Every year I take this opportunity to serve up some great horror and mystery recommendations for all of the scare-seekers out there. This time I’ve served up great options for those looking to relive a creepy classic or take a walk on the wild side with a brand new horror listen. And for those looking for something spooky but not so in-your-face, I even have the perfect chill picks!
New Releases in Horror
From best-selling author Victor Methos comes a gripping, edge-of-your seat thriller in which a group of young friends travel through remote woods in search of the legendary Bigfoot.
Mia is reluctant to go camping with her boyfriend and sister, who are graduate students working on a dissertation about American folklore. But ultimately, they convince her to help document the trip. The group sets off to Black Creek, a remote destination in the Pacific Northwest where Bigfoot has allegedly been sighted. They think they’re prepared for anything, but their sense of terror grows as they find more and more evidence to suggest the monster really is out there. Eventually, Mia realizes she’ll be lucky just to make it out of the woods alive.
The spirits of Nordic folklore come calling in this entrancing tale of family secrets and ancient mysteries by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Haunting of Brynn Wilder.
In Metsan Valo, her family home on Lake Superior, Anni Halla’s beloved grandmother has died. Among her fond memories, what Anni remembers most vividly is her grandmother’s eerie yet enchanting storytelling. By firelight she spun tall tales of spirits in the nearby forest and waters who could heal - or harm - on a whim. But of course those were only stories…
Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found - but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting....
Before there was Hill House, there was the Halloran mansion of Jackson’s stunningly creepy fourth novel, The Sundial.
When the Halloran clan gathers at the family home for a funeral, no one is surprised when the somewhat peculiar Aunt Fanny wanders off into the secret garden. But then she returns to report an astonishing vision of an apocalypse from which only the Hallorans and their hangers-on will be spared, and the family finds itself engulfed in growing madness, fear, and violence as they prepare for a terrible new world.
A man risks his soul and his sanity to save his family from malevolent forces in this brilliant novel of horror and the supernatural from the award-winning pioneer of speculative fiction and author of the classic My Soul to Keep....
In 1903, fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. An ambulance is sent for, and the two survivors are taken to All Hallows, the imposing asylum, hidden deep on Dartmoor....
From critically acclaimed author Troy Onyango comes a dark, suspenseful tale of spirits bearing witness to a crime that rocks an island community, based on the Luo legend of the water people....
Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found - but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting....
Cassandra Khaw's Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists....
The first in a thrilling new series from Emmy Award-winning TV host and journalist Tamron Hall, As the Wicked Watch follows a reporter as she unravels the disturbing mystery around the deaths of two Black girls; the work of a serial killer terrorizing Chicago....
Best of All Time
There are novels about the dark underbelly of small towns, and then there’s It, which puts an ancient shape-shifting monster in the sewers beneath Derry, Maine and has it terrorize a tight-knit group of children. It is one of King’s creepiest novels (it has evil clowns, how can it not be?) but it’s not just effective in its scares. It’s also an accomplished look at troubled kids coming of age and the non-supernatural darkness that can lurk behind the innocent facades of some towns. By the way, now’s a good time to check out It before the upcoming film adaptation hits theaters this year.
The first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, The Exorcist is not just a terrific horror movie—it’s a terrific movie, period. The same can be said for its inspiration, the novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty (who, it should be mentioned, also produced and wrote the screenplay for the big screen adaptation). When sweet little 11-year-old Regan MacNeil is possessed by a demonic entity, her mother Chris calls on Father Damian Karras to expel the darkness and save her daughter’s life. So much more than a simple made-you-jump shocker, this listen is also a thoughtful meditation on crises of faith and what it means to be human. And if that endorsement isn’t enough to convince you, trust on this: you’re going to want to hear Blatty’s absolutely impeccable performance of his own triumph. Not only is this the scariest author narration of all time—there, we said it—it’s also among the best ever.
Jeremy Thorn and his wife, Katherine, have just welcomed the newest member of their family to the world: Their beautiful son Damien. But as the boy grows, so does the terror surrounding him....
For fans of Lisa Unger and Shalini Boland comes a propulsive short thriller about a mysterious attack and a young woman who must uncover the truth to protect herself....
The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when 14-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia....
In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three. A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time. A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory....
Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives....
Light Thrills and Chills
In an intense, emotional mystery that spans a decade in the life of a small town, best-selling author Brian Freeman brings us an unforgettable heroine who discovers that the dead may sometimes be easier to rescue than the living....
Upcoming Horror
Jerry Pardoe and Jamila Patel hunt down a ritualistic cult inspired by Neolithic cannibals in the new chilling horror from Graham Masterton....
When Eliza Sullivan inherits an estate from a recently deceased aunt, she leaves behind a grievous and guilt-ridden past in New Orleans for rural England and a fresh start. Eliza arrives at her new home and finds herself falling for the mysterious lord of Havenwood, Malcolm Winfield....
Gary Bruce is a slacker of epic loserness. Can’t keep a job. His friends are as bad as he is. No girlfriend. No direction. Gary Bruce is also a werewolf. Desperate for any kind of success, Gary decides to out himself on YouTube....
Gabriel has spent the last decade trying to forget his best friend, the first boy he ever loved: Jacob. Ripped away from each other in the midst of a family tragedy, Gabriel grieved for Jacob alone, surviving in their small religious town before finally breaking free to attend college....
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Drowning Kind comes a genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein, that brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us....
Recently laid-off from his newspaper and desperate for work, war correspondent Nick Bishop takes a humbling job: writing a profile of a new mindfulness app called Clarity. It’s easy money, and a chance to return to his hometown for his first visit in years....
Elizabeth Gaskell's chilling Gothic Tales blends the real and the supernatural to eerie, compelling effect....
In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences - but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings - and memories - but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life....
From the acclaimed and award-winning author of The Hunger and The Deep comes a new psychological and supernatural twist on the horrors of the Japanese American internment camps in World War II....
In this heart-pounding stand-alone, a single mother suspects her young daughter has witnessed a horrible crime when the girl draws a disturbing picture - but the deadly path to unravel the truth could cost her everything....
