Dark Horror

A great imagination makes for terrific ghost stories - stories that go beyond the tapping on the doors in the middle of a night or a whistling thrush or even a squeaky swing in the wind. This is a collection of some such horror stories selected and compiled by Ruskin Bond that will send shivers down your spine.

First published in the US in 1988 and in the UK in 1990, The Wine-Dark Sea contains eight unsettling stories that explore protagonists' fears and desires, at once illogical and terrifying, and culminate in a disturbing and enigmatic ending. Aickman's "strange stories" (his preferred term for them) are a subtle exploration of psychological displacement and paranoia; his characters ordinary people that are gradually drawn into the darker recesses of their own minds. For fans of the horror genre, Robert Aickman is a must read.

New York Times bestselling and Eisner Award–nominated comics writer Cullen Bunn presents his adult novel debut—a high-stakes hunt for a masked killer whose brutal murders may be a portent of an evil as ancient and cold as the stars themselves. The bodies are stacking up on Wilson Island. The...

Since the day they unwittingly found themselves in the horror show of Carousel, Riley (the Film Buff), Antoine (the Athlete), Kimberly (the Eye Candy), Camden (the Scholar), and Anna (the Final Girl) have learned the rules of their horror-movie world. They've fought through story after story and come out alive—or at least preserved the storyline enough to come back to life. But their biggest challenge yet lies ahead.

Gabriel Delling might call himself a professional con artist, but when walking superstitions start trying to bite his face off, his charm is shockingly unhelpful. It turns out living nightmares almost never appreciate a good joke. Together with a succubus who insists on constantly saving his life, Gabe desperately tries to survive a new reality that suddenly features demons, legends, and a giant locust named Dale - all of whom pretty much hate his guts. And when an ancient horror comes hunting for a spirit locked in his head, Gabe finds himself faced with the excruciating choice between death...or becoming some kind of freaking hero.

Harrison is the Monster Detective, a storybook hero. Now he’s in his mid-30s and spends most of his time not sleeping. Stan became a minor celebrity after being partially eaten by cannibals. Barbara is haunted by the messages carved upon her bones. Greta may or may not be a mass-murdering arsonist. And for some reason, Martin never takes off his sunglasses.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Married life seems to agree with “the first serial killer who unabashedly solicits our love” (Entertainment Weekly)—the character that inspired the latest Showtime hit series Dexter: Resurrection. “Wonderfully fresh and packed with just the right amount of...

Psychological horror meets cyber noir in this delicious one-sitting read—a haunted house story in which the haunting is by AI. Henry is a brilliant engineer who, after untold hours spent in his home lab, has achieved the breakthrough of his career—he’s created an artificially intelligent...

John Glover reads a selection of unabridged short stories, including "Graveyard Shift," from Stephen King's best-selling collection Night Shift...

In this thrilling novel from the authors of the bestselling Death of the Black Widow, the police of a small New England town are confronted with a baffling series of crimes. Hollows Bend, New Hampshire, is a picture-perfect New England town where weekend tourists flock to see fall leaves and eat...

Navarro, a captain of the Spanish Conquistadores is determined to loot the temple of the God of the Night. Only a native princess and a Catholic priest can stop him. If they fail, a demon deadlier than any creature known to man will be unleashed on the earth. It will kill everyone who has stolen the cursed gold, and it will not be satisfied until it has feasted on their very souls.

With his bestselling blend of nail-biting intensity, daring artistry, and storytelling magic, Dean Koontz returns with an emotional roller coaster of a tale filled with enough twists, turns, shocks, and surprises for ten ordinary novels. Here is the story of five days in the life of an ordinary...

Having successfully stolen half the souls of Fairhaven out from under her rival's pretentious undead nose, Maud must now find homes for all her new pets, but the living are much noisier than the dead. As if that wasn't vexing enough, the self-appointed lich king has just unleashed a zombie plague on the land, threatening both Maud's patience and her wool supply.

Since they were lured to the festival at Carousel, Riley (the Film Buff), Antoine (the Athlete), Camden (the Scholar), Anna (the Final Girl), and Kimberly (the Eye Candy) have lived through entire horror movie plots. So far, Riley's survival strategy is working. He's high on his Moxie, Hustle, and Savvy stats. But his Mettle and Grit have dropped dangerously low, leaving him vulnerable. If he gets caught by a killer, he's done for.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the New York Times bestselling author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero comes a chilling tale that combines reality, memoir, and fantasy to create a fascinating portrait of this most controversial writer but also a deeply moving novel about love and loss, parents...

In a world where magic is controlled by wealthy families and vast corporations, one young man will need all the help he can get in this riveting contemporary fantasy from the author of the Alex Verus novels. Stephen Oakwood’s ambitions used to be simple. Pay his bills, track down his father...

In the wake of a massacre, Ella, Bray, and William flee into the wild, hoping to escape the brutal vengeance of an unforgiving leader. In Brighton, political and economic tensions boil. Famine is approaching. The monsters are amassing. And a costly decision must be made, one that will threaten the lives of humanity's last survivors...

Welcome to Saturday Fright at the Movies, where the projector is stuck on mayhem and thirteen B-movie tales are lurching off the screen. In the flickering light of this hallowed multiplex, you'll witness outrageous creature features and gritty found footage, nostalgic popcorn slashers and haunted VHS tapes. Run screaming down the aisles with intergalactic zombie unicorns, tentacled rock-gods, brat-packs of unearthly trick-or-treaters, a goo-monster with an existential crisis, and one starry-eyed coroner as he meets-and-greets his favorite masked maniac.

Invite Hannibal Lecter into the palace of your mind and be invited into his mind palace in turn. Note the similarities in yours and his, the high vaulted chambers of your dreams, the shadowed halls, the locked storerooms where you dare not go, the scrap of half-forgotten music, the muffled cries...

Walter was a petty crook, struggling to make ends meet, when he was suddenly abducted to another world. One of many people from Earth drafted by aliens to participate in "the trials" in order to gain "ascension," he must now endure hazardous environments and hostile creatures, strengthening his physical and mental skills to superhuman levels.