Matt Shaw Standalone Novels books in order

Reading order

Matt Shaw has published more than four dozen standalone novels since 2013, and the list reflects a writer who produces constantly and does not restrict himself to a single tone or approach. The early books, Consumed, Art, Tortured, and Porn (all from 2013 and 2014), established the template: short, punchy, and uninterested in the conventions of mainstream horror publishing. My Family (2014) remains one of his most discussed works, a psychological horror novel about domestic secrets that many readers consider a high-water mark in his output.

The mid-period titles from 2016 through 2020 show Shaw experimenting more freely. State of Decay (2017) leans into body horror, Frankenstein (2018) reworks the classic source material through Shaw’s extreme lens, and A Suburban Haunting (2019) is one of his more genuinely atmospheric efforts. The 2019 and 2020 releases in particular see him ranging across horror subgenres: supernatural fiction, psychological dread, body horror, and outright splatter all appear. The Girl in the Painting (2019) and The Tainted Souls (2020) stand out as titles that sustain longer narrative tension than many of his shorter works.

The 2024 and 2025 releases show Shaw still prolific and still unwilling to repeat himself too directly. The Ghosts of the Titanic (2024) and Patchwork (2024) sit alongside the more conventionally transgressive Simon Says (2025) and Bugs (2025). Readers working through the standalone catalogue in order will find the list rewarding, but the books are also independently readable, so picking titles by subject matter is equally valid.