The Billionaire's Secret Pregnant Lover 1: Seduced by the CEO


Danielle Jamesen - 2015
    Her boyfriend, Kyle, has proposed, she’s graduating from college with honors, and she’s got a plan for her future. It couldn’t be more perfect. Then things start to go wrong, one right after the other. Mel catches her roommate, Amy, naked in Kyle’s bed. After breaking things off with Kyle, the man she thought she was ready to start a life with, she moves back in with her parents. While suffering through the heartbreak, Mel makes a shocking discovery that changes her whole world. She’s pregnant.

Pine


Francine Toon - 2020
    The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone. In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago. Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it's no longer clear who she can trust. In spare, haunting prose, Francine Toon creates an unshakeable atmosphere of desolation and dread. In a place that feels like the end of the world, she unites the gloom of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times.

The Haunting of Blackburn Manor: Complete Series Box Set


Blake Croft - 2019
    Evil just got a new address… After months on the run from an abusive relationship, Linda Green is ready to slow down and start her life over again. Exhausted from ever-present fear and stress, she yearns for the peace that a fresh start can bring. A fresh start she hopes to find at Blackburn Manor. The lush green trees and serene nature surrounding the manor feel so calming to her frazzled soul that Linda is ready to take advantage of everything this peaceful oasis has to offer. No internet, no distractions. It’s perfect. Until she sees the faces in the window. Not one to believe much in the supernatural, Linda shrugs it off as just a feeling. But the longer she’s at the manor, the more the feeling of uneasiness grows. From the creepy old neighbor who watches her every move to the moving shadows and unexplained phone calls in the middle of the night, something is just not right. She can trust no one. Not even herself. As Linda begins to uncover the history of the place, she is sure that something strange is going on at Blackburn Manor. Something sinister that hides in the shadows, deep within walls cloaked with secrets. Something that will stop at nothing to keep those secrets hidden. The Haunting of Blackburn Manor is a chilling supernatural tale of what happens when a woman’s search for sanctuary turns into a desperate and terrifying attempt to save her own life. Evil truly has a new address...

The Cherry Robbers


Sarai WalkerSarai Walker
    Known as a recluse, she avoids all public appearances. There’s a reason: she’s living under an assumed identity, having outrun a tragic past. But when a hungry journalist starts chasing her story, she’s confronted with whom she once was: Iris Chapel.Connecticut, 1950: Iris Chapel is the second youngest of six sisters, all heiresses to a firearms fortune. They’ve grown up cloistered in a palatial Victorian house, mostly neglected by their distant father and troubled mother, who believes that their house is haunted by the victims of Chapel weapons. The girls long to escape, and for most of them, the only way out is marriage. But not long after the first Chapel sister walks down the aisle, she dies of mysterious causes, a tragedy that repeats with the second, leaving the rest to navigate the wreckage, to heart-wrenching consequences. Ultimately, Iris flees the devastation of her family, and so begins the story of Sylvia Wren. But can she outrun the family curse forever?

The Guardians Series 1: The Hell Book


Wendy Saunders - 2017
    For the descendants of the Salem witch trials, the past appears hard to escape… Book 2: The Ferryman Betrayed by her family and still trying to piece together the broken strands of her life, Olivia and Theo must also figure out how to stop Nathaniel, the demon from seventeenth century Salem, who has been let loose on the unsuspecting town of Mercy. Book 3: Crossroads The doorway to the Otherworld has been closed but at a terrible cost. Theo has been trapped on the other side while the Demon Nathaniel searches for one of the lost crossroads of the Underworld. Book 4: Witchfinder All of a sudden Olivia and Theo find themselves thrown back in time to 17th century Salem. Isabel and Nathaniel are hell bent on finding Olivia’s ancestor, Hester West, who was the last of the West women known to have had possession of Infernum, the most powerful book ever to have existed. Book 5: Infernum When Olivia finally returns to her hometown of Mercy with her husband Theo, the relief is short lived. Her mother and the demon Nathaniel have also returned and they are under the disturbing impression she knows where the Hell book is and they’re not the only ones. Book 6: A Little Town Called Mercy A Collection of short stories, including:6.1 Daughter of Fire6.2 The Salted Bone6.3 Storyteller

