Book picks similar to
Ritual by Steve Stred
horror
novella
cults
demons
Hammers on Bone
Cassandra Khaw - 2016
He’s been hired by a ten-year-old to kill the kid’s stepdad, McKinsey. The man in question is abusive, abrasive, and abominable. He’s also a monster, which makes Persons the perfect thing to hunt him. Over the course of his ancient, arcane existence, he’s hunted gods and demons, and broken them in his teeth.As Persons investigates the horrible McKinsey, he realizes that he carries something far darker. He’s infected with an alien presence, and he’s spreading that monstrosity far and wide. Luckily Persons is no stranger to the occult, being an ancient and magical intelligence himself. The question is whether the private dick can take down the abusive stepdad without releasing the holds on his own horrifying potential.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Shelter for the Damned
Mike Thorn - 2021
Alienated from his parents and peers, Mark finds within the shack an escape greater than anything he has ever experienced. But it isn't long before the place begins revealing its strange, powerful sentience. And it wants something in exchange for the shelter it provides.Shelter for the Damned is not only a scary, fast-paced horror novel, but also an unflinching study of suburban violence, masculine conditioning, and adolescent rage.
Slade House
David Mitchell - 2015
Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents — an odd brother and sister — extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late... Spanning five decades, from the last days of the 1970s to the present, leaping genres, and barreling toward an astonishing conclusion, this intricately woven novel will pull you into a reality-warping new vision of the haunted house story—as only David Mitchell could imagine it.
Pay The Ghost
Tim Lebbon - 2015
A girl goes missing ... the father gives up hope ... but the mother never stops searching. Now, a year later and close to Hallowe'en, they have a chance to rescue their child. But to do so they must face something terrible.
Fosgate's Game
David C. Cassidy - 2013
PAWNS OF FATE. LET THE GAME BEGIN.For Chadwick Harlow, a peaceful, easy-going Englishman, after-dinner drinks with his business partner—a ruthless, hard-edged hunter—is a weekly affair. But when casual conversation takes a mysterious and menacing turn into the supernatural, his wits are put to the test in a deadly challenge. Clinging to life but praying for death, Chadwick must summon the will to survive, before all is lost in a terrifying descent into madness.
Big Easy
Eric Wilder - 2006
More than just simple acts of murder, voodoo is involved, the killer likely an actual Vodoun deity. Homicide detective Tony Nicosia seeks the help of gumshoe, and Big Easy insider Wyatt Thomas. Wyatt enlists Mama Mulate, Tulane English professor, and actual voodoo mambo. Together, they try to unravel the strangest mystery to hit the venerable City since the era of Marie Laveau.
Caught Up in Her
Lauren Blakely - 2014
I don’t believe in that. Because love isn’t about falling for someone’s looks. Though she was beautiful in every single way, from her dark, wavy hair to her gorgeous brown eyes, to the soft curves of her body. But that’s not why I fell so hard for her that summer. She took my breath away for reasons that had nothing to do with her looks. It was the the movies, the conversations, the walks through the small town, the nights on the beach with the waves rolling in, the way I could hold her hand and feel as if the world had simply melted away and we were all that was left. So, there was no love-at-first-sight. That would come later, and if it happened first it would take away all the reasons that stayed with me for the next five years. Even though you’re not supposed to fall for your best friend’s little sister. But that didn't stop me...A prequel novella in the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Caught Up in Love series.
Mosquitoes
Marc R. Soto - 2012
All of a sudden, he knows things he shouldn’t, horrible things: his father dreams of going to bed with the intern and the husband of his teacher Mercedes is cheating on her. Mercedes is herself hiding a terrible secret from her past and is prepared to do something hideous to protect her future... And suddenly, along with awareness comes hunger. And thirst. An irresistible thirst.
Return of the Magi
P.J. Tracy - 2017
Tracy - perfect for fans of It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street
Emil Rice's heart is in the right place - it's just his hands that always seem to end up in someone else's wallet. Facing yet another Christmas behind bars, he's surprised when he's offered a way out - community service at a mental health facility. Emil thinks it will be a piece of cake - but he hasn't reckoned on two elderly inmates, who need Emil for a very special plan... Warm and wise, funny and festive, this wonderful Christmas tale from Sunday Times bestselling author P.J. Tracy is perfect for the cold winter nights!
Hell Hound
Ken Greenhall - 1977
What if some morning as the old woman stood at the head of the staircase she were suddenly to feel a weight thrusting against the back of her legs? What if she were to lunge forward, grasping at the air, striking her thin skull against the edge of a stair? What would become of me if she were found unmoving at the bottom of the stairway?’Such are the thoughts of Baxter, a sociopathic bull terrier on the hunt for the perfect master, as he contemplates the demise of his first victim. The basis for the acclaimed 1989 film Baxter, Ken Greenhall’s utterly chilling and long-unobtainable Hell Hound (1977) has earned a reputation as a lost classic of horror fiction. This first-ever reissue includes a new introduction by Grady Hendrix.
Breach of Peace
Daniel B. Greene - 2021
Evidence points to a rebel group trying to stab fear into the very heart of the empire. Inspector Khlid begins a harrowing hunt for those responsible, but when a larger conspiracy comes to light, she struggles to trust even the officers around her.
Wendigo Road
Doug Goodman - 2018
But to return home to his wife and son, one Blackfeet warrior will be forced to brave this treacherous mountain road full of Native American monsters and raging wildfires. In this re-imagining of Homer's "The Odyssey," a band of soldiers volunteer to escort the legendary Blackfeet warrior home. When they discover abandoned children in a small Montana ghost town, their mission and their lives will be changed forever. Now they aren’t just fighting for survival, but for redemption.
Typhoid Mary
Charlie Dalton - 2019
Recently bereaved detective Nadine Meyers is assigned to investigate a brutal massacre, with eight-year-old Mary the sole survivor. Nadine suspects the parents were responsible for murdering all six of their adopted children in a single horrendous act. As she befriends Mary, she discovers a secret that takes the case in a whole new direction, one she could never have imagined.
The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall
Katie Alender - 2015
Long ago, it was the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females—an insane asylum nicknamed “Hysteria Hall.” However, many of the inmates were not insane, just defiant and strong willed. Kind of like Delia herself.But the house still wants to keep “troubled” girls locked away. So, in the most horrifying way, Delia gets trapped.And that’s when she learns that the house is also haunted.Ghost girls wander the halls in their old-fashioned nightgowns. A handsome ghost boy named Theo roams the grounds. Delia finds that all the spirits are unsettled and full of dark secrets. The house, as well, harbors shocking truths within its walls—truths that only Delia can uncover, and that may set her free.But she’ll need to act quickly, before the house’s power overtakes everything she loves.From master of suspense Katie Alender comes a riveting tale of twisted memories and betrayals, and the meaning of madness.
Flyaway
Kathleen Jennings - 2020
In a small Western Queensland town, a reserved young woman receives a note from one of her vanished brothers—a note that makes question her memories of their disappearance and her father’s departure.A beguiling story that proves that gothic delights and uncanny family horror can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun, Flyaway introduces readers to Bettina Scott, whose search for the truth throws her into tales of eerie dogs, vanished schools, cursed monsters, and enchanted bottles.In these pages Jennings assures you that gothic delights, uncanny family horror, and strange, unsettling prose can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun.Holly Black describes as “half mystery, half fairy tale, all exquisitely rendered and full of teeth.” Flyaway enchants you with the sly, beautiful darkness of Karen Russell and a world utterly its own.