Book picks similar to
Boy in the Box by Marc E. Fitch
horror
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arc
horror-adult
Gated
Matt Drabble - 2012
He was a writer of horror fiction getting paid for his hobby, and Emily was immersed in her life as a teacher. Their world was complete when Emily became pregnant, because their child would make them a family. Their dreams, however, were shattered one wet winter night by a car mounting a pavement out of the darkness. To overcome their loss, they pick up and move to Eden Gardens, a U.S. gated community that offers "Heaven on Earth and Twice as Nice." The people are warm and friendly and welcome them with open arms. The town is a beautiful throwback to a bygone age, where the sun always shines and the sky's always blue. As they settle into their new, perfect lives, the circle is complete when Emily falls pregnant again. The town is perfect, the weather is perfect, and their lives are perfect. But are the stares from their neighbours a little too intense, is the town a little too interested in their happy news, and is Eden all that it seems?They are about to find out that paradise comes at a cost, and when you sign a lease, you should always check the fine print.
The Last Academy
Anne Applegate - 2013
But the manicured grounds of Lethe Academy are like nothing Cam has ever known. There are gorgeous, preppy boys wielding tennis rackets, and circles of girls with secrets to spare. Only . . . something is not quite right. One of Cam's new friends mysteriously disappears, but the teachers don't seem too concerned. Cam wakes up to strangers in her room, who then melt into the night. She is suddenly plagued by odd memories, and senses there might be something dark and terrible brewing. But what? The answer will leave Cam—and readers—stunned and breathless, in this thrilling debut novel.
Hidden Monster
Amanda Strong - 2014
That is, until the day a morning run turns into a living nightmare. When Samantha wakes up to find herself bound to a dirty, pinstriped mattress, she realizes she’s anything but free. With a masked abductor repeatedly injecting her arm with an unknown substance while holding her captive, Samantha tries in vain to find out what he wants, but he refuses to speak. Until the day he breaks his silence and his twisted words are worse than what she’d imagined. He promises her one day she will fall in love with him but the best part will be that she won't know who he is... until it's too late. Finding herself freed from captivity, with her captor still at large, Samantha is on guard against everything and everyone around her. Unfortunately, walling up her heart proves difficult when eighteen-year-old Blake Knightley moves in next door. When Samantha starts experiencing strange changes within her, she realizes her captor may have left her more damaged than she originally thought. Now she must turn to Blake for help in order to unearth the truth behind the monster who started this all... or risk experiencing worse things than just falling in love.
The Little Woods: Book One of the New Apocrypha
A.G. Mock - 2021
An annual rite of passage in a dark and alluring Pennsylvania wood. The channeling of a malevolent Presence.And a childhood game about to go terribly, terribly wrong...Two brothers in the summer of 1995, reunited by the unspeakable nightmare of their past. A bewitching tavern proprietress and psychic intuitive from New Orleans. The revelation of an apocryphal prophesy.And a harrowing return to the woods haunted by something far more dangerous than a memory......Frighteningly suspenseful and emotionally charged from page one, The Little Woods unfolds through two parallel-running storylines—each chapter alternating between the horrifying events of 1977 and their chilling repercussions in 1995.When both converge, the result is a taut and twisted climax of biblical proportions and an ending certain to leave you as satisfyingly on edge as you are shocked!If you like the coming-of-age movie Stand by Me, are horror-stricken by Golding's Lord of the Flies, or delight in the terror of Stephen King's IT or Pet Sematary, then you'll love The Little Woods.Will Ian exorcise the darkness that haunts him, or will it gain the power to consume us all?**Includes a personal note from the author about the real Little Woods that inspired the story, plus a free bonus chapter of The Shadow Watchers, Book Two in the New Apocrypha series.**YOUR SCARES ARE WAITING!
Freeks
Amanda Hocking - 2017
But is that possible?Mara has become used to the extraordinary. Roaming from place to place with Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Carnival, she longs for an ordinary life where no one has the ability to levitate or predict the future.She gets her chance when the struggling sideshow sets up camp in the small town of Caudry and she meets a gorgeous local guy named Gabe. But before long, Mara realizes there’s a dark presence lurking in the town that’s threatening the lives of her friends. She has seven days to take control of a power she didn’t know she had in order to save everyone she cares about—and change the future forever.
Bad Games
Jeff Menapace - 2013
Some fishing, some barbecue, some games...The Fannelli brothers are heading to Crescent Lake too. Some stalking, some kidnapping, some murder, definitely some games...though not necessarily the type of games the Lamberts had in mind. But it doesn't matter. The Lamberts are going to play whether they like it or not.An intense psychological thriller, Bad Games has the dark, mind-bending chills of The Bad Seed combined with the fish-out-of-water dread and suspense of Deliverance. So let Jeff Menapace's highly anticipated suspense thriller keep you up all night as it delves into the mystery of nature versus nurture when comprehending the evil in man, along with the will and determination an innocent family must summon to fight back against horrific odds.
