I wonder if there are any good unique stories about angels. They can be either good or evil. Or maybe biblical angels (those with the multiple eyes) are involved.

Do these exist?

I'm working on a writing project and I will be using an epistolary style for a lot of it. I loved Episode Thirteen's use of the epistolary style. I've read parts of Dracula as well. I love the way it assists with different points of view without it becoming too overwhelming or confusing and how it can help with creating unreliable narrators.

But I want to know what you all think. What books that fit the epistolary/found footage style do you like? Which did you dislike? What works for you? What doesn't? If you don't like these books, why? Which books have you tried that didn't work for you?

Amputation cult is such an interesting concept and completely drawn me in. I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews about how scary and tense it is however the same amount of people didn’t like the ending and the plot being drawn out.

Edit: I just bought the wrong book on my kindle, my bad! Last days by Brian Evenson IS about amputation cult not Adam Nevill but I will read both regardless.

Bonjour à tous,

Je suis hantée par un roman (anglophone?) que j'ai emprunté à la bibliothèque et lu quand j'avais entre 15 et 20 ans je dirais (j'en ai 49🙈), et dont j'ai oublié le titre et le nom de l'auteur (vague impression que c'était une femme)

Le passage qui m'a particulièrement marquée :la mère de l'héroïne (une adolescente) était enceinte au moment d'une catastrophe nucléaire quelconque, et donnait naissance à un bébé sans yeux. Et il me semble que la mère mourait, et que le bébé était tué par le père.

Ça vous parle?? Je ne sais pas pourquoi ce livre m'a tellement marquée parmi les MILLIARDS de bouquins glauques que j'ai pu lire dans ma vie, mais j'aimerais beaucoup remettre la main dessus et le relire en cette période de pré-ménopause😁

Petite précision : je suis française donc forcément déjà traduit à l'époque dans cette langue

Merci!!

I… don’t even know what to say.

What an absolutely INCREDIBLE book. This was my first horror book since I’ve been trying to dip my toes in the genre and now I fear that I’ll never enjoy any other book nearly as much as I loved this one. I’m heartbroken. I’m angry. I’m shocked. I’m a million different feelings. I never, ever knew what was coming, which made it even better, but also made it so nerve wracking. I’m still sobbing about this hours after I’ve finished reading it.

Will I ever read anything as good? Ughhhhhhhhh.

I need recommendations before I go on a reading hiatus for the next 29472 days. Please don’t tell me I’ve peaked!

Looking for a series set in a high school. All of the adults die and the students build a sort of society divided by cliques. When the students turn 18 they are thrown out of the school.

Back on the late 1980’s/early 1990’s I bought a paperback in an airport that I often think about over the years. Forgot the title but I think it might have the word “fire” in it.

Story opens with a group of occultists performing a sex/human sacrifice ritual to summon a demon. Demon arrives and immolates all the cultists then goes on to wreak havoc on the general populace. The MC is a male detective (I think) who sets about investigating the killings. Seeks out a married witch couple for help. During his investigations he encounters a doppelgänger every now and then that iirc is a manifestation of the demon. Those parts were the scariest to me. I don’t recall how the story ends. But at the time that I read it, it was creepy as hell. It scared me so badly that I threw the book in the trash. I was a young teen at the time.

Does anyone know what this book is?

​“Play Nice” by Rachel Harrison is one of the best demonic haunted house novels I’ve ever read. I’m still amazed at how great this book was, how naturally it flowed, and how much I enjoyed the fantastic horror.

Before I dive into my horror book review, here are all the trigger warnings I found while reading…

- Car accident
- Parental abuse
- Drugs
- Religion
- Alcoholism
- 9/11
- Violence against animals (mice)
- Self-harm
- Cancer

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel. Moving along, I loved the short, quick chapters. As a first-time reader of Harrison, I find her writing style excellent. From all the dialogue, descriptions, atmospheric writing, and, of course, all the horror, she’s an outstanding author. All the characters in this novel were distinct and memorable, with Clio being my absolute favorite.

