Book picks similar to
Still Lake by Sara Brooke
horror
misc-horror
do-not-want
sci-fic
Piggy Monk Square
Grace M Jolliffe - 2005
Only two little girls know where he is but they’re too scared to tell. Time is running out for the policeman. Will the girls get help before it’s too late? Piggy Monk Square is a dark yet frequently very funny novel set in 1970's Liverpool. The action takes place in the volatile period before the Toxteth riots burned much of the inner city down. A BRITISH THRILLER This unusual yet very readable British thriller describes a world tainted with deep mistrust and hostility between the local people and the police force. This harsh world is viewed through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl, Rebecca. Rebecca’s world is changing. Her parents are fighting. Her teachers are cruel. She doesn’t know what to do and turns to her best friend Debbie more and more. But Debbie’s life is just as tough. With a father who is always dodging the police, and a mother who works her to the bone, Debbie is no Cinderella. The world these girls inhabit is no fairy tale, it is confusing and can be brutally violent. A TERRIFYING SECRET No wonder the girls mix reality with fantasy - it’s how they survive, especially when it comes to coping with what will soon become their terrifying secret. A secret that will infuse their childhood with fear and change their lives forever. The nightmare begins when Rebecca and Debbie are playing in the cellar of a derelict house. A policeman catches them there and warns them not to return to this dangerous old building. But they are both determined little girls with nowhere else to play, so they come back, again and again. Unfortunately for them so does the policeman. The policeman tries to chase the girls away, but he falls down a ladder and goes ‘asleep.’ The girls try to wake him but can’t. They want to get help but at the same time they know they shouldn’t have been playing in that cellar. They have learned not to trust the police and are so afraid of getting into trouble that they leave the injured policeman alone. NOWHERE TO TURN Wishful thinking makes the girls hope that he will get up and go of his own accord and that everything will be okay again. But when they return and find him still there, conscious but unable to move they find another way to help him. A way that doesn’t involve adults. But, their interpretation of ‘helping’ the dying policeman has terrible consequences for them all.
The Grownup
Gillian Flynn - 2014
On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection. However, when the "psychic" visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan's terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore. Miles, Susan's teenage stepson, doesn't help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination. The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it.“The Grownup,” originally appeared as “What Do You Do?” in George R. R. Martin’s Rogues anthology.
Black Ghost
Freddie Villacci Jr. - 2020
Cunning, resourceful, seemingly supernatural…Bic Green is a world-class contract killer. Tormented by his demons and a life steeped in blood, he clings to absolution from his evils by channeling his funds toward his goddaughter, Gracie, for her quest to cure cancer. When a shadowy Congressman gives him 21 days to assassinate America’s ten wealthiest citizens, Bic has a choice, maintain his code of never killing innocent people or take the eight-figure payout and fully fund Gracie’s research. Bic plans each murder meticulously, creating elaborate ways to make each billionaire’s death look accidental. Nobody suspects a thing. But after two rookie FBI agents, the headstrong Mack Maddox and his troubled partner Caroline Foxx, stumble on an unsuspected clue, they quickly begin to unravel the insidious plot. With billionaires dropping like flies and their superiors ordering them to stand down, they push forward until they find themselves deep in the crosshairs of the Black Ghost.With no time left, terrifying questions stir within Bic’s psyche. Is he a killer using Gracie as an excuse for his ritualistic murders? Even more importantly, if he can’t stop himself, who can?If you’re a fan of fast-paced thrillers filled to the brim with action and suspense, then you won’t want to miss the page-turning debut novel in the Black Ghost series. Grab your copy today!
The Withering (House of Souls #3)
Ambrose Ibsen - 2020
Longtime resident Edgar August thinks he knows who's behind them. Edgar has a secret. In his spare time, he enjoys looking into his neighbors' windows, observing their private lives and spreading gossip. The old doctor who lives behind him has been acting strangely as of late, and witnessing his erratic behaviors over the course of weeks, Edgar begins to suspect that the retired physician, Marcel Dubois, is the kidnapper. As his snooping gets more invasive, Edgar becomes convinced that his neighbor is up to something. But that something, it turns out, is more horrifying than a mere kidnapping. The Withering is the third novel in the House of Souls series.
Living Dead Girl
Elizabeth Scott - 2008
Once upon a time, my name was not Alice. Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was. When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over. Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her. This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.