Salvage
Duncan Ralston - 2015
The remains of a forgotten town rest at the bottom of that dark body of water — along with a host of buried secrets… Thirty years earlier, the town of Peace Falls had been flooded to build a hydroelectric dam, and its ruins remain below the surface of Chapel Lake. The strange disappearance of the town Pastor, along with many of the parishioners, still haunts the citizens of Chapel Lake. But does the church haunt the lake itself? Is Owen really seeing ghosts… or has he descended into the depths of madness? SALVAGE is the debut horror novel of author Duncan Ralston (GRISTLE & BONE). A disturbing story of depression, religious fanaticism, and the afterlife, SALVAGE seeks to illuminate the darkness within us all.
Alone
Cyn Balog - 2017
The grounds are beautiful and it’s fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate—which means they're not going back to the city…or Seda's friends and school. As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They’re about to be cut off from the outside world, and she’s not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion—and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality…
Made for You
Melissa Marr - 2014
A killer is obsessed with Eva Tilling. Can she stop him, or will he claim her?When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she’s confused—who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why? But before she can consider the question, she finds that she’s awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people’s deaths when they touch her. While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva’s power to keep her friends—and themselves—alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.For the first time, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr has applied her extraordinary talent to contemporary realism. Chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance drive this Gothic, racy thriller—a story of small-town oppression and salvation. Melissa’s fans, and every YA reader, will find its wild ride enthralling.
The Unquiet
Jeannine Garsee - 2012
At first, everything goes according to plan. She falls in with the popular girls at her new school and falls for the very cute boy-next-door Nate. But River Hills High School has a secret. The ghost of a girl who died back when Rinn's mom was a student supposedly haunts a hallway. Rinn's not sure she believes it, but when strange things start happening to her friends, Rinn decides there's only one way to know for sure. She needs to ditch her bipolar meds and see what the voices are really trying to say...Fans of films like Black Swan will be fascinated by this psychological thriller.
Follow You Home
Mark Edwards - 2015
To find their way back to civilisation, they must hike along the tracks through a forest…a haunting journey that ends in unimaginable terror.Back in London, Daniel and Laura vow never to talk about what they saw that night. But as they try to fit back into their old lives, it becomes clear that their nightmare is just beginning…Follow You Home is a chilling tale of secrets, lies and deadly consequences from the author of #1 bestsellers The Magpies and Because She Loves Me.
Night Shift
Robin Triggs - 2018
A mining base at the edge of the world. Anders Nordvelt, last-minute replacement as head of security, has no time to integrate himself into the crew before an act of sabotage threatens the project. He must untangle a complex web of relationships from his position as prime suspect.Then a body is found in the ice. Systems fail as the long night falls. Now Anders must do more than find a murderer: he must find a way to survive.Will anyone endure the night shift, or will ice and frozen corpses be all that remains?FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.
Untouchable
Sibel Hodge - 2016
A cover-up. And a whistle-blower…You think you know who to trust? You're wrong.~~ Inspired by real UK police investigations, this book contains scenes which some readers may find disturbing ~~It’s Maya and Jamie’s anniversary, and she waits with excitement for him to return home for a celebratory dinner. There’s a knock at the door. It’s the police. Jamie has been found hanging in a local wood.His death is ruled a suicide, but Maya doesn’t believe Jamie would take his own life. Something isn’t right. Someone has broken into her house. Someone is watching her. And someone has gone to great lengths to cover up what Jamie was doing before he died.Maya’s grief turns to suspicion, and as she begins to investigate the weeks leading up to Jamie’s death, her trail leads her to a place known as “The Big House” and the horrific secrets within. Secrets people will stop at nothing to keep hidden. People linked to the heart of the Establishment who think they’re untouchable.Now Maya has a dangerous decision to make. How far is she prepared to go to reveal the truth?
I Will Make You Pay
Teresa Driscoll - 2019
A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice.Someone wants her to suffer, but for what? Her articles have made her a popular local champion—could it be her past rather than her work that’s put her life in danger? Alice is determined not to give in to fear, but with the police investigation at a dead end, her boyfriend insists on hiring private investigator Matthew Hill.With every passing Wednesday the warnings escalate, until it’s not only Alice but also her family in the stalker’s sights. As her tormentor closes in, can Alice uncover what she’s being punished for before the terrifying threats become an unthinkable reality?
Pendle Fire
Paul Southern - 2018
That’s on a good day: things are about to get a whole lot worse.
Two fourteen-year-old girls are found wandering Aitken Wood on the slopes of Pendle Hill, claiming to have been raped by a gang of men. With no female social workers available, Johnny is assigned to their case. But what, at first, looks like yet another incident of child exploitation takes a sinister turn when the girls start speaking of a forthcoming apocalypse.When Johnny interviews one of the girls, Jenna Dunham, her story starts to unravel. His investigation draws him into a tight-knit village community in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where whispers of witchcraft and child abuse go back to the Middle Ages.One name recurs, The Hobbledy Man. Is he responsible for the outbreaks of violence sweeping across the country?
Is he more than just myth?
Pendle Fie is a dark and absorbing thriller, it does contain scenes which some readers may some find disturbing.