Book picks similar to
Annie's Room by Amy Cross


horror
mystery
ghost-story
cross-amy

Dark Island


Stephen Cross - 2019
    Within days, two families are dead. No wounds, no illness, their faces frozen in terror. What horror did they see in their last moments? Was it enough to frighten them to death? Tom has worked the mediterranean holiday resorts for years. Barman, kitchen hand, waiter. Always moving, always one step ahead of his past. The job at Milera Island Resort, a new five star hotel, is too good to be true. Accommodation, good pay, easy work. What could go wrong? A few days after the grand opening the resort is thrown into chaos. Two famlies are found dead. No marks on their bodies, no obvious injuries, no apparent cause of death. Their faces, however, are frozen masks of terror. Panic takes the island, evacuation begins, but how long do they have? Tom begins to suffer strange hallucinations and terrifying dreams, more unexplainable deaths occur, and as the chaos deepens Tom becomes aware of a dark presence descending from the woods. Can Tom find a way for everyone to escape before the darkness takes them? Is his past entwined with the growing madness? Who, or what, is the killer amongst them? Dark Island is a thrilling horror novel from the writer of the Surviving the Fall series. Expect chills that will keep you up at night...

Seven Sisters


M.L. Bullock - 2014
    The handsome and wealthy Ashland Stuart has hired her to uncover the history and the secrets of Seven Sisters, an aging antebellum mansion in sultry downtown Mobile, Alabama. A series of dreams, an untimely death and the betrayal of someone she loves lead her back in time to uncover the truth about a missing young heiress and a web of secrets.Will Carrie Jo slip into the shadows of Seven Sisters, following in the ghostly footsteps of the lost young woman, or can she solve this tragic mystery and find her own happiness?

The Thin Wall


E.M. Parker - 2016
    On the surface, the setup was perfect: cheap rent, a great location, and total anonymity.Beneath the surface, however, Corona Heights was something else entirely.Cursed with paper thin walls, the building kept few of its tenants' secrets. But one secret had remained safely buried for years until Fiona's strange encounter with her neighbor - a ten-year-old named Olivia - threatened to unearth it, and all of the unimaginable consequences inherent in its being.As she wages a personal crusade to regain the love and trust of her estranged son, Fiona must also confront the ever-tightening grip of an addiction that she has yet to overcome, a neighbor whose erratic behavior grows more dangerous by the hour, and a seemingly innocent little girl whose dark connection to Corona Heights threatens not only the child's life, but the life that Fiona is trying so desperately to reclaim.And it all begins with a foreboding message from the girl whose face Fiona cannot see, but whose voice is hauntingly clear."Don't ignore the knocking..."

Miramont's Ghost


Elizabeth Hall - 2015
    Only one person knows the truth: Adrienne Beauvier, granddaughter of the Comte de Challembelles and cousin to the man who built the castle.Clairvoyant from the time she could talk, Adrienne’s visions show her the secrets of those around her. When her visions begin to reveal dark mysteries of her own aristocratic French family, Adrienne is confronted by her formidable Aunt Marie, who is determined to keep the young woman silent at any cost. Marie wrenches Adrienne from her home in France and takes her to America, to Miramont Castle, where she keeps the girl isolated and imprisoned. Surrounded by eerie premonitions, Adrienne is locked in a life-or-death struggle to learn the truth and escape her torment.Reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, this hauntingly atmospheric tale is inspired by historical research into the real-life Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

Gloop!


David Brian - 2015
    It has lain in the cold and dark of the bog, waiting patiently for a host to set it free. Now, for John Cluer and his family, nothing will ever be the same again.A novelette of approximately 10,000 words.

The Killing Room


John Manning - 2010
    The Young residence--a beautiful Maine mansion overlooking the Atlantic--is no exception. But the secrets here are different. They can kill...The Only Way OutCarolyn Cartwright, private detective and ex-FBI agent, has been hired by Howard Young to investigate a string of gruesome family deaths. The crimes are horrific, brutal, and senseless. And the time has come for the killing to begin again. . . Is To Die One by one, members of the Young family are chosen to die. Old and young, weak and strong, no one is safe from a killer with a limitless thirst for revenge. And the only way for Carolyn to uncover the shocking truth is to enter the room no one has ever left alive--and make herself the next target. . . Praise for John Manning's debut All the Pretty Girls Are Dead "Brilliantly executed. . .this one is not to be missed!"--Kevin O'Brien, New York Times bestselling author"If you like Dean Koontz, you'll love John Manning!" --Wendy Corsi Staub, New York Times bestselling author

Calm Before The Storm


Ryan Mullaney - 2015
    To get away and relax with friends, forget everything happened, get her life back on track.A stop to seek shelter from a passing storm changes everything. With the weather too intense to continue travel, they pull their Jeep up to the only home around in hopes that the farmhouse's owner would let them rest awhile until the tornado warning passes and the winds and rain have settled. But when the owner of the property answers the door with a shotgun aimed to fire and orders them inside, Samantha can only watch, unseen, as her friends are taken inside to meet an unknown fate.As the only hope for her friends getting out alive, Samantha must figure out what to do, and do it soon. The storm is only getting worse.CALM BEFORE THE STORM is a suspense thriller, a fast-paced journey of horror for a dark and stormy night.

