Book picks similar to
Hell Cat of the Holt by Mark Cassell


horror
dark-fiction
novella
shane-d-keene

The Girl Who Hid in the Trees


Steve Stred - 2019
    He left with his friends to ‘debunk’ the urban legend and never came back.Now Jason and his group of friends are fed up and want to discover what is happening, what is the real cause of the terror holding their small town hostage.But something is waiting for them. She may look sweet and innocent, but the friends are about to find out that pure evil can exist in the smallest of packages.She's out there. And while you may not know her name or what she looks like, the local kids will tell you if you ask, that you should fear for your life from the girl who hid in the trees.From the dark mind of Steve Stred, the author of Wagon Buddy, YURI and Invisible comes this fast-paced, seat of your pants coming-of-age tale.  A quick, violent, bleak read,The Girl Who Hid in the Trees will make you think twice about those sounds you hear far off in the woods.

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.

The Mayhem Children (A Project Specter Mystery Book 1)


Paul Seiple - 2018
    Psychopath, Elvin Hayes was convicted and executed for the presumed murders. He went to his grave with the secrets of what happened to the children dubbed The Silent Six. Thirty years later, the six are no longer silent. A curse has been summoned. The children have come home to play a demonic game called The Mayhem. Detective Kim Strode must find out who conjured The Mayhem before it destroys everyone connected to the case. There’s one major problem. Kim is connected. Her father sent Elvin Hayes to the electric chair. THE MAYHEM CHILDREN, a terrifying tale of witchcraft, demons, and revenge, is an ode to classic eighties horror.

The Almshouse


Blanche C. King - 2015
    Twice it burned down, taking with it the people inside. When a bag of bones falls on twelve-year old Julia, she finds herself thrown into the spirit realm with the house's past residents. Her new neighbors aren't so lively, and some can't even remember their own names. But as Julia discovers, there’s more to these people than meets the eye. Something's been cut from the town’s records, and whoever did it will kill to cover their tracks.

Memory Seal: Volume 1


Insane Mooncake - 2018
    His desperation, his regret, his sorrow shaped his soul as he was murdered. But the world is just; As the world he knows fades before his eyes, he finds himself reincarnated in the body of a newborn baby. He now has a second chance at life, to avoid his previous life’s tragic ending. But is the world really so kind?

The Love We Seek: A Forbidden Love Story (The Love Series Book 1)


B. Love - 2018
    Each book has a happy ending. There are no continuations. Each book features a different couple and can be read in any order.* “People die or leave when you need them most. Nothing is ever certain. Nothing is ever sure.” – Kailor Smith When Kailor Smith’s mother dies, her life crumbles. Completely. Still looking out for her in death, Asia sends Kailor on a journey of self-discovery. The journey, meant to be a six-month path of fun and finding purpose, leads Kailor to Finley Trails where she temporarily lives with her brother Kai… and his best friend and bandmate Zion Johnson. Zion Johnson is convinced that he has only two things to offer the world – his music and his manhood. Nothing more, like love, but definitely nothing less. After losing his parents at a young age, he’s convinced it’s his job to protect every damsel that comes his way. Even his best friend’s sister. No matter how much his best friend wants him to stay away. As Kailor and Zion’s paths collide, they find themselves on a journey of healing and love together. There’s just one problem; their union is forbidden. Not only could their relationship destroy Zion and Kai’s friendship, but it also has the potential to ruin their band and all of the success they’ve built. The odds are stacked against them, and for a while they are even at war with their own feelings, but Kailor and Zion must choose between love or the numbing pain they have both accepted as their truths.

Haunted Asylums, Morgues & Cemeteries


Stephen Young - 2015
    Tales from the Asylum True tales of horror & hauntings... excerpts; 'Patients said they could not sleep at night because of the screaming of the dead, but because the patients had already been classified as insane, no-one took any notice of them.' 'The family of the owner stayed at the Asylum for just one night, after their young daughter was found the next morning with her face ripped open by something unknown.' 'In the dust was the word, "Help," written backwards.' 'They'd captured the sound of a young girl and she was saying, "Do you want to play with me?" 'The demonic looking creature in the patient's drawing had come to life. It followed the Doctor everywhere now, followed afterward by the most deafening of noises that felt as though his ears were about to explode. The strange thing was, no-one else could hear it.' The Harvard Crimson wrote of their visit to the now famous morgue, 'Face mutilated, gashed faces, awful contortions, hideous leer, gaping mouths now fixed forever in rigid agony, hands outstretched whispering, "Come to me, Come to me!" and we hear and shudder and come." Two mysterious trunks arrived. When they were opened they were found to contain two separate parts of an unidentified woman. She had been chopped in half and her top half placed in one of the trunks and her bottom half in the other. 'Doctors used instruments that looked strangely similar to ice picks.' 'They were tied to their beds almost permanently, barely able to move a limb.' 'The sharp sense that there's a third party in the room is overpowering. The air is suddenly foul and i feel an intense awareness that i'm not welcome here.' 'The images appeared to show a man in the window holding a cross.' 'I have struggled to accept the things i saw there those nights, but whatever is there, it's not human.' Haunted Asylums, Morgues & Cemeteries. Haunted ghost files, creepy & scary stories, haunted asylums & ghosts mysteries...occult mythology and the paranormal.

