Book picks similar to
Crawlspace by Evans Light


horror
short-stories
short-story
free

The Snow and The Darkness


Matthew Warren Wilson - 2014
    With their transportation plans thwarted, the travelers find themselves on a deserted road in the middle of the night, a blizzard raging all around them, and a suspicious stranger has joined their midst. To Jason, the newcomer seems a little off. He might just be a run-of-the-mill drunk, but Jason senses something else—a streak of sadism seems to emanate from him. Little does Jason know, the stranger is the least of their worries. There’s something else out here in the woods, a creature that purrs as it feasts on human flesh, an abomination lurking in the snow, hidden in the darkness. But even if Jason and Valerie manage to survive, there’s one more surprise waiting for them, with a revelation that will test their very humanity.

Taken


Adam Light - 2012
    His wife knows all about it.She told him to do it.

The Party


Katie Ashley - 2013
    But after standing up as godfather for his great-nephew, Mason, that’s just what he gets at the Christening Party. Escaping the wrath of his father and sisters, he wants nothing more than to get to the company Christmas party. There he knows he can knock back a few stiff drinks and find some new no-strings-attached girl to take home for the night.The last thing Emma Harrison wants is to attend another party—least of all one at work. After throwing the annual life celebration (for the anniversary of her fiancée’s death) with close friends, she’s finally gotten the courage to take matters into her own hands and become a mother. Convincing her slightly inebriated best-friend, Connor, to be her sperm donor was a lot easier than she thought, and all that’s left now is to start the process. But at her best friend and work colleague, Casey’s, insistence, she decides to make an appearance at the company Christmas party for her new boss’s sake.Neither Aidan nor Emma could imagine what fate had in store for them at the party.

Madhouse


Miguel Estrada - 2017
     Faced with his parents’s divorce, eleven-year-old Lucas runs away from his house with the hope that his family will get back together to find him. On his way walking through the empty streets, he is picked up by a mysterious woman who offers to take care of him and provide him with a loving family. The boy then wakes up in shackles, confined to a bed in a decrepit house in the middle of nowhere and will have to face his deepest fears in order to survive in his new home. Join Lucas in a desperate attempt to get back to his family in Madhouse, the first published book from horror-thriller author Miguel Estrada.

Supper: The Horror Short Story You've Been Craving


Carolyn McCray - 2012
    From the #1 international bestselling author in Horror, Men's Adventure, Hard Boiled Mystery, and Police Procedurals comes a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-style horror short story...Supper

Penpal


Dathan Auerbach - 2012
    Before long, it was adapted into illustrations, audio recordings, and short films; and that was before it was revised and expanded into a novel!How much do you remember about your childhood?In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him. If you've ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you've ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt you, if you remember the first friend you ever made and how strong that bond was, then Penpal is a story that you won't soon forget, despite how you might try.

Despite the Roots


Matt Shaw - 2016
    Twins born on Halloween. They raised them to the best of their abilities; a typical loving family. Yet something went wrong. Despite the love showered upon them, something changed in the children as they got older and soon they weren't known as Cliff and Jessica's boys... They were known as "The Butchers of Bellingham" and were responsible for numerous deaths; evil acts leaving their parents both devastated and trying to rebuild their own lives as the rest of the town glared at them.'Look, there they go... The Butchers' parents...'Is it possible to turn your back on your children even if they have committed terrible crimes? Can you un-love someone you once loved more than life itself? Is it really that easy to do so?From Matt Shaw - author of Sick B*stards and Porn - comes a new psychological horror.

Harborside Hatred


Sarah A. Denzil - 2021
    Now it’s catching up with her.Wherever Oakland goes, the mystery caller finds her, the one who breathes down the line, who calls her at any time of day or night, who somehow always seems to know where she is.Moving all the way from London, Oakland settled on Liars Island, finally feeling safe enough to put down roots. Running Harborside Books, a quaint little shop by the harbor, she’s content with her quiet life. For the first time since she was seventeen years old, no one has harassed her. Until one day, she picks up the phone and hears that rasping breath one more time. But this time, it’s worse, someone is following her. She finds a threatening note in the bookstore. She’s convinced that there are eyes in the shadows, watching her every move.There is a person out there who hates Oakland O'Neill more than anyone in the world, and that person is on Liars Island, waiting for their opportunity to strike…Welcome to Liars Island… a stand-alone series of interconnected, novella-length domestic thrillers set in the picture-perfect community of Liars Island. Here, nothing is quite as it seems.On this island, families, and friendships are more than meets the eye … secrets, deceptions, and jealousies threaten to ruin everything these influential people have built. But it isn’t only the rich that live here … and power comes in all shapes and sizes. Everyone here is a liar … just how far would you go to get what you want?

Steel Valentine


Joe R. Lansdale - 2011
    A man did not club you unconscious, bring you to his estate and tie you to a chair in an empty storage shed out back of the place if he merely intended to give you a valentine. Morley had found out about him and Julie.”A short story in the tradition of Fleming or Dahl, “The Steel Valentine” is a gem, exemplifying the suspense writing of Joe Lansdale.

The Witching House: A Horror Novella


Brian Moreland - 2013
    In 1972, twenty-five people were brutally murdered in one of the bloodiest massacres in Texas history. The mystery of who committed the killings remains unsolved.Over forty years later, Sarah Donovan is dating an exciting man, Dean Stratton. Sarah's scared of just about everything--heights, tight places, the dark--but today she must confront all her fears, as she joins Dean and another couple on an exploring adventure. The old abandoned Blevins House, the scene of the gruesome massacre, is rumored to be haunted.The two couples are about to discover the mysterious house has been waiting all these years, craving fresh prey. And down in the cellar they will encounter a monstrous creature that hungers for more than just human flesh.

Pizza Delivery


Robert Kent - 2014
    College student Brock Clouser is working a summer job delivering pizzas. During a run to the outskirts of Harrington, Indiana, he wrecks his car at an isolated country home. Though most everyone there has been violently murdered, he's not alone.WARNINGThis is a novelette, not a full novel, and it's mean and nasty and intended for a mature audience. It is absolutely not appropriate for younger readers. It's a gruesome, repugnant tale featuring horrific acts of violence sure to warp young minds. Also, these particular characters speak in EXTREMELY COARSE language.

King of Libertines


Pam Godwin - 2020
    It doesn’t spoil the main story.

Terrifying Tales


Edgar Allan Poe - 2014
    Here, in one volume, are his masterpieces of mystery, terror, humor, and adventure, including stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Purloined Letter, and The Pit and the Pendulum, to name just a few, that defined American romanticism and secured Poe as one of the most enduring literary voices of the nineteenth century.

A Bit of Bite


Cynthia Eden - 2011
    But when suspicion falls on werewolf alpha Julian Kasey—Ava’s ex-lover and the man who still haunts her dreams—Ava knows that she’ll either have to prove his innocence…or watch the whole town go up in flames.Originally part of an Entangled anthology.

Before You Leap


Keith Houghton - 2016
    But when Scarlett’s killer is released early from prison with a cast-iron alibi, Greg realizes that his past is about to explode into his present, with terrifying consequences.To expose the truth he must open up old wounds. As a talk therapist, Greg knows all about dark secrets, but when a childhood friendship comes to the fore and the police turn their spotlight on him, the thought of analyzing his own psyche is a disturbing prospect. How far can he trust his own memories?With his life coming apart at the seams, and his grip on reality beginning to unravel, Greg must face the ghosts of his past if he hopes to prove his innocence and live to see another day.