Book picks similar to
Retreat by J.F. Gonzalez


horror
novel
thunderstorm
jf-gonzalez

Spore


Cody Goodfellow - 2010
    First they take root. Then they take over, destroying all they touch, driving their infected hosts to acts of madness and butchery. Rory Long and Trixie Wright are deeply in love, running for their lives across an L.A. County wracked by wildfires, mass violence and waves of the possessed. Is there any way to stop the spreading insanity?

OUTSIDE: A Horror Novel Set in a Small Russian Town (Russian Horror Fiction)


Artyom Dereschuk - 2021
    from the inside.Before anyone can make sense of it, something not from this world kills a postman stranded on the other side of the door. And when the town's old evacuation sirens begin to blare, Yuri and everyone else in the building realize an impenetrable door could be the least of their worries. In fact, it could be the only thing standing between them and the otherworldly creatures roaming the now deserted streets outside...Someone in the building knows what's going on. Now, it's up to Yuri to figure out who it is, what they know, how these events are linked to their town's past, and how to lead everyone to safety - before the threats lurking outside find their way in.

Just Like Hell


Nate Southard - 2008
    With a record-breaking football season and several scholarship offers in his pocket, he can write his own future. But Dillon has a secret, something he’s never told the rest of his team. Even his best friends don’t know. They might not understand. They might overreact. Now the secret is out. Maybe that’s why Dillon just woke up in the trunk of a car. And maybe that’s why Dillon is about to go through something Just Like Hell.

They All Died Screaming


Kristopher Triana - 2020
    Once you get it, you simply cannot stop screaming. You can’t eat or sleep. It drives you more and more insane until you can’t stand to be alive a second longer.When the phenomenon hits Chuck's city, the chronically unemployed pervert joins a band of misfits to make his final stand.Can Chuck, a bitter bartender, a dockside prostitute, a conspiracy theorist, and a homeless man find a way out of the apocalypse…Or will they all die screaming?They All Died Screaming is a plague novel by Splatterpunk Award-winning author Kristopher Triana. It is a pitch black book about the lowly and downtrodden being the last people on earth.

Charlotte


Stuart Keane - 2014
    Ignored, bullied, socially inept. On a fateful Saturday afternoon, her parents discover that Amy has made a new friend called Charlotte. However, much to their chagrin, Charlotte is imaginary. Ignoring what's right for Amy – to minimise the risk of looking like bad parents – they force their daughter to visit a psychologist, concerned for their reputation. Soon after, strange incidents begin to occur…What happened to Ted, the boy who made Amy’s life a living hell? Why is Amy so suddenly aggressive? And what are those strange noises that plague the family home?As the parents start to confront the problem, they realise that Charlotte is here to stay. And no one will stop her from being Amy’s friend.

Level Zero: A Nightmare in Riverton Novel


Dan McDowell - 2021
    A sinister character lurks in an abandoned tunnel just beneath, manipulating Chris as he struggles to walk a fine line between his love for the dark and the macabre and a collapsing marriage.Todd Adams, a manic depressive financial advisor, awakens from a coma along with 53 others, fighting to understand unexplained phantom memories that plague them. As each work to unravel their meaning, they begin to disappear into a labyrinth beneath the hotel at the torment of a bizarre captor. Discovering mutual commonality in an unresolved past, Todd works to lead them out.Will they find the key to freedom?

Through a Mirror, Darkly


Kevin Lucia - 2015
    With elements of mystery, suspense, and otherworldly horror, Through a Mirror, Darkly successfully delves into the worlds of Lovecraft, Grant, and the mysterious Carcosa. “Arcane Delights. Clifton Heights' premier rare and used bookstore. In it, new owner Kevin Ellison has inherited far more than a family legacy, for inside are tales that will amaze, astound, thrill...and terrify.An ancient evil thirsty for lost souls. A very different kind of taxi service with destinations not on any known map. Three coins that grant the bearer's fondest wish, and a father whose crippling grief gives birth to something dark and hungry.Every town harbors secrets. Kevin Ellison is about to discover those that lurk in the shadows of Clifton Heights.”Through a Mirror, Darkly is a Supernatural Thriller collection masked as a novel. With elements of mystery, suspense, and otherworldly horror, Through a Mirror, Darkly successfully delves into the worlds of Lovecraft, Grant, and the mysterious Carcosa. “Kevin Lucia writes my favorite kind of horror, the kind not enough folks are writing anymore.” – Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Turtle Boy and Kin."Through a Mirror, Darkly serves as Kevin Lucia's early-warning system to the horror field - Brace yourselves, folks." - Gary Braunbeck, Bram Stoker Award-winner of To Each Their Darkness, Destinations Unknown, and the forthcoming A Cracked and Broken Path “Literate and stylish, yet fast-paced and accessible, Through a Mirror, Darkly is a thoroughly engrossing read. Kevin Lucia is a major new voice in the horror genre.” – Jonathan Janz , author of The Nightmare Girl" Through a Mirror, Darkly earns Kevin Lucia a literary place alongside these enduring philosophical horror crafters.” – Mort Castle"He is a skillful guide through Clifton Heights, telling tales of mystery and horror in a town where dark secrets and ancient evils lurk to prey upon those who read Through a Mirror, Darkly." – Rena Mason, Bram Stoker Award® winning author of The Evolutionist.“With Through a Mirror, Darkly, Kevin Lucia proves once again that it’s only a matter of time before he’s one of the genre’s biggest names." – James Newman, author of The Wicked and Animosity Through a Mirror, Darkly follows on the success of Lucia's Things Slip Through collection.

