Sometimes you just need a short, thrilling read to shake up your TBR. Maybe you’re behind on your reading challenge, maybe you’re heading out for the weekend and don’t want to lug around a 500-page beast, or maybe you just want something fast that’ll keep you hooked from start to finish. Thrillers under 250 pages can be absolute gems—they waste no time and go straight for the jugular.
Here are some tightly wound thrillers that prove you don’t need a doorstopper to get your heart racing.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
A gothic classic where mystery and paranoia reign inside a crumbling family estate. Twisty, unsettling, and just the right length for one or two sittings.
Genre tags: Gothic, Psychological Thriller, Classic Horror
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
146 Pages
Shirley Jackson’s beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family’s dark secret.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
An eerie little novella where a governess suspects supernatural forces are haunting her wards. Is it ghosts—or is it her unraveling mind? The ambiguity is the true thrill.
Genre tags: Gothic, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
A lean and haunting retelling of Lovecraft’s “The Horror at Red Hook” with a modern, chilling twist. A mix of cosmic horror and human cruelty.
Genre tags: Horror Thriller, Supernatural Suspense
The Ballad of Black Tom
154 Pages
People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn’t there.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
Classic ghost story vibes but written with the pacing of a thriller. Spooky, atmospheric, and just short enough to devour in one dark evening.
Genre tags: Gothic, Supernatural Thriller, Horror
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
A sharp, satirical thriller about a woman whose beautiful sister keeps murdering her boyfriends—and expects her to clean up the mess. Short, clever, and darkly funny.
Genre tags: Crime Thriller, Dark Comedy, Psychological Suspense
My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel
240 Pages
Korede’s sister Ayoola is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead, stabbed through the heart with Ayoola’s knife.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Psychological dread in its purest form. A strange road trip turns into a mind-bending, unsettling meditation on relationships, identity, and fear. Creepy without veering into ghost territory.
Genre tags: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Horror-Adjacent
I m Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel
240 Pages
“I’m Thinking of Ending Things is one of the best debut novels I’ve ever read. Iain Reid has crafted a tight, ferocious little book, with a persistent tenor of suspense that tightens and mounts toward its visionary, harrowing final pages” (Scott Heim, award-winning author of Mysterious Skin and We Disappear).
The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
Every time Molly bleeds, another Molly is born. It’s weird, disturbing, fast, and pretty short.
Genre tags: Horror Thriller, Speculative Fiction, Psychological Thriller
The Murders of Molly Southbourne (The Molly Southbourne Trilogy, 1)
128 Pages
For as long as Molly Southbourne can remember, she’s been watching herself die. Whenever she bleeds, another molly is born, identical to her in every way and intent on her destruction.
And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin
A novella-length thriller. The setup is unsettling from the start and it keeps the tension high. Good for a night when you need something tight but intense.
Genre tags: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Short/Novella
And Then I Woke Up
166 Pages
In a world reeling from an unusual plague, monsters lurk in the streets while terrified survivors arm themselves and roam the countryside in packs. Or perhaps something very different is happening. When a disease affects how reality is perceived, it’s hard to be certain of anything…
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías
This one blurs genres a little, leaning toward weird fiction / allegorical thriller. It’s about a mysterious plague, isolation, strange family relationships, and creeping dread. More atmosphere than classic murder mystery, but there’s something there.
Genre tags: Weird Thriller, Speculative Suspense, Psychological Horror
Pink Slime: A Novel
240 Pages
A hair-raising, poetic novel about a woman and the people who depend on her as the world around them edges toward apocalypse.
Short doesn’t mean simple—these thrillers pack all the suspense, twists, and chills of a doorstopper novel, just in a smaller package. Perfect for when your attention span is short, your reading challenge is looming, or you just want to squeeze in a quick but unforgettable read.
