Book picks similar to
Boo! by David Haynes


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The Disembodied


Anthony Hains - 2016
    He plays basketball at the Y and he’s just learning to talk to girls. But Griffin doesn’t feel normal. He’s been diagnosed with Depersonalization Disorder—he feels disconnected from his body, and at times, he doesn’t know if he’s dead or alive. And it seems to be getting worse.Following the brutal death of his abusive father, Griffin is haunted by a red-haired kid only he can see and who wants him to do things he doesn’t understand. Griffin's only sources of support are his grandfather, Soren - a regional author of Outer Banks ghost stories - and his same-aged cousin, Tanner, a boy coping with his own troubled life.When a rare blizzard strikes the Outer Banks, Griffin recognizes the red-haired boy as a vengeful specter from Soren's tales. To make matters worse, his well-meaning aunt has convinced his mother he’s under some sort of spiritual attack. Unsure if the mysterious boy is a symptom of his disorder or an entity with evil intent, Griffin finds himself in a struggle to save his life, his sanity and maybe his very soul.

Lords of the Deep


Tim Meyer - 2019
    It was also the landing site of the infamous Lords of the Deep, ruthless pirates who once pillaged the area and said to have hidden a chest full of cursed treasure. But this year’s pirate festival will be different. This year, the Lords of the Deep are coming home. Recovering from the death of her husband, Daphne Jordan is thrust into a series of bizarre events leading up to the big celebration. Lea Bay locals have been reporting strange incidents. Green mist. Seismic activity. Sinister sightings in the harbor, things with scales and long, sharp teeth. Monsters. Joined by her brother-in-law and a local police officer, Daphne must solve the mystery before whatever is swimming beneath the shore surfaces for all eternity. Before the Lords of the Deep resurrect their long-dormant leader upon the Bay—and the world.

Clownflesh


Tim Curran - 2018
    The mother of all blizzards has locked it down. The roads are impassable. Nobody gets in. Nobody gets out.With the freezing winds and blowing snow has come an apex race of predators. They hide in the shadows. They crawl from the drifts. They use the storm as camouflage to hunt their human prey.By morning, the town will be a morgue.Unless one small group of survivors can destroy the monsters in their midst.Horrors beyond imagining.Clowns.

Antarctic Ice Beasts


Hunter Shea - 2019
    The seven person crew of the US Freedom Base lives alone in months of utter darkness with no hope of help or rescue. A freak storm batters the walls and threatens to expose them to the deadly cold. All they can do is wait…and pray. The ground quakes. An alien screech rips through the night. There’s something, or someone, lurking outside. Fists bang on the walls. Each tiny crack in the base spells death by hypothermia.

Captives


Shaun Hutson - 1991
    Moreover, they are carbon copies of killings committed years earlier - committed by men currently incarcerated in one of Britain's maximum security prisons. How could this be?

Condemned


Michael McBride - 2015
    As the body count continues to rise, he and Detective Aundray Rogers must embark upon their own descent into the underworld, one that mirrors the decline of the Motor City, if they’re to have any chance of stopping the murderer before it’s too late. With the city deteriorating around them, they learn that the abandoned buildings aren’t the only things that have been condemned.

The Traveling Vampire Show


Richard Laymon - 2000
    All over the rural town of Grandville, tacked to power poles and trees, taped to store windows, blowing along the sidewalks, fliers have appeared announcing the mysterious one-night-only performance of The Traveling Vampire Show.The show will feature Valeria, the only known vampire in captivity. According to the fliers, she is a gorgeous, stunning beauty. In the course of the performance, she will stalk volunteers from the audience, sink her teeth into their necks and drink their blood!For three local teenagers who see the fliers, this is a show they don't want to miss. But they may have to.Though they can probably scrape up the price of admission, other obstacles stand in the way. One problem, nobody under 18 years of age is allowed into the show. Dwight, Rusty, and Slim are only 16. Another problem, the show begins at midnight and the three teens always have to be home by then. If that weren't bad enough, the show is to take place at Janks Field -- a desolate patch of ground with a nasty history -- that has been declared off limits by their parentsThe situation appears hopeless.Though Dwight and his friends fear they won't be able to attend the actual performance of the Traveling Vampire Show, they do have the entire day to themselves. Why not hike out to Janks Field and take a look around? With any luck, they might be able to watch the crew make preparations for tonight's performance. If they're really lucky, maybe they'll get a peek at Valeria, the gorgeous vampire.And so the three friends set off on foot for Janks Field...Dwight is a solid, honest kid, long on common sense and loyalty to his friends. He always tries to do what's right.Rusty is a husky guy who relishes trouble.Slim, their long-time pal, is the brains of the outfit, a voracious reader of novels, an aspiring writer, and a girl. Also, she is sometimes too brave for her own good.The Traveling Vampire Show is the tale, told in Dwight's own words, of what happened to him, Rusty and Slim on that hot summer day they hiked to Janks Field. It's the story of their friendship and love, their temptations, their betrayals, and their courage as they went where they shouldn't go, did what they shouldn't do...and ran into big trouble.

Where Stars Won't Shine


Patrick Lacey - 2019
    Several years later, after Tucker vanishes from his jail cell, Ivy travels to Ashton's hometown of Marlowe, Massachusetts. Not for closure or therapy. She's being called there. Steered by forces beyond her control. What she'll find is not the quiet suburban town Marlowe once was. It's something new. Something dark. Something that answers the question: Where did Tucker Ashton go?

