Simon Bestwick

Simon Bestwick is an English author of horror novels. Acknowledged as one of the best modern British horror authors by Ramsey Campbell, his works include; The Faceless, Tide of Souls, Pictures of the Dark, A Hazy Shade of Winter, Angels of the Silences, and Let Drink to the Dead. Hell’s Ditch (2015) The first title introduces Helen the heroine of the story.

The best place to start is the Tomes of the Dead series, the earliest of Simon Bestwick's multi-book series: it opens with Death Hulk (2006) and runs to 18 books across 2006–2017, ending with The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack (2017). Simon Bestwick's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Simon Bestwick has 131 books catalogued in this guide, published between 2001 and 2026. 81 of them belong to 6 named series — the largest being the Black Shuck Shadows series with 28 books — and 50 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Simon Bestwick's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Tomes of the Dead (2006–2017, 18 books), The Black Books of Horror (2007–2013, 6 books) and Dark Minds (2015–2019, 7 books), plus 2 more.

This guide splits Simon Bestwick's 131 books into 6 named series and 50 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Black Shuck Shadows (28 books, 2017–2024); Tomes of the Dead (18 books, 2006–2017); Dark Minds (7 books, 2015–2019); The Black Books of Horror (6 books, 2007–2013); Black Road (3 books, 2015–2018), plus 1 further series.