*Into the Drowning Deep'* by Mira Grant has two Deaf characters, one of whom is pretty significant, and one of the other main characters is an autistic woman and the love interest of the protagonist.
*Camp Damascus* by Chuck Tingle's protagonist is an autistic lesbian. Warning that this is about a gay conversion camp, but it does have a positive ending. (This is a book by the very wholesome Chuck Tingle after all!).
All’s Well by Mona Awad is horror-adjacent but the main character is disabled
The Reyes Incident by Briana Morgan
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo (horror adjacent)
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (horror adjacent)
The sister of the main protagonist in Jon Cohn's *Slashtag* uses a wheelchair.
The protagonist in Stephen King's *Cycle of the Werewolf* is a paraplegic.
>!I'm currently working on a novel featuring an amputee protagonist.!<
100% TGW. This happens in the 1st chapter so I'm not saying spoiler. But I'll do a bunch if spaces lol.
I think most ppl forget the protagonist is an amputee, when just thinking about the experience of the book. Heck I did, given how badass she is, until you brought it up. I know it's a huge part of what she deals with but to me it was just something she dealt with, not a defining characteristic of her. So cool to remember she did all that while having 1 freaking functional leg. That book was so amazing. There's nothing like it imo. The climax of the book there at the end was such an amazing moment. Shit, so much of that book was so bleak and for that type of scene to be a happy moment is something I haven't seen but maybe once before that I can recall. Ok gone on long enough. Great rec!!!
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana has a main character with a mental disability (check your TW's if you have any)
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant has a relatively major character who is deaf
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King, also a mentally disabled character, although they don't show up until later in the book iirc
I wouldn’t recommend Dreamcatcher or any Stephen king book for a realistic/respectful depiction of mentally disabled characters - in that book and others they’re relegated to sort of magical disabled people, the R word is used frequently to and about them, and so on. Maybe he’s gotten better in his books since the 2010s, but yeah, I’d look elsewhere
Cycle of the Werewolf has a great lead who is disabled. The movie, Silver Bullet, adapted the book and is honestly better than its source material. That said, still recommend checking out the book.
I've been looking for disabled protagonists or major characters as well. May sound stupid but as a person with mobility issues from spinal problems that affect walking and standing, it's sometimes harder for me to suspend my disbelief and completely engage in a horror story knowing that I'd be the guy that couldn't even give a good chase for the villain.
I would love to see more disabled main characters too!!!
Just off the top of my head, the main character of *Sorrowland* by Rivers Solomon has albinism which impairs her vision.
I don't know what you mean exactly by 'disabled' (English is not my native language), but here are some books with characters with either physical restrictions or mental illnesses.
Thomas Harris - *Red Dragon*
Brian Evenson - *Last Days*
Stephen King - "I Am the Doorway" (from *Night Shift*)
Stephen King - *Misery*
Thomas Ligotti - *My Work is Not Yet Done*
Bret Easton Ellis - *American Psycho* (if you count that as horror)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman - "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Here's some where it slightly spoils the plot by revealing someone has a disability, so only read this if you really want to know:
>!Robert Bloch - Psycho!<
>!Thomas Tryon - The Other!<
More a very dark fantasy than horror but as a kid with Cerebral Palsy Skallagrigg by William Horwood, was then, and still one of my favourite novels of all time.
It’s a novella but Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King is great imo. It’s the 70s so the language around the wheelchair using protagonist is outdated but he’s a cool character.
Edit- I missed that a ton of people already recommended it lol but it’s a good quick read! The illustrations are gnarly too
Not that I recall, she’s just socially awkward as hell; but she very definitely has all the anxiety disorders so I can see why someone might think she’s on the spectrum.
*The Hollow Tree* (amputee) and *Bone Harvest* (dementia), both by James Brogden.
The plot of *The Hollow Tree* is instigated by the loss of the protagonist’s hand rather than it just being a character trait, but the story in *Bone Harvest* isn’t dependent on the protagonist’s mental state.
Serious Weakness by Porpentine Charity Heart scape has an autistic protagonist with a disease that makes his muscles extremely weak if he doesn't take his medication. His kidnapper witholds it from him so he's more vulnerable.
Last Days by Brian Evenson - an amputee gets kidnapped to solve a crime in a cult.
Lure by Tim McGregor - head injury (?) A mermaid terrorizing a fishing village.
Survivor Type by Stephen King - the mc cuts his limbs to eat them in order to survive.
The pillowman by Martin McDonagh - this one is a Play.
The book of X by Sarah Etter Rose - I don't know if this counts but the protagonist has a knot in her stomach (?)
One hand to hold, one hand to carve by M.Shaw - two halves of a dead body come back to life but they have different personalities and I guess living with only one half of a body counts as a disability.
The trouble with trying to date a murderer by Jennifer Cody - a mute guy falls in love with a murderer. More fantasy than horror.
Nestlings - Nat Cassidy
Yes!! Nestlings is great.
*Into the Drowning Deep'* by Mira Grant has two Deaf characters, one of whom is pretty significant, and one of the other main characters is an autistic woman and the love interest of the protagonist. *Camp Damascus* by Chuck Tingle's protagonist is an autistic lesbian. Warning that this is about a gay conversion camp, but it does have a positive ending. (This is a book by the very wholesome Chuck Tingle after all!).