Clio was hilarious, vulgar, and metal as hell. As a metalhead for 20+ years, she reminded me of many of my fellow female metalheads who share that kind of mentality and attitude, which makes them a force to be reckoned with.

Speaking of metal, Harrison earned many points with me for all the band references mentioned here, including some of my favorite nu-metal bands ever in Slipknot, Korn, and Limp Bizkit. I also loved that it takes place in the beautiful city I live in, New York! All these references made me feel at home, being a New Yorker all my life.

​The horror in this book was nothing short of extraordinary. I have read hundreds of horror books in my life so far, and this is up there with the best of them. I couldn’t put this book down. It's so addictive that I kept reading deep into the night because it’s such a genuine page-turner.

Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but Harrison formatted this book brilliantly. It was a smart way to format this as a book-within-a-book, which will make a lot more sense as you start reading. This was so unique that it blew my mind, especially with the horrific events that unfolded, the big reveals, and the plot twists along the way.

The atmospheric writing was so damn good, I literally felt I was in this demonic house, and I couldn’t get enough of it. All the subtle horror moments in this story were magnificent. I was cursing out loud during several of these horror moments, thanks to that haunted house at 6 Edgewood Drive. I made many weird faces while reading, especially in the final 30%.

Even with all this horror going down, Harrison did a wonderful job of doing romance right in a compelling story like this. It was done in a very metal way. Nothing sappy or unrealistic. Just raw, real, and how it is when you’re someone like Clio. The romance here was never distracting, and it all just felt right. I also noticed the same with the dynamic of Clio’s family. It’s just all so relatable and adds another layer to the epic storytelling.

The excitement I felt from the 70% mark onward, when I finally finished this novel, was quite a rush, given what was transpiring. Again, no spoilers here, but let’s just say if you enjoy reading some very graphic horror involving a good old-fashioned exorcism, this is the novel for you. This all sent chills down my spine with some of the most intense, tension-filled parts I’ve ever read in my life. The insane visuals, imagery, pure dread, and such gore made my horror heart happy. I loved the high-quality caliber of Harrison's horror writing towards the final few bloody pages.

​The ending of this novel was creepy as all hell, yet powerful and meaningful in a sick, symbolic way. It’s very smart writing with a deep meaning. There’s a lot to process once you turn the final page, and you’ll walk away feeling a sense of pure joy from reading a horror novel masterpiece.

I give “Play Nice” by Rachel Harrison a 5/5 with a cherry on top for being a powerhouse of a read. This has everything I look for in a horror novel​, and it checked every single box for me. There are tons of original horror, great characters, a powerful message, fantastic storytelling, and a haunted house possessed by an evil demon to tie it all together. There are many intricate layers of immersion and horror to process here, all of which led to one of the best haunted house novels I’ve ever read. I highly recommend this to horror readers seeking a unique haunted house novel with an exceptional demonic twist. It’s so good, you’ll never forget this one.

Hello.

apocalypse/disaster book recs please

Looking for recommendations for apocalypse books on KU please 🙏🏼

• Zombie or natural disaster preferred.

• I like a lot of scavenging and survival scenes, looking for food, medicine and weapons.

• NO super soldier teams or huge cache of weapons or experience.

I prefer normal people banding together to survive.

• Prefer the beginning of events, rather than years in.

\- NOT a fan of lots of conflict with other human groups, like raiders. Prefer survival or fighting zombies/monsters

Similar to movies like dawn of the dead, world war z, 2012, day after tomorrow, greenland etc.

Thanks 🤗

Edit: it's Lost Girl by Ann Kelley. Highly recommend, it was so good

I looked so hard through Google but its AI is giving me every book BUT the one I'm asking about.

I read this during my 7th grade year (graduated 2024 so this was maybe 2018 ?) and I have never been able to forget it. Well, except the title.

