Book picks similar to
Panic by Chris Curry


horror
fiction
weird-fiction
for-sale

Saurian


William Schoell - 1988
    Something calls Tom back to the ruins of his boyhood home, to the scene of the devastation that almost destroyed him.

Night Thunder


Ruby Jean Jensen - 1995
    Four days later, his mother is dead, and a strange cult of religious wanderers have been brutally murdered by the terrified local farmers. In 1995, a gnarled sycamore tree planted over their graves is uprooted by bulldozers--and evil arises.

Button Bright


Michael Kurland - 1990
    But Button was only dimly aware of the sounds. Her consciousness had shrunk down to focus on the body that was blocking her hole— —and the warm, thick liquid that was dripping onto her hand.” Button is an 11 year old, bubbly and intelligent girl who is haunted in her dreams by a tapping sound… Living with her mother and father in Cottsborough, Vermont, Button had been trained to hide and not ever answer to her secret name, ‘Rachel’. One day, two men arrive at Button’s family home searching for her by this secret name. Refusing to give Button up, things turn violent and the men shoot her father dead. Through a narrow crack in the floor boards, Button bears witness to the murder. Eluding the two men who tried to catch her, Button uses her wits to navigate herself from Vermont to Boston and then to New York. Button has a plan to find her uncle Dromkin. When her search seems hopeless, Button is taken in by a resident of her uncle’s apartment building, Phil, who claims he can help. But when they find Dromkin sprawled on the floor with his throat cut, Button is convinced she is somehow the cause of these family murders... Will Phil be able to keep her identity hidden long enough for her to find out the truth? Praise for Michael Kurland: "A perfect tale of childhood terror." - Tom Kasey Michael Kurland grew up in New York City, attended Columbia University, spent four years in the Army, much of it in Europe, and now lives in California with his partner, novelist Linda Robertson, a dog, a cat, and an occasional visiting family of raccoons. He has been a teacher of obscure subjects to disinterested children, the editor of a magazine even more idiosyncratic than himself, a seeker of absent persons, a magical explainer, and guest lecturer at numerous unrelated events. Kurland has written a dozen or so science fiction novels, a brace of mysteries, and several books that fit into that tenuous genre known as “mainstream.” He has been nominated for an Edgar (twice) and for the American Book Award. His books have been translated into eleven other languages. His other novel with Venture Press is Psi Hunt.

Halloween Horrors


Alan Ryan - 1986
    McCammon, Whitley Strieber, Michael McDowell, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Charles L. Grant and others. Edited by Alan Ryan, author of The Kill and Dead White.

The Haunting of Creeping Fog Manor


Cat Knight - 2020
    Her instinct told her not to. It would have been better for her if she had listened. Dee didn’t know the history of the manor house, except that it was a steal a for house flipper and she really would be foolish to pass it up.  Sure a few things were on the blink, but that was to be expected.  The strange noises she put it down to ‘old houses’ and the cold spots, probably just normal –but when the house comes alive with paranormal activity Dee knows she is in trouble. As the stakes ramp up blood is drawn and the life of Dee and her friend hang in the balance.  Can Dee find the answers to Creeping Fog Manor and put the old house to rest or will the Manor claim its next victim?If you read stories in the occult, occultism, horror, supernatural and paranormal genres then add these to your reading list.

In Darkness Waiting


John Shirley - 1988
    Although In Darkness Waiting begins in much the same vein as many horror novels (mysterious deaths; a small town invaded by evil; plucky, attractive young lovers; the logical level-headed doctor; some salt-of-the-earth townsfolk...) by its end you will have discovered it is not "just another horror novel." With its exploration of the "insect" inside us all, In Darkness Waiting proves more relevant today than ever. Considering a read of In Darkness Waiting is like considering a trip through the Amazon with no weapons and no vaccinations and no shoes. It's like contemplating a journey in the Arctic clad only in your underwear. Or maybe it's more like dropping into one of those spelunker's challenges, those chilling pitch-black shafts into the Earth's crust-and when you get down there your light burns out and you remember the chitinous fauna of the cavern... Unlike undertaking those endeavors, you can get through the harrowing pages of In Darkness Waiting alive (although we are not promising you'll remain unscathed.) Towards the end you'll discover one of the most extreme yet literate passages ever written. It may well be the most outré scene ever created. But John Shirley wasn't after shock alone. Shock is never enough for him.

Satan's Snowdrop


Guy N. Smith - 1980
    Human skeletons lay deep in the grounds, and evil plagued the air in every room.Then a wealthy antiques dealer moved his family in, to bloodcurdling shrieks in the night, and visions of terror and madness.For nothing could make the tortured victims rest. And no one was safe in the devil's house, where is foul mark -- a single blood-soaked snowdrop -- ruled supreme.

