Let’s have some fun with the horror genre and dive into the world of comedy horror books and while we’re at it let’s add some fantasy and science fiction comedy books as well.
Horror doesn’t always have to be grim or serious or even have to scare you. Horror can be fun too! I personally love the comedy horror genre to read but also in tv series and films. This genre is mostly brought in an expressionist way. It’s visual and descriptive while the humor varies from hilarious, over the top, dark, campy, witty, absurd, slapstick, quirky characters, or bizarre original ideas. The horror can be over the top extreme even with violence and gore with dark humor. But the blood and gore also can be rather subtle as it focuses more on the absurd events or weird characters.
This genre is very versatile as is humor itself. What one person sees as humor, another can’t even crack a smile. It’s very personal. It’s also a very broad genre, where the humor can be horror focused, or science fiction focused or a full on fantasy comedy.
Some writers have written whole book series, centering around a world (Discworld) or persons (The Stranger Times) or the big philosophical question (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). I have not included every title of these book series, just a description of the series as a whole. When there are a lot of titles in a books series I have (or will) made a separate article about that specific series, with all the books.
I think everybody likes humor, but we don’t all like the same humor. I hope this list offers a variety of different comedy horror books, that also include fantasy and science fiction.
I have put together a list of Comedy Horror Books that I have read and personally recommend. It’s not a list with all the Comedy horror books out there or the best ones, but this is a selection of books that I enjoyed reading.
The list is set up by decade and by year. Starting with the most recently published books. Each time I have found a new book within this genre that I highly recommend it will be added to the list.
So save this post for more recommendations.
The list consists of 17 books at the moment.
Fridge Goop by Alana K. Drex (2025)
(121 pages)
Genres: comedy, science fiction, splatterpunk
Edna and Ruth are twins in their sixties and have lived all their lives together. Sharing a house but different characters. Edna is making food for the Church’s potluck in a couple of days when their old refrigerator breaks down. Pure luck has it that a refrigerator is standing outside on the curb and it even works. But the fridge has a cost and a lot of green goop inside that is sentient and hungry.
It’s a very goofy and gory story about a sentient fridge, two elderly ladies and Robbie the boy across the street. It feels like a Goosebumps episode (stay out of the basement) but for adults. With two quirky ladies, a chaos neutral Robbie and a couple of victims that had what was coming to them. It has sex, animal cruelty, gore, graphic deaths and a lot of green goop. It’s fun and gruesome with a genuine eighties vibe.
Clown Infestation by Zee Weasel (2022)
(88 pages)
Genres: creepy clowns, monsters & creatures, comedy
When Lisa finds a clown in their house, there isn’t much concern first. They are an annoyance but harmless. Unless they go feral. When the clown attacks her husband and drags him away, she is determined to get him back, even though he is a lousy husband. With the help of her neighbor’s dog Toby she goes into the lair of the clowns and is confronted by horrible abominations. But she proves herself a kick ass woman. Good news, Toby doesn’t die.
The fun part is that it takes place in a universe where clowns are a whole other species than humans dressed as clowns. This is presented as a normal fact, which lets the reader jump right into this new universe. It’s fast, original and creepy and funny at the same time with gore and a gross clown boss. You can Read my Full Review.
The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell (2021) (Stranger Times series)
(432 pages)
Genres: comedy, supernatural, fantasy
A book series about the newspaper The Stranger Times that only covers the strange and the weird. From aliens to possessed toilets. Hannah Willis is desperately looking for a job and is instantly hired by The Stranger Times. There she meets a motley crew of employees and a grumpy boss. While they chase the weirdest stories not one of them is true, it’s about what people want to believe. Until they stumble upon a real supernatural story that gets them involved with a demon and a whole new supernatural world that involves the paper too.
It’s a very entertaining story with quirky characters, strange happenings and a mystery they have to solve. There’s a lot going on and with Hannah you get sucked into a dangerous adventure. This is the first book of a series of now 4 books. You can Read my Full Review. (coming soon)
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Did you know I also make Art & Designs.
This design of an Angry Gingerbread Man is made with pen and alcohol markers. You can buy this design on a Unisex Baseball Shirt and other apparel in my shop at Printify.
You Better Watch Out by Matt Forgot (2021)
(271 pages)
Genres: Christmas, slasher, comedy
A very fun, but gory, violent brutal Christmas slasher that is mixed with Hallmark romance. When a killer in a Reindeer Suit starts killing the people of Tinseltown where Mary is a CEO she has to turn into a final girl. This book is included in my Christmas Horror Book List. Or you can Read my Full Review. (coming soon)
Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer (2020)
(220 pages)
Genres: Christmas, monsters & creatures, comedy
Lussie gets a Percht as a Christmas present at work and soon strange and deadly accidents start to occur. We go back to the eighties where Gremlins (1984) meets German folklore in a fun original story. This book is included in my Christmas Horror Book List. Or you can Read my Full Review.
