Book picks similar to
Friends in Dark Corners by Jo Rentschler


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Dark Screams: Volume Nine


Brian James Freeman - 2018
      INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley Armstrong Vivienne dreams of moving up in the company, and now she’s got her chance. All the company asks in return is that she prove her absolute devotion by playing a simple, silly little game.   SUMMER OF ’77 by Stewart O’Nan Suntanned and bleached blond, the boys and girls of summer never expect anything to interrupt their carefree days. They never see me coming until it’s too late.   THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant Emma was the great love of his life, even after she vanished. So when she reappears at a cocktail party fifteen years later, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her from slipping away again.   THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan Moore When a body goes missing from the morgue, Detective Nakahara is called in to investigate. Despite the storm, it should be a simple case. After all, a dead body can’t just walk out on its own . . . right?   VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM SEINFELD by Peter Straub At six years old, Clyde noticed that his reflection decided not to show up in the mirror. Whenever it happens, he just needs to go through the mirror and fetch him. The trick is making it back.   TORN by Lee Thomas Luther’s Bend is the kind of place where bad things just aren’t supposed to happen, but even the sleepiest towns have secrets . . . and the full moon can bring retribution for all manners of sins.

Djinn


Poppet - 2011
    Stefanie has played by the rules. Now things are changing. The condensed version of a dysfunctional relationship, and how it turned a good girl into a spineless victim. Isn't love supposed to be a battlefield?

The Keeper


Sarah Langan - 2006
    Its bloody past, endless rain, and the decay of its downtown portend a hopeless future. With the death of its paper mill, Bedford's unemployed residents soon find themselves with far too much time to dwell on thoughts of Susan Marley. Once the local beauty, she's now the local whore. Silently prowling the muddy streets, she watches eerily from the shadows, waiting for . . . something. And haunting the sleep of everyone in town with monstrous visions of violence and horror.Those who are able will leave Bedford before the darkness fully ascends. But those who are trapped here-from Susan Marley's long-suffering mother and younger sister to her guilt-ridden, alcoholic ex-lover to the destitute and faithless with nowhere else to go-will soon know the fullest and most terrible meaning of nightmare.

The Anomaly


Michael Rutger - 2018
    And, for once, he may have actually found what he seeks. Then the trip takes a nasty turn, and the cave begins turning against them in mysterious ways.Nolan's story becomes one of survival against seemingly impossible odds. The only way out is to answer a series of intriguing questions: What is this strange cave? How has it remained hidden for so long? And what secret does it conceal that made its last visitors attempt to seal it forever?

The Three


Sarah Lotz - 2014
    Three child survivors. A religious fanatic who insists the three are harbingers of the apocalypse. What if he's right?The world is stunned when four commuter planes crash within hours of each other on different continents. Facing global panic, officials are under pressure to find the causes. With terrorist attacks and environmental factors ruled out, there doesn't appear to be a correlation between the crashes, except that in three of the four air disasters a child survivor is found in the wreckage. Dubbed 'The Three' by the international press, the children all exhibit disturbing behavioural problems, presumably caused by the horror they lived through and the unrelenting press attention. This attention becomes more than just intrusive when a rapture cult led by a charismatic evangelical minister insists that the survivors are three of the four harbingers of the apocalypse. The Three are forced to go into hiding, but as the children's behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing, even their guardians begin to question their miraculous survival.

Threshold


Caitlín R. Kiernan - 2001
    But it did. And still does.

Angelfire


Hanna Peach - 2012
    Whether it's with weapons, unarmed or with the “borrowed magics” of distilled angel-blood tattoos, she trains harder than any other Seraphim warrior to prove she is nothing like her parents who abandoned her to become Rogues.When Alyx starts displaying the signs of a strange new magic, most don’t believe her and no one has answers for her. She starts to investigate for herself. The web of lies she uncovers will shatter her world and she’ll be forced to risk everything for Israel, a mortal she barely knows. Alyx and Israel will soon realize that their destinies are inexplicably tied - and that their choices will determine the fate of Earth itself.It begins in Angelfire.Angeldust, the fifth and final installment of the Dark Angel series is now out!

The Outliers


Kimberly McCreight - 2016
    But that doesn’t matter. Cassie’s in trouble, so Wylie decides to do what she has done so many times before: save her best friend from herself.This time it’s different, though. Instead of telling Wylie where she is, Cassie sends cryptic clues. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie sent him to help. Trusting the guy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn’t feel right, but Wylie has no choice: she has to ignore her gut instinct and go with him.But figuring out where Cassie is goes from difficult to dangerous, fast. As Wylie and Jasper head farther and farther north into the dense woods of Maine, Wylie struggles to control her growing sense that something is really wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? And could finding her be only the beginning?

