The Best Gifts for Horror Lovers, Chosen by Horror Lovers

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'Tis the season, horror fans! Whether you're shopping for yourself or for your freakiest friend or family member, we have you covered with the most delightful horror-themed gifts.

Jessica's Picks: 

Collectible books and fancy limited editions don’t show up all that often in horror, but there are a few lovely ones from Folio Society. These are lush hardcovers with beautiful illustrations, and they’re great for reading or displaying on your coffee table. (Years ago, Folio Society sent me their edition of The Bloody Chamber, but it was lost somewhere along the way, and I’ve mourned it ever since!) They have a whole horror/gothic section, but personally I’d go for the Shirley Jackson box set.

Physical media rules, and if you’re building your collection you’ve probably noticed that it’s difficult to find a place to shop for it that you can feel good about. So for the horror lover in your life, I’d recommend a gift card to Orbit DVD, a small business in Asheville, NC. They specialize in weird stuff, cult movies, and imports, and if you have a region-free player they have a whole collection you can browse by region. 

For a small but worthwhile gift, I heartily recommend the thing I use most on my phone: a Letterboxd Pro subscription. It’s less than $20 a year but it makes the Letterboxd experience a million times more worthwhile. My most used feature is the ability to filter your Watchlist by streaming service and set up notifications for when movies on your Watchlist are added to your favorite streamers. I cannot express how much time I save trying to find something to watch with this feature! It is my precious!

A couple Christmases ago I got myself the Paperbacks from Hell collection from Valancourt Books. I’d had my eye on it for a long time. Valancourt specializes in new editions of out-of-print novels, especially horror and queer fiction, and I’ve purchased several of their audiobooks over the years. (We have them to thank for the Michael McDowell resurgence!) But the Paperbacks from Hell collection is their flagship offering and it’s well worthwhile. It’s a collection of pulp horror from the 70s and 80s, in the small mass-market size and cover art style of the time. You can get a few or the whole set, and they look so nice on a bookshelf. 

Emily’s Picks:

[cracks knuckles] This is where my chronic online window-shopping habit comes in really handy.

A24 is selling a Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire mug, naturally, as well as Backrooms wallpaper (what?!). There’s also always the Midsommar temple incense burner. 

Little Rooms has fun creepy-adjacent jewelry, like these vampy earrings and Ouija planchette necklace. I have the haunted house earrings and wear them all the time.

For the Shirley Jackson-heads out there, this “In THIS house”-style Hill House sign caught my eye on Bluesky a few weeks ago and I ordered it immediately.

I always love Super Yaki’s offerings–their Halloween collection just left the shop, but there are still some cute options, like this Let’s Watch More Horror video store tote bag. The Mummy (1999)-heads will love this Hamunaptra bumper sticker. And though it’s not specifically horror-themed, the Practical Effects baseball cap is a must for your friend who won’t shut up about The Cycle (2026).

Feels So Good has a lot of great horror t-shirts at the moment, including a few gems I have my eye on: this Jennifer’s Body tee is a strong contender, as is the Obsession shirt, but if I have to pick one, it’s Event Horizon all the way. 

I also really love Paperback Paradise, which is run by a graphic designer who repurposes old book covers with new absurdist titles, author names, and copy. I bought the He Bought a House poster for my office as soon as I moved into my house last year, but you may also appreciate options like the Skeletons Fucked Up My Naked Husband print or the Halloween Sex t-shirt.

Cult of Cult always has good options–where else are you ever going to see a Häxan t-shirt? The Wicker Man hoodie slaps. And if you’re reading this and you know me personally, get me the Ripley/Jonesy crop top STAT.

And look, we all know how hard it can be to buy books for the avid reader in your life. Their taste is well-developed, and you have no way of knowing what they’ve already read. The solution? A Bookshop.org gift card. Not only can they get exactly what they want, you’ll be helping them claw their way out of the Amazon ecosystem. 

Aigner’s Picks:

I’m not gonna lie, these gifts are my dream gifts. The gifts that, if someone got them for me, I’d squeal and scream and maybe even fall to my knees while raising the gift to the sky. Some of these are gifts that I actually received and did react that way. No regrets.  

The first gift I want to recommend is some horror apparel. What I wanted to specifically call out was the Creepy Company limited edition Goosebumps Werewolf of Fever Swamp hoody, but they don’t make them anymore. Another company that I’ve gotten some good horror tees and sweaters from is Studiohouse. They have a very cool Barbarian Stay Forever long sleeve that I’ve had my eyes on for a while now. 

I don’t know what it is about wearing horror apparel that takes my love of horror to a whole new level, but I own a fair amount of horror shirts and sweaters. One thing I love about wearing them out and about is without fail someone will stop me and say how much they love it and want to talk about the movie or book.

