Guys, could you help me out?

I have a craving for some sort of fiction in the horror genre. Specifically, some sort of horror story that would also involve a good mystery. Something that would get explained gradually, with characters pieces clues together etc.

A good literary example of such a story is Stephen King's It. It has the characters explore the mystery of the evil creature, as well as us readers slowly reconstruct the story of the Losers with a non-linear narrative. Another good example is Last Days by Adam Nevill about a movie director slowly exploring the story of an obscure cult and the mysteries tied to it.

But it doesn't have to be a book! I'd also be interested in a movie like that. Or, even better, a TV series. Or a comic series (one example here: Locke & Key. I loved it!). It could even be a PC game.

Overall - any kind of fiction that blends horror with mystery / investigation. Any recommendations?

This would be my suggestion: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

It’s a really neat take on one family’s efforts to unravel the Dracula myth. Told over generations, chunks of the book occur in the ‘30’s, 50’s, 70’s & 2000’s.

For comics, pretty much anything published by Vertigo.

But if I had to pick one that doesn’t get enough love: Clean Room by Gail Simone [Art by Jon Davis-Hunt]. It tells the story of one woman’s investigation into a self-help organization after her boyfriend committed suicide shortly after joining it.

Turns out the group is quite culty ... and the story takes a few wild twists and turns before it’s done with you.

With the popularity of Sherlock Holmes and Lovecraft through the years it is unsurprising that there area number of pastiches that bring them together.

There are a number of collections of these, the best I would recommend are The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Shadows over Baker Street.

As with any anthology, they have high spots and low spots, but overall these two collections are quite strong.

There is also a very good novel called Carter and Lovecraft, set modern day involving a cop turned PI and a distant relative of HPL. It starts spooky and then turns seriously weird.  There is a sequel that I have not read yet.

OK, OK ... last one, then I’ll stop monopolizing the thread.

For TV series, literally any of the seasons of Channel Zero.  It’s a creepy little anthology series, each season being its own stand-alone story.

Ski-Bird already mentioned Vertigo comics, but you should take a look at Sandman if you haven't. It's not straight horror all the way through, but it weaves horror, mystery, and fantasy in some very satisfying ways.

Off the top of my head, doubtless forgetting lots of very good stuff:

Books: The Loney, Andrew Michael Hurley; any M.R. James stories (most are available online since he's out of copyright); Devil on the Road, Robert Westall; The House on the Strand, Daphne DuMaurier; Carnaki the Ghost-Finder, William Hope Hodgson; The Secret History, Donna Tart.

Graphic fiction: Gideon Falls, any Emily Carroll (she's got a generous amount online, and is seriously one of the best horror writers out there - check out His Face All Red as a place to start...some things stay unanswered, and that just adds to it all), Broodhollow (webcomic, stalled but 2 books' worth done), Wytches, oh, and Harrow County, of course. Gen-rated horror is the best because with no shortcuts like gore every spook has to punch hard for what it does.

Films: Savagelands, The Endless, The Orphanage, Blair Witch Project...nope, that's all you're getting from my brain this late at night. Hope there's something in there you like!

Oooh... thanks for all of the ideas! Keep them coming :)

Adding The Lamb Will Slaughter The Lion, Margaret Killjoy, the video game Penumbra, and...well, I haven't read the new graphic series Black Stars Above because I kind of want to wait for the TPB, but it's a ordinary-person-focused cosmic horror mystery in a taiga setting that's been getting a lot of positive attention from reviewers.
This message was last edited by a moderator, as it was moot, at 20:40, Fri 06 Sept 2019.

If you don't know Tim Powers, I heartily recommend almost anything of his.

Also, The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Marmont

PC Games

• Dark Fall: The Journal - Darkling Room/THQ Nordic
• Stories Untold - No Code/Devolver Digital
• Sylvio - Stroboskop
• Anatomy - Kitty Horrorshow
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Frictional Games
• Darkwood - Acid Wizard Studio
• Blair Witch (2019) - Bloober Team/Lionsgate Games

Hemlock Grove (both a Netflix series and book) perhaps?