I’m a writer who writes across genres, but everything has a dark edge. As a reader, I want to be able to relate, engage, and connect in some way to the characters and story, but as I come from an abusive childhood, that means they can’t be light and fluffy; there has to be something off-kilter and warped because that reflects how my life has been. In my own writing, I try to do the same and create something that is emotive and real while still allowing the reader to escape. I originate from Surrey, in the south of England, but I have lived in theNetherlands since 2002.
As an indie author, I’m always interested in what other fellow authors are writing, so when I befriended Mark Cassell, I wanted to read his work. The Shadow Fabric made me a fan of his writing, and now I read everything he publishes.
With this book, Mark has established what he calls the Shadow Fabric Mythos, which means he’s written more novellas and short stories along the same theme: an ethereal darkness that takes over people, sucking the life out of them and giving a whole new meaning to the term ‘getting stitched’.
Again we have paranormal darkness, which I enjoy as a reader. And with Mark’s writing, he gives a chilly and yet urgent feel to it. You know what is coming, but you can’t look away. My kind of horror.
Leo remembers little of his past. Desperate for a new life, he snatches up the first job to come along. On his second day, he witnesses a murder, and the Shadow Fabric – a malevolent force that controls the darkness – takes the body and vanishes with it.
Determined to get answers, Leo has no idea where to turn. Revelations come in the most unlikely places, and secrets of witchcraft and ancient artefacts unfold. In particular, a device used in the 17th century to extract evil from witches proves key to his discoveries. With these truths long hidden from humankind,…
I grew up in the 80s, the era of horror super-franchises. Most would be familiar with Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween, but there were so many more. Oscar-winning films the decade prior like The Exorcist and Jaws ushered a new wave of new horror. Whether it was advancement in visual effects, or improvement in production, the genre was everywhere. And I couldn’t get enough. Those experiences have possessed my pen and continue to rule my reading choices. I hope you enjoy these recommendations as much as I did. There’s a lot we can learn about ourselves when we’re scared.
Hadley was starting her new life, even if it was against her will. Moving to her new/old house bothered by a neighbor fascinated by bugs and a step-father she loathed, Hadley wished for things to be as they used to be: when she didn’t have to share her mother. But the more she resists her new life, the more she becomes immersed in the house’s mysterious past.
The Doll’s Eye is a creepy mystery that builds towards an unexpected outcome, reminding us that divorce is hard, but running away from our problems can be even more perilous.
All Hadley wants is for everything to go back to the way it used to be-back when she didn't have to share her mother with her stepfather and stepbrother. Back when she wasn't forced to live in a musty, decomposing house. Back when she had a life in the city with her friends.
As Hadley whiles away what's left of her summer, exploring the nearby woods and splitting her time between her strange, bug-obsessed neighbor Gabe and the nice old lady that lives above the garage, she begins to notice the house isn't just old and creaky. It's full of…
I have always felt strongly that there is a world out there beyond our human comprehension where good and evil are at war. Add in the fact that I might have seen my very own angel, and it is a topic that has both intrigued and inspired me. At first, I snapped up every book I could find on angels and demons. Then, over time, I expanded to movies and TV shows. Finally, after consuming diverse media across genres, I wrote my own book centering on a female protagonist who discovers her own Nephilim heritage, the hard way, of course, with demons!
I was enthralled by the pacing and the romantic plot of this story. Engrossing from the very first chapter—gargoyles called Wardens? Uh, yes, and thank you! Demons? Gimme! Secrets. I am a slave for an MC with dark secrets! Add in a supernatural war—hands down one of my favs!
Jennifer L. Armentrout, the #1 New York Times , USA Today and internationally bestselling author of the Dark Elements novels and the Lux series, returns with book 1 of The Harbinger trilogy, a contemporary fantasy set in the world of her New York Times bestselling Dark Elements series. In this fantastical universe, gargoyle shapeshifters are sworn to guard humanity from the evils of the underworld. One guardian is about to meet a girl with an explosive secret. Should she fall into the wrong hands, her unique powers could unleash an all-out supernatural war.
Eighteen-year-old Trinity Marrow may be going blind,…
Diana Rodriguez Wallach displays a masterful grip on her third-person narrator, adeptly bouncing back and forth between the lives of her two main characters, Vera and Max, while slowly and deliciously revealing both their troubled pasts and their growing obsession with each other.
The closer they get to each other, the farther they find themselves thrust into a world from which they don’t belong, a world that is hopelessly marred by death, darkness, and the merciless clutches of evil.
This book is a headlong dive into the world of cults and the occult, armed with more terrifying twists and turns than a roller coaster ride through the actual Pet Cemetary.
The Conjuring meets The Vow! This is the terrifying story of a girl, a dark angel, and the cult hellbent on taking over her small, coastal town.
Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innate abilities, and is terrified of the occult things lurking in their basement.
Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year, spending his days thinking about parties and friends. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes…
I’ve always sought to escape this world for another; one more exciting. Whether it was reading, or playing D&D, I constantly looked for new places to explore. Building my own has become one of my favorite things about writing. What starts as a simple ‘What if...’ turns into a place I find myself in daily. I’m no longer just an explorer, but a builder, and my craving for unique worlds hasn’t gone away. I’m still learning, still creating new worlds beyond my first, and always still walking new ones. I hope you love escapism as much as I do, because these books will transport you.
Starting a recommendation with the latest book in the series might be the wrong move, but nothing captures the scope of Bardugo’s beautiful Grishaverse like this novel. Read the rest before this one, because this is the book where all our favorite plots and characters collide. And this book has it all. Gritty criminals, powerful saints, the horrors of war, touching romance, and answers to questions many had after finishing the first trilogy. More than anything, Rule of Wolves solidifies the Grishaverse as a fantasy world worthy of being with the big boys like LotR and the Wizarding World. No matter if you identify with the thieves, the Grisha, the pirates, or the monsters of legend, there’s a place in this world for everyone. Count me as a Crow, though.
