Book picks similar to
Darkened by Bryan Smith


horror
fiction
apocalyptic
zombies

Empty Bodies


Zach Bohannon - 2015
     Moments later, the fallen rise, and the survivors become the hunted.***WARNING*** Empty Bodies is meant for mature audiences only. It features foul language and graphic descriptions of violence and death. Please purchase at your own discretion.

The Eleventh Plague


Jeff Hirsch - 2011
    Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade. But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing--and their lives--forever.

The Zombie Chronicles


Chrissy Peebles - 2012
    When they get caught in a flood during a rainstorm, the group is forced to take refuge. They are thrust into a mystery they can't explain, and when things slowly begin to unravel, they learn they have to play by a new set of rules.IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a warning to those readers who are looking for a more violent read with gruesome descriptions of blood and gore. This is NOT that type of book. There is lots of zombie action, but this particular story is based more on the action, drama, and survival aspects.word count = 61,805

Infected


James Schannep - 2012
    Over 50 Possible Endings. Just one question... Will YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?Here’s how it works: You, Dear Reader, are the main character of this story. Live, die, and rise again based solely on the merit of your own choices. Each link represents a choice, and there’s no going back, so choose wisely.Everyone has their plan; what they’d do to survive if and when the zombie apocalypse happens. Now you can see how you’d hold up against the legions of undead—without needing to call the CDC because crazed bath salts users are trying to eat your face off."Infected. Is. So. Good." -- A girl just like you."Holy $#*% this is awesome!" -- A guy more or less like you.Like the gamebooks popular in the 1980s-90s (Choose Your Own Adventure, Give Yourself Goosebumps, etc), this is a series where you choose how to progress through the book. Unlike any others, this is the first series designed specifically for adults. And as an ebook, you simply click your choice and the story flows forward for you. No flipping pages.Get INFECTED!

The War On Horror: Tales From A Post-Zombie Society


Nathan Allen - 2015
    The undead are more of a nuisance than a menace; they are less likely to sink their teeth into unsuspecting civilians than they are to be attacked by vigilantes and rabid lynch mobs.Laws have been passed for the zombies’ own protection, and they are safely and humanely quarantined from society.Dead Rite, an undead management and control firm, suddenly finds itself on the brink of bankruptcy. The zombie population is dwindling and the bills are piling up.So when a lucrative opportunity unexpectedly presents itself, it seems almost too good to be true.A tale of misfits, weirdos, outcasts, alcoholics, trust fund activists, dead-head hippies, sleazy politicians and psychotic hillbillies; all foot soldiers fighting in the war on horror.

Generation Z


Peter Meredith - 2018
    We now live like rats, scavenging in the ruins of our fallen civilization as the dead hunt us night and day.There is little left to scavenge, however. Grocery stores were emptied ages ago, gas tanks have long been dry and bullets are so precious that a man is lucky to have two to his name. Still, we survive. But for how much longer? Instinct and love have combined to turn Darwin's theory on its head. The strongest didn't survive in this world. They were the first to die, leaving behind a generation of orphans.It's a generation that's never had a full belly. It's a generation that has no idea what an Xbox did, or what algebra is for. It's a generation of children who never laugh out loud, and who have learned to cry softly because the dead are always near and the dead are always so very, very hungry.

Bones: The Complete Apocalypse Saga


Mark Wheaton - 2009
    In Bones, our hero must battle a plague of dangerous parasites that brings the dead back to life with the goal of destroying the planet. Shepherd finds Bones delivered to earthquake-devastated Los Angeles to hunt for survivors only to run afoul of armies of rage-driven rats and birds emerging from the rubble. And when mankind reaches its final hour and a pocket of surviving Indians are all that's left of humanity, it falls on Bones to save the species before civilization is wiped out forever in Alpha.Three Apocalyptic novellas of nature run amok, three interwoven stories that feature a German shepherd at the center of the things, three stories with so much action you might just explode reading them. Includes prequel short story, Mongrel.Praise for Wheaton's Four Nails in the Coffin: "Remarkably character-driven...Wheaton convincingly showcases his talents as a writer of horror prose, taking his time to craft characters who are thoroughly fleshed out and engaging without holding off too long on the suspense...proves here to be a quite gifted storyteller undeniably worthy of an interested reader's time and attention." - Michael Compton, Fangoria "Genuinely twisted and engrossing...may just leave you shaken for days." - Jessa Sobczuk, Rue Morgue [referring to Sunday Billy Sunday] "This is muscular, original fiction that marks the debut of an exciting new voice in the speculative/dark fantasy genre." - Michael Rowe, editor of the Queer Fear anthology series and co-author of Triptych of Terror "His tales are visceral, intellectual, and often grisly, but Wheaton never forgets that touch of humanity and wry humor which allow true horror to cut that much deeper to the bone." - Ken Plume, author, There's a Zombie In My Treehouse "Wheaton's writing is haunting. Days, weeks, even months later, you will find your mind returning to his worlds. Stephen King is no longer my only addiction." - Todd Farmer, screenwriter, Drive Angry"Mark Wheaton is a magician.  He misdirects you with accessibility while performing tricks of genius.  Don't try to figure out how he does it - just enjoy the show.  Four Nails in the Coffin is a shotgun blast to the brain. In a good way." - Gary Dauberman, screenwriter, Swamp Devil

