Books like 'Under Town'
Readers who enjoyed Under Town by Charles Ogden also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror mystery action / adventure comedy gothic children humor dark family
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Last Stand of Dead Men by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe eighth instalment in the biggest, funniest, most thrilling comedy-horror-adventure series in the universe - and the follow-up to 2012’s number-one bestseller, Kingdom of the Wicked…War has finally come.But it's not a war between good and evil, or light and dark – it's a war between Sanctuaries... -
The Dying of the Light by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe ninth book in the original, jaw-droppingly stupendous Skulduggery Pleasant series.Valkerie. Darquesse. Stephanie. The world ain’t big enough for the three of them. The end will come…The War of the Sanctuaries has been won, but it was not without its casualties... -
Mortal Coil by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMeet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior.Oh yes. And dead.Skulduggery Pleasant is back, and reunited with his original head. But all is not well in the magical world – for one thing, foreign powers are conspiring to take over the Irish Sanctuary, and for another thing, Valkyrie has discovered she might be the sorceress set to destroy the world... -
Kingdom of the Wicked by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe seventh instalment in the biggest, funniest, most thrilling comedy-horror-adventure series in the universe…Magic is a disease.Across the land, normal people are suddenly developing wild and unstable powers. Infected by a rare strain of magic, they are unwittingly endangering their own lives and the lives of the people around them... -
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Death Bringer by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsMeet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior.Oh yes. And dead.The Necromancers no longer need Valkyrie to be their Death Bringer, and that’s a Good Thing.There’s just one catch. There’s a reason the Necromancers don’t need her any more – because they’ve found their Death Bringer already, the person who will dissolve the doors between life and death... -
The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThe third bone-breaking, belly-busting adventure in the series that puts the “funny” back in, um, funny series... -
The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn this new Zamonian adventure, Optimus Yarnspinner, a young writer, inherits from his beloved godfather an unpublished short story by an unknown author. His search for the author’s identity takes him to Bookholm the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he has opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop... -
Resurrection by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe skeleton detective is coming back to life...again! It's the tenth, triumphant novel in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, and it will rearrange your world.Skulduggery and Valkyrie are back in the tenth instalment in the best-selling Skulduggery Pleasant series - an incredible and unexpected treat for the legions of fans around the world... -
The Fall of the House of Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsJohannes Cabal, a necromancer of some little infamy, has come into possession of a vital clue that may lead him to his ultimate goal: a cure for death. The path is vague, however, and certainly treacherous as it takes him into strange territories that, quite literally, no one has ever seen before... -
Playing with Fire by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsSkulduggery and Valkyrie are facing a new enemy: Baron Vengeous, who is determined to bring back the terrifying Faceless Ones and is crafting an army of evil to help him. Added to that, Vengeous is about to enlist a new ally (if he can raise it from the dead): the horrible Grotesquery, a very unlikable monster of legend... -
The End of the World by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSkulduggery and Valkyrie are back, in an exclusive World Book Day novelette, set after the momentous events of Death Bringer…Hey, punks! Skulduggery and Valkyrie are about to make your day…15-year-old Ryan is running away from home, looking for escape and adventure. But unfortunately, sometimes people DO get what they wish for... -
A Mind Full of Murder by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA bone-shaking new trilogy begins – the latest adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant seriesSIX YEARS AGO, THE UNIVERSE ENDED.When it restarted, blinking back into existence, it brought with it a darkness that remains hidden from the mortal population.A week ago – fuelled by unimaginable hatred and unstoppable rage – a masked sorcerer killed one of those mortals. Then he killed another... -
The Brothers Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHorst Cabal has risen from the dead. Again. Horst, the most affable vampire one is ever likely to meet, is resurrected by an occult conspiracy that wants him as a general in a monstrous army. Their plan: to create a country of horrors, a supernatural homeland. As Horst sees the lengths to which they are prepared to go and the evil they cultivate, he realizes that he cannot fight them alone... -
In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsMore Grimm tales await in the harrowing, hilarious companion to a beloved new classicTake caution ahead—Oversize plant life, eerie amphibious royalty, and fear-inducing creatures abound.Lest you enter with dread.Follow Jack and Jill as they enter startling new landscapes that may (or may not) be scary, bloody, terrifying, and altogether true.Step lively, dear reader . . -
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Midnight by Derek Landy
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsSkulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are back in their most gripping story yet, as book 11, Midnight, picks up where Resurrection left off – and runs.For years, Valkyrie Cain has struggled to keep her loved ones safe from harm, plunging into battle – time and time again – by Skulduggery Pleasant’s side, and always emerging triumphant... -
Demon Dentist by David Walliams