The Blood Countess


Andrei Codrescu - 1995
    Codrescu expertly weaves together two stories in this neo-gothic work: that of the 16th-century Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, a beautiful and terrifying woman who bathes in the blood of virgin girls; and of her distant descendent, a contemporary journalist who must return to his native Hungary and come to terms with his bloody and disturbing past. Drake Bathory-Kereshtur, a Hungarian-born journalist who has lived in the United States, returns to his native Hungary, only to be the target for recruitment among a patriotic group that wants to restore the glory--and the horror--of the Hungarian aristocracy. As a descendent of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, he is heir to all that is wonderful and terrible about his country and his family's past. Codrescu brilliantly explores Drake's anguish, as he realizes the truth behind his gruesome family history. But more importantly, Codrescu also creates a convincing and historically accurate picture of a sadistic woman obsessed with youth, vigor, beauty, and blood--a woman with enough power to order the deaths of 650 virgins so that she could bathe in their blood.The Blood Countess is a bizarre and compelling book about the horrors of the past, shown so effectively in the monstrous yet attractive personality of Elizabeth, and what pull these horrors have on those who live now.

The Doloriad


Missouri Williams - 2022
    --J. Robert Lennon, The New York Times Book ReviewNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by i-D, Cosmopolitan, Thrillist, Lit Reactor, and Lit Hub, and one of Nylon's March 2022 Books to Add to Your Reading ListMacabre, provocative, depraved, and unforgettable, The Doloriad marks the debut of Missouri Williams, a terrifyingly original new voice In the wake of a mysterious environmental cataclysm that has wiped out the rest of humankind, the Matriarch, her brother, and the family descended from their incest cling to existence on the edges of a deserted city. The Matriarch, ruling with fear and force, dreams of starting humanity over again, though her children are not so certain. Together the family scavenges supplies and attempts to cultivate the poisoned earth. For entertainment, they watch old VHS tapes of a TV show in which a problem-solving medieval saint faces down a sequence of logical and ethical dilemmas. But one day the Matriarch dreams of another group of survivors and sends away one of her daughters, the legless Dolores, as a marriage offering. When Dolores returns the next day, her reappearance triggers the breakdown of the Matriarch's fragile order, and the control she wields over their sprawling family begins to weaken.Told in extraordinary, intricate prose that moves with a life of its own, and at times striking with the power of physical force, Missouri Williams's debut novel is a blazingly original document of depravity and salvation. Gothic and strange, moving and disquieting, and often hilarious, The Doloriad stares down, with narrowed eyes, humanity's unbreakable commitment to life.

The Mystery of Irma Vep - A Penny Dreadful


Charles Ludlam - 1987
    A sympathetic werewolf, a vampire and an Egyptian princess brought to life when her tomb is opened make this a comedy that has everything."Far and away the funniest two hours on a New York stage....What more meaningful gift could Ludlam bequeath [audiences

