Book picks similar to
Dolls by Matt Shaw


horror
short-stories
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ALEX


Sidney Knight - 2012
    He left behind not just his bloody fingerprints stained over the city, but also debate, confusion, question upon question as to why he did it. How could a man in possession of such genius – a man so in love – unleash such horror on the living? How could a man so seemingly invisible in the community become the face of a nation’s nightmares? And who was the mystery somebody who knew of his murderous blueprints way beforehand, yet decided to do nothing until it was too late? This is the story of Alex Merton – the truth behind the mystery, the man, the monster...

Flowers for the Sea


Zin E. Rocklyn - 2021
    Butler.We are a people who do not forget.Survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle. Their fangs are sharp.Among the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she’s pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine.Zin E. Rocklyn’s extraordinary debut is a lush, gothic fantasy about the prices we pay and the vengeance we seek.

WhiteSpace: Episode 1


Sean Platt - 2012
    Hamilton Island seems like the perfect home.The Puget Sound bedroom community has it all — beautiful homes with white picket fences, a thriving tech sector, and one of the best school systems in the state.But not everything is as it seems.And on the morning of September 1, the veil is lifted in a school shooting that will shake the island to its core, and expose an evil dynasty and a dark conspiracy that threatens the future of our species.

Kink


Crowley Barns - 2017
    Consider yourself warned. HOW WRONG COULD IT GO? CASSIE knew exactly what she was looking for when she trawled the world of mobile dating to find the perfect man for an afternoon of rough, kinky fantasy. She only did this once a year, and this time it was going to be extra special. But, there was just one problem... RICH thinks he’s hit the jackpot when he meets a hot older woman on a dating app. She’s gorgeous and doesn’t want any long term commitments, just an afternoon of no-strings-attached kinky fun — what could be better? But can he be man enough to tie her up and play the role of aggressor in her dark, twisted and violent fantasy? BUT NEITHER of them knew that things would all go so terribly, darkly, disturbingly wrong.

The Great God Pan


Arthur Machen - 1890
    A version of the story was published in the magazine Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication (together with another story, "The Inmost Light") in 1894. On publication it was widely denounced by the press as degenerate and horrific because of its decadent style and sexual content, although it has since garnered a reputation as a classic of horror. Machen’s story was only one of many at the time to focus on Pan as a useful symbol for the power of nature and paganism. The title was taken from the poem "A Musical Instrument" published in 1862 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in which the first line of every stanza ends "... the great god Pan.

King of Libertines


Pam Godwin - 2020
    It doesn’t spoil the main story.

Twisted Shorts


Andrew Lennon - 2015
    The tightness of a solid knot that pushes the final breath from a doomed hangman. A word used to describe the darker, seedier side of society. The spine-tingling sound of the maniacal laugh from a creepy stranger. From Andrew Lennon comes Twisted Shorts. Featuring a foreword from the future of horror, Michael Bray, this collection of ten short stories delves into the darker side of society. With four unpublished stories, including Devourer, Slayer and Tears of a Clown, the words within will give you nightmares. So what do we have? A husband who glimpses his sinister future; a man haunted by his vivid nightmares; homicidal maniacs; creatures from the deep depths of the ocean, and a bullied child who fights back. We also drop in on an auditor on the brink of insanity; a young girl haunted by her dead best friend; a surgeon on a bloody, vengeful mission; a tale of the undead, and a vengeful clown. Sound familiar? They should, after all these people could be your neighbour, your friend, your mother, your child's teacher, your deliveryman, your gynecologist, or even you - just give it time… Twisted Shorts – the duration is little but the memory will live long.

The Rats in the Walls


H.P. Lovecraft - 1924
    Lovecraft. Written in August–September 1923, it was first published in Weird Tales, March 1924.The story is narrated by the scion of the Delapore family, who has moved from Massachusetts to his ancestral estate in England, known as Exham Priory. On several occasions, the protagonist and his cats hear the sounds of rats scurrying behind the walls. Upon investigating further, he finds that his family maintained an underground city for centuries and that the inhabitants of the city fed on human flesh, even going so far as to raise generations of human cattle, who eventually began to de-evolve due to their sub-human living conditions.