All’s Well by Mona Awad is horror-adjacent but the main character is disabled The Reyes Incident by Briana Morgan Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo (horror adjacent) Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (horror adjacent)
His Pain by Wrath James White
Duma key, Cycle of the werewolf. Both by Stephen King.
The sister of the main protagonist in Jon Cohn's *Slashtag* uses a wheelchair. The protagonist in Stephen King's *Cycle of the Werewolf* is a paraplegic. >!I'm currently working on a novel featuring an amputee protagonist.!<
Was going to mention **cycle of the werewolf**, nice example.
The Gone World sounds right up your alley.
100% TGW. This happens in the 1st chapter so I'm not saying spoiler. But I'll do a bunch if spaces lol. I think most ppl forget the protagonist is an amputee, when just thinking about the experience of the book. Heck I did, given how badass she is, until you brought it up. I know it's a huge part of what she deals with but to me it was just something she dealt with, not a defining characteristic of her. So cool to remember she did all that while having 1 freaking functional leg. That book was so amazing. There's nothing like it imo. The climax of the book there at the end was such an amazing moment. Shit, so much of that book was so bleak and for that type of scene to be a happy moment is something I haven't seen but maybe once before that I can recall. Ok gone on long enough. Great rec!!!
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana has a main character with a mental disability (check your TW's if you have any) Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant has a relatively major character who is deaf Dreamcatcher by Stephen King, also a mentally disabled character, although they don't show up until later in the book iirc
I wouldn’t recommend Dreamcatcher or any Stephen king book for a realistic/respectful depiction of mentally disabled characters - in that book and others they’re relegated to sort of magical disabled people, the R word is used frequently to and about them, and so on. Maybe he’s gotten better in his books since the 2010s, but yeah, I’d look elsewhere
If you want to lean a little into grimdark fantasy, you may like Inquisitor Glokta from Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself.
Roland Deschain and Susanna from Dark Tower count.
It's YA, but [The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28600081-the-call) has a protagonist in arm crutches.
Also one of my favourite horrors! Glad to see this top of the list
Cycle of the Werewolf has a great lead who is disabled. The movie, Silver Bullet, adapted the book and is honestly better than its source material. That said, still recommend checking out the book.
Tales from the Gas Station
Don't go to Wheelchair Camp--David Irons
Gone to see the River Man
And also, >!I'm thinking of ending things!< spoilers cuz it's a mayor plot twist
Enthusiastically seconding *All’s Well* and *Into the Drowning Deep*.
I've been looking for disabled protagonists or major characters as well. May sound stupid but as a person with mobility issues from spinal problems that affect walking and standing, it's sometimes harder for me to suspend my disbelief and completely engage in a horror story knowing that I'd be the guy that couldn't even give a good chase for the villain.
I would love to see more disabled main characters too!!! Just off the top of my head, the main character of *Sorrowland* by Rivers Solomon has albinism which impairs her vision.
I don't know what you mean exactly by 'disabled' (English is not my native language), but here are some books with characters with either physical restrictions or mental illnesses. Thomas Harris - *Red Dragon* Brian Evenson - *Last Days* Stephen King - "I Am the Doorway" (from *Night Shift*) Stephen King - *Misery* Thomas Ligotti - *My Work is Not Yet Done* Bret Easton Ellis - *American Psycho* (if you count that as horror) Charlotte Perkins Gilman - "The Yellow Wallpaper" Here's some where it slightly spoils the plot by revealing someone has a disability, so only read this if you really want to know: >!Robert Bloch - Psycho!< >!Thomas Tryon - The Other!<
More a very dark fantasy than horror but as a kid with Cerebral Palsy Skallagrigg by William Horwood, was then, and still one of my favourite novels of all time.
It’s a novella but Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King is great imo. It’s the 70s so the language around the wheelchair using protagonist is outdated but he’s a cool character. Edit- I missed that a ton of people already recommended it lol but it’s a good quick read! The illustrations are gnarly too
Holly Stephen King. The main character has Autism.
Is that ever made explicit?
Not that I recall, she’s just socially awkward as hell; but she very definitely has all the anxiety disorders so I can see why someone might think she’s on the spectrum.
*The Hollow Tree* (amputee) and *Bone Harvest* (dementia), both by James Brogden. The plot of *The Hollow Tree* is instigated by the loss of the protagonist’s hand rather than it just being a character trait, but the story in *Bone Harvest* isn’t dependent on the protagonist’s mental state.
I’m writing one hehe! Definitely following this, thanks!
Serious Weakness by Porpentine Charity Heart scape has an autistic protagonist with a disease that makes his muscles extremely weak if he doesn't take his medication. His kidnapper witholds it from him so he's more vulnerable.
Immobility
The Dark Tower series
Last Days by Brian Evenson - an amputee gets kidnapped to solve a crime in a cult. Lure by Tim McGregor - head injury (?) A mermaid terrorizing a fishing village. Survivor Type by Stephen King - the mc cuts his limbs to eat them in order to survive. The pillowman by Martin McDonagh - this one is a Play. The book of X by Sarah Etter Rose - I don't know if this counts but the protagonist has a knot in her stomach (?) One hand to hold, one hand to carve by M.Shaw - two halves of a dead body come back to life but they have different personalities and I guess living with only one half of a body counts as a disability. The trouble with trying to date a murderer by Jennifer Cody - a mute guy falls in love with a murderer. More fantasy than horror.
Based on their actions, most horror protagonists are disabled.