Book picks similar to
Secrets of the Weird by Chad Stroup


horror
transgender
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san-diego-area-authors

Book of the Damned: A Hellraiser Companion


Clive Barker - 1991
    A Hellraiser Companion, first in a 4 volume set.

A Penny For Your Thoughts


Robert Ford - 2019
    He has let go of old habits, especially the ones that turned him into an addict and helped land him in prison.On a hike along the Lowback Trail, Joe stumbles on one of the town's oldest secrets--buried long ago, if not forgotten.It's an unusual but safe enough treasure--a jar of old pennies. What interests Joe isn't the pennies themselves, but the pieces of paper taped to every coin--a child's handwritten wish on each one.When the first few wishes come true, they are simple things. Fun. Harmless.Except as time goes on, Joe realizes they aren't really wishes at all...they're exchanges, and the bill was racking up.Nothing is free in life. Sooner or later, you always pay.

Bad Jack


Adam Moon - 2013
    These objects are dangerous to the touch, but not to Jack.When his superiors discover he can interact with the objects, he's brought even further into the fold.Soon he's introduced to bizarre creatures that just a handful of people have ever witnessed.His simple life has turned into a freak show.And it only gets worse.

Jigoku


F. Gardner - 2021
    Collecting the cards and imagining himself in the wild world the monsters exist, has become his favorite pastime. Depressed that the fictitious monsters don’t exist in his world, a thought occurs to him. Maybe they don’t just have to be fiction. Maybe the fantasy can become real. But at what cost?

Dead Spell


Belinda Frisch - 2011
    Damaged and determined, she'll take you to the wrong side of the tracks and you'll love it.Harmony's darkest secret has clawed its way back from the grave and only her best friend, Brea believes her. Adam, Harmony's boyfriend, fears for her safety. Her mentally ill mother is too busy tending her own demons to care. Brea's family, who has denounced Harmony's for years, buried the truth about their shared tragic past along with their former friendship.Harmony looks for answers about the monster's identity in the wreckage of her abandoned childhood home but when her search leads her down a dark path, Brea and Adam must pick up the crumbs to get much needed closure.Some secrets you keep, even from yourself. Dead Spell is about a ghost with a past and a girl who would die to forget it.A Young Adult novel intended for older teens and fans of YA fiction. Some mature themes.

Shaman's Call- Frostburn: A Litrpg Adventure


Sean Oswald - 2021
    

Absolution


George S. Mahaffey Jr. - 2017
    They way they are proven innocent? Evade, escape, and survive their hunters. At nineteen, Marisol never thought she would be a tracker of humans. In this post-apocalyptic world where justice is determined by a system of Absolution, Marisol steps up to do her duty. She hates everything that Absolution stands for, but there's nothing she can do about it. Nothing, that is, until one of her Runners turns out to be the key to uncovering a vast conspiracy that threatens to topple the dictator of New Chicago and change their lives forever.

Doorways


Robert Enright - 2017
    Shielded from humanity, the Otherside is watched over by the BTCO, a highly secret government agency, whose members all possess 'The Knack', a genetic anomaly that allows them to see this other world. Franklyn 'Bermuda' Jones is the BTCO's finest agent, the only human to have passed to the Otherside and returned. Gifted with the ability to physically interact with both worlds, Bermuda reluctantly stands between both worlds, pining for the life he had to leave behind and the daughter he can no longer see. Teamed with Argyle, an enigmatic Otherside warrior, Bermuda is assigned the case of a missing woman who has vanished under mysterious circumstances.As Bermuda delves further into the disappearance, he uncovers a threat that could destroy the truce between two worlds...and finds himself in a race against time to safeguard humanity's very existence. Discover a new world in this fast-paced urban fantasy packed with thrills, action and the odd one liner.

It's Just A Skirt


Matthew Potter - 2017
    After a non-life threatening accident as a child, he hasn't quite developed like other boys his age. A group of older classmates take advantage of George's nature and force him into a situation that leads him to discover some interesting things about himself.

The Last Hellfighter


Thomas S. Flowers - 2018
    WWI veteran. Vampire slayer.In the year 2044, reporters from the Public Relations Ministry gather at the home of Benjamin Harker, the last surviving member of the Harlem Hellfighters. At the age of 144, he is the oldest recorded man alive.Hidden among them, Clyde Bruner is looking for a different kind of story. Across the United States, despite the Great Walls and patrol drones built to keep America secure, something has found its way in. And now towns are vanishing during the night. Entire populations, gone. Only to return after the sun sets, changed, unholy, and lethal. And whatever this evil is, its spreading west.According to a bedtime story Bruner’s grandfather told him when he was a boy, Benjamin Harker has seen this before. He’s faced this scourge. Fought this evil. Survived them. Killed them. From the trenches of the Great War to the jungles of Vietnam to the sands of Iraq, Harker will search his past to save our future.But as each city light extinguishes across the country, is there no time left to stop what’s coming?

