Andrew Buckner’s 25 Favorite Books of 2025

*Please note that all the books included in this list are done so based on an original release date in 2025. 

by Andrew Buckner

25. In the Land of What Little’s Left Over

by Z. Schwartz

24. The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand

by Various Authors including Christopher Golden (Co-Editor), Brian Keene (Co-Editor)

23. Another 

by Paul Tremblay

22. Scene: A Memoir

by Abel Ferrara

21. Paper View

by Laughton J. Collins, Jr.

20. Curse of the Blood Witch

by Dawn Colclasure

19. The God Who Breaks: Old Testament Plays of Rebellion and Despair

by Laughton J. Collins, Jr.

18. With a Vengeance: A Novel 

by Riley Sager

17. The Preservation of Species Trilogy

(Rule of Extinction, Struggle For Existence, and Beasts of Prey)

by Geoff Jones

16. Going Home in the Dark: A Novel

by Dean Koontz

15. Tom’s Crossing: A Novel

by Mark Z. Danielewski

14. What Kind of a Name is Lolly Anyway?

by Lucy Brighton

13. 3 A.M. Poetry

by Dawn Colclasure

12. The Horror of it All: Stories

by Laughton J. Collins, Jr.

11. Never Flinch: A Novel 

by Stephen King

10. King Sorrow: A Novel

by Joe Hill

9. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls: A Novel

by Grady Hendrix

8. The Widow: A Novel

by John Grisham

7. Lloyd Kaufman: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series)

by Matthew Klickstein (Editor)

6. Cleave the Sparrow

by Jonathan Katz

5. Horror Movies: The Definitive History

by Jon Towlson 

4. Sorrowful Mysteries: The Shepherd Children of Fatima and the Fate of the 20th Century 

by Stephen Harrigan

3. The Fourth Mind

by Whitley Strieber

2. The River is Waiting: A Novel

by Wally Lamb

1. We Did Okay, Kid: A Memoir 

by Anthony Hopkins

Runner-up:

Stinetinglers 4: 3 Chilling Tales By the Master of Scary Stories

by R.L. Stine

Andrew Buckner’s 80 Favorite Feature Films of 2025

by Andrew Buckner

*Please note that the inclusion of the feature films on this list are done so based on the criteria of an original release date in the United States of 2025.

80. Flesh of the Unforgiven

Director: Joe Hollow

79. The History of Sound

Director: Oliver Hermanus

78. The Mastermind

Director: Kelly Reichardt

77. Reflections in a Dead Diamond

Directors: Helene Cattet, Bruno Forzani

76. Friendship 

Director: Andrew DeYoung

75. When We Went MAD!

Director: Alan Bernstein

74. Chainsaws Were Singing

Director: Sander Maran

73. Match

Director: Danishka Esterhazy

72. One Battle After Another

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

71. The Phoenician Scheme

Director: Wes Anderson 

70. Train Dreams

Director: Clint Bentley

69. George A. Romero’s Resident Evil

Director: Brandon Salisbury

68. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

Director: Rob Reiner

67. The Damned

Director: Porour Palsson

66. Becoming Led Zeppelin

Director: Bernard MacMahon

65. The Rule of Jenny Pen

Director: James Ashcroft

64. Jay Kelly

Director: Noah Baumbach

63. Bone Lake

Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan

62. The Severed Sun

Director: Dean Puckett

61. Final Destination: Bloodlines

Directors: Adam B. Stein, Zach Lipovsky

60. Death of a Unicorn 

Director: Alex Scharfman

59. Clown in a Cornfield

Director: Eli Craig

58. Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie

Director: David Bushell

57. Dead Mail

Directors: Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy

56. Frewaka

Director: Aislinn Clarke

55. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina 

Director: Len Wiseman

54. Predator: Killer of Killers

Directors: Dan Trachtenberg, Joshua Wassung

53. The Room Next Door

Director: Pedro Almodovar

52. Sketch

Director: Seth Worley

51. Caught Stealing

Director: Darren Aronofsky 

50. Black Bag

Director: Steven Soderberg

49. Jurassic World: Rebirth

Director: Gareth Edwards

48. One of Them Days

Director: Lawrence Lamont 

47. The Luckiest Man in America

Director: Samir Oliveros

46. Stans

Director: Steven Leckart

45. Honey Don’t!

Director: Ethan Coen

44. Companion

Director: Drew Hancock

43. The Monkey

Director: Osgood Perkins

42. The Long Walk

Director: Francis Lawrence

41. Die My Love

Director: Lynne Ramsay

40. Predator: Badlands

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

39. Strange Harvest

Director: Stuart Ortiz

38. Dangerous Animals

Director: Sean Byrne 

37. VHS Halloween 

Directors: Bryan M. Ferguson, Casper Kelly, R.H. Norman, Alex Ross Perry, Micheline Pitt, Paco Plaza, Anna Zlokovic

36. Black Phone 2

Director: Scott Derrickson 

35. Cannibal Mukbang

Director: Aimee Kuge

34. The Conjuring: Last Rites

Director: Michael Chaves

33. Highest 2 Lowest

Director: Spike Lee

32. Queen of the Ring 

Director: Ash Avildsen

31. Best Wishes to All

Director: Yuta Shimotsu

30. The Smashing Machine

Director: Benny Safdie

29. Dead of Winter

Director: Brian Kirk

28. Good Boy 

Director: Ben Leonberg

27. The Toxic Avenger

Director: Macon Blair

26. Drop

Director: Christopher Landon

25. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere 

Director: Scott Cooper

24. 28 Years Later

Director: Danny Boyle

23. The Legend of Ochi

Director: Isaiah Saxon

22. Together

Director: Michael Shanks

21. Bring Her Back

Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

20. The Ugly Stepsister

Director: Emilie Blichfeldt

19. Presence

Director: Steven Soderbergh

18. Warfare

Directors: Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza 

17. Nuremberg

Director: James Vanderbilt

16. The Shrouds 

Director: David Cronenberg

15. Chain Reactions 

Director: Alexandre O. Philippe

14. Frankenstein

Director: Guillermo del Toro

13. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Director: Mary Bronstein

12. Sentimental Value

Director: Joachim Trier

11. Marty Supreme

Director: Josh Safdie

10. Eddington 

Director: Ari Aster

9. Bugonia

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

8. Weapons

Director: Zach Cregger

7. September 5

Director: Tim Fehlbaum

6. I’m Still Here

Director: Walter Salles

5. Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)

Director: Questlove

4. The Girl with the Needle

Director: Magnus von Horn

3. The Life of Chuck

Director: Mike Flanagan 

2. Nouvelle Vague

Director: Richard Linklater

1. The Seed of the Sacred Fig             

Director: Mohammad Rasoulof

Runners-up:

The Alto Knights

Director: Barry Levinson

Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc

Director: Tatsuya Yoshiharai

Influencers

Director: Kurtis David Harder

Kiss of the Spider Woman 

Director: Bill Condon

Marshmallow

Director: Daniel DelPurgatorio

Megan 2.0

Director: Gerard Johnstone

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

The Naked Gun

Director: Akiva Schaffer

Primitive War

Director: Luke Sparke

Sinners

Director: Ryan Coogler