Book picks similar to
Night of the Prowler by Jon Athan
horror
dnf
splatterpunk
slashers
NOS4A2
Joe Hill - 2013
On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.” Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son.
The Hellbound Heart
Clive Barker - 1986
Not your ordinary affair. For Frank it began with his own insatiable sexual appetite, a mysterious lacquered box- and then an unhinged voyage through a netherworld of imaginable pleasures and unimaginable horror… Now Frank - or what is left of Frank - waits in an empty room. All he wants is to live as he was before. All Julia can do is bring him her unfulfilled passions… and a little flesh and blood…
Woom
Duncan Ralston - 2016
"I believe pain lingers," Angel said. "Do I believe in spirits? In the supernatural? Probably not."The Lonely Motel holds many dark secrets... and Room 6 just might possess the worst of them all.Angel knows all about pain. His mother died in this room. He's researched its history. Today he's come back to end it, no matter the cost, once and for all.Shyla, a plus-sized prostitute, thinks the stories Angel tells her can't be true. Secrets so vile, you won't want to let them inside you.But the Lonely Motel doesn't forget. It doesn't forgive. And it always claims its victim.
The One That Got Away
Simon Wood - 2015
But something goes terribly wrong on their way home, and the last time Zoë sees her, Holli is in the clutches of a sadistic killer. Zoë flees with her life, changed forever.A year later and still tortured with guilt, Zoë latches on to a police investigation where the crime eerily resembles her abduction. Along with a zealous detective, she retraces the steps of that fateful night in the desert, hoping that her memory will return and help them find justice for Holli. Her abductor—labeled the “Tally Man” by a fascinated media—lies in wait for Zoë. For him, she is not a survivor but simply the one that got away.With an unforgettable heroine, a chillingly disturbed psychopath, and a story that moves at breakneck speed, The One That Got Away is thriller writer Simon Wood at his finest.
The Asylum Confessions
Jack Steen - 2020
They leave dead.But first, they give me their confessions.Fans of Stephen King, Joe Hill and like to read books like The Bird Box, The Haunting and can't get enough stories about serial killers are going to enjoy reading the deathbed confessions from The Asylum.My name is Jack Steen and for those who arrive on my 'death' ward at the Asylum, I'm the last face many will see before they die. I am the night nurse at the Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Most of my patients are serial killers and mass murderers and they know me as the Angel of Death. When they come onto my floor, I offer a deal: tell me their story, their 'untold' story that hasn't been read about in the news, sensationalized by media or cataloged in a ridiculous number of academic papers. I want the real story - the one they haven't old anyone. Some of these killers have never confessed to their crimes, some kept certain information to themselves...those are the stories I want.If they give them to me, I'll make their death...easier. They're already dying, that's why they're now my patients. If they play nice, I can make their death less painful. But only if they play nice and tell me their confessions.The majority of these killers are expert manipulators. I realize they could be playing me and messing with my head. It's a chance I'm willing to take.And now...they might just be playing with yours too.Inside this book are 4 DeathBed Confessions:Patient 1024 has an interesting 'appetite'. Patient 974 is the Ken to his Barbie, and he would do anything to keep her happy.Patient 871 is a Nanny, but not one you want watching your kids.Patient 1203 is the sweetest, broken soul you'll ever meet but her confession is a hard read. WARNING: There is swearing in this book. And some stories might be a trigger for something you have a hard time handling. But, these are the confessions of serial killers, mass murderers and such.
When You Disappeared
John Marrs - 2013
But Simon never makes it to the office. His running shoes are by the front door. Nothing is missing - except him.Catherine knows Simon must be in trouble. He wouldn't just leave her. He wouldn't leave the children.But Simon knows the truth - about why he left and what he's done. He knows things about his marriage that it would kill Catherine to find out. The memories she holds onto are lies.While Catherine faces a dark new reality at home, Simon's halfway around the world, alive and thriving. He's doing whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the truth.But he can't hide forever, and when he reappears twenty-five years later, Catherine will finally learn who he is.And wish she'd stayed in the dark.Revised edition: Previously published as The Wronged Sons, this edition of When You Disappeared includes editorial revisions.
Santa Took Them
William Malmborg - 2015
No one in Holly Brook, IL has forgotten the horror that unfolded on Christmas Eve all those year ago, and now, as a terrifying blizzard descends upon the small isolated town, and teens begin disappearing one by one, it looks as if that gruesome night was just the beginning.
