Horror Theory

Torture. Cannibalism. Cruelty. Execution. History is filled with tales so grotesque and chilling they sound like fiction, but every one of them is disturbingly real. From ancient empires to medieval kingdoms and beyond, rulers and regimes devised punishments that turned human suffering into spectacle. Victims were roasted alive, devoured by vermin, blinded with burning irons, flayed, impaled, drowned, or crushed under beasts—all carried out not in secret, but as deliberate displays of power meant to terrify entire populations. This book uncovers the most shocking execution methods and ...

A chilling domestic story of terror for fans of Black Mirror and The Amityville Horror. When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal...

Conspiracies. Cannibalism. Torture. Human experimentation. These days, conspiracy theories run rampant. But what if some of these horrors turned out to be true? Many people are shocked to learn that history is filled with several confirmed, real-life horrors and dark conspiracies that seem too frightening to be real — everything from assassinations and grotesque human experimentation to bizarre plots, fake wars, and mass poisoning of entire populations. This book explores some of the most disturbing and incredible plots involving corporations, governments, scientists, and other trusted ...

Kyle Murchison Booth, archivist at the Parrington Museum, has heard of Thirdhop Scarp. Everyone has. The house has been notorious ever since the night that homeowner J. A. Cathcart murdered his entire family, and was found cupping the heart of his eldest daughter in his hands as tenderly as he would a wounded bird.

“If you’re a fan of Stephen King and Stranger Things, then this is the book for you.” —Richard Chizmar, New York Times bestselling author Stranger Things meets The Walking Dead in this chilling horror novel based on the terrifying urban legend about a video game created by the government...

"HARROWING THRILLS . . . FAST-PACED AND ENGAGING." --People It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end--the dinosaurs destroyed, the park dismantled, the island indefinitely closed to...

In Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction outing, an examination of the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life through an insightful, unsparing argument that proves the greatest horrors are not the products of our imagination but instead are found in reality. "There is a signature motif discernible in...

Stephen King delivers a haunting, heartfelt performance as he shares a story about the bonds between husbands, wives, and pets. LT has a theory about pets, particularly his Siamese cat. It had been their cat not just his cat, but that was until he came home one day to a note on the fridge. His...

Dazed and Confused meets 28 Days Later in this “wickedly entertaining,” (Kirkus Reviews) “volcano of a book” (Nathan Ballingrud, author of Wounds) as a lonely young woman teams up with a group of fellow outcasts to survive the night in a town overcome by a science experiment gone wrong...

"HARROWING THRILLS . . . FAST-PACED AND ENGAGING." --People It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end--the dinosaurs destroyed, the park dismantled, the island indefinitely closed to...

The truth will set you free... Ash's trials and tribulations are not over yet. Bonds are strengthened and shattered while he continues to battle his inner demons. Ben awakens in the clutches of Rosae Crucis. Brenin seeks to rectify an old wrong. Their lives are intertwined; their destinies set. John balances on the precipe. He is a prisoner to his own fevered dreams. Uncovering their secrets will determine whether he finds peace - in life or death. The people at the Ren are faced with internal strife and loss, while a hidden menace emerges to threaten all. Experience a concurrence of events...

The Vault of Horrors includes case files more chilling and dark than ordinary files (if there are such things as "ordinary files" within the SCP vaults). The SCP Foundation operates beyond jurisdiction, empowered and entrusted by every major national government with the task of containing anomalous objects, entities, and phenomena. Many of these anomalies pose a significant threat to global security by threatening physical or psychological harm. All of them undermine the natural laws that the people of the world implicitly trust in. These are their case files. Note: Case files include ...

Jack Braddock is a ghost, haunted by his past and on the verge of losing the only thing that matters: his daughter. When a reclusive billionaire bails him out of a holding cell, the offer is too good to refuse: a clean slate and a future for his child. The price? One last mission. Journey to the most hostile place on the planet—Antarctica—and rescue the billionaire’s missing son. But the Antarctic is guarding a secret far older and more terrifying than any storm. Leading a small team of outcasts into a UN-quarantined "forbidden zone," Braddock discovers that the official story is a ...

The Two Truths: Of Dario Argento’s Opera and Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue is a wide-ranging exploration of the remarkable connections between the film-works of two seemingly disparate directors through discussions of psychology, philosophy East (from which this book takes its title) and West (including integral theory), physics, film theory and other systems related to reality, thought and consciousness. Art-horror director Dario Argento and animated fantasy film director Satoshi Kon receive treatment of comprehensive scale and astounding breadth and depth in this whirlwind analysis of ...

Editorial Review The Far Side is a restrained, devastating work of documented horror that transforms decades of lunar anomalies, canceled Apollo missions, and whispered cover-ups into something far more unsettling than conspiracy: consequence. Told with clinical precision and quiet humanity, the novel follows what happens when a system designed to erase evidence fails to erase a person. Ted Lazaris refuses spectacle or explanation, delivering literal, on-page terror through bodily harm, memory loss, and irreversible human cost. The result is a chilling, cinematic record that lingers not ...

Immunity. It means a lot to those without it. Sanctuary does too . . . Traveling across the country, an arrogant, rude, and ironically immune man's group runs from a government hell bent on stealing his immunity. With millions dead and some of the infected getting smarter, it's all-out war.

Plague. Infection. Death. Undeath. Control Theory puts our luckless hero several years into the zombie apocalypse and he's still making the same dumb mistakes. Kidnapped because of his immunity to the worst disease in history, he is learning that being immune may not be the best thing...

The horde is here. They are outside the gates of Stone Meadow, and they are outside the gate of the Olympus bunker complex. They press on the fences at Oakfield town’s power station and on the walls around Henry’s Salvage and Junk Yard. Old friends once thought lost are found again, and new friends turn out to be worst enemies. Follow ordinary people as they try to survive in an extraordinary new world, where they are hunted by both the dead and the living. Read along as the Apocalypsis Immortuos saga continues.

WE ARE NOT THE MASTERS OF THIS HOUSE. WE ARE THE TENANTS. Have you ever walked into a forest and felt the silence descend like a heavy blanket? Have you ever lost an hour on a lonely stretch of road, or seen a light in the woods that defied the laws of physics? For decades, we have looked to the stars for answers, waiting for visitors from another planet. We were looking in the wrong direction. They are not coming from deep space. They are coming from right next door. In The Neighboring Reality: A Concise Introduction to the Ultraterrestrial Presence, researcher Victor Cross presents a ...

Where conspiracy theory becomes deadly reality Eddie and Amanda Rusk have settled into vacation mode at a Caribbean resort, attempting one last repair to a failing marriage. An ill-fated catamaran ride turns into tragedy, throwing the couple into a nightmare with no end. Washed back to shore they find things drastically changed. Jimmy Hoffa is working the front desk. Bigfoot is escorting guests to their rooms. Elvis and JFK are sipping mojitos by the pool, and Rasputin is serving the drinks. And in another part of the resort, a lethal game of poker is set to begin where the most evil man in...