I’ve never read anything like Crom Cruach before, and likely won’t again. Well, until Val finishes her next project. Crom Cruach is written in verse, which already makes it feel tied to music, to me anyway, and thematically hits all the right buttons for any metalhead to enjoy. Inside, you’ll find a slaughtered family whose corpses continue to wander around, an occult commune the locals believe are responsible, elements of folk horror, Catholicism, an impending new Satanic Panic. It’s metal as hell, and something I recommend checking out.

Chaindevils is hillbilly Mad Max, a comparison I mean with the utmost respect, and one I believe Matthew Mitchell would be okay with. The book takes place in an apocalyptic Ozarks where the eponymous chaindevils seek out precious methamphetamines for Her Majesty. It’s a violent and bloody fever dream. Mandy, Warhammer, Mad Max, a Bolt Thrower album, and the good old American Ozarks, a region that isn’t quite Appalachia, but not quite the Heartland.

Whether you dig Ghost or not, it’s hard not to recognize the impact their music has made in popular culture since their inception. A lot of Metal Guys™ don’t consider them heavy enough to be metal, or too mainstream, etc., but look at their messaging and tell me they don’t imbue the metal mindset, just as the Tales from the Clergy anthology does. Filled to the brim with seventeen stories inspired by Ghost’s music, this anthology is a true exhibition of metal-themed horror. It’s particularly interesting to see how the various authors interpreted the songs and wrote with the theme in mind.

MIchael Moorcock’s Elric is quintessential sword and sorcery, but I feel like it needs to be mentioned because it is metal to the core. In the first novel, Elric of Melniboné, the titular character becomes the ruler of Melniboné after the death of his father, but isn’t interested in the cruel, power-hungry ways of his ancestors. Of course, shit goes poorly for Elric, and he eventually gets a rad soul-eating sword, and violences ensues. It’s weird. It’s cool. It’s grimy and moody. It’s probably why your uncles had black light posters and pewter wizards and a couch that smelled a little skunky. Elric also inspired loads of nerdy metalheads. We’re talking At the Gates, Grotesque, Vigilance, Smoulder. Hawkwind. Fucking Hawkwind. And countless others. It may not be traditionally considered horror, but Elric is, without a doubt, heavy metal.

Here’s the thing, I know you might be thinking, “That’s a Western.” And yes. Yes, it is, but so is Blood Meridian. So is From Dusk Till Dawn, okay? Tom Lin’s The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is a Western that incorporates supernatural elements so, so smoothly. The book follows a Chinese assassin who’s out for revenge. It subverts the traditional Western narrative with a Chinese American hero living in the 1860s during Manifest Destiny. The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu may not be the typical pick when thinking of horror or metal, but throw on Wayfarer’s new album, "American Gothic" and crack this one open. I think you may change your mind.

My debut Trve Cvlt is a New Weird Horror gamebook where readers control the narrative. You play as the drummer in the black metal band, Abyss, who’s been given the opportunity to open for the legendary Waste Doctrine…but the promises of the upcoming gig start to take a toll on you and the band as your vocalist, Austin is diving deeper into the occult in order to make a ritualistic experience out of your performance. It’s black metal, but is it too far? This is something only you can decide.