Nightmare Series: Books 1-3


David Longhorn - 2018
    Unlocking the mysteries of this abandoned relic is one thing; surviving the horrors it hides is something else entirely…This box set contains the first 3 books of the bestselling Nightmare Series by David Longhorn. Read at your own risk.Nightmare Abbey: Overlooking a dark hill, Malpas Abbey has been avoided by locals for centuries. Its infamous history is marred with blood and terror. Only the foolish would dare enter such a place, where devilish hauntings have left a string of dead bodies in its wake. Nightmare Valley: The peaceful town of Machen is hiding secrets darker than the eerie forest surrounding it. Wide-eyed children roam the woods pleading for help. Yet, behind their innocent façade lies a resurrected evil with an insatiable thirst for blood. Nightmare Revelation: The nightmare continues to cast a deep shadow as dreadful stories of murder and mayhem make their way into London. But death comes knocking when a thick fog crawls through the night. The smell of fear lingers in the air, and no one is safe.

The Forever House


Tim Waggoner - 2020
    The Eldreds feed on the negative emotions of humans, creating nightmarish realms within their house to entrap their prey. Neighbors are lured into the Eldreds' home and faced with challenges designed to heighten their darkest emotions so their inhuman captors can feed and feed well. If the humans are to have any hope of survival, they'll have to learn to overcome their prejudices and resentments toward one another and work together. But which will prove more deadly in the end, the Eldreds . . . or each other?

Dark Island


Stephen Cross - 2019
    Within days, two families are dead. No wounds, no illness, their faces frozen in terror. What horror did they see in their last moments? Was it enough to frighten them to death? Tom has worked the mediterranean holiday resorts for years. Barman, kitchen hand, waiter. Always moving, always one step ahead of his past. The job at Milera Island Resort, a new five star hotel, is too good to be true. Accommodation, good pay, easy work. What could go wrong? A few days after the grand opening the resort is thrown into chaos. Two famlies are found dead. No marks on their bodies, no obvious injuries, no apparent cause of death. Their faces, however, are frozen masks of terror. Panic takes the island, evacuation begins, but how long do they have? Tom begins to suffer strange hallucinations and terrifying dreams, more unexplainable deaths occur, and as the chaos deepens Tom becomes aware of a dark presence descending from the woods. Can Tom find a way for everyone to escape before the darkness takes them? Is his past entwined with the growing madness? Who, or what, is the killer amongst them? Dark Island is a thrilling horror novel from the writer of the Surviving the Fall series. Expect chills that will keep you up at night...

The Witch


Fred Anderson - 2021
    Desperate to avoid reliving the traumatic memories of his father’s death, Ryan begs for a way out.Fortunately, Grandma Wendy's best friend Dot offers to keep the siblings for the afternoon, and despite her misgivings Lisa agrees to let the old woman take them. But as all three Campbells soon discover, Dot isn’t the sweet lady she appears to be. She’s bent on revenge for her own traumatic memories—and has all the powers of hell at her command to get it.Author's note: The Witch is a novel for adults, and contains brutality, bloody violence, death, explicit language, sexual innuendo, children in peril,and terror.

The Undead: A Jack Nightingale Short Story


Stephen Leather - 2017
    And when his nemesis Proserpine comes up from the bowels of Hell to ask for a favour, he has no choice other to help. Which is why the supernatural detective finds himself going up against The Undead, and putting his own life on the line. The Undead is a fast-paced supernatural story about 13,000 words long. Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers, an ebook and Sunday Times bestseller and author of the critically acclaimed Dan “Spider’ Shepherd series and the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective novels.

Darkbound


Michaelbrent Collings - 2013
    468 stations... 31 thousand turnstiles... and 1.64 BILLION fares yearly. For six of those fares, the trip is going to be one they will never forget. Six strangers will board a subway. But this subway is unlike the others. This subway doesn't take you where you want or where you need. It takes you where you fear. This subway...is DARKBOUND.

Spores


Ike Hamill - 2018
    Every person who has held a gun has imagined what it would be like to point that barrel at another human being. Some decisions come down to survival. Other decisions are made for us. They’re implanted into a person’s brain from somewhere out there, in the unknown. Marie never intended to bring along her passengers. She would have never agreed to it, had she known what would happen. Now she’s lost and her only help will come from the hunters ... and the Spores. The four men are out on a simple hunting trip. It’s supposed to be a chance to unwind and get away from all the stress of work and family. But when Andrew looks through the scope and sees what’s running at him, he acts decisively. Back at the cabin, Leonard and Patrice have their own problem. They hear the sound of the snowmobile and rush to the window. They look out in time to see the machine streaking across the lake, and then it’s gone. They have to cut short their trip and report what they’ve seen. Everyone agrees. Then, Marie arrives.