Candy Canes and Buckets of Blood by Heide Goody & Iain Grant (2019) (Sprite Brigade series)
(297 pages)
Genres: Christmas, comedy, fantasy
Quinn, her father, and his new girlfriend Esther and her son Newton are attacked by Elves after visiting a Christmas market. A fun rollercoaster adventure with great characters and some bloody violence. This book is included in my Christmas Horror Book List.
The Graveyard Shift by D. M. Guay (2019) (24/7 Demon Mart series)
(214 pages)
Genres: comedy, supernatural, demons
Lloyd Wallace is 21, a loser and a dropout, living in his parent’s basement. When he gets a job at the 24/7 Dairy Mart he thinks it’s an easy job. But at midnight the Dairy Mart turns into the Demon Mart where a portal to hell is opened and demons can come through, with a valid pass of course, to spend the night on earth. Now he has to deal with giant monsters, demons and other riffraff, while he also tries to win the heart of his crush Dee Dee who works there a lot longer and is a kick ass power girl. Together with Lloyd’s personal guardian angel who lives in an eight ball, and cockroach Kevin they have to protect the gate and fight off evil demons.
It’s very fun, full of action, demons, monsters and humor. This is the first book of a series containing 6 books and 5 additional stories as of now. You can Read my Full Review. (coming soon)
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Did you know I also make Art & Designs.
This design of a Skeleton Pumpkin is made with pen and alcohol markers. You can buy this design on a Unisex Ringer T-Shirt and other apparel in my shop at Threadless.
Hell for the Holidays by D.M. Guay (2019) (24/7 Demon Mart series)
(107 pages)
Genres: Christmas, comedy, demons
An absurd and hilarious fun Christmas adventure full with demons and ghosts and unlikely heroes who save the day. Part of the book series Demon Mart Stories. This book is included in my Christmas Horror Book List.
Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero (2017)
(322 pages)
Genres: comedy, cosmic horror, coming-of-age, occult
In 1977 Kerri, Andy, Nate and Peter and Weimaraner Sean were the Blyton Summer Detective Club and solved a lot of mysteries during summers. Think Scooby-Doo solving crimes with bad guys pretending to be monsters and ghosts. But now 13 years later Andy starts to doubt if their last case was indeed a guy in a monster suit or if they really did see monsters back at the Deboën Mansion where they caught their final thug. It’s time to get the detectives back together again.
This book is a hilarious adventure and has an absurd cartoonish vibe. While the characters a very much real and fleshed out and not cartoonish, the situations and problem solving skills of the Detective Club are very much so. It results in a very unique story that brings out a lot of laughs, but also a lot of thrills, mystery and cosmic horror. You can Read my Full Review.
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor (2015) (Welcome to Night Vale series)
(401 pages)
Genres: comedy, cosmic horror, fantasy, supernatural
Night Vale is a small desert town where all kinds of strange and weird things happen all the time. We follow Jackie Fierro who is 19 years old, for years now, and owns a pawn shop who gets a strange note from a strange man in a tan jacket. We also follow Diana Crayton who lives in a house that has thoughts and whose coworker whom nobody remembers disappears and wore a tan jacket once. When her son Josh also disappears the two women get together to solve this mystery.
It’s hard to explain this book, you just have to read it. It’s fun, absolutely original and creative, weird, with amazingly original characters and very imaginative happenings. It’s a mysterious journey with whimsical and absurd humor that will certainly make you laugh. You can Read my Full Review.
Continue reading below this announcement.
Did you know I also make Art & Designs.
This design of a Bug Eyed Alien is made with pen and alcohol markers. You can buy this design on a Unisex T-Shirt and other apparel and on other various products in my shop at Redbubble.
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix (2014)
(240 pages)
Genres: comedy, haunted house, liminal horror, symbolism
Amy works as a Shopkeeper in an Ikea-like store. Strange things happened in the store and she is asked to do a nightshift to figure out who is causing these strange disturbances. Together with co-workers Ruth, Matt and Trinity she spends the night. Soon the nightmares start and they are under attack by strange and deadly hauntings.
The book starts out as a parody, shifts into a comedy and finally turns into a full-on horror with gory but original deaths. It’s a cleverly written story that combines what happened in the past at that location, and what the store stands for with metaphors and humor. Amy is a wonderful hero of the story and it’s written from her perspective which is a both cynical and not necessarily likable but strong. It’s a unique and fun story that mixes genres into an original concept.
This Book is Full of Spiders by David Wong (2012) (John Dies at the End series)
(419 pages)
Genres: comedy, cosmic horror, monsters & creatures
This is the sequel to John Dies at the End. John and Dave have picked up their lives after the thrilling events, when Dave’s bed is full of spiders and they even burry themselves in people’s bodies. When their town Undisclosed is sealed off they try to escape but of course things go wrong. Once again John, Dave, Amy and dog Molly are the ones who have to save the world.
