If you enjoy reading books by Robert Aickman then you might also like the following authors:
M.R. James is one of the great writers of classic English ghost stories. His style combines subtle atmosphere with increasingly unsettling details, slowly guiding the reader from ordinary life to extraordinary terror.
Often, his stories feature antiquarian scholars and eerie discoveries in old churches or musty libraries. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary is a wonderful entry into James's work, highlighting his mastery of subtle fear and quiet dread.
Algernon Blackwood writes tales that explore the supernatural forces hidden in natural settings. Nature itself often serves as a source of terror and wonder in his stories, depicted as mysterious and sometimes menacing.
His writing gently builds suspense and unease toward moments of unsettling revelation. A perfect example is his story The Willows, in which a quiet camping trip becomes a deeply troubling encounter with an incomprehensible presence.
Walter de la Mare specializes in ghostly, dreamlike stories that blur the lines between imagination and reality. His stories feel poetic and surreal, creating gentle yet haunting moods filled with uncertainty and ambiguity.
In The Return, an eerie, slow-paced narrative gradually draws readers into an oddly familiar yet unsettling world, leaving questions open and atmospheres lingering long after reading.
Shirley Jackson is a master at exploring psychological horror beneath the everyday surface of ordinary life, showing readers what happens when normality slowly falls apart. Her writing is clear and accessible, yet it steadily builds tension and disquiet.
In her iconic novel The Haunting of Hill House, Jackson examines isolation, perception, and mental vulnerability, blurring reality and madness with chilling precision.
Thomas Ligotti creates highly atmospheric and unsettling stories rooted in existential dread and psychological horror. His style is dark, pessimistic, and introspective, often inviting readers into disturbing yet fascinating insights on human existence.
In his collection Teatro Grottesco, Ligotti crafts strange and profoundly disquieting scenarios, leaving readers both mesmerized and disturbed.
If you enjoy Robert Aickman's subtle but unsettling tales, try Ramsey Campbell. He specializes in psychological horror that creeps into everyday life. Like Aickman, he creates ordinary settings and fills them with an eerie discomfort rather than overt scares.
His short story collection Cold Print showcases his ability to build discomfort from mundane moments.
Arthur Machen shares with Aickman an ability to blur boundaries between the everyday and the supernatural. Machen often portrays nature and ancient folklore as sources of unease and dark wonder.
His classic novella The Great God Pan is a fine introduction, offering readers a gothic tale that explores forbidden knowledge and its frightening consequences.
Sheridan Le Fanu's supernatural fiction evokes subtle terror through suggestion and mystery rather than explicit scares. If you find Robert Aickman appealing because of his ambiguous endings, you'll appreciate Le Fanu.
His novella Carmilla, one of the first influential vampire stories, uses atmosphere and quietly building dread rather than outright horror, making it ideal for readers intrigued by understated terror.
Fritz Leiber shares Aickman's talent for unease that lingers under an ordinary surface reality. Rather than direct or violent scares, Leiber prefers the uncanny and unexplained.
His book Our Lady of Darkness builds suspense through an exploration of hidden dangers in cityscapes and the troubling boundary between fantasy and reality.
Fans of Robert Aickman's enigmatic style might find Daphne du Maurier especially intriguing. She excels at psychological suspense and the subtle weaving of uncertainty into ordinary situations.
Her novel Rebecca highlights du Maurier's talent for crafting tension, mystery, and quiet unease through complex characters and a seemingly normal environment that slowly reveals hidden fears.
Fans of Robert Aickman's subtle and eerie stories will likely enjoy L.P. Hartley. Hartley's fiction often explores psychological suspense and strange happenings in everyday settings. His atmospheric writing carefully builds tension and unease without relying on outright horror.
A great example is his novel The Go-Between, which presents secrets often hidden beneath ordinary lives, blending memory with haunting melancholy.
Henry James offers psychological depth and ambiguity that Robert Aickman admirers appreciate. James masterfully explores mental states and uncertain realities, especially noticeable in his famous novella The Turn of the Screw.
In this classic ghost story, James never clearly shows if the hauntings are supernatural or rooted in imagination, leaving readers uneasy and thoughtful about what they've experienced.
Oliver Onions will appeal to those drawn to the uncanny and psychological uncertainty of Robert Aickman's stories. His style carefully constructs mood and mystery rather than emphasizing shocking scares.
One standout work is The Beckoning Fair One, a chilling tale of slow-building supernatural menace that explores how isolation and obsession can blur reality and imagination.
Readers fond of Aickman's subtle horror stories will also find Clemence Housman intriguing. She presents complex relationships and careful, patient storytelling to suggest strange undercurrents beneath the surface of everyday life.
In her novella The Were-Wolf, Housman subtly combines mythic themes with poignant character studies, creating an atmosphere of unease and tragedy.
Sarban shares Robert Aickman's talent for unsettling narratives that resist easy categorization. He often sets realistic characters against ambiguous or disturbing backgrounds, letting the uncanny slowly reveal itself.
His novel The Sound of His Horn is a memorable alternate-history fantasy, blending elements of dreamlike unease with deeper psychological exploration that linger in the mind.