Horror Novels
Painted Devils: strange stories by Robert Aickman
A collection of nightmarish stories on madness, death and the supernatural. The Literary Guild called Painted Devils “…an extraordinary collection of exciting chillers.” Read if you dare!
Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
Journalist by day, the world’s only female werewolf by night, Elena Michaels agonizes over ordinary girl stuff like her weight, her career, and her sexy new live-in boyfriend. When alpha male Jeremy recalls Elena from her pseudonormal existence in Toronto to help the pack put down an uprising by solo “mutts,” she can not refuse and things get downright bloodthirsty.
Damnation Game by Clive Barker
Set in modern Britain, the story thrusts a flawed “innocent” parolee Marty Strauss into an epic conflict between wealthy Joseph Whitehead and Mamoulian the Cardplayer, a centuries-old creature with whom Whitehead had struck a bargain to obtain his wealth and power. This book is more then a millionaire striking a deal with the devil. Much more.
The Darkest Part of the Woods by Ramsey Campbell
The Price family have had an uneasy association with Goodmans Wood since patriarch Lennox migrated to England to study its dark legends and succumbed to belief in them. With Lennox institutionalized and serving as cult leader to some of the asylum’s creepier inmates, the responsibility to hold the family together has fallen to daughter Heather, a library archivist.
The Hour Before Dark by Douglas Clegg
Nemo Raglan, a failed novelist, is back at Hawthorn, on Burnley Island, because his father, Gordie, has been found slaughtered in the family’s smokehouse. Also at Hawthorn are Nemo’s siblings, Bruno and Brooke, a
high-strung artist who’d been living with Gordie. The killer has, weirdly, left no traces and thus no clues. As the siblings get reacquainted and ponder the murder, the air grows dark. Is the house haunted?
The Blood Countess by Andrei Codrescu
This is the fictionalized story of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory. In her husband’s absences she was capable of running things. However, she was also fascinated with torture and obsessed with youth. The story follows her bloody life in the 16th century, as well as that of her descendents in the 20th century.
The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert
Crickley Hall is a children’s home in a coastal town in England. Some of the children are persecuted by the people who run the home and have found places between the floors and walls of the home to hide. One day there is a flash flood. All of the children escape, except the kids in the walls and floors, who drown. They come back as ghosts and seek their revenge.
Rage of Spirits by Noel Hynd
William Cochrane, an underachieving, 40-year-old vice-presidential aide, returns from his father’s funeral to find himself summoned to his boss’s Georgetown house. The President is suffering from inexplicable losses of consciousness, and VP Lang is troubled that an old curse placed on him might affect his likely move into the White House. Throw in a psychic, a mean-spirited house and a ghost and you have a book which offers something for fans of ghost stories, mysteries, and political intrigues.
Phantoms by Dean Koontz
When Dr. Jenny Paige returns to Snowfield, California, she finds tables set for dinner, meals prepared, and music playing in living rooms, but there’s no trace of any people. As she explores the town, Paige finds friends and neighbors felled by a mysterious force. The mystery deepens, paving the way for a chilling journey toward the truth.
Hell House by Richard Matheson
For over twenty years, Belasco House has stood empty, its walls having witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity, but now a new investigation has been launched, bringing four strangers to the house in search of the ultimate secrets of life and death.
Mine by Robert R. McCammon
Mary Terrell, a.k.a. “Mary Terror,” is a child of the 60’s. However, in the 80s her insanity deepened into schizophrenia. Hallucinating, heavily armed, and possessed by the delusion that an infant son will restore the good ol’ days, Mary steals a baby. But the child’s mother is a strong, resourceful woman. What ensues is a hair-raising chase across the American Midwest.
Wither by J.G. Passarella
Wendy Ward is a white magic practitioner who dresses in shades of black. Windale, the college town where she lives, has been promoting its past persecution of witches as a tourist draw. On the eve of the King Frost Halloween Parade, Wendy performs an empowering ritual that goes awry, unleashing dark forces hundreds of years old.
In the Dark of the Night by John Saul
In this creepy chiller, Eric Brewster and two high school pals, are looking forward to a summer vacation with their families. The Brewsters have
rented Pinecrest, an old house on a lake. Eric’s mother has a bad feeling about the house, as well she should.
In the Night Room by Peter Straub
Author Tim Underhill encounters not the mere survival of a dead relation but the existence of a character he’s creating in his journals. This book blurs the borders between reality and fantasy. Readers need to concentrate when tackling “In the Night Room” but it is worth the effort.
Fog Heart by Thomas Tessier
A woman is horrified by visits from her dead father. Her husband is coldly disbelieving. A couple are getting messages from their daughter who died as an infant. The two couples consult a medium named Oona. Sensing that their fates are intertwined, Oona conducts their séances together in this disturbing ghost story.
The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson
Much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Gia, Repairman Jack doesn’t deal with electronic appliances-he fixes situations for people, situations that usually involve putting himself in deadly danger. And, in this case, dealing with a curse.