Raid Slayer


Riley Morrison - 2018
    Video game action, epic adventure, evil developers and beautiful women! With an evil government ruling over his word, Zack flees into the MMO Aralia Online to escape them. What starts off as a fun-fueled 5 player dungeon grind for coin and loot soon turns into the epic adventure of a lifetime.Forced into Alpha Testing a new Underworld expansion zone by the developers, Zack is granted an upgradable group of hot female companions, a customizable player house and more action and adventure than one guy can possibly handle! But not all is as it seems. Mysterious forces working against the government hide in the digital shadows.  And they are watching Zack, studying his potential, seeing where his loyalties lie. Warning: Contains sexy scenes, violence, gore, numbery stats, Bard healz, a giant snake woman, a cult of big women, bikini armor, a grumpy old lady kept up at night by all the “youngins” and their loud and sinful fun and a naughty dragon that sets fire to everything. Recommended for age 18+ Readers who love LITRPG and Gamelit Fantasy with beautiful women!Come join the action!

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things During the Zombie Apocalypse


Scott M. Baker - 2019
     Every teenage girl has a diary in which she vents her frustrations with siblings and parents. But a zombie apocalypse? This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things During the Zombie Apocalypse is a comedic adventure about a teenage girl, her frustrating family, two high-spirited dogs, and a neighborhood of loveable rednecks coming together to survive a zombie outbreak.

Return of the Old Ones


Brian M. SammonsChristine Morgan - 2017
    Snyder, Tim Curran, Pete Rawlik, Sam Gafford, Christine Morgan, Cody Goodfellow and many more, Return of the Old Ones: Apocalyptic Lovecraftian Horror continues the Dark Regions Weird Fiction line with 19 original stories from some of the best authors in Lovecraftian horror and weird fiction today. Return of the Old Ones will only have one signed edition (deluxe slipcased hardcover) and will feature a similar stamp design to the popular Cthulhu head stamping featured on the World War Cthulhu hardcovers. It will be signed by all contributors and will feature the original color cover artwork by Vincent Chong as color end sheets.

The Dead Below: The Haunting of Denver Botanic Gardens


Richard Estep - 2019
     Built on top of the old city cemetery, Denver Botanic Gardens sits upon thousands of unrecovered human remains. Small wonder, then, that visitors and staff alike have reported all manner of ghostly activity, ranging from disembodied voices, cold spots, and phantom footsteps, to shadow figures and full-bodied apparitions. Are the spirits of the restless dead making their presence known to the living? Join paranormal investigator Richard Estep, of TV's 'Haunted Case Files,' 'Haunted Hospitals,' and 'Paranormal 911,' as he and a small team of dedicated researchers are locked down inside Denver Botanic Gardens in an attempt to uncover the truth for themselves.

The Lycanthrope's Lawyer: An Urban Fantasy Legal Thriller (Colt Valentine Arcane Justice #2)


Jason Rose - 2019
    Colt used to be a super normal lawyerUntil a few months ago, Colt was just your average overworked and underpaid San Francisco Public Defender and the only monsters he ever met were the rapists and murderers he was sworn to defend.Now he’s a supernatural paladinIn The Knight Advocate (Book One of the Arcane Justice series), Colt unwittingly became a lawyer for actual monsters after a mysterious man claiming to be a long-lost relative invited him out to drinks. At first, Colt thought he was joking when the man told him he descended from an ancient blood line of heroes and offered him a chance to save the world. And, then drunk, when the man claimed he was an ancient vampire who was one of twenty-four Advocates sworn to enforce supernatural law. But Colt quickly found out how deadly serious the man was when he impaled himself on a knife Colt happened to be holding and, with his dying breath, told Colt the torch had been passed. Now Colt’s desperately trying to survive attacks from inhuman monsters of all kinds while struggling to figure out whatever the hell he’s become.You don’t learn about lycanthropes in law schoolColt’s newest client is the king of America’s werewolves. His father has been framed for murder and an ancient law is being invoked to usurp the crown. A werewolf civil war is brewing and, as usual, Colt and his team need to solve the case, save the day, and try not to get beheaded in the process. Just another day at the newly minted Arcane Justice law firm. On top of it all, Colt has serious girl problems. The kind that truly bite.