Louisiana Blood (A Chandler Travis and Duke Lanoix Mystery Thriller)


Mike Donald - 2019
    When the remains of Jack the Ripper’s first five victims are discovered in present day Louisiana, an English detective and a local sheriff form an unlikely alliance to unravel the mystery…and find themselves caught up in a modern-day conspiracy.

The House Next Door


Tom Coleman
    Spaulding looks like an ordinary old grumpy neighbor with a penchant for growing roses, but he has a dark secret hidden deep inside of his house. A secret no one knows about. Sarah decides to find out if he is just a sweet lonely widower or a twisted man with a mysterious past. What she encounters at his house is beyond her wildest dreams, but this is a nightmare which she can’t wake up from.

The Garage


J. Dispenza - 2018
     It’s 1996 and high school sweethearts, Zoe and Stefano, are enjoying a valentine’s night in when Zoe realizes she is about to miss her midnight curfew. Worried about losing her car privileges, she jumps into her Ford Escort and begins the long and dark drive home. Meanwhile, Stefano is caught off guard by a troubling psychic premonition of blood – lots of blood. As the clock ticks down to midnight, Zoe comes to the bone-chilling realization that she has a bigger problem than answering to her strict father about the time. Will Zoe and Stefano survive the night? If you like paranormal thrillers, don’t miss this fast paced short story.

Paracosm - Bleath: The Hauntings


Anya Allyn - 2015
     The mayor of Bleath provides Zoe with accommodation at the empty Wilmont house. It's not the friendly farmhouse Zoe was picturing, and worse, the house seems to change day by day. The walls change and strange objects appear. Late at night, scratching noises scrape along the staircase banister and inside the trinket box under her bed. And out in the wheat field below her bedroom window, ghostly figures wait . . . . Is Zoe slipping into an imaginary world of her own? Or are the things she's experiencing terrifying real? PARACOSM is a standalone novel. It is part of a wider world, having a deep connection to The Dark Carousel series.

Reunion


Jeff Bennington - 2011
    Although they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, they come back to their hometown and reunite in the defunct school building. Old flames are rekindled, fears are ignited, and their lives are about to explode in a whirlwind of memories, haunted by the spirit of David Ray, the troubled teen who killed many of the students. Once they're inside the school, they discover that a dark entity has joined them. It has come to collect a debt long overdue and someone has to pay. Will Tanner and his classmates overcome their fears, putting the pieces of their lives back together, or will they be consumed by their worst nightmare? Find out in this suspenseful thrill ride that will keep you guessing and engaged with a lovable cast of characters.

Maniac on the Loose


Steve Hudgins - 2018
    Fearing that he'll lose his job if word gets out, the head of the hospital, Dr. Franklin Grimm desperately attempts to cover up the escape. Meanwhile, there is a Maniac on the Loose.

The Picture Frame


Iain Rob Wright - 2014
    Selfishly, he drags his family with him.Trying to connect with his melancholy son and grieving wife is difficult, but Blake tries his best to hold the strands of his life together while kidding himself that everything is okay. One day, while out looking for treasure in the field outside their new home, Blake and his 10-year old son, Ricky, find something buried in the dirt—an antique picture frame. It changes everything.What Blake first considers a lucky find, soon reveals itself to be something far more sinister. An ancient evil has been released, and it will stop at nothing to complete its mission.

The Haunting of Sunshine House


Dominika Best - 2018
    Her excitement turns to horror as the mysteries of Sunshine House reveal themselves to be more terrifying then she could have ever imagined.   The Haunting of Sunshine House is the first book in a creepy new Supernatural Suspense series that will have your spine tingling. If you like Darcy Coates, Amy Cross or Bill Thompson, then you’ll love The Haunting of Sunshine House by Dominika Best. Buy yourself a copy, grab a hot cocoa and turn down the lights. You’re in for a thrilling ride with Sara Caine in The Haunting of Sunshine House.  Once you start, you won’t be able to put it down. AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Where did your interest in ghost stories come from? When I was young and living in Poland, I lived next door to an old cemetery. It had been a Jewish Cemetery before World War II, and had been gated since 1945. No one had been inside in all those years, my child brain imagined. Our apartment was on the eleventh floor and I could see through the dense trees down to the half buried tombstones. I convinced myself I had seen several ghosts wandering there at night. My fascination with all things supernatural grew from there.  Is that the reason history plays such an important part in this series as well? Yes, absolutely. The ghosts of World War II were everywhere in Poland. You couldn’t escape that dark history. I’ve had a life-long fascination with that time period especially since the tendrils of the horrors still penetrate our modern times. Los Angeles also features prominently in this series. It is called Ghosts of Los Angeles after all. One of the reasons, I loved setting these books in Los Angeles is because of how steeped in history this city is. A different type of history, of course, but one that is stamped on the facades of the city. It’s wild to watch an old silent film and see the downtown streets and buildings prominently featured from that era. The ghosts of all the celluloid stars wander the streets here. On Rudolf Valentino’s birthday, the Hollywood Forever cemetery hosted a live viewing of one of his films on the side of his mausoleum. They had asked the last living organist from that time period to come and accompany that film. Only in Los Angeles.  What made you choose a psychic to be the main character in this series? As I was researching this book, I came across stories of Bess Houdini. She held seances on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel on every Halloween night for 10 years, trying to contact her husband Harry Houdini. I loved that intersection of the supernatural and the famous. I also met some psychics here that were the coolest ladies. They gave me some help in correctly writing about their world.