Public Enemy Zero


Andrew Mayne - 2011
    The helpless girl who needs help changing her tire. His petty ex-girlfriend and her new mate. An entire mall full of unassuming shoppers. They all want to murder Mitch in a blind rage when he's in their presence. As Mitch attempts to unravel the mystery around his situation, he learns quickly that rabid strangers and friends aren’t his only predators. Police attempt to hunt him down by any means necessary and his every move is tracked by a shadowy government official with a secret to protect. He'll need to use every resource he has, from the advice of a paranoid late night radio host, to his Twitter account and find out why he's become Public Enemy Zero. TOP FIVE HIGH-TECH AMAZON BEST SELLER “A fast paced thriller that I literally couldn't put down. I will definitely be checking out the other Andrew Mayne titles on Kindle.” - Robert Gemienhardt “I think it's the mark of great sci-fi that despite the imagined elements that drive the plot, the characters and the situations feel real. Public Enemy Zero accomplishes this beautifully.” - Jeremy Lusk

Until the End


Tracey Ward - 2013
    The Fever spreads and kills quickly, but the dead aren't staying dead.When her neighbor, Jordan, saves her from one of the infected, Alissa joins him in his plan to escape the city, the disease and the threat of a quarantine that will lock the living in with the undead.What she doesn't tell him is that she has an illness of her own, one that plays tricks with her mind and makes her a dangerous companion. But Jordan has a secret as well, one that compels him to keep Alissa, a veritable stranger, safe at all costs.As they fight for their lives and race for their freedom, they'll discover that what they truly need in order to survive is to stay together until the end.*The Quarantined Series is followed by the Survival Series, a spinoff trilogy of books chronicling life 10 years after the outbreak with a few familiar faces...

Dead Instinct


T.W. Piperbrook - 2014
    Don't trust what you drink. The infection is spreading... In a world plagued with violence and infection, Ken and Roberta Smith want nothing more than to find their son. Having been on the road for four days, they must now cross the remaining three hundred miles of desert wasteland to get to him. Isaac Smith has been trapped in Phoenix since the infection began. The city is virtually impassable, and the infected are everywhere. Will he escape the carnage around him? Or will he die in the city he once called home?

Infected


Scott Sigler - 2008
    Working under the government’s shroud of secrecy, CIA operative Dew Phillips crisscrosses the country trying in vain to capture a live victim. With only decomposing corpses for clues, CDC epidemiologist Margaret Montoya races to analyze the science behind this deadly contagion. She discovers that these killers all have one thing in common – they’ve been contaminated by a bioengineered parasite, shaped by a complexity far beyond the limits of known science.Meanwhile Perry Dawsey – a hulking former football star now resigned to life as a cubicle-bound desk jockey – awakens one morning to find several mysterious welts growing on his body. Soon Perry finds himself acting and thinking strangely, hearing voices . . . he is infected. The fate of the human race may well depend on the bloody war Perry must wage with his own body, because the parasites want something from him, something that goes beyond mere murder.

Reboot


Amy Tintera - 2013
    After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

Scissors


Ray Garton - 2004
    Ferguson did to him when he was a boy. The pain, the blood and the snip-snip of those glinting scissors will live in his nightmares for the rest of his life. But now Dr. Ferguson is back and not just in Stuart's dreams. He's very real. He's determined to perform that same horrible procedure on Stuart's young son. And his scissors are nice and sharp.

Hollowland


Amanda Hocking - 2010
    This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door.Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

Comes the Dark


Patrick D'Orazio - 2010
    The virus engulfed the world in a matter of days. The infected die…and then rise again. Governments collapsed, armies disappeared, and entire civilizations turned to dust as the human race tore itself to pieces.Jeff Blaine had a good life: a beautiful wife, adorable children, and a nice house in the suburbs. He liked his job, loved his family, and spent his lazy suburban Sundays out on the deck, barbecuing with the neighbors. Things were perfect, until everything fell apart. And no matter how hard Jeff tried, he could not spare his family from the horrors scratching at the door.Now, with his family gone and his life in ruins, the only thing left is raw anger and pain. As the world continues to sink into darkness, Jeff does as well. So he ventures out into the desolation with no better plan than to destroy as many of the monsters that stole his life away before they destroy him as well.But soon Jeff will discover other survivors unwilling to give up. They will force him to decide whether or not to give in to the venom that gnaws at his soul. Should he continue to fight to survive, or succumb to the things that come with the dark?