Book picks similar to
Retreat by J.F. Gonzalez


horror
splatterpunk
thunderstorm
novel

Ten Mile Creek


Cain Macbeth - 2018
    He soon discoverers an overgrown cemetery and becomes obsessed with learning about the names engraved in stone who settled this land over two-hundred years ago. But the discovery of an old family secret puts his life, as well as the life of his wife and daughter, in immediate danger.

Hometown


Matthew Keville - 2014
     It's the Fall of 1994 in the small milltown of Belford, New York. The leaves are turning, the kids are going back to school, and the heat of Summer is giving way to a cool, misty season. It happens every Fall. Only this Fall, people are disappearing into that mist. Some people are found torn apart, some people are found dead for no reason, and some people aren't found at all. Other people see strange things in the mist: ghosts and campfire stories. There's something out there in that mist. Something old. Something that has slept for a long time, but has now woken up hungry. Maybe the people of Belford could resist it, but as the terrible Fall wears on, more and more of them start...changing. Acting bizarre and violent. In the end, only a small group of teenage defenders are left to make their stand.

When Angels Fear


P.J. Mordant - 2020
    But she cannot rest. A strange sleeping sickness stalks the village, and a young woman has disappeared. Why won't the police investigate? As events unfold, Emma becomes embattled yet again, compelled to fight for her life, against a deadly curse linked to a past about which she had no knowledge. She is the only one able to vanquish the evil, but doing so will entail confronting an horrific and all-too-familiar enemy.The question is, after all she's been through, will she be strong enough?

The Vanishing


Bentley Little - 2007
    He leaves behind a chilling, cryptic message: "This is where it begins."Miles away, an alarmed mother receives from her estranged husband an unsettling letter strained with bloody fingerprints.And all across California, children are falling victim to a monstrous change - and their parents, to a mounting fear.Social worker Carrie Daniels and reporter Brian Howells are determined to find the link between these baffling events. But they shouldn't look too deeply into the lives of the victims. It's quite dark there. And God help them, they won't like what they find.

Fertile Fields


Tim Miller - 2015
    When he learns of some young women who vanished after joining a religious cult, he cannot resist the story. He and his team head to the west Texas back country where they meet The Prophet Drake and his followers. On the surface everything at the compound looks like heaven on earth as they are given VIP treatment. Bronson and his crew soon learn, behind the smiles and hospitality lies something more evil than they could have possibly imagined. The team uncovers a trail of human sacrifice, ritual abuse and a whole new definition of human suffering.

Bestial


Ray Garton - 2009
    Several residents have died in unexplained, particularly brutal ways, many torn apart in animal attacks. And there's always that eerie howling late at night....You might think there's a werewolf in town. But you'd be wrong. It's not just one werewolf, but the whole town that's gradually transforming. Bit by bit, as the infection spreads, the werewolves are becoming more and more powerful. In fact, humans may soon be the minority, mere prey for their hungry neighbors. Is it too late for the humans to fight back? Did they ever have a chance from the start?

Covenant


John Everson - 2004
    Hiding from his past big city exposés in the quiet coastal town of Terrel, he stumbles upon a web of mysterious teen suicides that somehow connect a ring of five women. Is there really a malevolent presence inside Terrel Cliff that holds all of the town in thrall as Angelica, a fortune teller, suggests? Or is there a murderous covenant between five women to sacrifice their first-born? When Angelica is kidnapped right under his nose, Joe suspects that there is more at work in Terrel than a dark, tragic streak.Deep beneath the remains of a long-demolished lighthouse on its tragic cliff, Joe discovers Terrel's secret history and salvation. And in his desperate bid to save two women, he forges a new covenant, one that puts his own soul in deadly danger.

Darkness, Tell Us


Richard Laymon - 1991
    Six college kids at a party. Then someone suggested they try the Ouija board. The board that Corie had hidden in the back of her closet and sworn never to touch again. Not after what happened last time. Not after Jake's death...They were only playing around, but the Ouija board worked all right. Maybe too well. A spirit who called himself Butler began to send them messages - and make demands. Butler promised them a hidden treasure if only they would follow his directions and head off to a secluded spot in the mountains... a wild, isolated spot where anything could be waiting for them. Treasure or death. Or Butler himself.