The Netherwell Horror
Lee Mountford - 2019
But none like Netherwell Bay… ‘Sis, I’m in trouble. Real trouble. And I need help.’ After receiving a worrying message from her estranged brother, Beth Davis sets out to find and help him, ending up in the strange, coastal town of Netherwell Bay. There, she begins to witness terrifying and unexplainable things, and reports of ritualistic murders have the town panicked. A sinister cult soon makes its presence known, and the dark history of Netherwell Bay is unveiled. Beth then finds herself in a race against time to stop a doorway to Hell from opening… permanently. The Netherwell Horror is a Lovecraftian mystery that quickly descends into madness, sickening violence, and chaos. Fans of Silent Hill will love this nightmarish tale, but those of a squeamish disposition need not apply…
I See You
Ker Dukey - 2015
I capture you in your vulnerability; that smile, your laugh, those tears. I document you and sell your secrets. When I watch you through my lens you’re mine until I pass you to the buyer. I, like most people, have a fetish for pretty things and in my job I get to be around a lot of pretty things. They pay me to watch them and capture them in a frame for many purposes, and sometimes I like my profession a little more than I should. I took a job to capture her… I wanted to capture and keep her in more than just the image. This time I will take myself away from the lens and become the client because I cannot resist her, she reminds me too much of my first, I need to have her.Traumatised from a vicious attack, Nina Drake finds herself shut off from the world until her neighbour brings her out of more than just her nightmares. Even after moving and changing her name, she still can’t shake the feeling of being watched. The memories are so close. And so is the shadow of the creator of them all.
The Final Girl Support Group
Grady HendrixGrady Hendrix - 2021
The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she's not alone. For more than a decade she's been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette's worst fears are realized--someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.
House of Sand
Michael J. Sanford
Consumed by hate, I've done the unthinkable. And it's turned me into a hero. Now, I must decide how far I'll go to keep my secret safe. I won't let you know the truth. But the sounds that echo in my head... ...are only growing louder. Attempted murder gives a man his family back. It's everything he's ever wanted, but he can't forget what he did. And the longer he holds the secret, the more control he loses to the darkness whispering in his ear. It craves violence and can't be silenced forever. The line between truth and lies is disappearing. And with it, the difference between right and wrong. WARNING: Strong adult language and graphic violence.
Layla
Colleen Hoover - 2020
After weeks in the hospital, Layla recovers physically, but the emotional and mental scarring has altered the woman Leeds fell in love with. In order to put their relationship back on track, Leeds whisks Layla away to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. Once they arrive, Layla’s behavior takes a bizarre turn. And that’s just one of many inexplicable occurrences.Feeling distant from Layla, Leeds soon finds solace in Willow—another guest of the B&B with whom he forms a connection through their shared concerns. As his curiosity for Willow grows, his decision to help her find answers puts him in direct conflict with Layla’s well-being. Leeds soon realizes he has to make a choice because he can’t help both of them. But if he makes the wrong choice, it could be detrimental for all of them.
The Haunting of Highdown Hall
Shani Struthers - 2014
Not just a job for Ruby, it's a crusade and one she wants to bring to the High Street. Psychic Surveys is born. Based in Lewes, East Sussex, Ruby and her team of freelance psychics have been kept busy of late. Specialising in domestic cases, their solid reputation is spreading - it's not just the dead that can rest in peace but the living too. All is threatened when Ruby receives a call from the irate new owner of Highdown Hall. Film star Cynthia Hart is still in residence, despite having died in 1958. Winter deepens and so does the mystery surrounding Cynthia. She insists the devil is blocking her path to the light long after Psychic Surveys have 'disproved' it. Investigating her apparently unblemished background, Ruby is pulled further and further into Cynthia's world and the darkness that now inhabits it. For the first time in her career, Ruby's deepest beliefs are challenged. Does evil truly exist? And if so, is it the most relentless force of all?
Birdman
Mo Hayder - 1999
The Met's crack murder squad, AMIP, is called out by nervous CID detectives to a grim discovery. Five bodies, all young women, all ritualistically murdered and dumped on wasteland near the Dome. As each post-mortem reveals a singular, horrific signature linking the victims, officers realize that they are on the trail of that most dangerous offender: a sexual serial killer. Detective Inspector Jack Caffery - young, driven, unshockable - finds himself facing both hostility within the force and echoes of his past in this, his first case with AMIP. Haunted by the memory of a death long ago, he employs every weapon forensic science can offer for he knows it is only a matter of time before this chaotic, sadistic killer strikes again.
A Killer's Mind
Mike Omer - 2018
Doubting the findings of the local PD’s profiler, The FBI calls on forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley to investigate.Zoe quickly gets off on the wrong foot with her new partner, Special Agent Tatum Gray. Zoe’s a hunter, intense and focused; Tatum’s a smug maverick with little respect for the rules. Together, they must descend into a serial killer’s psyche and untangle his twisted fantasies, or more women will die. But when the contents of three inconspicuous envelopes reveal a chilling connection to gruesome murders from Zoe’s childhood, suddenly the hunter becomes the hunted.