Are you looking for more aliens in your horror? Maybe the very idea of an endless void fills you with fear? You’ve come to the right place.

Books:

Contagion by Erin Bowman will fill all your space horror needs. Empty planet? Check. Ragtag group of astronauts who don’t really know each other? Check. Alien virus that turns people into cannibals? Check. Mysterious survivor? Check.

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad will show you what’s lurking on the dark side of the moon, when 3 teens are selected by NASA for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Apparently something happened during the Apollo 13 mission that was swept under the rug…

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty was a book I’d never heard of until this cover caught my eye as I was checking it in at the library. This is a locked room mystery, where the characters are clones of themselves trying to figure out how they got murdered. As they emerge from their cryochambers to discover the blood-splattered crime scene, they have to learn about the other clones awaking and try to remember their own pasts.

Movies:

Gravity (2013) isn’t a horror movie per se, but it definitely triggered some of those reactions in me. The idea of being stranded alone in an inhospitable environment freaks me out. I feel similarly about movies set underwater. The lack of air and being unable to call for help…

Alien (1979) is a must-see if you’re looking for space horror, and most of the sequels are great as well. What I love most about Alien is how the female perspective is used. Ripley is a female captain in a male-dominated crew. The ship’s computer (called “Mother”) awakens them because of a nearby distress call, and upon inspection the alien ship is found to be home to many eggs that are about to hatch…

Event Horizon (1997) pulls in some serious psychological horror. A spaceship receives a distress call (isn’t that how half of these things start?) and attempts a rescue mission, but almost immediately things go wrong. A massacre has taken place on board the Event Horizon, and when the crew boards, they begin to have horrifying visions.

What’s your favorite space horror book or movie?