Hour of the Assassin
Matthew Quirk - 2020
Now, he uses that skill in a little-known but crucial job. As a “red teamer,” he poses as a threat, testing the security around our highest officials to find vulnerabilities—before our enemies can. He is a mock killer, capable of slipping past even the best defenses.His latest assignment is to assess the security surrounding the former CIA director at his DC area home. When Nick enters the man’s study, the home’s inner sanctum, he finds the man alone and unconscious. Someone else has been here—someone who attacked the chief and left him for dead, just moments before. Desperately attempting to save the man’s life, he contaminates the crime scene. Now, investigators believe Nick is somehow involved.Nick knows he’s the perfect scapegoat. But who is framing him, and why? To clear his name, he must find the truth—a search that leads to a nefarious conspiracy whose roots stretch back decades. The prize is the most powerful position in the world: the Oval Office.To save himself and the people he loves, Nick must stop the men who rule Washington before they bury him along with their secrets.
After Nightfall
A.J. Banner - 2018
Years later, when she seeks forgiveness, you invite her to your engagement party as a gesture of reconciliation. But seething hostilities rise to the surface, ruining everyone’s evening. After an awful night, your friend’s battered, lifeless body is found at the bottom of a rocky cliff.Newly engaged Marissa Parlette is living this nightmare. She should be celebrating her upcoming wedding, but she can’t shake the image of her friend lying dead on the beach. Did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she take a purposeful step into darkness? Desperate for answers, Marissa digs deep into the events of the party. But what she remembers happening after nightfall now carries sinister implications: the ugly sniping, the clandestine meetings, the drunken flirtations. The more she investigates, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about her friends, the man she once trusted, and even herself.Bestselling author A. J. Banner keeps readers on a razor-sharp edge in this intricately plotted novel of psychological suspense…in which nothing is as it seems.
Lightning / Midnight / The Bad Place
Dean Koontz - 1992
Throughout her childhood she is plagued by ever more terrifying troubles, but she is protected by a mysterious stranger who acts as her guardian. Then the lightning strikes once more and shatters her world. The adventure - and the terror - have only just begun.
Midnight:
What is the dark and fearful secret that haunts Moonlight Cove? A string of inexplicable deaths has occurred in this idyllic, picturesque coastal town, and four people are drawn together by terrifying circumstances. As the darkness descends, these four must confront the chilling nightmare of Moonlight Cove.
The Bad Place:
Frank Pollard awakens in an alley, knowing nothing but his name - and that he is in great danger. Bobby and Julie Dakota help him to solve this mystery, but they are drawn into ever-darkening realms where they encounter the deadly, hate-filled figure stalking Frank.
Rooms
Lauren Oliver - 2014
His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.
Animals We Are, Book One: (A Survival Thriller)
Valerie Brandy - 2019
will the animal in you, bite the animal in me?" Zoe and her boyfriend Mike head to Yosemite for a week-long horse tour of the backcountry, but get more than they bargained for when a serial killer stalks their party through the woods. The killer's connection to Mike's past makes Zoe question the heart of the man she's fallen in love with. As the mystery unravels, Zoe is forced to confront not just the darkness within others, but the animal within herself. In this fast-paced, romantic thriller, readers are asked to sharpen their fangs and venture through the wilderness within... because not all animals live in the forest.
The Ghost of Blackwood Lane
Greg Enslen - 2010
He’s got a new career and new friends, but they can never know his real name or where he comes from. But the program can’t protect him from the relentless dreams of a young woman in danger. It’s the same dream, night after night, and Gary is helpless, unable to stop the dream’s inevitable and horrifying conclusion. The woman seems strangely familiar…is she someone from his dark past? Is she even real? All he knows for certain is that she needs his help, or she will die.
Killer Doctors
Colin Evans - 2000
Some do. In Killer Doctors, the dark side of the men in white is revealed.
Dastardly Bastard
Edward Lorn - 2012
Widow Marsha Lake brings her son, Lyle, to help him heal after his father’s death. Donald Adams, aka H.R. Chatmon, joins the tour to get away from a sticky situation. Justine McCarthy consents to the hike to placate her boyfriend, Trevor. For Jaleel Warner, the tour guide, walking the chasm is just part of his job. Each of these people must face their darkest memories in order to discover and defeat the secret buried in Waverly Chasm.
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
Ruth Ware - 2018
She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the centre of it.
The Boy Who Drew Monsters
Keith Donohue - 2014
Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, Jack Peter spends his time drawing monsters. When those drawings take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror they inspire. His mother, Holly, begins to hear strange sounds in the night coming from the ocean, and she seeks answers from the local Catholic priest and his Japanese housekeeper, who fill her head with stories of shipwrecks and ghosts. His father, Tim, wanders the beach, frantically searching for a strange apparition running wild in the dunes. And the boy’s only friend, Nick, becomes helplessly entangled in the eerie power of the drawings. While those around Jack Peter are haunted by what they think they see, only he knows the truth behind the frightful occurrences as the outside world encroaches upon them all.In the tradition of The Turn of the Screw, Keith Donohue’s The Boy Who Drew Monsters is a mesmerizing tale of psychological terror and imagination run wild, a perfectly creepy read for a dark night.