 There’s just something about snow and ice which makes for an irresistible setting for a horror story. Whether it’s sudden losses of visibility, with something awful lurking just a few steps away; the dangers of hypothermia, frostbite, and other catastrophic accidents; or the locked-room setting in which humans huddle around the fire and try to survive the night (or the winter) despite whatever preys on them outside – these chilly settings are fertile ground for horror writers. I couldn’t be happier than when I’m warm and cosy inside and reading something set somewhere awful; and from the frequency with which I find people asking for “Polar” or “winter” or “cold horror” recs, I know I’m not alone. Here, in no particular order, are my top ten – with a few more suggestions thrown in sneakily for good luck. Enjoy the snow! 1. Dark Matter by Michelle Paver This might be the quintessential Polar horror story. In 1937, Jack – an impoverished and rather embittered young man – finds himself joining a small group who plan to winter-over in a remote part of Spitzbergen, the ominously named Gruhuken. But something awful might have already laid claim to Gruhuken, and as the Arctic night draws in, Jack is trapped by the elements, the dark, and whatever walks outside… The isolation and creeping dread are palpable in every one of Jack’s unsettling diary entries, and Paver cleverly keeps us guessing whether any apparent supernatural force exists entirely in Jack’s increasingly paranoid mind. A haunted-house story in the freezing darkness, this is an absolutely unforgettable – and very scary – read. 2. Thin Air by Michelle Paver Paver’s second entry on this list is also set in the 1930s, but takes us instead to the Himalayas and the world of mountaineering. Ambitious Kits and his less confident brother Stephen are part of a small team determined to summit Kanchenjunga in the wake of a controversial and mysterious earlier expedition – and soon find themselves touched by what happened to their predecessors. This is a breathtaking novel, with some set pieces which are arguably even scarier than Dark Matter, and a keen edge of survival horror in the perilous mountain setting. 3. The Terror by Dan Simmons Taking the known facts about what happened to Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to discover the Northwest Passage as his jumping-off point, Simmons crafts a narrative of both survival horror and supernatural chills. Leaping between two timelines, multiple points of view, diary entries and other storytelling devices (including an extended reverie which takes us to the spiritualist craze of the 1850s), this is immersive fiction at its finest. Anyone wanting to see the flip-side of this concept (rather than hundreds of men and one – albeit incredibly impressive – supernatural monster, how about two men and thousands of angry toad-creatures?) should check out Albert Sànchez Piñol’s often overlooked Cold Skin, set on a remote Antarctic island and exploring big themes of human nature, compassion, and imperial aggression. 4. Ararat by Christopher Golden Although this book starts with a team climbing Turkey’s Mount Ararat, the story soon turns from survival horror into full-on demonic terror when international investigators into the apparent remains of Noah’s Ark, found high up on the mountain, open a strange black sarcophagus. Friends: never open the sarcophagus. Trust me on this one. Golden’s pacing is relentless, and his characters sharp and relatable (even the less-pleasant ones), which makes for a nail-biting experience in which literally anyone could be next to meet a ghastly end. An absolute page-turner of a novel, and one which leaves me frantic to read Golden’s January 2022 release, The Road of Bones, following a spooky highway in the Siberian tundra… 5. The Dark by Emma Haughton Although it’s no secret I’m a fan of supernatural horror, The Dark is very much grounded in reality – you’d probably find it in the thriller or crime section, but it shouldn’t be overlooked by horror fans due to its fast pacing, serious claustrophobia, and the slowly unravelling sanity (or is it?) of the protagonist. It’s a locked-room mystery (which might appeal to fans of the paranoia in John Carpenter’s 1982 film The Thing) in which a troubled A&E doctor takes an overwinter position on a remote Antarctic base, and becomes convinced that one of her colleagues is a murderer. While we’re on thriller-type wintery books, February 2022 sees the release of Breathless by Amy McCulloch, where an untested journalist follows a legendary climber on his ascent of a deadly 8000-ft mountain – but there’s a killer in the death zone. Utterly compelling, detailed, and realistic (the author is a keen mountaineer), I found it just impossible to put this one down. 6. The Hunger by Alma Katsu Just as The Terror took the real-life Franklin expedition and added a supernatural twist, so The Hunger takes the real-life Donner party and adds something supernatural, cannibalistic, and contagious stalking the unfortunate would-be emigrants to California who grind to a halt in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Told through multiple