Book picks similar to
Monster by Matt Shaw


horror
extreme-horror
fiction
dark

999: Twenty-Nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense


Al SarrantonioRamsey Campbell - 1999
    From dark fantasy and pure suspense to classic horror tales of vampires and zombies, 999 showcases the extraordinary scope of fantastical fright fiction. The stories in this anthology are a relentless tour de force of fear, which will haunt you, terrify you, and keep the adrenaline rushing all through the night.Amerikanski dead at the Moscow morgue / Kim Newman --The ruins of contracoeur / Joyce Carol Oates --The owl and the pussycat / Thomas M. Disch --The road virus heads north / Stephen King --Keepsakes and treasures: a love story / Neil Gaiman --Growing things / T.E.D. Klein --Good Friday / F. Paul Wilson --Excerpts from the records of the New Zodiac and the diaries of Henry Watson Fairfax / Chet Williamson --An exaltation of termagants / Eric Von Lustbader --Itinerary / Tim Powers --Catfish gal blues / Nancy A. Collins --The entertainment / Ramsey Campell --ICU / Edward Lee --The shadow, the darkness / Thomas Ligotti --Rio Grande Gothic / David Morrell --Des Saucisses, Sans doute / Peter Schneider --Angie / Ed Gorman --The ropy thing / Al Sarrantonio --The tree is my hat / Gene Wolfe --Styx and bones / Edward Bryant --Hemophage / Steven Spurill --The book of irrational numbers / Michael Marshall Smith --Mad dog summer / Joe R. Lansdale --The Theater / Bentley Little --Rehearsals / Thomas F. Monteleone --Darkness / Dennis L. McKiernan --Elsewhere / William Peter Blatty

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?

Dark Lullaby


Carolyn McCray - 2008
    "Dark Lullaby" is a 12,000+ word stand-alone short story (with no spoilers) that takes place after the events in "Plain Jane: A Patterson-style thriller with a dash of Hannibal."

The Siren and the Specter


Jonathan Janz - 2018
    But the Alexander House is different. Built by a 1700s land baron to contain the madness and depravity of his eldest son, the house is plagued by shadows of the past and the lingering taint of bloodshed. David is haunted, as well. For twenty-two years ago, he turned away the woman he loved, and she took her life in sorrow. And David suspects she’s followed him to the Alexander House.

Serial


Jack Kilborn - 2009
    #2: Don't pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be raving nutcase.So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Crazy #2...

The 50/50 Killer


Steve Mosby - 2007
    Mackey is a legend in the force and it's a huge opportunity for Mark, who has dedicated his life to his job ever since the death of his girlfriend years before. When a man is found burned to death in his own home, Mackey's team is thrown into an investigation that grows darker and more complex at every turn. The evidence points to a man known as the Fifty-Fifty Killer. His targets are young couples, who he stalks and subjects to a single night of torture and manipulation, testing and destroying the love between them. Only one of them ever survives until dawn. Soon afterwards, a young man walks into a police station badly tortured and with his memory in tatters. He knows only that his girlfriend is still being held captive in the woods he's escaped from. But the team know that by fleeing, the man has sealed his girlfriend's fate. If they can't piece together his experience by daybreak then she will die in his place. However, all is not what it seems.

Chosen


R.S. Broadhead - 2017
    No emotion. No sympathy. Only emptiness. Piper McAdams’s life was normal. Career? Check. Boyfriend? Check. Friends? Check. One unsettling run in with a homeless man turns everything from normal to terrifying. She begins seeing…things. Things she can’t seem to explain or make any sense. As if things aren’t already getting out of hand, Piper receives news that the only family member she has is dead. She thinks maybe a trip across the country to her hometown will get her away from all the strange events happening. After a late night accident, Piper isn’t in her hometown burying her loved one. She’s in a town called Hell. All she wants to do is leave, but the people seem to be holding her there for some reason. A reason she feels threatens her life. Around every corner things become darker and scarier. Can she escape what is coming for her?

Lost Boys


Orson Scott Card - 1992
    But from the first, eight-year-old Stevie's life there is an unending parade of misery and disaster.Cruelly ostracized at his school, Stevie retreats further and further into himself — and into a strange computer game and a group of imaginary friends.But there is something eerie about his loyal, invisible new playmates: each shares the name of a child who has recently vanished from the sleepy Southern town. And terror grows for Step and DeAnne as the truth slowly unfolds. For their son has found something savagely evil ... and it's coming for Stevie next.

