Book picks similar to
Shades of Fear by Dara Ratner RochlinLaura K. Cowan


horror
short-stories
dark-fiction
psychological-thrillers

The Haunted Looking Glass


Edward Gorey - 1959
    It includes stories by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, M. R. James, W. W. Jacobs, and L. P. Hartley, among other masters of the fine art of making the flesh creep, all accompanied by Gorey's inimitable illustrations.ALGERNON BLACKWOOD, "The Empty House"W.F. HARVEY, "August Heat"CHARLES DICKENS, "The Signalman"L.P. HARTLEY, "A Visitor from Down Under"R.H. MALDEN, "The Thirteenth Tree"ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, "The Body-Snatcher"E. NESBIT, "Man-Size in Marble"BRAM STOKER, "The Judge's House"TOM HOOD, "The Shadow of a Shade"W.W. JACOBS, "The Monkey's Paw,"WILKIE COLLINS, "The Dream Woman"M.R. JAMES, "Casting the Runes"

After the People Lights Have Gone Off


Stephen Graham Jones - 2014
    Included are two original stories, several rarities and out of print tales, as well as a few "best of the year" inclusions. Stephen Graham Jones is a master storyteller. What does happen after the people lights have gone off? Crack the spine and find out. With an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale.Stephen Graham Jones is the author of fifteen novels and five collections, and has some two hundred stories published. Stephen's been an NEA Fellow and has won the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Fiction and the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural fiction. He's forty-two, married with a couple of kids, and lives in Boulder, Colorado.WINNER, Short Story Collection, THIS IS HORRORNOMINATED, Short Story Collection, BRAM STOKER AWARDSNOMINATED, Short Story Collection, SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARDS

The Gingerbread Girl


Stephen King - 2008
    Soon she runs from her husband, to the airport, down to the Florida Gulf and out to the loneliest stretch of Vermillion Key, where her father has offered the use of a conch shack he has kept there for years. Em keeps up her running -- barefoot on the beach, sneakers on the road -- and sees virtually no one. This is doing her all kinds of good, until one day she makes the mistake of looking into the driveway of a man named Pickering. Pickering also enjoys the privacy of Vermillion Key, but the young women he brings there suffer the consequences. Will Em be next?2 Audio CDs / 2 Hours~

The Box Under The Bed


Dan AlatorreHeather Hackett - 2017
     And that’s just a quarter of the thrills. Edited and compiled by Amazon bestselling author Dan Alatorre, this anthology of scary tales brings together the minds and pens of twenty authors, including bestseller Allison Maruska (The Fourth Descendant), bestselling author Jenifer Ruff (Everett), Lucy Brazier (PorterGirl), J. A. Allen, Juliet Nubel, TA Henry, Ann Marie Andrus, Heather Hackett, Barbara Anne Helberg, Scott Skipper, Joanne R. Larner, Christine Valentor, Adele Marie Park, Curtis Bausse, Annette Robinson, Frank Parker, Eric Daniel Clarke, and Maribel C. Pagan. Perfect for Halloween or any time, these stories will make you think twice before walking alone on the beach at night, reading a diary, or innocently watching a train from your car. Consider yourselves warned. NOTE: Warning! American and British spelling ahead. A few stories words are olde English, too. The story The Death Of Mrs. Billen by Mr. Alatorre is from his novel An Angel On Her Shoulder, used with permission.

The Cthulhu Child


David Brian - 2013
    Nevertheless, it is often whispered by those who claim knowledge of such things, that a number of these Elder Gods - the lower rank and file, if you will - decided to hold this ground, so enamored were they by the cults who spilled blood in their names.Those times are all but forgotten, obscured by the shifting mists of history.Fast forward to today, and a wrong turn on a country lane is about to expose Jennifer Bueller, and her daughter Megan, to an unpleasant truth: Yes, times have changed, but ancient deities will adapt in order to thrive.Abandoned space gods, an unfaithful husband, a sociopath rapist, and a broken society with a social welfare system that presents horrors of its own; lastly, though by no means least in this eclectic collection of stories, a flash fiction homage to James Herbert, featuring his most infamous creation.

Ashes


Scott Nicholson - 2010
    The afterword explains where the ideas for the stories came from.

Devious: A 9th Circle Prequel Short Story


Carolyn McCray - 2012
    A serial killer is targeting single women.A challenging first case for Detective Darc and his new partner Trey.Can they catch the killer before more bodies pile up?