2021 Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fantasy!
See the Grishaverse come to life on screen with Shadow and Bone, now a Netflix series.
The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times–bestselling King of Scars Duology.
The Demon King. As Fjerda’s massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young…
Hello, my name is Stephanie Duley and my passion lies in fantasy. From books and movies to board games and tabletop RPGs, if it’s fantasy, I am usually a big fan. My love of reading started at a young age when my mom would take us to our local library to sign up for the summer reading programs. As an adult, I will gobble up any fantasy novel I can get my hands on. As a published author, I strive to give readers that same feeling and bring a little magic into their world, even if it is only for a few hundred pages.
This was one of the first books I picked up after my reading slump in 2012, and I absolutely couldn’t put it down. The story concept was fascinating; I love it when story worlds have supernatural elements and societies hidden within the “regular world.” The characters are written very well, and you feel as though you are watching a movie while reading with the authors great attention to detail in the scenes she sets.
The world building is great and offers a unique take on the classic fantasy creatures, werewolves, vampires, and fey. You really feel that “found family” book trope in this series, and the ups and downs of book one will have you hooked.
Discover this first installment of the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he…
This historical fantasy absolutely charmed me from start to finish!
Unapologetically queer and steeped in Jewish history and culture, the story
follows Uriel the angel and Ashmedai (a.k.a. Little Ash), the demon, who've been
meeting up for centuries to study the Talmud in a tiny shtetl in
turn-of-the-century Poland.
When a young woman who recently left for New York
fails to write back to her family as promised, the pair decide to journey to
America to support their community—or, in Little Ash's case, explore
new avenues of mischief. I adored Lamb's exploration of Uriel and Little Ash's
inherent genderqueerness as non-human characters and the running theme of "What
does it mean to be human, anyway?"
In this respect, as well as tone and
setting, I was pleasantly reminded of Helene Wecker's The
Golem and the Jinni—so if you enjoyed that one, I'd highly
recommend you check out this…
In publishing-speak, here's what we at the LQ office sometimes describe as the Queer lovechild of Sholem Aleichem and Philip Roth:
Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shtetl). The angel and the demon have been studying Talmud together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn the young people from their village to America. And suddenly a murder forces the study partners to follow them.
We've been writing together for over ten years now. A theme that we’ve come back to lots of times is the horrible workplace with its bosses from hell. Feedback from readers tells us that the ways in which we’re made miserable at work are universal and it can be fun to examine them in fiction. We doubled down on the theme in the Oddjobs series of books. We both love to read and write horror, and we spend time with lots of horror authors, so this list came together very easily.
Possibly the most perfect fusion of horror and the workplace, the Laundry Files books show us a bureaucratic British intelligence service where even reading a training manual wrong will result in your brains leaking out of your ears. A fusion of Cold War spy novels and Cthulhu-ish horror, The Atrocity Archive introduces us to put-upon spy/clerk Bob Howard. It’s uncertain whether endless form filling, petty managers, or horrors from the dark side of the moon are most likely to drive him mad.
'Brilliantly disturbing and funny at the same time' Ben Aaronovitch on the Laundry Files
'Tremendously good, geeky fun' Telegraph on the Laundry Files
NEVER VOLUNTEER FOR ACTIVE DUTY . . .
Bob Howard is a low-level techie working for a super-secret government agency. While his colleagues are out saving the world, Bob's under a desk restoring lost data. His world was dull and safe - but then he went and got Noticed.
Now, Bob is up to his neck in spycraft, parallel universes, dimension-hopping terrorists, monstrous elder gods and the end of the world. Only one thing is certain: it…
I’m a queer writer whose latest novel explores destiny’s role in love, and what it means for love to triumph. I’m completely addicted to reading queer romances, and my favourite dynamics are always couples whose love beats the odds. I am a queer Australian writer of fantasy, as well as a video game designer. I live in Sydney with my partner and our two furry children.
I read this after inhaling the Netflix adaptation, The Untamed (which my boyfriend sped through just to have something to talk about on our second date).
It’s such a beautiful story. When Wei Wuxian is brought back to life, he must work to understand the mystery surrounding his revival. Wei Wuxian is irreverent where Lan Wangji is reserved, which is already a wonderful dynamic, but they also have a history and I couldn’t get enough of it. Very fun story.
Also known as MDZS, the blockbuster danmei/Boys' Love novels from China that inspired comics, animation, and the live-action series The Untamed! This historical fantasy tale of two powerful men who find each other through life and death is now in English, for the very first time!
Wei Wuxian was once one of the most powerful men of his generation, a talented and clever young cultivator who harnessed martial arts and spirituality into powerful abilities. But when the horrors of war led him to seek more power through demonic cultivation, the world's respect for his abilities turned to fear, and his…
This is a novel of violence and misogyny, but it is also strangely uplifting and inspirational.
A group of women brought up in a cult discover a horrifying secret about the men in their lives that leaves them with two choices: go or stay. Their dilemma is complicated by their extreme isolation; none of them can read or write and they speak a language distinct to their religious sect. It is told from the POV of a recently returned outcast whose presence is a mystery until the last page.
Now a major motion picture from writer/director Sarah Polley, starring Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, with Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand.
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
“This amazing, sad, shocking, but touching novel, based on a real-life event, could be right out of The Handmaid's Tale.” -Margaret Atwood, on Twitter
"Scorching . . . a wry, freewheeling novel of ideas that touches on the nature of evil, questions of free will, collective responsibility, cultural determinism, and, above all, forgiveness." -New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
One evening, eight Mennonite women climb into a hay loft to conduct a secret meeting. For…