I like slippers but I don’t need slippers, so when I buy them, I tend to go for the ones that make me happy to slip my feet into. Since I was about 16, I’ve gotten the same type of slippers because they bring me immense joy to wear around. Those are Bigfoot slippers that cover my entire foot and turn me (from the ankle down) into Bigfoot. 

I have never gotten these specific Bigfoot slippers from Ronnings, but the ones that I’ve gotten in the past have looked similar—except mine never had the toes! 

This isn’t so much a typical buy-at-the-store gift, but more a baked good gift. The first time I made this recipe was back in 2019, and it’s become one of my favorite Halloween baking projects to do when I have the time and space to roll it out and do all the work.

I can’t find the original recipe that I used for mine, but there are plenty of recipes out there and even some quicker and easier ones if the idea of making cinnamon rolls from scratch feels daunting. If you have a horror lover in your life who also loves cinnamon rolls, making this for them or with them will be an absolute delight and treat. 

For Stephen King fans, a trip out to Colorado to visit the Stanley Hotel, the inspiration for the hotel in King’s The Shining will be one they will not forget. This is another gift that is on my gift bucket list. While you can’t eat or wear this gift, a stay at the Overlo—Stanley Hotel will put you in the walls and halls of madness and comfort. Read King under the weight of the mountain or in your room while trying to pretend you don’t hear a faint scratching coming from the bathroom…

I love baking and cooking and especially love baking and cooking meals from my favorite shows, books, and movies. I found a copy of the Official Supernatural Cookbook by Julie Tremaine in my local comic bookstore, Gabi’s Olympic Cards & Comics, a few years back, and it's been one of my favorite cookbooks since. There are fan favorites in there like the Winchester Surprise and Death’s favorite deep dish Chicago pizza recipe. It’s honestly like cooking and eating with the boys, especially if you cook the food they eat during the episode—which I’ve done, and it’s awesome. 

Anna’s Picks:

I absolutely have to kick my picks ofthe best gifts to give your favorite horror/sci-fi nerd with this specific item, The X-Files Lego set that dropped earlier this year. And look, I am not a Lego person—that is ALL my husband’s hobby. But I was pleasantly surprised by how easy to make this was and what a joyous time I had building it. I look at it on my shelf every day and get a little misty-eyed (okay, not really, but I do admire the level of detail that went into designing this thing on the reg). Plus, you can also buy these light kits to make the whole thing really pop on your shelves. This will keep your loved one busy for hours!

Turning to more of my everyday staples, I can’t help but recommend good coffee, like Bones Coffee, or a coffee warmer like the one that lives on our end table in our living room. The former is such a fun treat, and you can purchase a sample pack if you aren’t sure what flavor someone’s into. And the latter gift is something I use universally for teas, coffees, and any other hot beverage that I want to stay warm while I’m reading or writing. I have the specific one that I linked above, and it’s going on three years strong, a durable recommendation!

If you’re more of a gift card fan, I would second Emily’s recommendation for Bookshop.org, as they help to support indie bookstores. If there’s one thing bookish people want, it’s more books. Which leads to my next recommendation that a friend shared: bookends! If you buy more books, you need to make sure they can stand up on your shelves. Etsy has TONS of really unique options, but personally, I love these skeleton ones. Creepy!

And while you’re on Etsy, I’ll share a few staples I use when reading that make for great, fun, and practical gifts: annotation tabs for physical book reading, a themed mug (like this “Do you think I’m spooky?” X-Files one that I’m tempted to buy for myself), or a Kindle case (like this horror VHS one).

I would be remiss to not offer some whimsical gifts as well, so to close out I leave you with these fun knickknacks, doodads, and other things I just think are neat:

• Fidget toys—I am someone who has to have something in their hand at nearly all times. If you could see the video files for my podcast recordings, you’d see either an ink pen or one of these in my hand. The ones I’ve linked come from Etsy and are really nice because you can leave a set around the house in each room. Highly recommend.
• Anything from Cavity Colors—If you’re a horror fan, they should have something for you here. I have a few limited run items from these guys, but some of my current favorites are this Silence of the Lambs tee, this Goosebumps Werewolf from Fever Swamp shirt (there’s TONS of Goosebumps options), or this American Psycho pin. I’d also recommend following these guys on social media as that’s when you’ll see new limited edition collection drops throughout the year.
• This Fox Mulder shirt from Feel So Good. I will not be elaborating further. [Note from Emily: I also own the corresponding Scully shirt.]

• Collectible merch/items—Some of these are niche/preorders but I know they’re very cool items you don’t see often: Camp Miasma VHS Sleeves, anything from graphic designer Butcher Billy who mashes up music, horror, and other pop culture references (specifically, I love his stuff with The Cure, like this design, and you can get it on anything - shirts, mugs, cards), or this annotated screenplay of Jordan Peele’s Us.

And the best gift of all? A gift subscription to Darker Times, so your friends can keep up with your favorite installments of Let Them Fight, Hatchet Job, and more.