Let's Talk Books: Horror

by Stacey

Did you miss our discussion of all things horror last week? Have no fear! Every unsettling, disturbing, and dread-inducing book that was mentioned by participants is listed below.

Heart-shaped box

Joe Hill

eBOOK
Horror

The Stepford wives

Ira Levin

FICTION Levin, Ira
Horror

Rosemary's baby

Ira Levin

FICTION Levin, Ira
Horror

Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband Guy move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and mostly elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building, and despite Rosemary's reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband takes a special shine to them. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavets' circle is not what it seems.

American psycho : a novel

Bret Easton Ellis

eBOOK
Horror

Nailbiter, volume 1

Joshua Williamson

eBOOK
Horror

Paper girls

Brian K. Vaughan

COMIC Paper
Horror

"In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and supernatural mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood"--Page [4] of cover.

Stranger things. Season 1

DVD TV Stranger 1st season
Horror

1983, Indiana. A young boy vanishes into thin air. As friends, family, and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one very strange little girl.

I know what you did last summer

Lois Duncan

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Duncan, Lois
Horror

Four teen-agers who have desperately tried to conceal their responsibility for a hit-and-run accident are pursued by a mystery figure seeking revenge.

There's someone inside your house : a novel

Stephanie Perkins

eBOOK
Horror

"Hawaii-born Makani Young's new life in Nebraska is thrown into chaos when a serial killer begins to target her fellow high school students"--

The hunger : a novel

Alma Katsu

eBOOK
Horror

"A retelling of the fate of the Donner Party, with a Walking Dead style twist"--

The fever

Megan E. Abbott

eAUDIO
Horror

"The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community. The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hocky star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community. As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security" --

John dies at the end

David Wong

FICTION Wong, David
Horror

This may be the story of John and David, a drug called soy sauce, and other-worldly beings invading the planet. Or, it may be the story of two beer-drinking friends who live in an unnamed Midwestern town and only think something horrific is going on. But the important thing is, according to the narrator, "None of this is my fault."

Horrorstor : a novel

Grady Hendrix

eBOOK
Horror

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they'll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

My best friend's exorcism : a novel

Grady Hendrix

eBOOK
Horror

1988. Charleston, South Carolina. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act--different. She's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her to some startling discoveries--and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?

It

Stephen King

eBOOK
Horror

Doctor sleep

Stephen King

eAUDIO
Horror

"Stephen King returns to the character and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals. On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless-- mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, the True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death. Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes "Doctor Sleep." Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival"--Container.

Revival : a novel

Stephen King

eBOOK
Horror

"In a small New England town over half a century ago, a boy is playing with his new toy soldiers in the dirt in front of his house when a shadow falls over him. He looks up to see a striking man, the new minister, Jamie learns later, who with his beautiful wife, will transform the church and the town. The men and boys are a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls, with the Reverend Jacobs--including Jamie's sisters and mother. Then tragedy strikes, and this charismatic preacher curses God, and is banished from the shocked town. Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from age 13, he plays in bands across the country, running from his own family tragedies, losing one job after another when his addictions get the better of him. Decades later, sober and living a decent life, he and Reverend Charles Jacobs meet again in a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and the many terrifying meanings of Revival are revealed. King imbues this spectacularly rich and dark novel with everything he knows about music, addiction, and religious fanaticism, and every nightmare we ever had about death. This is a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe"--

Elevation

Stephen King

eBOOK
Horror

"Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together--a timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences. Although Scott Carey doesn't look any different, he's been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn't want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis. In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King's most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade--but escalating--battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott's lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face-including his own--he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott's affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others. From Stephen King, our "most precious renewable resource, like Shakespeare in the malleability of his work" (The Guardian), Elevation is an antidote to our divisive culture, as gloriously joyful (with a twinge of deep sadness) as "It's a Wonderful Life.""--

Haunted : a novel of stories

Chuck Palahniuk

eBOOK
Horror

Paperbacks from Hell : the twisted history of '70s and '80s horror fiction

Grady Hendrix

eAUDIO
Nonfiction

A nostalgic and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of the 1970's and 1980's, complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles.

The nest

Gregory A. Douglas

FICTION Douglas, Gregory A.
Horror

"It was just an ordinary garbage dump on peaceful Cape Cod. No one ever imagined that conditions were perfect for breeding, that it was a warm womb, fetid, moist, and with food so plentiful that everything creeping, crawling, and slithering could gorge to satiation. Then a change in poison control was made, resulting in an unforeseen mutation. Now the giant mutant cockroaches are ready to leave their nest--in search of human flesh!"-- Back cover.

