Book picks similar to
Where Nightmares Begin by Glenn Rolfe


horror
ghost-stories
favs
the-glenn-rolfe-challenge

Where the Monsters Live


Duncan Ralston - 2016
    His purpose is simple: to find the "Rabbit Man" among them, and put him in the ground.Months later, with no one to trust and the pedophiles he lives among growing suspicious of his actions, he learns nothing is simple where the monsters live.

The Night Library


T.L. Barrett - 2012
    Searching these sinister stacks you will find:A church picnic at a haunted reservoir where only a twelve year-old boy is aware that something waits in the water…A burnt-out teacher that finds a friend… in his cancer…The secret to surviving the zombie apocalypse…An inoculation for Lycanthropy which may be more horrible than the disease…Young lovers that, on the eve of World War II, partake of a most forbidden fruit…A haunted carnival ride which delivers its passengers into the unexpected…21 tales of night terror, night madness, nightmares, night woe and night wonder…Welcome to The Night LibraryBe warned: The late fees are killer!

Juniper


Ross Jeffery - 2020
    As Juniper suffers from scorching drought and medieval famine, the townsfolk are forced to rely on the ‘new cattle’ for food: monstrous interbred cats kept by the oppressed Janet Lehey. But there’s a problem: Janet’s prized ginger tom, Bucky, has gone missing, flown the coop. As Janet and her deranged ex-con husband Klein intensify their search for the hulking mongrel, Betty Davis, an old woman clinging to survival on the outskirts of Juniper, discovers something large and ginger and lying half-dead by the side of the road. She decides to take it home… Juniper is surreal, dark, funny, and at times: excruciatingly grotesque. Buckle up for a wild ride through the dust-ridden roads of a tiny, half-forgotten American town…

The Phantom Coach: Collected Ghost Stories


Amelia B. Edwards - 1999
    Edwards is acknowledged as one of the best Victorian ghost story writers. She was one of the select band of authors invited by Charles Dickens to contribute ghost stories to the Christmas numbers of his magazine All the Year Round, and some of her tales—such as 'The Four-fifteen Express', 'Number Three', 'My Brother's Ghost Story', and the highly influential 'The Phantom Coach'—have become staples of ghost story anthologies.There was much more to Amelia Edwards than ghost stories, however, as Richard Dalby makes clear in his introduction. She was an indefatigable traveller, and she incorporated much of what she observed into her ghost stories, many of which are set in northern and central Europe. She was also an archaeologist of world renown, who was instrumental in ensuring that the treasures and antiquities of ancient Egypt were properly excavated and preserved.The Phantom Coach is the first book to collect together all of Amelia B. Edwards's supernatural fiction. In addition to all her known ghost stories, the volume also contains three additional items, including a delightful piece by Edwards herself about 'My Home Life': a fascinating look at one of the Victorian era's most fascinating women.Contents: Introduction by Richard Dalby; 'My Brother's Ghost Story'; 'The Eleventh of March'; 'Number Three'; 'The Discovery of the Treasure Isles'; 'The Phantom Coach'; 'The Recollections of Professor Henneberg'; 'An Engineer's Story'; 'The Four-fifteen Express'; 'The Story of Salome'; 'A Service of Danger'; 'The New Pass'; 'In the Confessional'; 'Sister Johanna's Story'; 'A Night on the Borders of the Black Forest'; 'Monsieur Maurice'; 'Was it an Illusion?'; Appendixes: 'Four Ghosts'; 'A Legend of Boisguilbert'; 'My Home Life'.

The Haunted


Michaelbrent Collings - 2012
    A husband, a wife, a baby on the way.But something will stop them from being happy as they move into their new house: the power of the undead that roam the halls of their home.The demons that have come to claim them. The darkness that seeks to destroy them.The haunted.

The Fearsome Foursome


Amicus Arcane - 2016
    With eerie illustrations throughout and a beautiful three-piece cloth cover, the books are designed to look like they came straight from the library in the Haunted Mansion. Tales from the Haunted Mansion is a fun, spooky ride, just like the attraction from the Disney Parks. And if readers are familiar with the ride, they'll see elements of it throughout the entire story, from items straight of the Mansion (are those pictures stretching?) to lyrics from the narration that is heard in each Doom Buggy. In this bone-chilling book, you will hear the terrifying tales of the Fearsome Foursome--four kids who look to out-scare each other. But just wait until they hear my spooky stories. Who am I? I am Amicus Arcane, your librarian and host. Your Ghost Host. So read on... if you dare!

A Witch by Chance: A Written Fireside Short Story


Lori ConnellyZara Stoneley - 2014
    Ivy Mitchell’s life is changed forever after she follows her cat, Karma, into an old house, where she stumbles upon a strange book that not only unleashes her destiny, but attracts a smoking hot, mysterious stranger named Chance with wicked powers of his own. Ivy was born a witch, but an important decision awaits. Make the wrong choice and more than her powers are at risk. A story in nine parts, each written by a different writer in her own individual style: Lori Connelly, Aileen Harkwood, Zara Stoneley, Kari Lemor, Sarah Lefebve, Carmel Harrington, Teresa F. Morgan, Lynn Marie Hulsman, and Jane Lark.Length: 4300 words

Housebroken


The Behrg - 2015
    No ransom, no demands; there was nothing they wanted--other than to observe." When Blake Crochet and his family are taken hostage in their own home, they are forced to act out their everyday lives under the observance of two psychotic kidnappers. Each moment Blake must pit the decision to follow their captors' rules against the potential catastrophe of a failed escape.He soon learns that the consequences of both action and inaction are more terrifying than he imagined. As Blake's life erodes beneath him, secrets come to light that threaten to destroy his family before their kidnappers have a chance.Secrets carry consequences too.As the motives behind the kidnapping are revealed, Blake must sacrifice everything to hold on to the ever-shifting definition of what his family has become. In his battle for survival, he will face the ultimate consequence: for to fight a devil, you may have to become one yourself.

