Have you ever bought a book just because you instantly fell in love with the cover?

The cover of “Nothing But Blackened Teeth” really roped me in. Too bad the cover art was the best part of the whole book 🥲

Well I had heard praise about Nothing But Blackened Teeth and the cover is absolutely awesome so I figured "hell yeah lets do this"

Worst book I've read in many years

That’s how I got into Grady Hendrix. My best friends exorcism cover was so cool. Horrorstör was unique as well

I have a pretty decent collection of Paperbacks from Hell style pulp novels.

So… big time.

I bought Blaze by Stephen King just because the cover looked neat to me. The white one with the tree in the middle.

Yes, and the same book! A local bookseller had a stand at a Halloween festival in my neighborhood and I saw it and said ah you're coming home with me.

The Dead Take the A Train! And also Never Whistle at Night.

I bought Between Two Fires based on the cover. It did not disappoint.

This was why I bought Crossroads by Laurel Hightower and I absolutely loved it. If you haven’t read it but have seen the movie A Dark Song, they could be companion pieces.

Slewfoot

There's multiple covers but the snowy cover of Bone White by Ronald Malfi sucked me in and did not disappoint

When I was about twelve, I used to ride my bike to the county library branch to grab a book or two.

The library was in a very small shopping center, about four stores. The library itself was one room.

I had to choose carefully.

I saw a cheap hardcover book with a large, monstrous-looking dog or wolf running through the darkness. It looked like an awesome horror story.

I took it home and read it in one day. I thought it was an awesome tale.

The title? The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Yeah, this one. Lovecraft Mythos

It’s a lovely looking thing packed full of classic and contemporary gems. No buyers remorse with this one at all.

Absolutely! More than once lol. Most recent one was Lovecraft Country. I love the faux damage around the edges and I'm a massive fan of Lovecraft himself so I immediately grabbed it when I saw it.

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

I did it yeah. Guilty.

Someone recommended it on here already, but once I saw the cover of “Seed” by Ania Ahlborn I was sold

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh. Idk why but I love that cover. It's so compelling.

I love the covers of all of Cassandra Khaw's books.

Original cover of John Does at the End

i’m literally about to buy his black tounge by Mitchell Lüthi for this sole reason. i love the font used on the cover. there are a few versions of it but my fav is the black over with the white clothed priest dude

Diavola by Jennifer Thorne. That cover is gorgeous! 😁

I cant afford to do that lol Mostly if im just browsing a book store and a cover calls to me I will absolute take a picture of it and then find some reviews on it and then if its something I want to read Ill then order it at my library lol The only books I ever buy that I dont know anything about are from authors that have earned the right in my life to be a auto buy from me.

Different strokes for different folks IMO, Sometimes it is just fun to splurge on something for the look have it as a decorative piece.

I also bought Best Friends too because I loved the cover. The book itself didn’t do much for me though

I am certainly attracted by a nice cover. It’s often why I pick up a book in the first place. However, I always read the summary on the back first, and if that doesn’t draw me, then I won’t buy it just because of the nice cover.

I bought Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons because I thought the cover was cool. It was the first book I read by him, and I really liked it. Only found out later that he was this sorta Stephen King competitor level author.

I bought Dead Eleven 90% for the cool VHS cover and the other 10% for the promise of 90s nostalgia. Reading it now, so we'll see if it lives up to those expectations!

last days by brian evenson was this one for me. and then when i found out all the coffeehouse press’s reprints matched…. now i need all of them

Yeah... maybe a few times. Few hundred who knows.

Horror books have some of the best covers! I saw the cover of “Ghost Eaters” and immediately bought it without reading the synopsis.

Numerous times. Most notably, I purchased Beloved because of the striking film art cover. Changed the way I read.

Doctor Sleep

I bought Goddess of Filth by V.Castro strictly because of the design on the spine which is all I could see at the store

Not horrorlit, but The Great Gatsby lmao

Peak horrolit thread.

Best covers and somehow we get 1 fucking image?

Be better.

Necroscope by Brian Lumley

https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780586066652-uk.jpg 

If I didn't link that pic you'd find this  which is terrible.

I haven't, I heard some wise advice many years ago that I've followed to this day!

Most of the horror paperbacks in the eighties sold because of the covers.

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh was the last one I remember buying solely based on the cover. I’ve yet to read it, so I can’t attest to the quality of the book itself (and I’m pretty sure it’s more of a fantasy story than horror), but I thought the cover was gorgeous and had to own it.

Yup, that’s how I discovered IQ84

Yes but have yet to read it lol

Desperation

Kind of. I generally pick a book off the shelf by either the title or the cover but then I always read the back/insert to see if it interests me. So not completely from the cover but that always usually gets my interest.

Necroscope used to have the best covers in horror, shame how much the current editions have ruined that legacy

Not horror (I guess) but the Charles Burns variant cover for The Jungle I bought just for the collection even tho I’ve already read it 

Yes so many. Recently it was The Forest Demands Its Due from Kosoko Jackson. Ended up being a great book!

Annihilation, before it was a big thing. What a pleasant surprise!

Yes I did with Devil House by John Darnielle

Head like a hole by andrew van wey, and the story definitely held up to the cover art, super creepy fucking book and really good audible listen, the narrator was great, did voices for every character

I read Diavola and was really disappointed. Thankfully I got it from the library

The cover of 'This Thing Between Us" was hypnotic when I picked it up, after reading it took place down the street from where I lived I bought it immediately

I'm a graphic designer, and we're like magpies when it comes to shiny things we like. I've bought many books (and ignored even more) simply because of the cover. I recall seeing this design  for The Man in the High Castle and buying it immediately. It's my idea of a perfect cover.

To The Lighthouse. I did not get past the first 20 pages.

The Ancestor. I loved the little critter in the cover.

I wanna say about 30% of my book choices are heavily influenced by the cover design lol. I really love that visual aspect

Yes, the cover is so important!

Fifteen years old and the cover of Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita grabbed me. Best message from my under brain ever.

Midnight in the garden of good and evil

I got one of the latest reprints of Rose Madder by Stephen King with a very cool and menacing looking bull with wavy smoke/mist coming out of the eyes. The cover was so cool but I didn't really enjoy the story, it's well written and intriguing but brutal especially the first 20 or so pages. Plus I was mistaken in thinking it had to do with rose red lmao

When I was a kid, I remember going through the horror section in bookstores, fascinated by the book covers. I bought Salem’s Lot for that reason, one of my faves today. I read parts of Stinger (McCammon) and Cujo bc of their covers, too…

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman. I LOVED the cover and immediately followed the artist (imagine my surprise when I found out she was local and stumbled across her table at a small art market lol) Unfortunately, it wasn't great. I'm willing to reread it though, because my tastes have changed greatly in the past 2 years since I've read it.

Last Chance by Gregg Hurwitz. The book cover entranced me so much so I immediately bought the book and read it without realising until the end it’s a sequel to another book in which I will never read now that I know how the duology ends. Still recommend that book, though.

No, idc how the good cover is, the book has to be good. I'm not wasting money on a terrible book 😭

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw! It's a nice little read too

That is a good one :) I have a copy of it as well

Hundred percent.

How did you like the inside of My Best Friend's Exorcism? I think it's the only book of his I have not read.

it's essential! beside sgraphics that i love i need this to decide if a book is good or not (especially the selfpublisher-crap can easyly identified) other way round: have you ever read a crappy book with a really fantastic cover?