Book picks similar to
Darker... by Stefan Bourque


horror
fiction
quality-dark-fiction
short-stories

Forbidden Fruit


Calvin Demmer - 2017
    Casey, author of Stygian Doorways

How To Exit Your Body: and Other Strange Tales


Christopher Maxim - 2018
    This book is guaranteed to horrify you in the best way possible. Open it up, turn the page, and take a journey to a world consumed with mystery in madness.

Plague


Max Hawthorne - 2016
     “Holy --- Steve, the Taser’s not stopping him!” “It has to! Nobody can take that. Hit him again!” “Look out! Here he comes!” Ron charged again, powering his way past the jolts of pain. He smashed into the nearest intruder with bone-jarring force, grappling with him, tearing at him. The struggle intensified as the two rolled around on the alley’s blood-soaked cobblestones. The second creature joined in the battle, striking at his head with a hard stick in an effort to aid his comrade. Ron laughed. The intruders were pathetically weak. He could sense it. He snatched the light from the closer one and backhanded him across the face with it, sending him sprawling. Then he turned toward the other one. He was stumbling backward, clawing at his hip, and obviously terrified. Amused, Ron turned away and focused on the one on the ground. He took a deep whiff, smelling the hot blood that ran in rivulets from the downed newcomer’s brow, and listened to the jackhammer beating of his heart. More food. THE DEADLIEST KILLERS ARE THE ONES YOU CAN'T SEE. Three weeks have passed since the monstrous Kronosaurus imperator’s attack on Harcourt Marina stunned the world. The death toll was horrific, but Paradise Cove’s traumatized survivors soon discover they have more to worry about than just burying their dead and rebuilding their shattered lives. Accompanying the pliosaur were hordes of primeval pathogens. With their host destroyed, the Cretaceous-era bacteria are forced to find new homes for themselves. They do: tiny, bipedal life forms whose warm, iron-rich blood provides perfect growing conditions. They begin to multiply and spread, their mutagenic qualities quickly warping their unwitting host’s delicate bodies and minds. Soon, the infected are transformed into mindless beasts, consumed with a burning hunger for flesh. And like all ravening beasts, they must feed . . .

Wrong Town: A Mark Landry Novel


Randall H. Miller - 2015
    It's that good." - Colonel D. Paquin, U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division An Amazon Best Seller in the U.S., U.K., Canada, & Australia! Wrong Town fuses the worlds of special operations, counterintelligence, police work, and small-town drama into a gripping adventure full of characters with monumental responsibilities and real-life troubles. Follow thirty-nine-year-old veteran Mark Landry as he returns home, having retired from an American government black-ops unit. In a small town north of Boston with a rich history, Landry finds that the only girl he has ever loved, Luci Alvarez, is now an extraordinary policewoman at the precarious center of a community’s struggles with change, amidst a powder keg of fear and paranoia not seen since colonial times. Landry seeks to convince Officer Alvarez that he is home for good as he learns the astonishing answer to a lifelong mystery. Landry is eager to begin his new life, but events threaten to expose disturbing details of his past that would send shockwaves through the country and sabotage the only relationship he cares about. As terrorist attacks and targeted mass shootings increasingly litter American soil, two new realities come into focus: the war on terrorism’s geographic center of gravity is shifting, and Landry’s new life is beginning to look a lot like the career he left behind.

Torment


Jeff Menapace - 2012
    An expert on the beast.A mysterious village tucked away from the world, deep in the northern woods.Four friends from Minneapolis heading north to a rented cabin for a weekend of fun.All have a separate agenda. None are prepared for the terrifying outcome lying in wait.This novella also appears in WARPED: A Menapace Collection of Short Horror, Thriller, and Suspense Fiction

The Haunting of Galsbury Inn: Haunted House


Caroline Clark - 2019
    He was a man who believed what he could see, but even he knew that something was very wrong. FREE with Kindle Unlimited. The Galsbury Inn is a magnificent structure, nestled in the idyllic English countryside. The place is rundown and spooky from being abandoned over the years. Then there were the rumors about deaths and disappearances. Some say the first owner tortured and killed people, including his own wife, but that happened a hundred years ago, or more, and besides, there’s no such things as ghosts. Only Charles may have to change his mind. Based on the Inn’s history, Harriet has a hunch that something more sinister—and paranormal—is at play. She’s a paranormal investigator, an amateur sure, and eagerly jumps on the chance to investigate the Galsbury. But soon, she quickly realizes what she’s playing with is far out of her league, and she’s a bit in over her head. But she’s persistent and won’t let a poltergeist intimidate her into heading back home with her tail between her legs. With the help of an unwitting policeman, Harriet takes on the Galsbury and its secrets. Is she strong enough to face the Inn’s horrible past and find the truth? Or will the spirit that resides within scare her away, or kill her in the process? Also by Caroline Clark: Don’t Close Your Eyes The Spirit Guide Series: The Haunting of Seafield House The Haunting on the Hillside The Haunting of Oldfield Drive The Ghosts of RedRise House 4 book box set Single Books: The Haunting of Brynlee House Daddy Won’t Kill You The Spirit Behind You The Haunting of Shadow Hill House

Blood Drops


WB Welch - 2018
     Whether we are following WB through a grim future where human meat is on the market, or trailing slowly behind while she introduces us to Marie Laveua's daughter, you can be certain of one thing: you will be surprised. The best and the most brutal of WB's works has been brought together in this all-too-believable collection. Includes a total of eighteen tales. Stories include: - Her - Undo - Slipping - Siren - Alone in the House - Antics - House Arrest - Mall Food - Meat Aisle - The Water Stain - Heart Problems - Laveau - The Birth - The Look - Love/Death - Beneath the Surface - Nighttime Terror - Girl in the Pink Coat