This second book has a more clear structure and story, but that also makes the writing style a bit less creative. Still the story is very original and funny and full of cosmic weird horrors and events. It’s a rollercoaster of an adventure with known monsters and also new ones. Although less exciting than the first book, this is also a very entertaining read. But be warned about a very tragic loss. (Spoiler: dog Molly dies)
The Gates by John Connolly (2009) (Samuel Johnson series)
(264 pages)
Genres: comedy, supernatural, Halloween, demons, middle grade, YA
On October 28 in Biddlecombe 11-year-old Samuel and his dachshund Boswell go trick-or-treating to get a head start. He witnesses his neighbors opening a portal to Hell. At the same time a particle in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN breaks loose and a demon Nurd finds himself transported from the Wastelands to Biddlecombe. What all these things have to do with each other and how they come to a climax/apocalypse on Halloween you’ll find out while reading this wonderful funny and clever adventure.
This heartwarming, funny and smart adventurous story is for teenagers who are also pretty smart and have a witty sense of humor. It’s an evenly wonderful and fantastic well written story for adults as well. And this is just the start. There are more books with Samuel bringing you some adventurous fun. It’s the first book is a series of 4 books. You can Read my Full Review.
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Did you know I also make Art & Designs.
This painting “The Sentinel” is made with soft pastels. You can buy this fine art print on museum-quality paper in my shop at Printify. Take a look at my other art prints as well.
John Dies at the End by David Wong (2007) (John Dies at the End series)
(466 pages)
Genres: comedy, cosmic horror, monsters & creatures
A very original and creatively written comical cosmic adventure about John and Dave who find out that by taking a weird drug called Soy Sauce it makes them susceptible to other dimensions and all kinds of cosmic monsters. This starts a very fun and hilarious adventure that ultimately leads them to being some sort of ghostbusters and even end up in another dimension.
It’s a rollercoaster of bizarre and crazy things that are very imaginative and fresh. Dave and John are quite the characters who don’t know what they are doing, but learn trying. They are fleshed out characters as are Amy and dog Molly. The writing is original and creative with a lot of humor and fast paced as is the story and will surprise you. You can Read my Full Review.
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchitt (1983) (Discworld series)
(approximately between 250-300 pages)
Genres: comedy, fantasy
This is the first book of the Discworld series. Although not a horror, it’s a fantasy comedy that is full of fun characters, funny developments and happenings that are all set in the Discworld, a flat world with different places. We get to know this world through the eyes of Twoflower a tourist who is accompanied by Rincewind the worst sorcerer of the Discworld. They take us with them on a hilarious rollercoaster adventure through this bizarre world.
There are 41 books and each book has different main characters, like Rincewind, the Witches, Death, the City Watch, the Industrial Revolution, Tiffany Aching and Moist von Lipwig. Although the humor and the witty whimsical writing style is the same, the different characters bring a different vibe. You don’t have to read them in order, although it’s recommendable to read each main character book in order. You can Read my Full Review.
The Anti Pope by Robert Rankin (1981) (The Brentford series)
(283 pages)
Genres: comedy, demons, supernatural
This absurd comedy horror book series consists of 12 books as of yet. This is the first book. It is set in Brentford London and it’s about best friends John Omally and Jim Pooley who get themselves in all kinds of trouble. Demonic, supernatural, devilish trouble. Still they are the ones who have to save the world over and over again and protect Brentford against all kinds of monstrous creatures and apocalypses. They get help from a bunch of quirky characters and their hub is pub The Flying Swan.
Each book a new enemy presents itself wanting something different to achieve. The humor is absurd, the pace is fast and a lot is happening. It’s pure chaos and sometimes you forget what already has happened which makes it also fun the second time you read it. While it is written in the nineties it now can be seen as a bit offensive as in sexist and racist, but it is certainly not meant that way.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979)
(216 pages)
Genres: comedy, science fiction, existential
Not a horror comedy, but a science fiction comedy, and an all time classic. Arthur Dent’s house is on the list for demolition because of a bypass. But he doesn’t know anything about it. While still in his bathrobe his good friend Ford Prefect comes to his aid, only not in a way Arthur expected. Ford is from the planet Beetlegeuse and takes Arthur on board of an alien Vogon spaceship, because the Earth is planned to be demolished because of a bypass. They find themselves in hilarious situations and Arthur’s journey through the galaxy takes him to the most bizarre, wonderful and improbable places with evenly weird and amazing discoveries.
It’s a fun rollercoaster adventure throughout the galaxy and a satire about the existence of humankind. The writing is absurd and fun and illogical with whimsical humor. The characters Arthur meets are evenly absurd and original and fun. With this book you’ll never get bored. The series consists of 7 books.
Explore more Book Lists:
- The List of Christmas Horror Books
- The List of Coming of Age Horror Books
- The List of Cosmic Horror Books
- The List of Halloween Horror Books
- The List of Summer Horror Books
- The List of Summer Camp Horror Books
Did You Know I Also Make Art and Designs?
you can buy my designs on apparel or stationary, mugs and more. You can learn more about it on my art & design shop page or go directly to one of my shops.