Necro Files: Two Decades of Extreme Horror


Cheryl MullenaxNancy Kilpatrick - 2011
    Many hard to find and out of print, some that were banned, Necro Files is a collection that covers every imaginable mode of mayhem and delves into the dark side of human nature. TABLE OF CONTENTS:George R.R. Martin - "Meathouse Man".Joe R. Lansdale - "Night They Missed the Horror Show".Ronald Kelly - "Diary".Elizabeth Massie - "Abed".Randy Chandler & t. Winter-Damon - "I am He that Liveth and was Dead... & Have the Keys of Hell & Death".Edward Lee - "Xipe".Ray Garton - "Bait".Gerard Houarner - "Painfreak".Wayne Allen Sallee - "Lover Doll".Charlee Jacob - "The Spirit Wolves".Brian Hodge - "Godflesh".John Everson - "Every Last Drop".Mehitobel Wilson - "Blind in the House of the Headsman".Monica J. O'Rourke - "An Experiment in Human Nature".Graham Masterton - "The Burgers of Calais".Nancy Kilpatrick - "Ecstasy".Bentley Little - "Pop Star in the Ugly Bar".Wrath James White - "The Sooner They Learn".J.F. Gonzalez - "Addict".

They Call Me Teddy


Ella Burns - 2020
    Any memories of my early years have been snuffed out by the depravity of the last almost two decades, and here I stand at the end of it all with nothing left. Coming to hell was an accident, at least in my case. Most people who end up here are brought here for Her. Then again, most people who end up here didn't last nearly as long as I have. Here I am though at the end of it all and honestly? I envy the dead, for they remember nothing. 'They Call Me Teddy', a dark, enemies to lovers romance featuring young Branson and Amelia, two youths who are taken in and raised by a psychopath artist with a penchant for creating art with human flesh.This is an erotic horror love story, not a romance. You will find depravity, abuse and death within these pages and this is not for the faint of heart. You have been warned

On A Hill


Michael Whitehouse - 2013
    When he is joined by another of the inn's guests, he is captivated and shocked by the superstitious tale he hears; of a place which looms large nearby, where things which should not be walk at night, and of a shadow which casts its foul darkness on all below. Prepare for the terror which awaits you, 'On a Hill'...

Intuition


Jen Meyers - 2011
    An enthralling glimpse into the Intangible world by an "author [who] has a way with words that just pulls you into the story and holds you there until the very last word, and even then you just do not want to be let go" (Shelly Hammond).Luke and his twin sister Sera have unusual abilities. Hers is a gift--she can heal with a touch of her hand. His is a curse--he can see the future but he can't do anything about it.On a hike up the mountain, Luke has a vision unlike any other--one that leaves him terrified. Knowing that it will come true--and that he must do everything in his power to stop it--leaves his own future uncertain.(This is a short story, and approximately 16 pages long.)Intangible (Book One), Imaginable (Book Two), and Indomitable (an Intangible novella) are available now. Book Three coming late 2015.

The Ghosts of Miller's Crossing


David Clark - 2019
    This move is ironic, since it was the mysterious death of his parents that forced him away. He is looking for a quiet setting for them to start over, but what he finds is anything but. Dark truths and a centuries old family secret await him. With the help of his local minister and a historic religious relic, Edward joins the eternal battle of good versus evil and the devils of his past. If you enjoy paranormal thrillers doused in the historical legends of the Vatican and Knights Templar, then this book is for you. Buy David Clark's The Ghosts of Miller's Crossing and take the journey with Edward.

No One Can Hear You Scream


A.B. Whelan - 2021
    After divorcing her husband of eighteen years, Jennifer dives right into a new relationship despite her children’s disapproval.Jennifer’s boyfriend, Tyler, is a middle school English teacher and a mama’s boy. To prove to Jennifer that he can be as outdoorsy as her ex-husband, he suggests going on an off-the-grid vacation in a yurt in Montana. The idea of not having cell phone reception and running water for days doesn’t appeal to Jennifer. Reluctantly, she agrees to the trip because she envisions this unique retreat as an opportunity for her children to connect with her new boyfriend.Jennifer’s subscribers are excited about following their favorite online vlogger on an adventure in the wilderness. But one follower sees her vacation as the perfect opportunity to get close to her and act out his twisted and sick fantasies. Alone on the mountain, where no one can hear her scream, Jennifer realizes that it wasn’t the deep, dark woods she had to fear after all.

Penetralia


Jordan Krall - 2012
    Using the knowledge left by his father, the Plague Doctor, he seeks to unlock the secrets of the universe, but weakness of the flesh won’t be ignored. The sordid overtures of his nymphomaniac sister, combined with his own perverse desires, soil his subjects before revelation can be found.Now the return of Philip’s father is imminent. Judgment is at hand, and if the fate of his mother taught him anything, it’s that one mustn’t disappoint the Plague Doctor.