The Vampire Chronicles: The Queen of the Damned, Interview with the Vampire, the Vampire Lestat, etc


Source Wikipedia - 2011
    If you would prefer to read the unedited articles in their old format for free, we have provided a list of the article titles under "chapters" below. Simply go to Wikipedia and use their search form to locate each individual article.)Chapters: The Queen of the Damned, Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Memnoch the Devil, The Tale of the Body Thief, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Those Who Must Be Kept, The Vampire Armand, Blood and Gold, Marius de Romanus, Maharet and Mekare, Pandora, Jessica Miriam Reeves, Khayman, Daniel Molloy, Talamasca Caste, Merrick, Blood Canticle, Vittorio the Vampire, Théâtre des Vampires, Merrick Mayfair, Amel, Blackwood Farm, Mona Mayfair, Avicus, Santiago.

An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley


Brian Keene - 2012
    The Old West has never been weirder or wilder than it has in the hands of master horror writer Brian Keene.Morgan and his gang are on the run–from their pasts and from the posse riding hot on their heels, intent on seeing them hang. But when they take refuge in Crazy Bear Valley, their flight becomes a siege as they find themselves battling a legendary race of monstrous, bloodthirsty beings. Now, Morgan and his gang aren’t worried about hanging. They just want to live to see the dawn.Deadite Press is proud to present Brian Keene’s An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley for the first time in paperback. Also includes the bonus short story “Lost Canyon of the Damned”.

Jake's Wake


John Skipp - 2008
    . . he just didn't say what kind. So when the small-town televangelist and con man climbs out of his coffin at his own wake, it becomes Judgement Day for everyone gathered to mourn - or celebrate - his death. Jake is back, in the rotting flesh, filled with anger and vengeance. And accompanied by demons even more fightening than himself. What follows is a long night of endless terror, a blood-drenched rampage by the man not even death could stop.

Lake Ness: Extinction Is About To Be Redefined


Cherie Mitchell - 2020
    Not quite sure what he's let himself in for, he slowly adjusts to the isolated environment of Lake Ness and the challenges of living with a bunch of often erratic and unpredictable teenagers.However, it's not long before their best-laid plans start to unravel. Some of the kids aren't too good at obeying the rules of the camp, Gerry finds himself dragged back down into memories he's been trying to avoid, and Marnie and Jim have had a falling out. The FBI is also sniffing around and everyone knows that they don't generally like to spend money unless it's money well spent.On top of everything else, there's something large and dangerous living in the lake and as impossible as it sounds, Gerry is starting to think they've discovered some long-extinct aquatic dinosaurs living in this isolated waterway, creatures who are rapidly developing a taste for human flesh. Someone is going to have to step up to be a hero before more lives are lost and it looks like Gerry is that man. Unfortunately, volunteering to be a hero was never one of Gerry's preferred career choices.Lake Ness - extinction is about to be redefined.

The Last Hellfighter


Thomas S. Flowers - 2018
    WWI veteran. Vampire slayer.In the year 2044, reporters from the Public Relations Ministry gather at the home of Benjamin Harker, the last surviving member of the Harlem Hellfighters. At the age of 144, he is the oldest recorded man alive.Hidden among them, Clyde Bruner is looking for a different kind of story. Across the United States, despite the Great Walls and patrol drones built to keep America secure, something has found its way in. And now towns are vanishing during the night. Entire populations, gone. Only to return after the sun sets, changed, unholy, and lethal. And whatever this evil is, its spreading west.According to a bedtime story Bruner’s grandfather told him when he was a boy, Benjamin Harker has seen this before. He’s faced this scourge. Fought this evil. Survived them. Killed them. From the trenches of the Great War to the jungles of Vietnam to the sands of Iraq, Harker will search his past to save our future.But as each city light extinguishes across the country, is there no time left to stop what’s coming?

Suffer the Flesh


Monica J. O'Rourke - 2002
    Kidnapped off the Manhattan streets and whisked away from the safe, normal world she once knew, she finds herself the victim of one reprehensible man's vision. Forced to witness the depravities of the seedy underworld where lust, rape, torture and mutilation are a way of life, stripped of clothing, pride, and spirit, Zoey must play their games, bear their torture -- but for how long? Somehow she must learn to survive the daily perversions . . . but how can Zoey survive? How could anyone? Somewhere between ecstasy and pain -- learn to SUFFER THE FLESH.

Scary Bastard


Aron Beauregard - 2019
    How will their paths cross? Who's killing who? Can anyone survive the bloodbath or are they all destined to drown in a pool of warm red? This slasher nightmare gives you a seat beside the killer but don't get too comfortable, there's a Scary Bastard on the loose... (This book includes 9 horrifying illustrations to guide you through the terror!)