The Nightmare Collective


PlayWithDeath.comJenny Ashford - 2015
    With 12 terrifically spine chilling short stories, this anthology contains contributions from some of the best young horror writing talent out there, and was curated by the editors of the PlayWithDeath.com, the premier destination for online horror entertainment. If you're searching for stories that will frighten you to your very core, look no further. List of Short Story Authors Tom Wortman M. B. Vujačić Manen Lyset Jenny Ashford Kyle Yadlosky G. T. Montgomery Ari Drew Patrick Winters Trevor James Zaple John Teel Dexter Findley Kyle Rader

Somewhere South Of Midnight


Stephen Laws - 2012
    They're heading south to the port where they'll catch a ferry. Harry checks his watch. It's just after midnight. The motorway is suddenly flooded with light. A blinding, intense, painful light. There's a terrible multiple pile-up. Carnage. Harry's wife and daughters are dead. But somehow Harry himself and a handful of others escape from the scene with scarcely a scratch . . .

In the Shadow of El Paso


Frank Zafiro - 2012
    Isabella is a beautiful Mexican woman that everyone in town loves, including the hapless Pete and the wealthy, powerful Jack...but most of all, Carl.Part romance, part police procedural, IN THE SHADOW OF EL PASO contains two short stories by Frank Zafiro. Both stories explore love, race, class and the ambiguity that exists on the southern border.

Manuscript 512


Rick Chesler - 2018
    Thought to be buried somewhere within the Mato Grosso region of the Amazon rainforest, the lure of the vanished riches has long proven deadly to treasure-seekers who brave the forbidding wilderness and mysterious creatures in search of it. Disgraced historian Dr. Hunter Winslow, fired from a lucrative professorship for stealing rare documents in order to gain a competitive edge over his colleagues, thinks the key to Manuscript 512 lies not in its words, but in its paper itself. The only problem is that to confirm his hypothesis means to destroy the document, something the Brazil National Library in Rio de Janeiro will never allow. But old habits die hard, and Hunter knows his way around a Special Collections room. After a brazen theft that triggers an international manhunt, the rogue historian is able to reveal the document’s secrets in a way no one else can, or ever will be able to again—by using its physical properties to reveal missing sections that had supposedly been irreversibly damaged. Armed with this new information, Hunter embarks on an expedition to the deepest Amazon to put to rest the mystery of the lost city once and for all. But while Hunter is looking for the fabled treasure, the long arm of the law is looking for him. Will they catch up to him before he can locate the treasure of a thousand lifetimes, or will he become as lost as the city he seeks?

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King - A 30-Minute Summary


Instaread Summaries - 2014
    Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King - A 30-minute Summary of the Novel Inside this Instaread Summary: Overview of the entire bookIntroduction to the Important people in the bookSummary and analysis of all the chapters in the bookKey Takeaways of the bookA Reader's Perspective Preview of this summary: Part1Chapter 1Down-on-his-luck, Augie Odenkirk helps homeless Janice Cray care for her baby as they wait in the early morning fog for a job fair. A gray Mercedes plows into the crowd. Augie, Janice and the baby are among the victims.Part 2Chapters 1-3About a year after the Mercedes crash, Retired Detective K. William Hodges watches more grubby reality shows, fails to enjoy his beer, and thinks, again, of shooting himself. The arrival of the mail distracts him. A letter, allegedly from the driver of the killer Mercedes, stuns him. The writer brags about killing eight and wounding many. He says that he got off sexually at he drove into the crowd. He wore a condom and used bleach to get rid of any DNA. He wore a hair net under a clown mask for the same reason. He knows Hodges is miserable and hopes the letter cheers him up. He gives Hodges a website where they can talk, including a username: kermitfrog19.Chapters 4-6Hodges wonders if he should turn the letter over to his former partner, Pete Huntley. He believes the writer is the killer because he knows inside information about the condom and the bleach. The idea of using this letter, and chats on line, to catch the killer gives Hodges a reason to live.Chapter 7-9Hodges analyzes the letter and sees that the writer has several identifying traits, including misusing perk for perp and peppering his words with an image of a smiley face. The same smiley face was glued onto the steering wheel of the Mercedes. Hodges calls Pete and makes a lunch date....

The Eyes That Moved


Rachelle M.N. Shaw - 2015
    When she meets Adam, a fellow sleuth and collector, they embark on their biggest adventure yet: the Whitson house. The house is a marvel, and its secrets are even stranger than Kendra imagined.Kendra stumbles upon the find of a lifetime. But she may have signed on for more than she bargained. There’s a darkness in the house that wasn’t there before, a pair of eyes in every corner, watching, waiting. And Adam isn’t at all who he claimed to be.

LongWalkers: The Return of the Nephilim


Stephen Quayle - 2008
    Worse, a secret society operating outside the law is intent on bringing the monsters back to life and restoring the creatures as rulers of mankind.Joshua and his ex-girlfriend soon find themselves pitted against vicious assassins, Russian Spetsnaz troops, and cold-blooded giants hungry for human flesh as they journey around the planet in their efforts to stop the secret society.But that’s only the start of their nightmare: Those reviving the army of giants have gained control of ancient stargates enabling an invasion of the seats of power around the globe including the Kremlin and White House. It's a massive power play that leaves the fate of the human race hanging in the balance.This fast-paced, spellbinding novel is a page-turner, with entertaining plot twists and surprises.“Adventure and mayhem, told with style!”“The characters showed personality and the book had imagination. I felt like I was watching a movie. The story line was great…. If you enjoy Stargate type movies I believe you'll like this book.”

Phantoms / The Servants of Twilight / The Bad Place


Dean Koontz