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis New York Times bestseller from David Walliams, the UK’s #1 bestselling children’s author and “the heir to Roald Dahl” (The Spectator), launched his books stateside in a big way!Walliams makes going to the dentist a wacky adventure with his signature humor—this is one dentist appointment you don’t want to miss.Something strange is happening in Alfie's town... -
The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler, Jared Lee
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOn the first day of school, a boy expects only the worst when he discovers that his new teacher is the "monstrous" Mrs. Green. Spotlight editions are printed on high-quality paper and with reinforced library bindings specifically printed for the library market. Grades PreK-4... -
Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsIf it was still beating. Angus MacKay has been undead for almost five hundred years and it's not often something, or someone, surprises him. Until Emma Wallace. The sight of this luscious agent from the CIA's elite Stake-Out team was enough to stop Angus in his tracks. But then he discovers that she's a vampire slayer, intent on killing the "monsters" who killed her parents... -
The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsDear Reader, If this is the first book you found while searching for a book to read next, then the first thing you should know is that this next-to-last book is what you should put down first. Sadly, this book presents the next-to-last chronicle of the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, and it is next-to-first in its supply of misery, despair, and unpleasantness... -
Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, The Twilight Zone comes to the carrot patch as a rabbit fears his favorite treats are out to get him. Includes audio!Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots. He eats them on the way to school.He eats them going to Little League.He eats them walking home.Until the day the carrots start following him.. -
The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsDear Reader, If you have just picked up this book, then it is not too late to put it back down. Like the previous books in A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, there is nothing to be found in these pages but misery, despair, and discomfort, and you still have time to choose something else to read... -
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 27 ratings2021 LODESTAR AWARD for BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOKFourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance... -
Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsA wine connoisseur with an infallible palate and a sinister taste in wagers. A decrepit old man with a masterpiece tattooed on his back. A voracious adventuress, a gentle cuckold, and a garden sculpture that becomes an instrument of sadistic vengeance. Social climbers who climb a bit too quickly. Philanderers whose deceptions are a trifle too ornate...Categorized as:
children dark humor 20th-century action-adventure anthologies audiobook children-books -
Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAre you ready for Ivy Pocket? The wickedly funny, completely unreliable maid of no importance returns—this time as a coffin maker’s daughter—in this action-packed sequel to Anyone but Ivy Pocket. School Library Journal says, “Fans of . . . Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events will love Ivy Pocket’s zany adventures... -
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Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsBryony and her sisters have come down in the world. Their merchant father died trying to reclaim his fortune and left them to eke out a living in a village far from their home in the city. But when Bryony is caught in a snowstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned manor, she stumbles into a house full of dark enchantments... -
Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsOliver was a very minor mage. His familiar reminded him of this several times a day.He only knew three spells, and one of them was to control his allergy to armadillo dander. His attempts to summon elementals resulted in nosebleeds, and there is nothing more embarrassing than having your elemental leave the circle to get you a tissue, pat you comfortingly, and then disappear in a puff of magic... -
The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsrelates the adventures of Satan, the sinless nephew of the biblical Satan, in Eseldorf, an Austrian village in the year 1702. Twain wrote this version between November 1897 and September 1900. "Eseldorf" is German for "Assville" or "Donkeytown"... -
The End by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThe last volume of the fabulously popular A Series of Unfortunate Events series, in which the history of the Baudelaire orphans is brought to its end.You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of the end... -
Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer, Z Brewer
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsHigh school totally bites when you’re half human, half vampire. Freshman year sucks for Vlad Tod. Bullies still harass him. The photographer from the school newspaper is tailing him. And failing his studies could be deadly... -
The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsDear Reader, If you are looking for a story about cheerful youngsters spending a jolly time at boarding school, look elsewhere. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent and resourceful children, and you might expect that they would do very well at school. Don't. For the Baudelaires, school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives... -
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 52 ratingsDear Reader,I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe... -
Writer of the Purple Rage by Joe R. Lansdale
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsContaining stories from the dark side, the light side, and all shades in between, this is a masterful collection by one of America's rising storytellers. Storylines include that of a woman who discovers grisly horror on a mountain road, a plastic love doll who becomes liberated, and a baby's diaper that is possessed by aliens... -
Hex-Ed by Sarina Dorie