Lovecraft country : a novel

Matt Ruff

FICTION Ruff Matt
Horror

A lush and seething hell : two tales of cosmic horror

John Hornor Jacobs

FICTION Jacobs John
Horror

[The author] turns his fertile imagination to the evil that breeds within the human soul. A brilliant mix of the psychological and supernatural, blending the acute insight of Roberto Bolaño and the eerie imagination of H. P. Lovecraft, The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky examines life in a South American dictatorship. Centered on the journal of a poet-in-exile and his failed attempts at translating a maddening text, it is told by a young woman trying to come to grips with a country that nearly devoured itself. In My Heart Struck Sorrow, a librarian discovers a recording from the Deep South -which may be the musical stylings of the Devil himself. Breathtaking and haunting,-- Adapted from dust jacket.

No country for old men

Cormac McCarthy

eBOOK
Horror

The dark crystal

jDVD Dark
Horror

Jen the Gelfling must undertake a dangerous quest to restore the all-powerful Dark Crystal, in order to return light and order to the world.

Odd Thomas

Dean R. (Dean Ray) Koontz

eBOOK
Horror

The regulators

Richard Bachman

FICTION Bachman, Richard
Horror

Desperation

Stephen King

eBOOK
Horror

Dolores Claiborne

Stephen King

eAUDIO
Horror

Gerald's game

Stephen King

eAUDIO
Horror

Uzumaki : spiral into horror

Junji Itō

MANGA Ito
Horror

Kurôzu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. It manifests itself in everything from seashells and whirlpools in water to the spiral marks on people's bodies, the insane obsessions of Shuichi's father and the voice from the cochlea in our inner ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kurôzu-cho are pulled ever deeper into a whirlpool from which there is no return!

Frankenstein : Junji Ito story collection

Junji Itō

MANGA Ito
Horror

"Junji Ito meets Mary Shelley! The master of horror manga bends all his skill into bringing the anguished and solitary monster--and the fouler beast who created him--to life with the brilliantly detailed chiaroscuro he is known for. Also included are six tales of Oshikiri--a high school student who lives in a decaying mansion connected to a haunted parallel world. Uncanny doppelgangers, unfortunately murdered friends, and a whole lot more are in store for him. Bonus: The Ito family dog! Thrill to the adventures of Non-non Ito, an adorable Maltese!"--

Smashed : Junji Ito story collection

Junji Itō

MANGA Ito
Horror

"Thirteen chilling nightmares presented by the master of horror. Try not to be noticed when you eat the secret nectar, otherwise you'll get smashed...What horrific events happened to create the earthbound--people tied to a certain place for the rest of their short lives? A strange haunted house comes to town, but no one expects it to lead to a real hell...Welcome to Junji Ito's world, a world with no escape from endless nightmares"--Provided by publisher.

The twisted ones

Scott Cawthon

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Cawthon Scott
Horror

"It's been a year since the horrific events at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, and Charlie is just trying to move on. Even with the excitement of a new school and a fresh start, she's still haunted by nightmares of a masked murderer and four gruesome animatronic puppets. Charlie thinks her ordeal is over, but when a series of bodies are discovered near her school bearing wounds that are disturbingly familiar she finds herself drawn back into the world of her father's frightening creations. Something twisted is hunting Charlie, and this time if it finds her, it's not letting her go."--Page 4 of cover.

Five nights at Freddy's : the graphic novel

Scott Cawthon

GRAPHIC NOVEL Cawthon Five
Horror

"Ten years after the horrific murders at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza that ripped their town apart, Charlie -- whose father owned the restaurant -- and her childhood friends reunite on the anniversary of the tragedy and find themselves at the old pizza place which had been locked up and abandoned for years. After they discover a way inside, they realize that things are not as they used to be. The four adult-sized animatronic mascots that once entertained patrons have changed. They now have a dark secret... and a murderous agenda."--Front jacket flap of Volume 1.

Meddling kids : a novel

Edgar Cantero

eBOOK
Horror

Full dark, no stars

Stephen King

eBOOK
Horror

Elevation

Stephen King

eAUDIO
Horror

"Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together--a timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences. Although Scott Carey doesn't look any different, he's been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn't want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis. In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King's most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade--but escalating--battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott's lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face-including his own--he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott's affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others. From Stephen King, our "most precious renewable resource, like Shakespeare in the malleability of his work" (The Guardian), Elevation is an antidote to our divisive culture, as gloriously joyful (with a twinge of deep sadness) as "It's a Wonderful Life.""--

The gunslinger

Stephen King

eBOOK
Horror

NOS4A2 : a novel

Joe Hill

eBOOK
Horror

Horns

Joe Hill

eBOOK
Horror

After his childhood sweetheart is brutally killed and suspicion falls on him, Ig Parrish goes on a drinking binge and wakes up with horns on his head, hate in his heart, and an incredible new power which he uses in the name of vengeance.

Dracula

Bram Stoker

eBOOK
Horror

Frankenstein : or, The modern Prometheus

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

eBOOK
Horror