia, and control. It's a departure from the thrillers that she is known for, but it seems that Rose just can't limit herself to a single genre: My notes app is full of ideas! Thriller ideas, there's like 15. There's romance, there's even sci-fi that I've never written. I have endless ideas. And then when I decided to do Sometimes I Scare Myself, I decided to make it a collection of three novellas. And it was really because there were so many horror ideas that I had and I just needed to get them out of my brain and out of my notes app. This gave me the space to free those ideas and put them somewhere rather than me constantly thinking about them. So I was like, I need to get these on the page. They can't keep rattling around my head. Despite being a cross-genre writer, it's clear that Rose is deeply connected to horror - and thriller fans of hers should note - these stories get a little more gory than some of her past work! I love horror. I've loved horror since I was very, very young. So it felt very natural to step into horror. And it was really fun to be able to take off those thriller guardrails where, you know, everything has to be grounded in reality and it has to make sense and be believable. Whereas horror, as long as the emotions of the characters are believable, the reader will follow you anywhere. There's some very unhinged, gory scenes. My gore always gets cut in my thriller. So I finally actually got to go full throttle and no one can cut it! Sometimes I Scare Myself is available now - and Jeneva Rose was also thrilled to share some of her essential horror reads (and movies that she is loving for the spooky season) - check them out below! Jeneva Rose's Essential Horror Recommendations Best Zombie Movie: Train To Busan Me and my family are obsessed with zombie films. We have been since forever. And like, I grew up, well, not really grew up - I think I was already in my 20s playing Left 4 Dead with my brothers and my dad. We would be on there for hours playing Left 4 Dead or Call of Duty, the zombie version with Sarah Michelle Geller or Robert Englund. I'm actually going to see Resident Evil tomorrow. I'm very excited about that because I love Zach Cregger. I love Train To Busan - and I think that is one of the best zombie films because you actually care about the characters, and that's so rare in horror to actually care about the characters. Underrated B Movie: Penny Lane Is Dead One I watched recently, and I really liked it because it was very reminiscent of, like, Last House From The Left, is Penny Lane is Dead. I thought that was a really great setup. And it was very dark. When I recommend it to people, I'm like, okay, it's pretty brutal, but I really don't have any triggers when it comes to horror. I'm kind of okay with everything. But that was a recent, I would say probably "B movie" that I thought was really well done. It was a little gem that I was not expecting to be good. And I was like, oh, I'm really enjoying this. Best Zombie Book: World War Z World War Z I really loved. And I thought it was so interesting how the film is nothing like the book. I really thought was well done. I did enjoy the movie too, even though the movie is nothing like the book. And that's one thing about adaptations, too, when it doesn't follow [the source material], it's like, well, it can't. You can't follow it because it's a totally different medium. And I read the script for The Perfect Marriage and seeing where they've cut and where they've added, and I'm like, that's brilliant. You couldn't do some of the things that I did on the page. Best Stephen King: Cell and Pet Sematary I loved Cell by Stephen King. I actually picked up a copy of it because I went over to Bangor, Maine, literally this last week and visited, like, all the Stephen King things, and I stopped at a little indie bookstore there and I picked up a copy of Cell and a copy of Carrie. But Cell, I love. I guess it is kind of zombie. They turn into violent predators. One of my other favorites from Stephen King is Pet Sematary. And I think the scariest things is when it's not the supernatural that scares you. It's the choices the characters make. And with Pet Sematary, it's all driven by grief. And as you're watching it or reading it, you're like, I would make the same decision. And even knowing how it ends up, it's like, maybe it would turn out okay for me, if I did it. And I think that's really scary, when you understand why a character does it, and then you think, well, maybe I would probably do the same because grief is so powerful and strong and that runs through these stories as well. Reading Right Now: The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes One I just read is called The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes. And he doesn't consider it horror. He's a Brazilian writer, and this is the first time this one's being launched in the U.S. I think we would consider it horror because it's about this group of friends that turn to cannibalism, serving the rich people bodies in order to make money. And I've actually seen some films that are kind of similar to it, but I think this one makes it its own and it's very unique. I would consider it horror, but I guess it's a thriller here. But I think when we start doing cannibalism, that's a little bit horrifying. It tackles great societal issues with class and wealth. And so it's really smartly done.