Book picks similar to
The Friendly Horror and Other Weird Tales by Anthony S. Burdge


reordering
reviewed-horrorsociety
dark-fiction
lovecraftian

Dragged Into Darkness


Simon Wood - 2003
    People spend their entire lives staving off the dark—but no matter the measures taken, black paths and shadowy pits lurk in the unlikeliest of places, waiting to pull the unwary into the depths of despair.These eleven tales offer a morbid sampling of the many forms and fashions of terror—from the subtle prickling of neck hairs at the kiss of a ghostly breeze to the raw-throated screams and feverish clawing of a desperate fight for survival.Witness eleven people torn from their ordinary lives and cast into twisted realities that test their sanity, faith, and very will to live…A pilot must land a crippled aircraft on an impossible runway…A doctor feels far too much sympathy for his deformed patients…A schoolgirl’s secret contract could cost her mother’s soul…A woman whose pack-rat obsessions hide the obscene…For these and seven others, the darkness comes from within and without, subtle, deadly…and relentless.

Probability Chain


Regan Keeter - 2013
    - Out of Print -

Taking Shape II: The Lost Halloween Sequels


Dustin McNeill - 2020
    

And Hell Followed: An Anthology


Wrath James WhiteSam West - 2019
    What if the prophecies of Revelation hit today? What sort of craziness and evil would ensue? With this list of excellent authors contributing, it’s sure to be a Hell of a read! Wrath James White Sam West The Sisters of Slaughter Jeff Strand K Trap Jones C Derick Miller Christine Morgan Patrick C. Harrison III John Wayne Comunale Hyäne Sawbones Delphine Quinn James Watts Wile E. Young Chris Miller Mark Deloy Richard Raven

Dolls


Jonathan Harrow - 2013
    Most for their looks, some for their talents, and many for no apparent reason other than having a lot of money or a sex tape. But only Charlotte Hayes was famous for killing somebody.”It happened during the high school football game, seventeen-year-old Charlotte snatched in the shadows behind the crowded bleachers by a man with no voice and a black soul. Ezra Cabe saw potential in her, a promising addition to his collection of girls, and with Charlotte standing half-naked in the dark of his apartment, Cabe eagerly began his ritual initiation.A moment later he was dead, stabbed in the throat with a knife secured by Charlotte in a desperate escape. News and media outlets covered the amazing story for weeks, dubbing her “The girl who fought back.”But for Charlotte the fight is only just beginning, because Ezra Cabe is somehow back, and he’s everywhere: a shadow person hovering just out of view… watching from the dark corners of the house when Charlotte’s home alone… even invading her mind, corrupting her thoughts. The horrifying truth is that Ezra Cabe never had more power over Charlotte than when he was dead.Desperate to avoid being alone, Charlotte calls the only person close enough to help: Matt Hillerman, her estranged best friend from middle school. Matt's different now--taller, broader, covered in tattoos--but one thing hasn't changed: his devotion to Charlotte. Together, they'll fight to outrun a fate worse than death in a game of cat-and-mouse against the ghost of a madman, and in facing the horror of shadows and nightmares, Charlotte and Matt will also rediscover the power of friendship, forgiveness, and maybe even love.

Eye Spy


Tahir Shah - 2013
    Amadeus Kaine is fêted by royalty, dictators, Hollywood, and the international jetset. An epicurean of sophistication and dark obsessions, he’s devoted his life to locating the perfect food.While treating one of Central Asia’s most depraved despots, Kaine is given a little pie to eat – a delicacy reserved for guests of the president. It’s the most delicious thing that’s ever passed the surgeon’s lips, and one that has seemingly miraculous effects. All of a sudden, Kaine finds that his bald patch is growing over with thick black hair, and that his body is healing itself from the inside out. But, best of all, he realizes that his mental faculties are stimulated in ways he never believed possible. He can write books in a few hours, learn languages in a matter of days, and effortlessly solve problems from world hunger to global warming.The drawback is that the dictator’s little pies are prepared with human eyes, taken from convicts working in the opal mines. Horrified that he’s unwittingly become a cannibal, Amadeus Kaine can’t think of anything but getting his hands on some more of the illicit specialty.Obsessed in particular by green eyes, he begins hunting for victims to satisfy his wayward craving. While perfecting his method, he learns to appreciate the subtleties in taste. As he does so, a terrible affliction strikes – Occulosis.An eye disease that has jumped the species gap from industrialized poultry farming, the virus rips through society, robbing the masses of their sight. The only man who can save the world is the inimitable Dr. Kaine, who is himself on the run.One of the strangest tales of obsession, mania and intrigue ever told, EYE SPY will quite literally change the way you see the world.

Neighborhood Watch


Joseph A. Turkot - 2013
    When another boy vanishes, parents begin to worry about their children. When bodies turn up in the local river, cut to pieces, stuffed inside industrial-strength black trash bags, the town begins to shut down.The day that Brandon Grey is last seen walking home from school by teachers, two young boys are starting a street hockey game. A man stops at the end of their block, takes a picture of them, and drives off. All they catch is the model and color of the car he’s driving.Jake and Colin, fueled by their ambition to form a detective club, decide to go searching for the car that haunts them. They soon take it upon themselves to find Brandon Grey. As tensions in town rise, and so does the body count, they find themselves deep in a mystery they never bargained for, closer to the serial killer than they could have ever imagined.

