How We Review Horror Books and Films

How We Review Horror Books and Films

Ginger Nuts of Horror has reviewed horror books and films for eighteen years. This page explains who writes our reviews, how a book or film reaches us, what our star ratings mean and the rules we hold ourselves to. If you are a reader, it tells you how far to trust us. If you are an author, publisher or filmmaker, it tells you what to expect.

Who Writes Our Reviews

Ginger Nuts of Horror is edited by Jim McLeod, a British Fantasy Award nominee who has read horror for more than thirty-five years and reviewed it for more than sixteen. Jim writes many of the site’s book reviews and author interviews.

He works with a team of novelists, journalists, academics and lifelong horror fans. Regular voices include Kit Whitfield, Hope Madden, Tony Jones and Benjamin Kurt Unsworth. Every review carries the name of the person who wrote it, and you can read every profile on the Review Team page.

Our reviewers are volunteers. They read and watch in their spare time, because they love the genre.

What We Review

We cover the whole of horror: folk horror, cosmic horror, gothic fiction, ghost stories, psychological horror, body horror, weird fiction, dark fantasy, queer horror and young adult horror. We also review horror-adjacent books when we think horror fans will want to know about them, and we say plainly when a book sits at the edge of the genre.

We review novels, novellas, short story collections, anthologies and comics, and horror films in cinemas, on streaming services and at festivals. Big publishers, small presses and self-published writers all go into the same queue, and every book is judged on what is on the page.

How a Book or Film Reaches Us

1. An author, publisher or filmmaker sends a review request by email, using the guide on our submissions page.
2. The request goes into a private forum that our whole review team can see.
3. If a reviewer wants to cover it, they tell Jim. Jim then asks for a review copy or a screener in the format the reviewer needs.
4. The reviewer reads or watches it and writes the review in their own words.
5. The review goes into our schedule. We publish at least ten posts a week.

We ask people not to send books until we request them. Coverage is never guaranteed, and we do not want anyone spending money on copies that may never be read. Review copies are usually free copies supplied by the publisher or author. That never earns a better review.

What Our Star Ratings Mean

Most of our reviews end with a verdict box and a star rating out of five. The verdict says who the book or film is for, and who should skip it. The review explains the score in full, so you can judge it against your own taste.

• 5 out of 5: one of the best things we read or watched this year. We would put it in anyone’s hands.
• 4 out of 5: a strong book or film with a small flaw that stops it short of the top mark.
• 3 out of 5: good, with real strengths and real problems. Right for some readers more than others.
• 2 out of 5: it has moments, but the problems win.
• 1 out of 5: it did not work for us, and the review explains why.

Half stars sit between these marks. A score always matches the review: we never put a four on a page that reads like a two.

Our Rules

Reviews are never paid for. We do not charge authors, publishers or filmmakers for reviews, interviews, news or features. Paying us will never buy a review or a better rating.

Reviews are honest, good or bad. Each reviewer gives their own opinion, in their own words.

Support never buys a review. Readers can support the site on Patreon or Ko-fi, and everything stays free to read. Support never changes what we review or what we say about it.

No AI books. We do not review books written with AI tools, or books with AI-generated or AI-assisted cover art.

Facts are checked. Titles, names, dates, publishers and running times in our boxes come from the publisher, distributor or a retailer. If we cannot confirm a fact, we leave it out.

Buy links. Some of our buy buttons are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a small fee at no extra cost to you. It helps keep the site running, and it never affects a review or a rating.

Mistakes get fixed. If you spot a factual error in a review, email jimmcleod@gnofhorror.com and we will correct it.

Get in Touch

To send a book or film for review, read our submissions guide first. For anything else, the answers to most questions are in our FAQ, or you can email jimmcleod@gnofhorror.com.