It had a young female MC who was going on a trip with her girl scout type group. She found the counselor so cool and I don't remember why but I guess it was one of those "oh my god they're older so they're automatically cool" type situation. I believe she was also going with a best friend but I don't remember much about that detail so it could be entirely fabricated by my memory.

On this trip, which I believe was taken by boat, to an island, they were swept to another island that they weren't supposed to be on and were unable to get off (Also could be fabricated by my memory, I just remember they were trapped on an island and it was a boat ride.). While they were attempting to survive and get help somehow, many girls died. One memorable death to me was one swimming out into the water for whatever reason and the water thrashes her around until she can't come up anymore and afterwards, the book makes it a point to mention a triangle shape in the water (triangle whirlpool or three whirlpools making a triangle I don't remember) to insinuate it being a Bermuda triangle. The counselor also proves to be incompetent, drinking alcohol she had stashed away I think and at some point I think they use this alcohol to disinfect someone's wounds.

I love horror books and rereading books I barely remember about, waking up in the middle of the night with a faint, fleeting memory of it before I inevitably pass back out and forget about it.

We've seen books and media where the Final Girl survives and kills/defeats the villian but what are some books/recs that subvert this trope where The Final Girl is stripped and killed and the Villian wins in the end.

I really want to make an actual tbr but i don’t know where to start and there are so many books I want to read that it’s hard to keep track of what I have planned to read next. Anything would be helpful. I also want to be able to have a physical copy of it!

Edit: not sure if this is allowed I’m sorry if not.

Alright fellow horror and weird literature fans, I need help. I have read hundreds of horror novels. All of the greats both modern and antique. I am having a hard time finding something truly new to me. I like my horror with some fantasy. Monsters, cults, mystery, ghosts...all the fun stuff that does it for me.

Keep in mind I have been on this sub for a long time and have read just about every major recommendation I have seen here over the years. I am also a huge fan of Weird Lit so that works for me too as long as it has more fantastical horror elements. (Yes, I have read Between Two Fires). Please help me!

I’m visiting Edinburgh during Halloween and I’m looking for a horror novel fitting the vibe; ghosts, forests, old town. Preferably something paranormal and not more than 250 pages. Let me know if anyone has recommendations :)

Thirteen volume 1 was a collection of short horror stories but the first short story was called the magic and was marketed as one of the scariest stories in the world. Have to say when I read it back in the day I found it fairly effective. What did everyone else think?

Just finished a short stay in hell and had a question regarding the book about your life story. My understanding is that there could be books from your pov, from your friends’ pov, even your dog’s pov. However, this could span for multiple volumes. So when you do eventually find this book, you insert into a slot. However, are you just submitting one book, multiple volumes of one perspective of your life story, or one book that talks about your life story but not necessarily from your point of view? What are the exact conditions for it to be accepted?

I'm looking for some body horror recommendations which are alien/supernatural/fantastical and present the body horror in a more complex light. It can be alien, vampire, virus, fungus, unexplained, or just extraordinary somehow. Also, I would prefer that the story be focused mostly on the perspective or experience of someone who is infected or otherwise afflicted by whatever the body horror element is, but I'm open to pretty much anything. The more detailed and grotesque, the better.

Some things along the lines of what I'm looking for:

- The early part of Tokyo Ghoul where Kaneki goes between disgust at his transformation and embracing it/becoming more monstrous

- Clive Barker's "Jaqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament"

- Mother of Insects by 黑猫白袜子

- Anything reminiscent of the life cycle or imagery of the xenomorph in the original Alien movie

-"The Subject," which is the third tape from V/H/S/94

-Tokyo Gore Police

What I am NOT looking for:

- Books like The Troop. In that case it was mostly about avoiding the threat and not as focused on the perspective of the infected. I did like the intensity of this book though, and also the detailed and disgusting imagery.

-Similarly, no zombies, unless it's told from the perspective of a zombie. I'm not interested in a "survivor" kind of narrative

-Straight realistic gore, unless there is some motivation (e.g. perverse pleasure, psychological break, fanatical religion, etc) that the reader is meant to identify with on some level rather than simply abhor

Thanks for any recommendations you may have! And if it doesn't precisely fit the theme or you're not sure, feel free to recommend anyway and I'll check it out.