points of view, this is another book to get truly lost in: Katsu has clearly done her research, and the everyday details in this historical novel are vividly brought to life. The threat is creepy and nebulous right until the nightmarish climax, which combines survival horror, psychological horror, and monsters – what could be better? And if you like people-eating monsters in human form combined with a stark, remote snowy setting, I think you’ll also really like the 30 Days of Night graphic novels (vampires descend on a town in the Alaskan winter) and Antonia Bird’s 1999 film Ravenous (cannibal shenanigans in the Sierra Nevada, laced with black humour and a palpable homoeroticism). Turning it on its head for a moment – where the horror takes place in the protagonists’ hometown, and the ideas of deprivation and cannibalism are explored through the perspective of an Anishinaabe community facing the apocalypse – is the brilliant The Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. 7. The White Road by Sarah Lotz If there’s something that really creeps me out, it’s cave horror: The White Road cunningly combines both cave horror and Everest horror to create an absolute masterpiece of survival and supernatural suspense. Simon is desperate to attract traffic to his ghoulish website, and in pursuit of content he goes down a little-used cave system in Wales… and gets trapped, in horrible circumstances. Once out – and something of a celebrity – he decides to tackle Everest next. The harsh conditions, perpetual presence of the dead, and skilfully drawn characters combine to provide an extremely vivid and chilling reading experience. 8. At The Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft You probably knew this was coming: together with Who Goes There? by John W Campbell – another 1930s novella – At The Mountains of Madness established many of the images we associate with Antarctic horror, particularly the idea of uncovering survivals from ancient alien civilisations. The narrator presents the story as a warning against further meddling in Antarctica, because his expedition discovered proof of an alien race living there that’s not quite dead – just waiting to be found, with catastrophic consequences for humanity. It’s a tense read, with plenty to enjoy about the descriptions of the ancient things and their ruined city. A clear connection can be drawn between this and John Carpenter’s The Thing (although that film is adapted from Who Goes There?) but I’d say, tongue only partially in cheek, that an excellent film which grapples with these ‘ancient aliens’ and ‘cannot be allowed to escape the continent’ themes is Paul WS Anderson’s 2004 film Alien vs Predator. Yes, that one. Did you know it’s set in Antarctica? And it’s much, much better than you’d expect, with some beautiful scenery shots quite reminiscent of Frank Hurley’s photography on the Endurance expedition, and all the ‘underground pyramid as breeding machine for xenomorphs’ action horror you could wish for. To my mind, the perfect popcorn film. 9. The Shining by Stephen King Baby, it’s cold outside – and we’re trapped in here with ghosts, a malicious building, disturbing visions, and a violent alcoholic who’s about to go roque-mallet-crazy… The weather joins forces with the Overlook Hotel to trap the Torrance family inside this haunted-house on steroids, and the descriptions of the wind and snow are eerie and atmospheric, as are Wendy’s frequent allusions to the cannibalistic fate of the Donner Party. The Shining is a big, intense novel that’s a classic for a reason. Similar themes of violence and domestic abuse feature in Christina Henry’s Near The Bone, a very different book about a woman living under the shadow of her husband in a remote cabin in the snow-covered woods, until one day cryptid-seekers turn up… this is a page-turner which absolutely drips with menace. 10. The North Water by Ian McGuire I have a real weakness for books set amidst the blood, guts, and privations of the 1800s whaling industry, and while The North Water might be ‘literary fiction’ – whatever that means – it’s also horrific in the extreme. Disgraced ex-army surgeon Sumner takes a position as a doctor on an Arctic whaling ship, where he meets Henry Drax, master harpooner, and one of literature’s most chilling depictions of single-minded ferocity. Sumner’s flashbacks to his participation in the war in India are chilling too, and the two men stalk each other through near-death experiences, starvation, and all kinds of gruesome, stomach-turning moments. The book moves along at a breathtaking pace, plunging the reader directly into its world. Other horrendous stories set in this particular milieu I’d recommend are The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe, which ticks off a litany of terrifying experiences including a quasi-premature burial, shipwreck, survival cannibalism, and capture by an imagined indigenous people of the Antarctic; and Captain of the Polestar by Arthur Conan Doyle, which deftly marries a ghost (or siren?) story with that of a ship trapped in the Arctic ice. All the White Spaces |
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