The Culling


Anthony Hulse - 2005
    This is the second edition and alternative cover.

Salty Sky


Seth Coker - 2016
    Coleman is both wrapping up a reunion for childhood friends and battening down the hatches for an approaching hurricane when his life gets a jolt of adrenaline.Francisco Escobar, nephew of Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, has spent the last two decades maintaining a low profile but now ready to expand his family’s empire. As Escobar plans for new business opportunities, he also wrestles with how to handle old grievances.In this riveting thriller, Seth Coker develops a range of unforgettable characters while providing a nuanced glimpse of a waterman’s life on the North Carolina coast.

Outbreak


Warren Fielding - 2013
    It has mortal wounds and shouldn’t be walking, but it is, and if you hang around for too long, it will be heading towards you. How would you react? You survive the initial throes of civil unrest and the collapse of law and order. The world has become your playground. What kind of person do you become? You have never lived for anyone else except yourself. You are selfish. You like being alive. But you do have a conscience, and a soul. Who do you save first? Warren is not a likeable man. Warren doesn’t even like himself. But he does like existing, and he wants to continue doing it, no matter what hell is emerging around him. Being pragmatic and a bit of a git to boot, he doesn’t find making the hard decisions difficult. What he does find out, is that the hard decisions are not necessarily the right ones. And being a bastard in life does not prepare you for the clashes that will ensue once the edges of society begin to blur and fade out. It isn’t just the infected and the resurrected that Warren needs to be wary of, as he negotiates his way around the post-infection south coast in a haphazard attempt to keep himself and his family survive.

Detached


Wendi Starusnak - 2014
    I can never let anyone know the horrible things that my father did or the secrets that my family had kept hidden for years. If anyone ever found out then that would mean they would also know what I did. I’m not even sure if I have fully come to terms with all of that yet myself. But I had to get it all out of my head and write it somewhere. So here it is: the worst of what happened in my life (hopefully) and the terrible secrets that I found out in the year 1976.

Reader


Erec Stebbins - 2013
    Out of the past, a last hope.She was a VICTIM: enslaved after her parents' murder. She was made a MONSTER: deformed, modified against her will. She became a MESSIAH: opening the Orbs and leading a galactic rebellion.Share the cosmic quest of seventeen-year-old Ambra Dawn, Reader, and the most unbelievable step in the adventure - will be your own.

The Soul Ripper (Twisted Souls #1)


Cege Smith - 2011
    Instead, they placed their faith in the Office of Souls to keep them safe after the human race was almost annihilated in the time known only as ‘Before’.Procreation is tightly regulated because infants are born soulless – a painful reminder of the punishment for the misdeeds of ‘Before’. With their hideous appearance and unquenchable hunger, the Soulless Ones are kept out of sight until they are chosen to go to the Fountain of Souls to receive their soul.But now there are some who no longer want to live under the watchful, restrictive eye of the Office of Souls. They know that the Office of Souls hides secrets that tell a much different story of what happened ‘Before’. They want revenge for what was done to them. They are willing to do anything, including unleash a soulless zombie legion on the unsuspecting residents of the territory, to get it.Length: 25,000 wordsThe complete Twisted Souls series is available now:The Soul Ripper (Twisted Souls #1)Twisted Souls (Twisted Souls #2)Soul Cycle (Twisted Souls #3)A Soul to Settle (Twisted Souls #4)

The Edward King Series Books 1-3


Rick Wood - 2017
    How little he knew… During a near-death experience, Eddie briefly crosses over to the other side. A demonic, destitute, vile demon takes this opportunity to latch onto him. Little does Eddie know, this is only the start of his war with the demonic… Why is it demons constantly recognise him? Why is he such a naturally good exorcist? And what will the answers to these questions mean for the fate of the world? The Edward King Series: Books 1-3 include the first three stories in the captivating supernatural thriller series horror fans can’t stop raving about. If you like demons, exorcisms, and terror – you will love Rick Wood’s series. What readers are saying about The Edward King Series: I Have the Sight “This was different to any other paranormal book I’ve read. The author puts you right by Eddie’s side and you can almost feel the heat in hell.” “A book you just can’t put down.” “If this is the first in the series then I’m in heaven!” Descendant of Hell “As for the story, wow! I wasn’t expecting ‘that’ to happen.” “Each chapter was thrilling, filled with suspense.” “Fans of the supernatural need to read this!” An Exorcist Possessed “The stories are fast paced and absorbing – I can’t wait for the next book!” “Wow! Another fantastic page-turner.” “It’s like a clash between heaven, earth and hell and was gripping throughout.”

Beer Run of the Dead


D.F. Noble - 2012
    Follow Kip, Rock and Steady, as they struggle to survive and stay completely shit-faced in the face of certain undead doom. These three unlikely heroes hold the key to humanity's salvation, but will they succeed being inebriated as they are? Not everyone who saves the world is a rocket scientist, a super hero, or a handsome actor turned politician. Sometimes people who save the world... they're fucking idiots.