Go Down Hard


Ali Seay - 2020
    or kill one another?Meg isn’t expecting to catch Jack red-handed with his most recent victim. Jack isn’t expecting Meg to come busting through his front door while chasing her current prey. Now that each recognizes a fellow killer, what urge will win - kiss or kill?

Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong


Joyce Carol Oates - 2013
    In Evil Eye, Oates offers four chilling tales of love gone horribly wrong, showing the lengths people will go to find love, keep it, and sometimes end it.In "Evil Eye," we meet Mariana, the young 4th wife of a prominent intellectual. When her husband's brazen first wife visits one night, Mariana learns a terrible secret that threatens her marriage and sanity. In "So Near, Anytime, Always," shy teenager Lizbeth meets Desmond, a charming boy who offers this introverted girl the first sparks of young romance. Yet just as their relationship begins to blossom, Lizbeth realizes that beneath Desmond's perfect façade lies a dark soul that could wreak havoc on Lizbeth and her loved ones. In "The Execution," spoiled college student Bart Hansen has planned the perfect, brutal crime to get back at his parents for their years of condescension. Yet what he didn't plan for is a mother whose love is more resilent than he could have ever imagined, who threatens to derail his carefully laid-out plans.

Behind Dark Doors


Susan May - 2019
    Brought to you by the international best-selling author readers have named the new Stephen King.Enter strange worlds and meet the unusual and sometimes terrifying residents. Dive into the complete collection of Behind Dark Doors, filled with stories of suspense, horror, paranormal and supernatural, from the dark mind of short story award-winning author Susan May.Enjoy these and thirteen more stories, plus Susan May's celebrated and fascinating From the Imagination Vault, behind-the-scenes visit discussing the inspiration for each tale. This collection combines Behind Dark Doors (one) (two) (three).DO US PARTWhen you've been married seventy years, what secret and deadly thoughts lie behind the smiles?RING RINGJanuary 13, 1887 is the day the telegraphic transmitter patent is granted to a desperate Alexander Graham Bell. But Bell is eaten by guilt due to a mysterious phone call from the future which changed everything.PROGRAM DELETEThe Intelervate Chip repairs brain-damaged babies good as new, better than new, superior. But as the children mature, the differences between chipped children and their peers changes everything. BACK AGAINA tragic accident takes Dawn's son before her eyes. The grief is overwhelming, until she finds herself back again reliving that terrible day. Fate is now within her grasp. Only one problem... fate doesn’t want change.SCENIC ROUTEWhen a young family stop overnight at a quaint country bed-and-breakfast what they don’t know is that something is wrong in Broken Springs, population 402.

Triage


Jack Ketchum - 1990
    Each story begins with the setup of someone walking into a workplace with a gun. From there each author takes the tale wherever his twisted imagination leads him. Original.

The Moonlight Child


Karen McQuestion - 2020
    Through her neighbor's kitchen window, she sees what appears to be a little girl washing dishes late at night. But the Fleming family doesn't have a child that age, and even if they did, why would she be doing housework at this late hour?It would be easy for Sharon to just let this go, but when eighteen-year-old Niki, a former foster child, comes to live with Sharon, she notices suspicious activity at the Flemings' house as well. When calling social services doesn't result in swift action, the two decide to investigate on their own.

The Bird Eater


Ania Ahlborn - 2014
    He abandoned his rural Arkansas hometown vowing never to return, until his seven-year-old son died in an accident, plunging Aaron into a nightmare of addiction and grief. Desperate to reclaim a piece of himself, he returns to the hills of his childhood, to Holbrook House, where he hopes to find peace among the memories of his youth. But solace doesn’t come easy. Someone—or something—has other plans. Like Aaron, Holbrook House is but a shell of what it once was, a target for vandals and ghost hunters who have nicknamed it “the devil’s den.” Aaron doesn’t believe in the paranormal—at least, not until a strange boy begins following him wherever he goes. Plagued by violent dreams and disturbing visions, Aaron begins to wonder if he’s losing his mind. But a festering darkness lurks at the heart of Holbrook House… a darkness that grins from within the shadows, delighting in Aaron’s sorrow, biding its time.

Closet Treats


Paul Elard Cooley - 2010
    But when an ice cream truck starts making the rounds of his neighborhood, Trey can no longer tell reality from his delusions.Closet Treats explores the blurred lines between psychosis and reality, asking the question: do monsters exist outside the mind?