DIS MEM BER and Other Stories of Mystery and Suspense


Joyce Carol Oates - 2017
    That genius is on full display in her new collection of seven feverishly unsettling works, Dis Mem Ber and Other Stories of Mystery and Suspense.In the title story, a precocious eleven-year-old named Jill is in thrall to an older male relative, the mysterious, attractive black sheep of the family. Without telling her parents Jill climbs into his sky-blue Chevy to be driven to an uncertain, and unforgettable, fate. In “The Drowned Girl,” a university transfer student becomes increasingly obsessed with the drowning/murder of another female student, as her own sense of self begins to deteriorate. In “Great Blue Heron,” a recent widow grieves inside the confines of her lakefront home and fantasizes about transforming into that great flying predator—unerring and pitiless in the hunt. And in the final story, “Welcome to Friendly Skies,” a trusting group of bird-watchers is borne to a remote part of the globe, to a harrowing fate.At the heart of this meticulously crafted, deeply disquieting collection are girls and women confronting the danger around them, and the danger hidden inside their turbulent selves.

Nineteen Ghost Stories of M.R. James to Keep You Up at Night: 3 Volumes


M.R. James - 2009
    R. James is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal gothic trappings of his predecessors, and replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.According to James, a story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself: 'If I'm not careful, something of this kind may happen to me!'"

The Eighth Day Vol.1


M.M. Dos Santos - 2016
    Her religious parents try to fix her disturbing fantasies with prayers and scriptures. But Lili isn't suffering from fantasies, and her family isn't going to be able to save her as she fights for her sanity and for her life. The whispers are real, the nightmares are more than what they seem, and The Being waiting in the shadows wants to pull her into the darkness forever.But reality is much more sinister than any of her nightmares. Lili isn't the only one who hears whispers in the dark. Her parents pray to a god who has abandoned them. The demons do not live in the bible, nor do they hide in the shadows any longer. They are in minds of men. Whispering in their ears, a part of their very souls.The whispers become louder, the nightmares bleed into reality, and this presence refuses to be ignored.A twisted and disturbing journey through the dark side of humanity, The Eighth Day (Vol.1) is an epic tale of extreme horror that will terrorize your waking thoughts and haunt your dreams long after you've turned your last page.

The Roald Dahl Omnibus: Perfect Bedtime Stories for Sleepless Nights


Roald Dahl - 1986
    Bawdy, funny, touching, and downright outrageous, there's simply no one else like Roald Dahl.This volume is a diabolical collection of 28 of Dahl's best stories. Shiver to classics like The Man From the South, Taste, Royal Jelly and The Great Switcheroo and hard-to-find gems like Poison, The Wish and Neck. It's the perfect remedy for a sleepless night. From Someone Like YouTasteLamb to the SlaughterMan from the SouthThe SoldierDip in the PoolGalloping FoxleySkinPoisonWishNeckSound MachineNunc DimittisGreat Automatic GrammatizatorClaud's DogRatcatcherRumminsMr HoddyMr FeaseyFrom Kiss KissLandladyWilliam and MaryThe Way Up to HeavenRoyal JellyGeorgy PorgyGenesis and CatastropheEdward the ConquerorPigChampion of the WorldFrom Switch BitchGreat SwitcherooLast ActBitch

ABCs of Horror


Anmol Rawat - 2017
    The author has put together promising stories for every alphabet that are guaranteed to scare you out of your wits and question the presence of the supernatural.Pick up the book as the night crawls by for feeling those chills creeping up your skin and your heart beating out of your chest.

Reiko - A Japanese Ghost Story


James Avonleigh - 2012
    In the remote village of Izumi five high school friends died within the space of a fortnight.The circumstances were never explained. Four years later a British paranormal researcher travels to Izumi in an attempt to unravel the mystery. There he encounters much more than culture shock. He encounters the dark side of Japanese culture – the side they don't talk about in guidebooks. He encounters Reiko.

Our Lady Chaos


Erik Henry Vick - 2019
    Hiding out in Pennsylvania, they believe they are safe, and they may be…for a short while.Just when the demon hunters come to believe they have a viable plan for combating the demonic infestation of Oneka Falls, they learn of a new threat. Brigitta's power seems inconsequential by comparison. Confronted by an ancient demigoddess of pain and death, the demon hunter crew knows an open battle will lead to their destruction. The secret to her defeat lies steeped in Akkadian myth, obscured by time and a dead language. Harried by the archdemoness, her powerful servants, and the remaining demons in Oneka Falls, sifting the truth from the legend may prove an impossible task. Nevertheless, the hunters must find a way to save the world.. How can Toby, Benny, Shannon, Mike, and Scott hope to win a war against the demons entrenched in Oneka Falls? How can they even hope to survive?

Sticky Fingers 2 (Sticky Fingers Collection)


J.T. Lawrence - 2018
    Humorous, touching, creepy, but most of all entertaining, this collection is superb." — Tracy Michelle Anderson *** If you're a fan of Roald Dahl or Gillian Flynn you'll love this collection of unsettling stories with a twist in the tale. Get it now.