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Book of the Dead


John SkippBrian Hodge - 1989
    Romero reminds us, “There was a collection of stories called Book of the Dead, in which horror and science-fiction writers came together and wrote short stories about what was happening to other people on that first night (as depicted) in Night of the Living Dead.” Noted authors such as Joe R. Lansdale, Stephen King, Robert R. McCammon, and Douglas E. Winter use their macabre vision to bring us those stories. Forwarded by the Godfather himself, this anthology imbeds itself in the cannon of zombie lore.

The Ruins


Scott Smith - 2006
    Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation–sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site . . . and the terrifying presence that lurks there.

I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream


Harlan Ellison - 1967
    It was first published in the March 1967 issue of IF: Worlds of Science Fiction.It won a Hugo Award in 1968. The name was also used for a short story collection of Ellison's work, featuring this story. It was recently reprinted by the Library of America, collected in volume two (Terror and the Uncanny, from the 1940s to Now) of American Fantastic Tales (2009).

Stage Fright


Garrett Boatman - 1988
    Superstar Izzy Stark has the power to make your dreams - and nightmares - come true. He's the master of disaster, the guru of gore, the doctor of doom, the duke of death and destruction - and you can't escape this command performance.

Hell House


Richard Matheson - 1971
    Two previous expeditions to investigate its secrets met with disaster, the participants destroyed by murder, suicide or insanity. Now a new investigation has been mounted - four strangers, each with his or her own reason for daring the unknown torments and temptations of the mansion...

The Bog


Michael Talbot - 1986
    To a small English village, it is a vast organic presence, as ancient as time itself and seething with hidden life and forbidden legends...To its victims, it is a nameless horror beyond description, a razor-toothed evil, rising up from the murky depths to feast on human prey...To archaeologist David Macauley and his family, it is the ultimate scientific mystery -- and the ultimate experiment in terror...

I, Zombie


Hugh Howey - 2012
    It will offend most anyone, so proceed with caution or not at all.And be forewarned: This is not a zombie book. This is a different sort of tale. It is a story about the unfortunate, about those who did not get away. It is a human story at its rotten heart. It is the reason we can't stop obsessing about these creatures, in whom we see all too much of ourselves.

The House Next Door


Darcy Coates - 2017
    I began to suspect something was wrong with the gothic building when its family fled in the middle of the night, the children screaming, the mother crying. They never came back to pack up their furniture. No family stays long. Animals avoid the place. Once, I thought I saw a woman's silhouette pacing through the upstairs room... but that seems impossible; no one was living there at the time. A new occupant, Anna, has just moved in. I paid her a visit to warn her about the building. I didn't expect us to become friends, but we did. And now that Marwick House is waking up, she's asked me to stay with her. I never intended to become involved with the building or its vengeful, dead inhabitant. But now I have to save Anna... before it's too late for the both of us.

Allison


Jeff Strand - 2020
    But a random encounter with a couple on the street leaves her believing that she may have done something horrible. Something unforgivable.Killer-for-hire Daxton and his girlfriend Maggie know the truth. Instead of easing Allison’s anguish, they come up with a cruel plan to take advantage of it. But with Allison’s abilities exposed, there may be a bloodbath very soon…

The Godsend


Bernard Taylor - 1976
    Born in mystery of an unknown mother. Abandoned the morning of her birth. Adopted by the Marlows, who already have four children of their own.THE OBSESSION...Once unleashed, where will it end? The ultimate evil. Profound. Shattering. Ask Bonnie - demonic possession is child's play.THE NIGHTMARE...At first they are accidents. The crib death of the Marlows' baby. The drowning of their son. Then a third child's neck is broken. And the unspeakable is begun...

In Darkness Waiting


John Shirley - 1988
    Although In Darkness Waiting begins in much the same vein as many horror novels (mysterious deaths; a small town invaded by evil; plucky, attractive young lovers; the logical level-headed doctor; some salt-of-the-earth townsfolk...) by its end you will have discovered it is not "just another horror novel." With its exploration of the "insect" inside us all, In Darkness Waiting proves more relevant today than ever. Considering a read of In Darkness Waiting is like considering a trip through the Amazon with no weapons and no vaccinations and no shoes. It's like contemplating a journey in the Arctic clad only in your underwear. Or maybe it's more like dropping into one of those spelunker's challenges, those chilling pitch-black shafts into the Earth's crust-and when you get down there your light burns out and you remember the chitinous fauna of the cavern... Unlike undertaking those endeavors, you can get through the harrowing pages of In Darkness Waiting alive (although we are not promising you'll remain unscathed.) Towards the end you'll discover one of the most extreme yet literate passages ever written. It may well be the most outré scene ever created. But John Shirley wasn't after shock alone. Shock is never enough for him.

Feeding Ground


Sarah Pinborough - 2009
    Spidery creatures straight out of a nightmare have infested the city, skittering after their human prey, spinning sticky traps to catch their food…A few desperate survivors have banded together, realizing their only hope for survival is to flee the dying city. Their route will take them through wrecked streets, into an underground train station. Only too late will they discover their deadly mistake: their chosen tunnel is home to the hungry creatures' food cache, filled with cocooned but still living victims. Instead of escape, the group has run straight into the heart of a… Feeding Ground.

Childgrave


Ken Greenhall - 1981
    But then he sees them for himself: weird and uncanny images of the dead appearing in his photographs. The apparitions seem to have some connection to Childgrave, a remote village in upstate New York with a deadly secret dating back three centuries. Jonathan and Joanne feel themselves oddly drawn to Childgrave, but will they survive the horrors that await them there?The third novel by Ken Greenhall (1928-2014), whose works are receiving renewed attention as neglected classics of modern horror, Childgrave (1982) is a slow-burn chiller that ranks among Greenhall’s best.“Writing in Shirley Jackson’s precise, sharp, chilly prose, Greenhall delivers a slippery book that can’t be pinned down, all about spectral photography, little dead girls, snowbound small towns, and the disquieting proposition that maybe God is not civilized.” - Grady Hendrix, author of Paperbacks from Hell“A very well-orchestrated, eerie tale.” - Publishers Weekly

Summer of Night


Dan Simmons - 1991
    But then a dark cloud threatens the bright promise of summer vacation: on the last day of school, their classmate Tubby Cooke vanishes. Soon, the group discovers stories of other children who once disappeared from Elm Haven. And there are other strange things happening in town: unexplained holes in the ground, a stranger dressed as a World War I soldier, and a rendering-plant truck that seems to be following the five boys. The friends realize that there is a terrible evil lurking in Elm Haven...and they must be the ones to stop it.

Harvest Home


Thomas Tryon - 1973
    The quiet, peaceful place was straight out of a bygone era, with well-cared-for Colonial houses, a white-steepled church fronting a broad Common. Ned and Beth Constantine chanced upon the hamlet and immediately fell in love with it. This was exactly the haven they dream of. Or so they thought.For Ned and his family, Cornwall Coombe was to become a place of ultimate horror.