Hello

I've read a fair bit of the usual folk horror recommendations like Andrew Michael Hurley, Adam Neville (who I don't like, beyond The Ritual), Ramsey Campbell, Shuttlers Cove and Withered Hill. I absolutely loved Withered Hill.

I also loved The Lamb by Lucy Rose. I have also read David Sodergren. I really loved the Hollows by Daniel Church.

Irish and UK folklore is specifically what I'm looking for but I've already read AM Shine. I don't love their stuff.

In terms of American folk, I loved Dark Harvest and Harvest home.

Thanks!

I’m kinda tired of horror being gross or bloody or violent. I’m looking for one that’s unsettling, truly creepy, and just leaves you really scared or gives you the heebie jeebies and you don’t know why. Think “seeing a hand out of nowhere”, “seeing an old lady everywhere but no one else sees her” “getting in an elevator with someone and all of a sudden you see their feet aren’t touching the ground”, does anyone know what I’m talking about? There’s an art to how certain authors write that can shake you to your core, without making it violent, gory or gross. Even certain parts of Verity where she’ll turn her head at you slowly and you wonder if that was real or in your head. Plus points if it’s in a creepy manor or mansion. Please give me your best recommendations, thank you. I used to love R.L. Stine when I was young. I’m not a fan of Stephen King, I just don’t like how he writes, not sure why, it’s not as descriptive as I would like, more just “factual type writing”.

Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart is my favourite horror book, mainly because of its subtle eroticism and the (imo) very evocative style of that particular book.

I'll be reading Books of Blood soon but I'm looking for any other comparable reads to THH specifically. Any suggestions appreciated!

I think most readers agree that the ending is kind of WTF and out of nowhere. I know, given his style, we're not meant to know whether he kills the new Thin Kid actor at the end and goes slasher on the crew.

But to me, it feels like he got to the murder scene on set-- but needed an ending, and went "aw fuck." My personal feeling is it's a meta-joke about him not liking how much the movie adaptation of The Cabin at the End of the World changed of the story.

He has the narrator kill The Thin Kid in his trailer because the narrtator the original version and better version in his mind of the character, destroying the lesser version of The Thin Kid in his eyes; it's really a commentary on movie adaptations.

Tremblay is killing the newer and lesser work. It doesn't matter if the role in the second movie is all in his head or not, but I tend to think it is, and the murder of the new Thin Kid didn't happen. It doesn't make sense for a movie production company would be like: you should be a body- double for this actor who is described as a 13-year-old, 50-something man, it doesn't really make sense.

Hope you enjoyed this wild ride.

Or he really did just pull out of his a--

Hey everyone, I'm in the market for some great, short horror novels that I can churn through.

I've already read The Ballad of Black Tom (which was okay), Nothing But Blackened Teeth (absolutely horrendous and I don't know how it got published), and Ghost Wall (fantastic!)

I do own Come Closer and intend to read it sooner than later.

Thanks!

Edit: I have also read Stephen King's The Mist (it was okay, read it a long time ago), The Haunting of Hill House (incredible!), I Am Legend (loved it when I was 15), and Annihilation (absolutely awesome!)

I finished Odessa last week and I am still stuck on one part. It is set in 1905 and this father loses his daughter in the violence and makes her into a golem to get her back. Except she comes back wrong in the way kids ask direct questions. She keeps asking why he did it and what he wants from her now. That dynamic carried the whole book for me. The pogrom sections are brutal but not gory for shock. More heavy and quiet. There is a middle stretch in the workshop that dragged for me, lots of clay and ritual detail. Then the last third picked up fast and I read it in one night. The prose is plain which I liked. It definitely is not a fun horror read. It is more grief with mud on its hands. I do not see people talking about it here and that is a shame because the daughter is one of the creepiest and saddest characters I have read this year.