Book picks similar to
My Christmas Story by Rayne Havok


horror
not-romance
short-story
bully-abuse-revenge

Dead over Heels


Theresa Braun - 2018
    On their first meeting, they encounter the ghosts of their past that threaten to tear them apart. The couple decides to face the evil that stands between them--but will they make it out alive?

A Watched Pot


Mr. Blue - 2018
    When his wife Cressida, invites two new friends over for dinner he offers to cook even though he has no experience with vegan food. Something troubles Graham about the couple but he can’t quite put his finger on it. He takes a journey into Facebook to find a terrible truth which creates a sinister consequence. A brooding psychological thriller with a shocking twist!

Bucket List


Dawn Cano - 2016
    Once Mike finds out what she's done, he will go to any length to ensure she dies a slow, painful death, just like the one he's sure his wife has sentenced him to.

Her Suffering


Jon Athan - 2017
    She attempts to hide the first attack, shrugging it off as a nightmare, but then the inexplicable attacks increase in frequency and intensity. Reina Knight, Julie's single mother, attempts to help her by staying by her side and enlisting the aid of doctors, but Julie's agony refuses to end... Is Julie's suffering the result of a severe mental illness? Or has an incubus targeted her from the supernatural realm? Can Reina end her daughter's suffering before Julie is consumed by her agony? Extreme horror author Jon Athan, the writer of In the Name of the Devil and Madness at Madison Mall, brings you another shocking supernatural horror story. WARNING: This book contains some suggestive scenes and themes, some violence, and some vulgar language. It is not intended for those easily offended or appalled. Please enjoy at your own discretion.

The Creek


Rayne King - 2021
    Wiley's simple life is uprooted when the enigmatic Ruby moves in to the old campground nearby. The two of them are drawn to each other instantly. However, Wiley soon discovers a darkness that Ruby harbors, a sadness that he becomes determined to extinguish. But is it already too late?Also included is the short story 'Husk': two friends get their hands on a treasure map and decide to locate the cache of possible riches. But they'll soon learn that some things are better left buried.

What Adam Wants: (a short story)


Michael Hebler - 2016
     Days after losing her child while giving birth, Rachel, and her husband, David, are haunted by the incessant cries of a baby. It is their stillborn, Adam, and he wants something from Rachel... something deadly.

Red


D.J. Doyle - 2017
    His lust for blood leads to inventive ways to kill his victims. Who is his next victim and can she be his salvation?

Phoenix


Chuck Palahniuk - 2013
    Palahniuk channels both Stephen King and John Cheever in this singularly sinister and hilarious short story, straight from the passive-aggressive front lines of modern marriage, where a wife's frustration, along with the family cat, become weapons of mass destruction.Rachel married Ted because he was uncomplicated and loyal. But he was also devoted to his wretched house (done up in black granite, black appliances, even black dishware) and his first love, an old, flatulent cat named Belinda Carlisle. Once Rachel becomes pregnant, Ted reluctantly agrees to move and give up the cat. But the house doesn't sell, and Belinda Carlisle still haunts their home: every day the creature becomes fatter and more malodorous. When the house burns to the ground in a freak conflagration and the couple's daughter, April, is born blind soon thereafter, the marriage is never the same again. Only on a business trip three years later does Rachel begin to reckon with the damage.In an Orlando motel room far from Ted and April, Rachel wonders: Is her simple-minded husband more vindictive and manipulative than even Rachel could have imagined? How far will she go to keep the upper hand—a bit of emotional and physical torture, perhaps? Will she win the battle, only to lose so much else?If all is fair in love and war, there are few contemporary writers better equipped than Palahniuk to travel the extremes, right to the chilling intersection of "I do" and "I'm damned."

Love Again


T.K. Chapin - 2014
    Just as Jillian was getting acquainted with a life without love, she meets Jake. Jake is in his mid-twenties and visiting the little town of Suncrest to take care of his Grandfather’s estate. When Jillian’s eyes fall onto Jake’s, it immediately resurfaces emotions she thought were buried with Brad. Can true love happen more than once in a lifetime?

The Doll


J.C. Martin - 2011
    On a trip to the island, Joyce Parker's daughter falls in love with a beautiful but sinister doll. Soon after, she starts developing strange mannerisms that concerns Joyce. Her research into the doll's past reveals a dark history, and the curse of a lonely child spirit.

Disturbed


Emery LeeAnn - 2017
    You do whatever it takes to keep your family together, no matter how depraved.

Driving in the Dark


Jack Harding - 2021
    There’s something in his bag. Something silver and glistening, sparkling with hopes and dreams of a bright and beautiful future. The only thing standing between him and his soon to be fiancée Emma is his arduous, mind-numbing drive home. But something isn’t right. His phone, his hearing, the music, the traffic; everything just seems off and out of sync, and Riley can’t quite put his finger on it.All he has to do is keep his eyes on the road…All he has to do is take it slow…In this brooding and deeply moving short story by Jack Harding, buckle up and settle down for a journey that will stir your senses and pull on your heart strings, keeping you guessing right until the end of the road.

Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes


Karin Slaughter - 2015
    She becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, never imagining how close she herself is to danger. Includes an extract from Karin Slaughter’s gripping new novel, Pretty Girls.

The Dark Side of Red


Sam West - 2017
    Anything can be bought or viewed on the Internet. But sometimes, this isn't enough for a certain type of person. 'The Dark Side of Red', commonly known as 'The Dark Red' is a hushed whisper in the dingiest corner of the sleaziest nightclub. It is the click of the mouse in your blackest moment. It is what you seek out when the last traces of humanity have deserted you.The urban legend goes that 'The Dark Red' is also a real place; a place where love and compassion come to die.But you don't find The Dark Red. The Dark Red finds you. This is the story of two women, a hairdresser and a freelance journalist. This is their story of how The Dark Red found them...The Dark Side of Red is an extreme horror novel. Please proceed with caution.

At Last Goodbye


Glynn James - 2011
    Ten years after the apocalypse destroyed the world that she knew, a survivor returns to her home town, hoping to piece together the bits of her past that have troubled her so much ever since.Sometimes the past is best left behind us, but sometimes we all need to say goodbye."At last, goodbye" is a short story set in the world of the Diary of the Displaced novel series.