Book picks similar to
The Witching Hour by Florence Stevenson
gothic
horror
horror-thriller
occult-detective
The Twenty Days of Turin
Giorgio De Maria - 1977
As the city of Turin suffers a twenty-day "phenomenon of collective psychosis" culminating in nightly massacres that hundreds of witnesses cannot explain, the Library is shut down and erased from history. That is, until a lonely salaryman decides to investigate these mysterious events, which the citizenry of Turin fear to mention. Inevitably drawn into the city’s occult netherworld, he unearths the stuff of modern nightmares: what’s shared can never be unshared.An allegory inspired by the grisly neo-fascist campaigns of its day, The Twenty Days of Turin has enjoyed a fervent cult following in Italy for forty years. Now, in a fretful new age of "lone-wolf" terrorism fueled by social media, we can find uncanny resonances in Giorgio De Maria’s vision of mass fear: a mute, palpitating dread that seeps into every moment of daily existence. With its stunning anticipation of the Internet—and the apocalyptic repercussions of oversharing—this bleak, prescient story is more disturbingly pertinent than ever.Brilliantly translated into English for the first time by Ramon Glazov, The Twenty Days of Turin establishes De Maria’s place among the literary ranks of Italo Calvino and beside classic horror masters such as Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. Hauntingly imaginative, with visceral prose that chills to the marrow, the novel is an eerily clairvoyant magnum opus, long overdue but ever timely.
A Dowry of Blood
S.T. Gibson - 2021
Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things. Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband’s dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.
Crooked Tree
Robert C. Wilson - 1980
Why are the normally docile black bears now no longer afraid of humans? Why are they attacking, even when unprovoked? Is anyone controlling them? Can local attorney Axel Michelson, who lives on the edge of the national forest, where many of the bears live in their normal habitat, figure out the legend of the bear walk - and could it actually be true, as many Native Americans still believe?
Revelator
Daryl Gregory - 2021
These remote hills of the Smoky Mountains are home to dangerous secrets, and soon after she arrives, Stella wanders into a dark cavern where she encounters the family's personal god, an entity known as the Ghostdaddy.Years later, after a tragic incident that caused her to flee, Stella--now a professional bootlegger--returns for Motty's funeral, and to check on the mysterious ten-year-old girl named Sunny that Motty adopted. Sunny appears innocent enough, but she is more powerful than Stella could imagine--and she's a direct link to Stella's buried past and her family's destructive faith.Haunting and wholly engrossing, summoning mesmerizing voices and giving shape to the dark, Revelator is a southern gothic tale for the ages.
Sorrowland
Rivers Solomon - 2021
There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world.But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the future - outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it.
The Rats
James Herbert - 1974
But now for the first time - suddenly, shockingly, horribly - the balance of power had shifted and the rats began to prey on the human population.
Apocalypse Library: The Ultimate Collection of World-Ending Horror
Iain Rob Wright - 2017
Save over 50% compared to buying the titles separately. What would you do if the world ended? Could you trust your neighbours? Your family? Yourself? Step into the apocalypse with 9 full-length novels by British horror master Iain Rob Wright. From Flesh-eating zombies to world-ending experiments, this collection has the apocalypse in all flavors. Get a quick peek at the books included below. Ravaged World Trilogy 1. Sea Sick - Something man-made and evil has escaped aboard the luxury cruise liner, The Spirit of Kirkpatrick. There's nowhere to escape in the middle of the ocean. 2. Ravage - Everyone seems to be getting sick. Then they change. Follow Rick's journey as he struggles to survive at a hilltop amusement park during the end of the world. 3. Savage - Conclusion to the epic story beginning with Sea Sick and ending with a fight for humanity's survival at a fortified pier. Hell on Earth Saga 4. The Gates - All over the world strange gates have appeared, and something awful is about to come through. 5. Legion - The world is at war and the enemy is getting stronger. Humanity must win or become extinct. The Final Winter 6. The Final Winter - It's snowing all over the world. Something evil lurks in the cold, something ancient. Something unimaginable. Tar 7. Tar - In the Australian outback, a science experiment goes awry. Now the world is disappearing and time is about to run out. 2389 8. 2389 - Communication has just been lost with humanity's biggest amusement park, built on the moon. Someone needs to go up there and check things out. Animal Kingdom 9. Animal Kingdom - The animals have changed. No longer are they willing to be pets or dinner. Now we are the pets. We are the dinner. Humanity just fell to the bottom of the food chain. "Iain Rob Wright scares the Hell out of me." - Jack Kilborn, author of Origin and Afraid. "Iain Rob Wright is sick and twist." - David Moody, author of the Autumn series.
Dark Masques
J.N. WilliamsonDennis Hamilton - 2001
A place hidden from view, nestled in the darkest recesses of your mind, awaiting the perfect moment to reveal itself—only to scare you blind. In this collection of unforgettable horror stories, discover the terrifying truth as told by today’s greatest masters of the macabre—classic twisted tales that will reach out from the past and draw you into the depths of their darkness. Prepare to enter a nightmarish reality in which seeing is disbelieving, your eyes can deceive you…and DARK MASQUES conceal the ultimate in terror….
The Raven and The Monkey's Paw: Classics of Horror & Suspense
Ambrose Bierce - 1998
The beauty of these stories and poems lies in their readability: ideal for sharing aloud around the campfire or for a quick, thrilling dip . . . under the covers with a flashlight. The writing itself sends as many awe-inspired shivers down the spine as do the ghosts and goblins on these pages.Edgar Allan Poe, the master of the horror story and the chiming lyric poem, opens the volume with his best-loved stories: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Black Cat," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Premature Burial," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "Berenice," and "Ligeia." Every bit as chilling now as on the day they were written, these tales retain their power to stir the reader again and again. Poe, who was as well known for his poems as for his stories, is also represented by such verse standards as "The Raven," "Lenore," "To Helen," "Ulalume," and "Annabel Lee," among others.Numerous other practitioners of the supernatural story are included: Edith Wharton, with her gripping "Afterward"; Charles Dickens and his famed ghost story "The Signalman"; W. W. Jacobs, with this compilation's inspiration, "The Monkey's Paw." Also here are Saki's engrossing "Sredni Vashtar"; O. Henry's story of love lost and hopes dashed, "The Furnished Room"; Wilkie Collins's lively "A Terribly Strange Bed"; and "The Boarded Window," Ambrose Bierce's tale of the bizarre. A year-round collection for reading aloud--and frightening your friends--The Raven and the Monkey's Paw will gratify all manner of thrill-seekers.The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torchbearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.
Mapping the Interior
Stephen Graham Jones - 2017
Instead of the people who could be there, his mother or his brother, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew. The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you'd rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them . . . at terrible cost.