Reviver


Seth Patrick - 2013
    Able to wake the recently dead, and let them bear witness to their own demise. Twelve years after the first reviver came to light, they have become accepted by an uneasy public. The testimony of the dead is permitted in courtrooms across the world. Forensic revival is a routine part of police investigation. In the United States, that responsibility falls to the Forensic Revival Service. Despite his troubled past, Jonah Miller is one of their best. But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence. Something is watching. Waiting. His superiors tell him it was only in his mind, a product of stress. Jonah is not so certain. Then Daniel Harker, the first journalist to bring revival to public attention, is murdered, and Jonah finds himself getting dragged into the hunt for answers. Working with Harker's daughter Annabel, he becomes determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Soon they uncover long-hidden truths that call into doubt everything Jonah stands for, and reveal a threat that if not stopped in time, will put all of humanity in danger ...

Become


Ali Cross - 2011
     Then Father sends me to Earth with orders to push a girl toward Hell. It’s the last thing I want to do—but you do what the devil tells you. At least, until I meet them: A girl who hides her darkness just like I hide my light. And the boy with the lion eyes who sees right through my secrets. There is no peace on Earth—at least not for me. To save one, I have to sacrifice the other.

Royals of Villain Academy: Books 5 - 8


Eva Chase - 2020
    Four impossible loves. Can we conjure a happy ending?I was starting to think I knew what I was dealing with at the university best known as Villain Academy. I’d come to believe that by owning my role as the last remaining Bloodstone, I could change this place for the better. Then a series of shocking revelations turns everything I believed on its head.The other scions have my back now, with all the trouble that's brought them. How much more will they have to sacrifice before we can find some kind of peace? I'm ready to fight for my newfound life, my family, and the guys I'm falling for... but this battle may bring more casualties than I can bear.Do I have the defiance in me to overthrow centuries of magical tyranny? Looks like it’s time to find out.*Royals of Villain Academy is a university-age paranormal academy series. Expect magical villainy, a tough heroine who bends to no one’s will, a dollop of steam, and a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance where the men discover the joys of sharing.*Enjoy over 1200 pages of excitement in one box set! This set contains the final four books in the Royals of Villain Academy series—Corrupt Alchemy, Foul Conjuring, Grim Witchery, and Vicious Arts—plus 30+ pages of exclusive bonus scenes.

Sentinal's Tear


Christine Fonseca - 2012
    Nesy is the best of an elite group of angels – warriors called Sentinals – charged with the job of vanquishing the fallen. She’s never made a mistake, never gotten emotionally involved. But when she comes face-to-face with Aydan, she freezes. He is evil incarnate. A fallen angel that feeds off the souls of others. Everything Nesy is supposed to hate. But she can’t, because he’s also the human love of her former life as a teen; a life that ended too soon, tying her to emotions she should never feel. Now she must choose between doing her duty – damning Aydan to the fiery depths of hell – or saving him, and condemning herself. ***FORMERLY PUBLISHED AS LACRIMOSA

Small Town Evil


Ken Berglund - 2013
    When the father realizes that his daughter's condition is getting worse, and that the girl he hit may or may not even exist, he returns to the small town where he had the accident, hoping to find answers.

Death Ain't But A Word


Zander Marks - 2012
    And they've been haunting him since he was seven years old. Mostly he ignores them.But when the ghost of his childhood friend shows up at the local motel, Wilkin can't ignore the call of friendship. And when his friend's killer buys the motel so he can destroy the remains, Wilkin can't ignore that, either.Wilkin steals his friend's skull before the killer can destroy it and is plunged into a hot mess of a supernatural thrill ride.A death-race pursuit of a child's skull. A ghost-talking trucker hauling plush toys to Kansas. Five demonic farm-kids in a housing project. A Dodge City marshal with justice on his mind. And a graveyard full of snitches.It's enough to make you want to hit the crackpipe. All leading to a climax where staying alive is the least of Wilkin's worries.Because when most of the people around you are spirits anyway, DEATH AIN'T BUT A WORD.

Doll Face


Tim Curran - 2015
    They discover they are trapped there, as Stokes does not really exist. The actual town had burned to the ground more than fifty years ago. The Stokes they are in is a nightmare version of the former town, engineered by a deranged and undead mind, a supernatural machine of wrath that will destroy them one by one....unless they submit to its dominance and become living dolls.