Creep House


Andersen Prunty - 2014
    Werewolves. Vampires. Mummies. Satanic cults. Unspeakable cosmic horror. Andersen Prunty welcomes you to Twin Springs, Ohio, in his latest collection of horror stories.

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures


Aaron Mahnke - 2017
    They're spoken of in stories and superstitions, relics of an unenlightened age, old wives' tales, passed down through generations. And yet, no matter how wary and jaded we have become, as individuals or as a society, a part of us remains vulnerable to them. Werewolves and wendigos, poltergeists and vampires, angry elves and vengeful spirits.In this beautifully illustrated volume, the host of the hit podcast Lore serves as a guide on a fascinating journey through the history of these terrifying creatures, and explores not only the legends but what they tell us about ourselves. Aaron Mahnke invites us to the desolate Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where the notorious winged, red-eyed Jersey Devil dwells. Mahnke delves into harrowing accounts of cannibalism-some officially documented, others the stuff of speculation . . . perhaps. He visits the dimly lit rooms where séances take place, the European villages where gremlins make mischief, and Key West, Florida, home of a haunted doll named Robert.The monsters of folklore have become not only a part of our language but a part of our collective psyche. Whether these beasts and bogeymen are real or just a reflection of our primal fears, we know, on some level, that not every mystery has been explained, and that the unknown still holds the power to strike fear deep in our hearts and souls. As Aaron Mahnke reminds us, sometimes the truth is even scarier than the lore...

The End of Summer: Thirteen Tales of Halloween


J. Tonzelli - 2013
    Each story is designed to be intrinsically and intimately about Halloween-its traditions, its myths, and its effects-and they run the gamut from horrifying to heartbreaking. Halloween night is the tapestry through which a haunted house, a monstrous child, a late-night drive to a mysterious destination, and other tales are weaved. Demons are faced, death is defied, and love is tested. And not everyone makes it out alive. The End of Summer has arrived.

Okinawa Kwaidan, True Japanese Ghost Stories and Hauntings


Ron L. Dutcher - 2013
    The stories vary in time, dating back to the 16th century to the present day, but each story has a way of getting under your skin. You will be thinking about these stories long after you have put the book down.Most of the stories are set in Okinawa, Japan's southern tropical islands, where the bloodiest battles of World War II were fought. As you might imagine, several stories focus on the war, the soldiers who fought and the civilians who endured.Some of the stories included are:The Grim ReaperThe truth behind the train responsible for the most suicides in Japan.The Nago NightwalkerSomething dark is lurking along highway 505.Haunting at Bise.What did Company H of the 6th Marines find on their recon mission in 1945? The Wreck of the Indian OakWhat really came ashore during that 1840 Typhoon?And nine more chilling stories."A very good read." Anne Poe Lehr, late cousin of Edgar Allen Poe

Ghostlove


Dennis A Mahoney - 2019
    It’s an equinox place, my mother once said, where dark and light things are equally in power.I want to tell you, dear strangers, why I was there and what I found.The three-winged pigeon. My cynical doppelgänger. The loneliness and marvels and confusions of the house. And most of all the ghost living in my bedroom.We learned how to talk without using sound. She was secretive and scared and difficult to know. But she was also warm and playful, as willing to share the room in silence as to trace vulgar symbols on my hand to get a rise.She helped me with the hundred-pound centipede, the hostile little man living in my basement, and the emptiness I’d felt since my mother lost her mind.I tried to help her out of limbo with experiments and spells until I realized if they worked—if we succeeded—I would lose her."

Blood Boy


Barry Lyga - 2014
    Fan-favorite character Howie Gersten — Jazz Dent’s hemophiliac best friend from the I HUNT KILLERS series — finally gets a story all his own! Set one year before the events of the series, “Blood Boy” takes you inside Howie’s hilariously twisted mind for one night only. Enjoy Halloween as only Howie can, learn more about his relationship with Jazz and Connie…and discover exactly what it is he’s keeping a secret from both of them.

Hannah-Beast


Jennifer McMahon - 2018
    The mean girls made sure of it. To this day, for a haunted local mother, the most unsettling Halloween costume of all is an urban legend they call Hannah-Beast. It’s a reminder of the past she can’t forget. Especially tonight when it’s come back, so close to home.Jennifer McMahon’s Hannah-Beast is part of Dark Corners, a collection of seven heart-stopping short stories by bestselling authors who give you so many new reasons to be afraid. Each story can be read in a single sitting. Or, if you have the nerve, you can listen all by yourself in the dark.