Halloween is the time for scary monsters and horrifying situations. It is a time to scare and to be scared. And one of the scariest parts about books and movies are the villains. Villains are everywhere, in the real world, and in fiction. You can’t get away from them, even after October ends. But villains are a reflection of society, which is why I find them so interesting. The more similar a villain is to society, the scarier they are, especially when they come from fiction. Every book needs a good villain, whether they are a dark powerful god or a bully at school. One of my favorite things is talking about and analyzing villains from books, so I wanted to list some of my favorite here today.
I have been branching out a lot when it comes to my reading, which has introduced me to different and interesting villains. I have been reading about scary beings who have unlimited powerand and about real people doing really horrible things. Looking at how different villains impact the characters in a story is super interesting to me, both as a writer and as a person.
But I am also reading about the opposite. The positive side of things. I am reading about the protagonists who stand up to the villains and restores balance to the world. Both occur in literature just as they both occur in real life. That makes reading pretty cool. It reminds me that there is always positive to counteract any negative I might encounter. Reading gave me the opportunity to deal with real-life demons and villains inside the comfort of a fictional world.
Warning: Sometimes it is difficult to know who the villain is throughout the story, just like in real life. So, this blog post might contain spoilers about who the real villain is in some of these books. I don’t include any book where the villain is the major plot twist of the story, like murder mysteries. The books I talk about in this post are The Hunger Games, Sawkill Girls, Girls of Paper and Fire, A Curse so Dark and Lonely, and The Poppy War. So, if you don’t want spoilers for these, look away!
1. President Coriolanus Snow from The Hunger Games
Obviously, I have to start this blog post off with my all-time favorite villain. It is truly horrifying what President Snow does in The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, putting children in an arena to die. But there is something so interesting about his character and his relationship with the protagonist, Katniss. They play in a little bit of a cat and mouse game throughout the trilogy and I found that dynamic super interesting as I was reading.
2. The Monster from Sawkill Girls
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I can’t remember if the monster in Sawkill Girls by Claire LeGrand has a name. I read this book back in 2018, so it is completely possible that I forgot, but anyway. The monster in this story is absolutely terrifying. This was one of the first scary books I had ever read and it was everything I wanted and more. I think the scariest part of this story is that the monster takes advantage of all the people on the island, especially Val and her family. The power something has to hold in order to get people to do inhumane acts is massive, and it scares me to think about. What would have to happen for me to be in the same position as Val?
3. The King from Girls of Paper and Fire
This one is scary in a very real way to me because I cannot think of anything more horrifying than being taken from my home and forced to “serve” the king, which is exactly what happens to Lei. The King treats the eight girls meant to serve him horribly, and reading those scenes was incredibly difficult. I think this villain is so scary to me because I know there are people in the real world with the same intentions and beliefs and that is… horrifying and dangerous.
4. The Enchantress from A Curse so Dark and Lonely
Imagine having the power to hold someone somewhere in an endless time loop. That’s the power that the enchantress has in A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. I loved reading the portrayal of the villian in this story. The author made her so creepy and evil. Everything about this book was based on classic fairytales, including your classic fairytale villain.
Bonus: This is a fantastic book to read during spooky season as it is set in Autumn.
Check out my book review of A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer here!
5. The Gods from The Poppy War
The villain in The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang doesn’t really reveal itself until the second half of the book. Although the gods are seen as all powerful and a little intimidating throughout the story, as a reader, I didn’t realize just how dangerous they were until I saw the impact they were having on Altan. I assume that the connection with the gods that Rin develops will be addressed in the second book, and I will find out just how scary they can be.
Check out my book review of The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang here!
I love when an author can create a really scary villain that tells the reader a little something about themselves. Although I read to escape, I also like when a book makes me think. Some of my favorite fictional characters of all time are villains from books.
I haven’t read near enough books with villains as good as some of these books. If you have any recommendations, leave them in the comments below!
1 thought on “5 Horrifying Villains from Books”