The Hell Candidate


Thomas Luke - 1980
    "Thomas Luke" is a pen name of Graham Masterton, prolific author of such books as "The Manitou." "They said Hunter Peale didn't have a hope in hell of getting elected. They were wrong... He was a kindly, moderate man - with a less than moderate chance of winning. Then it all began to change... What power did Peale now have that brought men to their knees in abnormal pain - and made women writhe with unholy pleasure? The answer froze the spirit like a chill, rancid breath from the foul grave-stench mouth of Hell - for Peale had entered into a monstrous pact with none other than the Prince of Darkness himself..."

Crawlspace


Herbert Lieberman - 1971
    They’ve never had children; they spend their days tending to their home and enjoying their time together. One day, when the oil man, Richard, is refilling their furnace, Alice invites him to dinner, never suspecting that a casual act of charity will lead to a horrifying, morbid discovery in the crawlspace underneath their beloved house.The Graves take Richard into their lives, becoming attached to his presence as though to the son they never had. Their town, though, is not nearly so welcoming. When the locals lash out against the Graves and their strange houseguest, the contented household is irrevocably drawn into a darkness they could not have imagined.

Sandman


William W. Johnstone - 1988
    . .Paul Kelly had a very big temper for such a small boy. When he tired of his toys he smashed them. When a dog or cat got in his way, he kicked them. And when other children told on him, he made sure they were very, very sorry . . .CHILD’S PLAY . . .But that was nothing compared to what Paul discovered next. Which was that if he didn’t like certain people, he could make it so he’d never have to see them again. Ever. And no one would suspect such a little boy of such a horrible deed. Of such monstrous powers. No one would ever guess that killing could be much more fun than playing with dump trucks and sandboxes. Especially the way Paul did it . . .

Shrike


Joe Donnelly - 1994
    A creature with a very nasty habit.So says the editor of the local newspaper. But neither he, nor anyone else knows what is behind the spate of brutal killings which sent a shockwave through the town.They don’t know that a séance was held one dark and stormy night. A séance that went disastrously wrong. Something evil had been summoned from a dark place. For those around the table, the clock is ticking..And for the whole town, the nightmare is just beginning.The only clue to its real identity, and its purpose, comes in the terrifying visions of a psychic girl….but who can believe she can see the killings before they actually happen.It is only when the victims bodies are found impaled in steep, high places that detective Jack Fallon realises the visions are real. And that something evil, and hungry, is stalking the night.Something that must be stopped and stopped fast.Because Lorna Breck’s latest vision makes it clear that the beast is coming for Jack Fallon, and the people he loves most.Together, they will have to face it…in the dark.

Night Train


Thomas F. Monteleone - 1984
    Now the final nightmare must explode. Now the killing frenzy must begin...

Spook Night


David Robbins - 1995
    Spirits from their graves will rise.Panic through the streets will spread.One ghost shrieks and rants and cries.One demon feeds upon the dead.Kill the evil if you dare.Nightmares fill with devils from hell.In the dark are death and fear.Goblings and ghouls, spooks and spells--Halloween comes and they appear.Terror rules the world -- Beware!

What's Wrong With Valerie?


D.A. Fowler - 1991
    The house belongs to her. She should be happy. But Valerie isn’t quite normal… She’s taking in roommates to make ends meet, but, one by one, they keep ending up dead. Her young niece is crying out for a special kind of discipline that only she can provide. And there’s the voices she hears...voices that want her to do terrible things. Valerie is only trying to survive. If she stops doing what the voices tell her, something grotesquely evil will devour her soul... WHAT’S WRONG WITH VALERIE?

Necessary Evil


Shaun Hutson - 2004
    Matt Franklin and his companions would rob the Securicor van. Simple. Until the job turned into a nightmare. Two of them are shot dead and another fatally wounded. But who is trying to wipe them out, killing not just them but their families too? How are the Government and the British army implicated? What lurks within a secret research establishment in the English countryside? Franklin has to find out. Finally the only one left alive, he tires of being the prey and decides to become the hunter. His quest will bring him into conflict with forces he cannot begin to imagine or understand but he is driven by a need for revenge that overrides his fear. Aided by a desperate detective, Franklin becomes embroiled in a series of events that lead to a terrifying climax in the London Underground where he comes face to face with the answers he has sought. Like all of us, Franklin was told monsters don't exist. He's about to find out someone was lying...