Books For Fans of The Magnus Archives

Like a great deal many other people, I’m currently deep in an obsession with the podcast The Magnus Archives. For those who haven’t heard much about the podcast, I’ll briefly say that it’s a British horror podcast following an archivist who works at a paranormal investigation institute as he records statements regarding possibly supernatural encounters. In general, The Magnus Archives does a great job of creating original, genuinely spooky stories and tying together apparently standalone statements into one large, sinister conspiracy, which is why I’ve found it engaging enough that I’ve been devouring all 160 episodes in preparation for the fifth and final season that begins airing in April. Of course, since I run a book blog, the idea of recommending some books for fans of The Magnus Archives occurred to me, and here we are! (Titles of books link to the Goodreads page.)

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

If you like the statement-based format of The Magnus Archives, you should definitely pick up Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall, a YA horror novel told in a similar epistolary/found-footage style. Rules for Vanishing follows a Sarah and her group of friends as they brave a supposedly haunted forest in search of clues about Sarah’s missing sister–but soon encounter a world much weirder and more dangerous than some local ghost folklore. With the framing device of a paranormal investigator trying to find out what really happened in the woods during that fateful trip, the book is told in a combination of footage transcripts, interviews, written statements, text messages, and more. I found it very engaging and creepy (my full review is here) and for those who enjoy the LGBT representation in The Magnus Archives, I’d also like to note that the book features a F/F romance and neither girl dies.

Finna by Nino Cipri

Finna by Nini Cipri is an adult science fiction novella with a similar supernatural “Wow, my job SUCKS” feeling to what many of the employees at the Institute experience. Ava and Jules are two tired retail workers at Ikea sorry, LitenVärld, whose tiring jobs were just made even worse by their recent break-up. Oh, and the fact that the two recent exes have just been ordered by management to go retrieve the customer who just slipped through a wormhole into another dimension. Finna is honestly quite fun, with all the dimension-hopping and carnivorous furniture your heart could want, but also a surprisingly heartfelt exploration of relationships and smart satire about retail capitalism.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud is a fast-paced, deliciously creepy book following an agency of teenage ghost hunters. In an alternate version of London plagued by an epidemic of ghosts that only young people can see, three young investigators from a failing agency accept a desperate job to spend a night in the most haunted house in London. The first installment of Stroud’s Lockwood and Co. series is spine-chilling, addictive, and surprisingly hilarious and I think anyone who enjoys the group dynamics of the employees at the Magnus Archives would find that The Screaming Staircase really hits the spot.

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

If you’re like me and always get excited for the historical statements, the middle grade novel A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge might be the book for you (and before you write it off because it’s middle grade, let me just say that Hardinge’s writing honestly transcends any age bracket). A Skinful of Shadows is a historical paranormal middle grade novel set in 1640s England and follows Makepeace, a Puritan orphan, who learns she’s descended from from a sinister aristocratic family of mediums who are all-too-willing to embrace their new daughter–as long as she accepts her fate as a vessel for ghosts. (Did I also mention that she’s also accidentally hosting the spirit of a dead circus bear?) Hardinge’s writing atmospherically crafts an eerie and unique story full of ghosts and one girl’s dark coming-of-age.

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods is GENUINELY one of the most terrifying graphic novels I’ve ever read. I read it back in 2015 and still get visceral shivers whenever I think about it. Through the Woods is a collection of five unsettling stories that will absolutely haunt you (and also let me just say that if you enjoyed the character of Jane Prentiss, there is a terrifying story about worms that’s probably right up your alley). Carroll’s art is both eerie and sumptuous and Through the Woods will linger with you long after you’ve closed the cover.

The Archived by V.E. Schwab

If you read SFF, you probably know V.E. Schwab from her adult fantasy series A Darker Shade of Magic or twisted super villain story Vicious. But one of my favorite books by her is actually The Archived, a young adult paranormal about Mackenzie, a young librarian who oversees archives of ghosts. As well as a truly original premise, The Archived has a really great narrative voice and a thoughtful, aching exploration of grief and memory. If you like the supernatural archives aspect of The Magnus Archives, you should definitely check out The Archived. (However, I should warn that the series was intended to be a trilogy but was abruptly cancelled two books in, which I am still very bitter about.)

Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin

Sarah Maria Griffin’s young adult paranormal/horror novel is one of the strangest books I’ve read in a long time–and I mean that in a very good way. Other Words for Smoke is the story of Irish twins Mae and Rossa who are sent to live with their witchy great-aunt Rita and her ward, Bevan, for two eerie summers. It’s the story of a haunted house, of doors that shouldn’t be there, of an uncanny cat and an owl that lives in the walls, of the long shadows that dark magic and history can cast. If you’re fascinated by The Magnus Archives’ entity known as the Spiral and its unnerving avatars, Griffin’s enthralling and eerie novel of twisted family history and the price of power should be right up your alley. (Also, for all your queer horror needs, Mae is a lesbian.)

The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore

If you’re the kind of person who listened to The Magnus Archives and went “Wow, I really love this asexual archivist who keeps getting tangled up in supernatural disasters,” may I suggest The Perfect Assassin? K.A.  Doore’s adult fantasy novel follows Amastan, a bookish young man from a family of assassins who would rather spend time in the archives than learn the art of killing and laying to rest the spirits of victims. But when a series of unsanctioned murders endanger the whole city with their unquiet, violent spirits, Amastan has no choice but to join the investigation. The Perfect Assassin is a fun mix of murder mystery and fantasy (the desert-based world-building is very cool!) starring an an earnest gay ace disaster of an archivist.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

I personally really enjoy the tropes of “protagonist finds records of previous people that mysterious bad things happened to” and “nature is creepy and trying to kill you” and Jeff Vandermeer’s science fiction/horror novel is a slam dunk for both of those tropes. Following a biologist on a scientific expedition into a place known only as Area X after numerous other expeditions mysteriously and/or horrifically failed, Vandermeer’s novel is atmospherically full of creeping, uneasy dread and unnerving mutations. Honestly, the whole book (which is framed as the biologist’s field journal) reads a lot like an extra-long version of an unsettling statement that might be found in the Magnus Institute’s archives.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Sorcery of Thorns is a young adult gothic fantasy that’s a bit more light-hearted than anything in The Magnus Archives, but I think anyone who delights in the Leitner book episodes will enjoy Rogerson’s novel about a magical (and often malevolent) library. Elisabeth is a foundling who has been raised in a library among shelves of grimoires and spell books bound tight to contain their terrible magic. But her plans to become a warden of the library one day are disrupted when an act of sabotage releases the most dangerous book and she finds herself relying on a sorcerer, a sworn enemy, to untangle an ancient conspiracy. Sorcery of Thorns is really great fun (you can read my full review here) with dangerous spell books of the like that Jurgen Leitner would love, complicated magical bargains, and one of my favorite demonic characters in literature.

The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérúbe

Personally, I think The Dark Beneath the Ice is a SEVERELY underrated horror book and I will take almost every opportunity to recommend it. It isn’t enough that Marianne’s parents are splitting up or that she’s recently quit her long-standing hobby of dance: now it seems she’s being haunted. Her memory is fractured. Objects move and break around her. And an attempt to exorcise whatever’s following her just seems to make it angrier. Amelinda Bérubé’s YA horror is atmospheric and addictively paced, underscored by a surprisingly complex characterization and a nice sapphic romance as a light spot (Rhiannon is the ultimate goth gf, do not @ me). The setting and tension is just really well done, but it’s really the way The Dark Beneath the Ice deals with Marianne’s inner struggles and her possession that really elevated the book for me. Anyway, if you want some good, gay horror feat. grappling with your inner demons, Bérubé’s got you covered.

And I think that’s about it! Hopefully if you’re a fan of The Magnus Archives, this quick list might help you find something to tide you over between episodes during season five! (And if you’ve never heard of The Magnus Archives…thanks for reading this far, I guess?)