Books like 'Swansong'
Readers who enjoyed Swansong by Kerry Andrew also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy horror psychological magical-realism myths folk-horror rural spooky gothic
-
The Magnus Archives: Season 2 by NOT A BOOK
Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsThe Magnus Archives is a horror audiobook written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrates the stories in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly-appointed head archivist of the fictional Magnus Institute; an institution based in London centred on research into the paranormal... -
![The Magnus Archives: Season 3 by Jonathan Sims]()
The Magnus Archives: Season 3 by Jonathan Sims
Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsThe Magnus Archives is a horror audiobook written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrates the stories in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly-appointed head archivist of the fictional Magnus Institute; an institution based in London centred on research into the paranormal... -
![The Magnus Archives: Season 5 by Johnathan Sims]()
The Magnus Archives: Season 5 by Johnathan Sims
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Magnus Archives is a horror audiobook written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrates the stories in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly-appointed head archivist of the fictional Magnus Institute; an institution based in London centred on research into the paranormal... -
![Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka, John Updike]()
Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka, John Updike
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsThe only available collection that brings together all of Kafka's storiesthose published during his lifetime and those released after his death...Categorized as:
literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century adult anthologies classics contemporary drama -
-
![The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty]()
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsFour decades after it first terrified the world, William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist is back! An extraordinary classic work of horror and dark paranormal suspense. In this stunning 40th Anniversary Edition, a desperate mother and two priests fight to free the soul of a little girl from a supernatural entity of pure malevolence... -
![Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff]()
Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAndy Gage was born in 1965 and murdered not long after by his stepfather. . . . It was no ordinary murder. Though the torture and abuse that killed him were real, Andy Gage's death wasn't. Only his soul actually died, and when it died, it broke in pieces. Then the pieces became souls in their own right, coinheritors of Andy Gage's life. . . -
![Del tiempo y sus demonios by Diego Armando Arciniegas Malagón]()
Del tiempo y sus demonios by Diego Armando Arciniegas Malagón
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDEL TIEMPO Y SUS DEMONIOS: PERSIGUIENDO LA VERDADEsta novela se desarrolla en un pequeño y misterioso pueblo. En un territorio hermoso, inhóspito a la luz de aquellas certezas que las mayorías consideran irrefutables. Lejos del tiempo que, arbitrariamente, tomara la sabia decisión de separar el bien del mal...Categorized as:
magical-realism literary-fiction mystery fiction horror classics psychological fantasy -
![Starlet: A Dark Hollywood Mafia Romance by Cora Kenborn]()
Starlet: A Dark Hollywood Mafia Romance by Cora Kenborn
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom USA Today Bestselling Author Cora Kenborn comes a dark and twisted enemies to lovers retelling of Anastasia. They call me America’s Sweetheart. Hollywood royalty. The last of an era. Sole survivor of LA’s most infamous crime. I’m not any of those things. He forced me into the spotlight. The liar with a perfect smile and cold blue eyes. But Alexandra Romanov’s fate won’t be mine... -
![Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories by Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie]()
Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories by Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOne of our most imaginative and accomplished writers, Angela Carter left behind a dazzling array of work: essays, citicism, and fiction. But it is in her short stories that her extraordinary talents—as a fabulist, feminist, social critic, and weaver of tales—are most penetratingly evident...Categorized as:
gothic literary-fiction magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century adult anthologies -
![The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado]()
The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"‘I have heard all of the stories about girls like me, and I am unafraid to make more of them.’ If you read this story out loud, please use the following voices:Me: as a child, high-pitched, forgettable; as a woman, the same.The boy who will grow into a man, and be my spouse: robust with his own good fortune.My father: Like your father, or the man you wish was your father... -
![The Prayer of the Night Shepherd by Phil Rickman]()
The Prayer of the Night Shepherd by Phil Rickman
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAt Stanner Hall, a Victorian mansion-turned-hotel, Ben Foley hosts murder-mystery weekends and strives to prove that his hotel is the house on which Arthur Conan Doyle based his immortal Baskerville Hall. As the days shorten and the weather worsens, Foley’s dabbling uncovers more than he can handle... -
![Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy]()
Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeattle police detective Joanne Walker started the year mostly dead, and she's ending it trying not to be consumed by evil. Literally.She's proven she can handle the gods and the walking dead. But a cannibalistic serial killer? That's more than even she bargained for. What's worse, the brutal demon can only be tracked one way... -