Freshers


Kevin Sampson - 2003
    He's funny, clever and popular - anybody would think he'd be relishing the prospect. But Kit is harbouring a dark foreboding he dare not share with anyone else. It's with a heavy heart that he leaves home to begin a new life in Sheffield.At the vast and alienating Ranmoor Halls of Residence he meets Jinty, a psychology student who's six years older than Kit and much more worldly wise. She's posh, confident and independent - and she becomes more and more fascinated by Kit. When he wants to be he's the life and soul of the party - and there are lots of parties, lots of sex, lots of very bad behaviour. He's naughty, witty and compassionate and everyone wants to be his friend. But more often than not Kit withholds that friendship and retreats from the gang.The gang includes Benny Bull, a pathological liar from Dudley who associates with drug dealers, car-jackers, Al-Quaida and the I.R.A. (if only in his head). There's Adrian Dangerous, an achievement-driven fitness fanatic from Kent who has to get a First. Alex is a ballsy exchange student from Memphis who's utterly at ease with her unorthodox looks - and keen to stress that carrots have feelings, too. Laid-back Simon from the Peak District wants nothing more than to get by, start a band and find that mythic mushroom field at Whitehood Hall. Petra from Stirling wants nothing more than Kit - although Kit, tragically, seems to see her more as a mate. The object of his affections is Colette - yet whenever Kit gets close to her, something seems to hold him back. Jinty, and the experience of surviving away from home for the first time in his life, help him confront himself and beat his demons.Freshers is a rich, insightful and exuberant novel about getting wise and growing up.

The Two Houses


Fran Cooper - 2018
    

Florence & Giles


John Harding - 2010
    Banned from reading, Florence devours books in secret and talks to herself—and narrates her story—in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles.After the sudden violent death of the children's first governess, a second teacher, Miss Taylor, arrives, and immediately strange phenomena begin to occur. Florence becomes convinced that the new governess is a malevolent spirit who means to do Giles harm. Against this powerful enemy, Florence must use all her intelligence and ingenuity to protect her little brother and preserve her private world. This Gothic page-turner in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher is told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating narrative voice.

The Neglected Garden


Suzanne Winterly - 2019
    A property developer with secrets. Will the restoration of an old walled garden dig up more than they can handle? Ireland, 2010. Gilly Townsend’s beloved landscaping business doesn’t survive the financial crash. Just when she thinks she’ll have to move back home, a profitable project to restore an inspirational walled garden lands in her lap. But she never expected her wealthy boss from London to inspire her as well.Marc Fletcher just wants an escape for him and his four-year-old son. As he tries to forget a dark past, Gilly’s skills in the garden bring light back into his life. As he and his landscaper grow closer, a family shadow threatens everything he holds dear. Amidst increasingly angry blackmail, Marc and Gilly’s love starts to blossom. But when threats transform into criminal action, will the developer’s poisonous past bury Gilly six-feet-under?The Neglected Garden is a standalone novel seeded with intrigue. If you like gutsy heroines, enigmatic heroes, and twists you won't see coming, then you’ll love Suzanne Winterly’s captivating garden mystery. Buy The Neglected Garden to untangle a romantic mystery thriller today!

Little Hands Clapping


Dan Rhodes - 2002
    Caretaker of the museum by day, by night he enjoys the sound of silence, broken by the occasional crunch of a spider between his blackened teeth. Little Hands Clapping brings together the Old Man with the respectable Doctor Ernst Frohlicher, his greedy dog Hans and a cast of grotesque and hilarious townsfolk, all of whose lives are thrown together as the town uncovers a crime so outrageous that it will shock the world. From its sinister opening to its explosive denouement, Little Hands Clapping blends lavishly entertaining storytelling with Rhodes's macabre imagination, entrancing originality and magical touch.

House of Leaves


Mark Z. Danielewski - 2000
    No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth—musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies—the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children.Now, for the first time, this astonishing novel is made available in book form, complete with the original colored words, vertical footnotes, and newly added second and third appendices.The story remains unchanged, focusing on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.

The Billionaire Cattle Baron


Mandy Magro - 2017
    But this farmer isn’t looking for a wife — his first love ended in tragedy, and he will never put his heart on the line again. The land is his love, and he’s happy that way.Sasha Hepworth has goals and ambitions and she has worked very hard for her success. She’s just forgotten how to enjoy herself. So a weekend fling with a gorgeous cowboy is just what she needs — after all, it can’t go any further. She’d never leave the conveniences and beauty of the city for a dusty outback town.But a weekend of fine dining and spectacular sights isn’t enough for Blake and Sasha, and the growing feelings that neither can deny make them question everything about their lives. When a city girl meets a country boy, will they find middle ground?