Slow Burn on Riverside


Chad Lutzke - 2021
    But when her teenage son shows up, things take a very dark turn.

White Fire


Brian Keene - 2018
    Previously out of print and never before available as a stand-alone, this new edition of WHITE FIRE has been revised and expanded, and is considered the Author’s Preferred Version.

Agent Dark


Lane Mason - 2019
     Not until she woke up with one trying to kill her. But now she knows the truth. The paranormal world is real and all sorts of weird magical beings like vampires, elves, werewolves not only exist but live among us. In fact, she is one of those weird paranormal beings. Now with the help of her new friends in the Magical Bureau of Investigation she'll learn how to use her magical powers and hopefully survive the next attack.

Shifter Fever Complete Series


Selena Scott - 2018
    Join them on their action-packed adventure. If you love bear shifters, and strong sassy mates, set in a world of passion, love, and sizzling romance, you won't want to put this series down! Book 1 - Ansel's GameBook 2 - Alec's GameBook 3 - Matt's GameBook 4 - Kain's GameBook 5 - Griff's Game Ansel's Game - Book 1 Ruby only wanted to find her brother. Finding a true mate definitely wasn't part of the plan! Little did Ansel know that by claiming his true mate he would be opening the gates to a whole new world. Alec's Game - Book 2 They were in a foreign world, where much was the same as earth, But this was very different. Completely disarmed by Alec's honesty, could Milla allow here desires to manifest, and what would this mean for the mission to save Griff? Matt's Game - Book 3 What begins as some neighbourly pleasantries, Matt and Inka's attraction towards each other soon develops. But such attraction doesn't deepen without its own perils. Has Matt uncovered something that could potentially stop him protecting his own true mate? Kain's Game - Book 4 When Valentina falls victim to one of the shifter hunters, will Kain seize his opportunity and be able to save her? From two different worlds, could there really be a future together or is Kain just deluded in his quest? Griff's Game - Book 5 Torn between her feelings for Griff, was Alanya's gift really a curse to drive them apart? Together they were a force, but apart, the final mission to free the captives could fail. What would this mean for all those shifters on Herta they needed to protect and set free? This steamy 5 book paranormal romance series contains strong sexual themes/language and is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

Sisters of Sorrow


Axel Blackwell - 2015
    If the brutal machines don't kill Anna, her guardians' neglect and abuse probably will. The only thing this abandoned teen wants is out. But the factory is inside a stone fortress, on an island, where people are sent to be forgotten. It serves as a dumping ground -- both for orphans who are not welcome at finer institutions, and for nuns who have disgraced the Church. The walls of Saint Frances du Chantal's Orphan Asylum hum with secrets and buried scandal. In the catacombs below the factory, something long dead, something almost forgotten, stirs. It offers Anna a key, and promises freedom, if she will seek it out when she escapes. She knows her plan will endanger the other children, but Anna cannot resist the call of freedom. Her escape attempt triggers a chain reaction of chaos, shaking the orphanage to its foundation and laying bare its deadly secrets. As Anna flees into the night, she discovers that the evil nuns were the least of her worries. The swirling mist of the island hides terrors more dangerous than she could ever imagine.

Dark Harvest


Norman Partridge - 2006
    They call him the October Boy, or Ol' Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He's willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror - and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy...

The Haunting of Winchester Mansion Omnibus


Alexandria Clarke - 2017
    When Bailey and Bodhi Taylor move in and begin renovations, the house seems perfect. But things move on their own, screams echo from the basement, and Bailey sees a shadowy figure out of the corner of her eye. Is the house haunted? And if it is, what does the ghost want with Bailey?

Tales From the Hinterland


Melissa Albert - 2021
    I loved these.” ―Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble“This inventive, enchanting collection reads like the fairy tales of old, hushed stories passed woman to woman, before the Grimms came and wiped away all the blood.” ―Laura Ruby, author of Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All“The writing is as spare and precise as poetry, connected to the darker, edgier elements of fairy-tale conventions. Albert’s rich and tightly focused collection forms the core of the mythology created in her novels, and her fans will be thrilled at this further glimpse into that world.” ―Booklist, starred review “Stories fueled by feminist rage, the frustration of being unnderestimated, and the insatiable longing to experience more mark this collection as timely and universal.” ―SLJ