![The Body at Auercliff by Amy Cross]()
The Body at Auercliff by Amy Cross
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"We'll bury her so deep, even her ghost will have a mouth full of dirt!" When Rebecca Wallace arrives at Auercliff to check on her aged aunt, she's in for a shock. Her aunt's mind is crumbling, and the old woman refuses to let Rebecca stay overnight. And just as she thinks she's starting to understand the truth, Rebecca makes a horrifying discovery in one of the house's many spare rooms... -
![The Magus of Hay by Phil Rickman]()
The Magus of Hay by Phil Rickman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a man's body is discovered in the picturesque town of Hay-on-Wye, his death appears to be "unnatural" in every sense. Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mother, and exorcist, is drafted in to investigate, in this 12th installment A man's body is found below a waterfall. It looks like suicide or an accidental drowning—until DI Frannie Bliss enters the dead man's home... -
-
![Figment by Cameron Jace]()
Figment by Cameron Jace
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter her encounter with the Cheshire Cat, Alice Wonder can hardly tell reality from imagination. But when kids have their head chopped off and stuffed in watermelons all over the city, it's clear that another Wonderland Monster has arrived, possibly scarier than the Cheshire... -
![Midwinter of the Spirit by Phil Rickman]()
Midwinter of the Spirit by Phil Rickman
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLibrarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found here.The post of Diocesan Exorcist in the Church of England has changed to the preferred term Delivery Ministry. It sounds less sinister, more caring, so why not a job for a woman? When offered the post the Rev. Merrily Watkins cannot easily refuse, having suffered uncanny experiences of her own... -
![House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski]()
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsYears ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command...Categorized as:
gothic literary-fiction magical-realism spooky 21st-century action-adventure adult book -
![The Magus by John Fowles]()
The Magus by John Fowles
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThis daring literary thriller, rich with eroticism and suspense, is one of John Fowles's best-loved and bestselling novels and has contributed significantly to his international reputation as a writer of the first degree. At the center of The Magus is Nicholas Urfe, a young Englishman who accepts a teaching position on a remote Greek island, where he befriends a local millionaire...Categorized as:
gothic literary-fiction magical-realism myths 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi]()
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAn extraordinary debut novel, Freshwater explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born "with one foot on the other side...Categorized as:
female-mc literary-fiction magical-realism myths retellings 21st-century action-adventure audiobook -
![The Tenant by Roland Topor]()
The Tenant by Roland Topor
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe Tenant chronicles a harrowing, fascinating descent into madness as the pathologically alienated Trelkovsky is subsumed into Simone Choule, an enigmatic suicide whose presence saturates his new apartment. More than a tale of possession, the novel probes disturbing depths of guilt, paranoia, and sexual obsession with an unsparing detachment... -
![Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti]()
Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis collection features tormented individuals who play out their doom in various odd little towns, as well as in dark sectors frequented by sinister and often blackly comical eccentrics. The cycle of narratives that includes the title work of this collection, for instance, introduces readers to a freakish community of artists who encounter demonic perils that ultimately engulf their lives...Categorized as:
gothic literary-fiction magical-realism spooky 20th-century 21st-century adult anthologies -
![Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl]()
Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsIn these dark, disturbing stories Roald Dahl explores the sinister side of human nature: the cunning, sly selfish part of each of us that leads into the territory of the unexpected and unsettling.Originally published in 1960, Kiss Kiss brings together 11 of Roald's macabre adult tales...Categorized as:
magical-realism spooky 20th-century anthologies audiobook children children-books classics -
![Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko]()
Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe definitive English language translation of the internationally bestselling Ukrainian novel—a brilliant dark fantasy with "the potential to be a modern classic" (Lev Grossman), combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative way.Our life is brief . . -
![Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson]()
Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsKnock Knock, Open Wide weaves horror and Celtic myth into a terrifying, heartbreaking supernatural tale of fractured family bonds, the secrets we carry, and the veiled forces that guide Irish life.Driving home late one night, Etain Larkin finds a corpse on a pitch-black country road deep in the Irish countryside. She takes the corpse to a remote farmhouse... -
-
![Full Throttle by Joe Hill]()
Full Throttle by Joe Hill
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA little door that opens to a world of fairy tale wonders becomes the blood-drenched stomping ground for a gang of hunters in “Faun.” A grief-stricken librarian climbs behind the wheel of an antique Bookmobile to deliver fresh reads to the dead in “Late Returns...Categorized as:
gothic magical-realism spooky action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook contemporary -
![The End of Temperance Dare: A Novel by Wendy Webb]()
The End of Temperance Dare: A Novel by Wendy Webb
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHaunting and atmospheric, The End of Temperance Dare is another thrilling page-turner from the author reviewers are calling the Queen of the Northern Gothic.When Eleanor Harper becomes the director of a renowned artists’ retreat, she knows nothing of Cliffside Manor’s dark past as a tuberculosis sanatorium, a “waiting room for death... -
![Last Call by Tim Powers]()
Last Call by Tim Powers
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsTwenty years ago Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player and went into hiding, after a weird high-stakes game played with Tarot cards. But now the cards - and the supernatural powers behind them - have found him again.Crane's father killed gangster Bugsy Siegel in 1948 to become the Fisher King, and to keep that power he is determined to kill his son...Categorized as:
magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history arthurian -
![The Divine Farce by Michael S.A. Graziano]()
The Divine Farce by Michael S.A. Graziano
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“A Dante/Beckett reduction of human struggle to its lowest common denominator.”— Michael Mirolla, author of The Formal Logic of Emotion and Berlin“One of the most original and thought-provoking stories I have ever read...true literary art...Not a word is wasted in this masterpiece. Yes, I call it that... -
![My Death by Lisa Tuttle]()
My Death by Lisa Tuttle
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA widowed writer begins to work on a biography of a novelist and artist—and soon uncovers bizarre parallels between her life and her subject’s—in this chilling and singularly strange novella by a contemporary master of horror and fantasy.The narrator of Lisa Tuttle’s uncanny novella is a recent widow, a writer adrift... -
![Windeye by Brian Evenson]()
Windeye by Brian Evenson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA woman falling out of sync with the world; a king's servant hypnotized by his murderous horse; a transplanted ear with a mind of its own. The characters in these stories live as interlopers in a world shaped by mysterious disappearances and unfathomable discrepancies between the real and imagined... -
![Séances are for Suckers by Tamara Berry]()
Séances are for Suckers by Tamara Berry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen something goes bump in the night . . . it’s most likely a plumbing problem, or something equally mundane. But fake medium Eleanor Wilde is happy to investigate and cleanse your home of spectral presences—for a fee. Hey, it’s a living . . . Ellie has an ailing sister to care for, and working as a ghost hunter who doesn’t believe in ghosts helps cover the bills for both of them... -
![A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat]()
A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA teen girl and her family return to her mother's childhood home, only to discover that the house's strange beauty may disguise a sinister past, in this contemporary gothic horror from the author of What We Harvest.The house was supposed to be a fresh start. That's what Libby's mom said... -
![A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw]()
A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsTravis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James—a well-known author of dark, macabre children’s books—he’s led to a place many believed to be only a legend... -
![Catastrophe: And Other Stories by Dino Buzzati]()
Catastrophe: And Other Stories by Dino Buzzati
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn Catastrophe, the renowned Italian short story writer Dino Buzzati brings vividly to life the slow and quietly terrifying collapse of our known, everyday world. In stories touched by the fantastical and the strange, and filled with humor, irony, and menace, Buzzati illuminates the nightmarish side of our ordinary existence...Categorized as:
literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century adult anthologies classics contemporary fiction -
-
![Everville by Clive Barker]()
Everville by Clive Barker
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsOn the borderland between this world and the world of Quiddity, the sea of our dreams, sits Everville. For years, it has lived in ignorance of the gleaming shore on which it lies. But its ignorance is not bliss...Categorized as:
literary-fiction myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
![Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson]()
Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA dazzling collection of eleven interconnected stories from the bestselling, award-winning author of Shrines of Gaiety and Life After Life which offer the gimlet eye and delightful social critique that have made Atkinson one of the most lauded writers of our time.In this brilliant volume, nothing is quite as it seems...Categorized as:
literary-fiction female-mc fiction fantasy contemporary audiobook mystery anthologies -
![Darling Madness by Rosemary A. Johns]()
Darling Madness by Rosemary A. Johns
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe last time that I could be touched without flinching was five years ago, when my brother tried to burn me alive. Now, Mom promises me a new life, billionaire stepdad, safety. And all on the mysterious, paradise island of Never. But it’s a lie. Never’s a nightmare of secrets and dangerous desires, a cover to hide an asylum for the most broken heirs of the super-rich elite. Now, I’m one of them... -
![There Are Monsters Everywhere by Mercer Mayer]()
