THE FUSE

Asked recently what exactly defines cozy horror, the only answer I could come up with was this: vibes. I think that’s true of this subgenre more than most, because what makes something “cozy” is so subjective to begin with, and when you add in elements of horror, the sliding scale of what counts as too scary varies from person to person. That makes classifying cozy horror even more challenging. But here’s my more precise answer, as someone who’s recently immersed myself in this fascinating genre: cozy horror is a subgenre of horror that features (relatively) low stakes, mild scares, and generally doesn’t get as dark as other horror novels. Those three factors–low stakes, mild scares, not-too-dark–were my main criteria when picking books for this list.