Letters, Diaries, and Memoirs From Your Favorite Horror Writers

As a writer, it's a little horrifying to imagine my diaries and or letters being shared for public consumption. That said, we are all voyeurs in the end and I am fascinated by what the writers who came before us have left behind. Below you will find a list of books that allow you to read the innermost thoughts of your favorite classic horror writers through their letters, diaries, and memoirs.

Take note, a few of these writers aren't always categorized as "horror" writers but have definitely used elements of horror in their work.

Letters and Diaries

Casting the Runes: The Letters of M. R. James

edited by Dr. Jane Mainley-Piddock

(Unbound, 2023)

The Letters of Shirley Jackson

edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman

(Random House, 2021)

Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941-1995

edited by Anna von Planta

(Liveright, 2021)

Conversations with Octavia Butler

edited by Conseula Francis

(University Press of Mississippi, 2009)

Selected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

edited by Betty T. Bennett

(John Hopkins University Press, 1994)

The Complete Notebooks of Henry James: The Authoritative and Definitive Edition

edited by Leon Edel Lyall H. Powers

(Oxford University Press, 1987)

The Collected Letters of Edgar Allan Poe

edited by John Ward Ostrom and Burton R. Pollin

(Gordian, 1948)

Memoirs

In the Dream House

by Carmen Maria Machado

(Graywolf Press, 2019)

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

by Stephen King

(Pocket Books, 2000)

Growing Pains

by Daphne du Maurier

(Victor Gollancz, 1977)

Tell us your favorites in the comments!

[Image Credit: Mary Shelley letter via Wikimedia Commons, M.R. James portrait via Wikimedia Commons, cropped Shirley Jackson portrait via Wikimedia Commons, Patricia Highsmith portrait via Wikimedia Commons, cropped Octavia E. Butler photo via Wikimedia Commons, Mary Shelley portrait via Wikimedia Commons, Henry James portrait via Wikimedia Commons, Edgar Allan Poe portrait via Wikimedia Commons, Stephen King photo via Wikimedia Commons, Carmen Maria Machado photo via Wikimedia Commons, Daphne du Maurier portrait via Wikimedia Commons]