There Are Monsters Everywhere by Mercer Mayer
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat kid doesn't suspect that there are monsters lurking under the bed, behind the shower curtain, in the basement, and even outside by the garbage cans? Mercer Mayer brilliantly and hilariously captures this classic childhood fear—and conquers it! Kids will cheer as the young hero of the story takes matters into his own hands by learning karate... -
![Under the Cover of Darkness by Emma Luna]()
Under the Cover of Darkness by Emma Luna
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA dark contemporary romanceADDYI thought the suffocating loneliness of the last two year were bad, but then I was sent to Lakeridge Psychiatric Facility.On the outside it’s disguised as helpful brochures and friendly doctors who have vowed to help, but the real truth is just below the surface, lurking in the shadows, and haunting my dreams.At night he comes—taunting and abusing me...Categorized as:
retellings myths literary-fiction dark mental-illness suspense friends-to-lovers organized-crime -
![The Fisherman by John Langan]()
The Fisherman by John Langan
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn upstate New York, in the woods around Woodstock, Dutchman's Creek flows out of the Ashokan Reservoir. Steep-banked, fast-moving, it offers the promise of fine fishing, and of something more, a possibility too fantastic to be true... -
![Skeleton Crew by Stephen King]()
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsIn this brilliant collection of stories, Stephen King takes readers down paths that only he could imagine.A supermarket becomes the place where humanity makes its last stand against destruction. A trip to the attic becomes a journey to hell. A woman driver finds a scary shortcut to paradise. An idyllic lake harbors a bottomless evil... -
![Death with Interruptions by José Saramago]()
Death with Interruptions by José Saramago
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsNobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's brilliant new novel poses the question what happens when the grim reaper decides there will be no more death?On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This, of course, causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially mass celebration...Categorized as:
literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century 21st-century adult audiobook book classics -
![Ghost Story by Peter Straub]()
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsIn life, not every sin goes unpunished.GHOST STORYFor four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past -- and get away with murder... -
![Ghost Stories by Henry James]()
Ghost Stories by Henry James
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWith an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury. Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche... -
-
![Spirits That Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman]()
Spirits That Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRoommates Jaimie Locke and Kim Calloway are each looking to find a new life at college. It’s Jaimie’s first time Outside—away from her large, complicated family and their magical traditions—and she wants to learn what nonmagical life is like. Kim is anxious to escape the depression that’s been dragging her down since last year so she can make new friends and create the art she loves... -
![The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All by Laird Barron]()
The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All by Laird Barron
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsOver the course of two award-winning collections and a critically acclaimed novel, The Croning, Laird Barron has arisen as one of the strongest and most original literary voices in modern horror and the dark fantastic... -
![Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey, محمد غفوری]()
Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey, محمد غفوری
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOnce the Orme family’s magnificent ancestral estate, Observatory Mansions is now a crumbling apartment complex, home to an eccentric group of misfits. One of them is Francis Orme, who earns his livelihood as a living statue. When not practicing “inner and outer stillness,” Francis steals the cherished possessions of others to add to his private museum... -
![Last Summer at Mars Hill by Elizabeth Hand]()
Last Summer at Mars Hill by Elizabeth Hand
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis is Elizabeth Hand's long-awaited collection of short stories, centered around her Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning novella The Last Summer at Mars Hill. There are 12 pieces in all here, ranging from those first published in places like Interzone and Pulphouse to a two-page poem taken from the pages of Asimov's...Categorized as:
folk-horror literary-fiction magical-realism rural action-adventure adult anthologies colonization -
![The Televisionary Oracle by Rob Brezsny]()
The Televisionary Oracle by Rob Brezsny
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMillions of people already live their lives in accordance with Rob Brezsny's "Real Astrology" prophecies. But the time has come for a deeper dose of Brezsny's brain. The Televisionary Oracle is an archetypal roller-coaster that would make Rumi dizzy and leave Carl Jung gasping for breath...Categorized as:
female-mc literary-fiction magical-realism adult alpha-mc anthologies contemporary feminism -
![Asleep by Krystal Wade]()
Asleep by Krystal Wade
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"To cure fear, you must use fear." Rose Briar claims no responsibility for the act that led to her imprisonment in an asylum. She wants to escape, until terrifying nightmares make her question her sanity and reach out to her doctor...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