The Girl Who Hid in the Trees


Steve Stred - 2019
    He left with his friends to ‘debunk’ the urban legend and never came back.Now Jason and his group of friends are fed up and want to discover what is happening, what is the real cause of the terror holding their small town hostage.But something is waiting for them. She may look sweet and innocent, but the friends are about to find out that pure evil can exist in the smallest of packages.She's out there. And while you may not know her name or what she looks like, the local kids will tell you if you ask, that you should fear for your life from the girl who hid in the trees.From the dark mind of Steve Stred, the author of Wagon Buddy, YURI and Invisible comes this fast-paced, seat of your pants coming-of-age tale.  A quick, violent, bleak read,The Girl Who Hid in the Trees will make you think twice about those sounds you hear far off in the woods.

Greyfriars Reformatory


Frazer Lee - 2020
    Caught in the crossfire between brutal Principal Quick and cruel bully Saffron Chassay, Emily befriends fellow outcast Victoria. When the terrifying apparition of the mysterious 'Grey Girl' begins scaring the inmates to death, Emily's disorder may be the one thing that can save her.

The Fallen Boys


Aaron Dries - 2012
    But it still tortures him. His search for answers will lead him down a twisted path paved with secrets and grotesque lies. Instead of peace he finds madness, held captive as part of a deranged plan filled with suffering…and blood. As the nature of his captors’ insanity is revealed, Marshall will need to confront the truth about his son and his own past if he hopes to have a future.

Every Dead Thing / Dark Hollow (Charlie Parker, #1-2)


John Connolly - 2003
    

Darkness Wakes


Tim Waggoner - 2006
    A powerful thing. Its home is in the shadows of a bizarre, hidden club named Penumbra, where it is worshipped by followers who need the pleasure it gives them. They are addicted to it. They live for it. And they kill for it. When Aaron was first introduced to Penumbra, he thought it was just a secret club where members could indulge their kinkier fantasies. Bit by bit, as he learned the club's true purpose, he began to change in subtle, horrible ways. Now it's time for Aaron to prepare his first human sacrifice to the waiting darkness. It's too late for him to back out now, but murder is the least of Penumbra's sins. The true terror is still to come when . . . Darkness Wakes.

Seven Stories


Brian James Freeman - 2010
    His destination today is Pier 13, the ocean front amusement park his family visited every summer when he was a child, and his purpose for coming here is simple: he wants to understand why so many people have been dying in such violent acts... but that might not be the only answer he finds at the old docks.Running Rain:In the year since their son was the first victim of a serial killer known as the The Riverside Strangler, a devastated husband and wife have tried to pretend life can somehow be normal again... but the secrets they're keeping from each other are pushing their relationship to the brink. To make matters worse, The Riverside Strangler was never caught, and now the husband is obsessed with running along the river at night, searching for the truth about why his son died: a truth he may not really want to know...Answering the Call:A young man's very unusual job is taking a heavy toll on him. He stays in homes during the owner's funeral. Someone needs to be there to answer the phone, receive deliveries, and deter thieves who might have seen the obituary in the newspaper and decided this would be a good time for a break-in. The young man has seen a lot of strange things over the years in the homes of the dead, and sometimes his job is truly a matter of life and death...The Punishment Room:Assuming Michael manages to escape the Punishment Room with his sanity and his life, he isn't sure if he'll be able to go on living with the knowledge of what he did to survive... but then again, that's a dilemma he wouldn't mind confronting, given the finality of the alternative.What They Left Behind:There's something lurking in the basement of the old Timlico office building. This thing is evil, the result of the tragic fire that killed dozens of Timlico employees and sent that business spiraling into bankruptcy -- or maybe the thing was the cause of the fire. Scott and a few friends will learn more about this thing before the day is over, including some very bad news for everyone: the thing in the basement is still hungry.A Dreamlike State:Daniel is driving back to his hometown for the first time in six years because his father is dying, but he knows there's more than a sick patriarch waiting for him in the house where he grew up. He has a heart full of questions, and all of his childhood ghosts are patiently waiting for him... and they have a few questions of their own.Where Sunlight Sleeps:A grieving father and his young son, both dealing with their loss in their own ways. A Saturday ritual, retracing the last steps of the woman they loved more than any other. A search for the place where the sunlight sleeps, where bad feelings can be released. And a trip down a memory lane lined with jagged edges and vicious traps that just won't let them go.(The only short story currently listed on Amazon that is missing from this bundle is "The Silent Attic," which is an experimental piece closely related to "A Dreamlike Sleep." If you like "A Dreamlike Sleep", be sure to download "The Silent Attic" to see another glimpse of that same world.)

Bring Her Back


Jeff Strand - 2018
    There's nothing he can do about it. His creepiness--along with the fact that his father once killed eleven people in an office shooting—has kept him from ever having a girlfriend. When he finally works up the nerve to ask Abigail out on a date, after buying flowers from her every day for the past three months, he's sure she'll say no. Maybe she'll even recoil or spit in his face. But she accepts his invitation. He's sure it must be a cruel prank. It's not. These two kind-hearted but weird souls have found each other, and Frank thinks his life is about to change for the better. But this is not a love story. This is a tale of revenge and madness. From the author of PRESSURE, BLISTER, and SICK HOUSE comes Jeff Strand's darkest novel yet. "BRING HER BACK is like a Jack Ketchum novel packed with dark humor." – Michael McBride, author of SUBHUMAN