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsImagine a bumbling character like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum told with the quirky tone of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but trying to get a job at Hogwarts. Clarissa Lawrence has been fired from multiple internships as a student teacher for reasons outside her control. Magical things keep happening to her . . . like the students turning into frogs... -
The Thornthwaite Inheritance by Gareth P. Jones
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOvid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do... -
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The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsDear Reader, Like handshakes, house pets, or raw carrots, many things are preferable when not slippery. Unfortunately, in this miserable volume, I am afraid that Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire run into more than their fair share of slipperiness during their harrowing journey up--and down--a range of strange and distressing mountains... -
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsCharlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets... -
The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsDear Reader, Unless you are a slug, a sea anemone, or mildew, you probably prefer not to be damp. You might also prefer not to read this book, in which the Baudelaire siblings encounter an unpleasant amount of dampness as they descend into the depths of despair, underwater... -
The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsDear reader,The word "carnivorous," which appears in the title of this book, means "meat-eating," and once you have read such a bloodthirsty word, there is no reason to read any further. This carnivorous volume contains such a distressing story that consuming any of its contents would be far more stomach-turning than even the most imbalanced meal... -
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsDear Reader,If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale, I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled... -
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsDear Reader,If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted; but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all... -
Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsJohannes Cabal is back -- a little older, a little wiser, but just as sharply funny, cuttingly sarcastic, and unexpectedly violent as ever. For necromancer Johannes Cabal, dealing with devils, demons and raising the dead is pretty much par for the course. But when his attempt to steal a rare book turns sour, he is faced by a far more terrifying entity -- politics... -
The Weirdies by Michael Buckley, Kate Winslet
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis is a very, very sad story. The characters suffer terrible tragedies. People die in unspeakable ways. Only a truly horrible person would be amused by their misfortune.Nevertheless, it is kind of funny.My advice is that you listen to this all by yourself. People can be judgy... -
The Curse of the Campfire Weenies: And Other Warped and Creepy Tales by David Lubar, Paul Michael Garcia
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn his third collection of warped and creepy "weenie" tales, David Lubar, critically acclaimed author and master of the macabre, travels deep into the shadowy corners of his mind to deliver thirty-five stories of laughter and terror to tickle your horror bone... -
The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsDear Reader,You have undoubtedly picked up this book by mistake, so please put it down. Nobody in their right mind would read this particular book about the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose, because each dismal moment of their stay in the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded in these pages... -
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Conjugal Rites by Paul Magrs
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe gripping new instalment of the adventures of Brenda and Effie.No matter what she tries to do, trouble has a way of finding Brenda. It's hardly surprising with secrets like hers. When her old adversary Mr Danby starts filling the airwaves with his late night phone in show it can only mean one thing - and sure enough best friend Effie soon finds herself up to her neck in it... -
The Bride that Time Forgot by Paul Magrs
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn outrageous adventure with the most terrifying villain Brenda has ever faced - her best friend, Effie.Something is biting people on the streets of Whitby. In an ordinary town, this would be worrying. Here, it’s disastrous, and only Brenda has guessed why... -
Once Upon a Midnight Eerie: Book #2 by Gordon McAlpine
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThey’ve just escaped almost certain death—and now they’re facing it again!In The Tell-Tale Start, Edgar and Allan Poe (great-great-great-great-grandnephews of the legendary Edgar Allan Poe) managed to outwit the nefarious Professor P. Pangborn Perry, who was (and is) determined to kill just one of them, in order to prove a mad scientific theory... -
The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThere is nothing to be found in the pages of these books but misery and despair. You still have time to choose something else to read. But if you must know what unpleasantries befall the charming and clever Baudelaire children read on...The Hostile Hospital - There are many pleasant things to read about, but this book contains none of them... -
Anyone but Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIvy Pocket is a twelve-year-old maid of no importance, with a very lofty opinion of herself. Dumped in Paris by the Countess Carbunkle, who would rather run away to South America than continue in Ivy's companionship, our young heroine (of sorts) finds herself with no money and no home to go to ... until she is summoned to the bedside of the dying Duchess of Trinity... -
Crane by Stacey Rourke
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Horseman is unending, his presence shan’t lessen. If you break the curse, you become the legend. Washington Irving and Rip Van Winkle had no choice but to cover up the deadly truth behind Ichabod Crane’s disappearance. Centuries later, a Crane returns to Sleepy Hollow awakening macabre secrets once believed to be buried deep...
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