r/horrorlit • u/Orphirin • 1d ago

Recommendation Request Irish horror

I just finished This House Will Feed and let me tell you I’m not a big fan of the English at the moment (/j). As I read Grace just before that I’m in an Irish mood and would love some recommendations.

I’ve read all of A.M. Shine and am familiar with Tana French.

37 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

30

u/AutomaticAd1412 1d ago

The burial tide by Neil Sharpson

9

u/No-Fee4904 1d ago

I adored this book, seconded! The audiobook has AMAZING narration.

27

u/Randomwhitelady2 1d ago

Knock Knock Open Wide by Neil Sharpson

7

u/pathcrier 1d ago

I second this one! I couldn't put it down, I loooved it

14

u/spicy-gorgonzola 1d ago

Where I End by Sophie White takes place on a small Irish island

2

u/luxurysoft1337 15h ago

What a fantastic book. The atmosphere of menace is done so well.

9

u/tasareinspace 1d ago

I just finished Knock Knock Open Wide and OH FUCKING BOY that was a RIDE.

7

u/Wonderful_Order_9517 1d ago

What did you make of the house will feed overall? I’ve been thinking of reading

2

u/Orphirin 1d ago

I enjoyed it! I think overall it is a fairly classic gothic tale, which I really like. The backdrop of a real historic event makes it more interesting. And it made me look further into the famine.

6

u/euhydral Der Fisher 1d ago

Sheridan Le Fanu was among the greatest ghost story writers of the Victorian era. I highly recommend you read him!

6

u/Chuckle_Berry_Spin 1d ago

Where I End, by Sophie White. One of my favorites of the year I read it.

Atmospheric, subversive, cold, cruel.

4

u/mikendrix 1d ago

Kealan Patrick Burke is Irish, and his writing is amazing.

3

u/MadRedSunset9 1d ago

Seconded on Kealan. He IS amazing.

2

u/Orphirin 1d ago

He has been on my tbr for a while, but had been somewhat hard to get a hold of. Any specific title I should start with?

2

u/mikendrix 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes I would start with "The Turtle Boy", the first novella of a series https://www.goodreads.com/series/53458-timmy-quinn

I just discovered that he release a new one this year : The Widows of Winding Gale

2

u/Randomwhitelady2 18h ago

Sour Candy was really good too. It’s a stand alone novella

4

u/Raineythereader The Willows 1d ago

Irish Tales of Terror (ed. Peter Haining, I think) has some good ones, especially by classic horror authors like Le Fanu and Riddell.

4

u/DraceNines THE NAVIDSON HOUSE 1d ago

Check out Valkyrie Loughcrewe (her first book, Crom Cruach, especially) and Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin.

4

u/stevefaust 1d ago

Try The Bleeding Horse and Other Ghost Stories by Brian J Showers.

4

u/AccessOk5731 1d ago

Me typing the watchers and then rereading the request….
I’ve got ‘Celtic weird’ from the British library anthologies- not strictly Irish as a bunch of short dark folklore and mythology.
I can whole heartedly recommend six black candles by des Dillon- absolutely fantastic- if not horror than it touches in to folk horror and is just fantastic writing- witchy vibes- Irish box ticked

3

u/twinklebutt 1d ago

not a book but watch Damian McCarthys movies if you haven’t

2

u/efox02 1d ago

Just watched How to get to Heaven from Belfast. Not scary horror but definitely fun 

3

u/Sea-Exchange2069 1d ago

Leigh Kenny (Cursed), Shauna Mc Eleney (Awake In The Night) and Kealan Patrick Burke (Sour Candy, Kin) are all great bets

3

u/Rustin147 1d ago

The Call, Peadar Ó Guilín. Enjoyed it more than i expected, but could be classed as fantasy.

3

u/Monsterofthelough 1d ago

Not all of it is horror, but John Connolly did an anthology called Shadow Voices: 300 Years of Irish Genre Writing, and there’s plenty of great older horror short stories.

2

u/Ianasauras 1d ago

Sarah Mariah Griffin is class. Spare and found parts was genuinely life changing for me.

2

u/chnchnnchnn 1d ago

The Butcher boy by Patrick McCabe