Books like 'Fantastic Tales of Terror: History's Darkest Secrets'
Readers who enjoyed Fantastic Tales of Terror: History's Darkest Secrets by Eugene Johnson, Christopher Golden, Kevin J. Anderson, Jonathan Maberry, Mercedes M. Yardley, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Massie, Richard Chizmar, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Waggoner, Michael Bailey, Bev Vincent, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Michael Paul Gonzalez, John Palisano, Lisa Morton, Jess Landry, Cullen Bunn, Vince A. Liaguno, Bentley Little, Jessica Marie Baumgartner, David Wellington, Mort Castle, Paul Moore & Jeff Strand also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror supernatural alternate history paranormal historical-fiction dark
-
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by John Joseph Adams, Stephen King
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsThe game is afoot! Night Shade Books is proud to present the fantastic adventures of the world's greatest detective — mystery, fantasy, science fiction, horror, no genre can escape the esteemed detective's needle-sharp intellect and intuition... -
Draakenwood by Jordan L. Hawk
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSomeone is killing members of the old families…and the evidence points to Whyborne. Widdershins has been unusually quiet for months. But now a mysterious creature from the Outside is on the loose, assassinating members of the town’s old families by draining their blood...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history angst audiobook -
Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day by Jonathan L. Howard
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJohannes Cabal has faced down the undead, ghosts, monsters, and Satan himself. But before all that, he fought the terrifying Bonewind, a supernatural being that devours life itself, and he did it all without leaving his house. "Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day" was the story that first introduced the necromancer of some little infamy back in 2004... -
Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsNew York City.1927.Lights are bright.Jazz is king.Parties are wild.And the dead are coming...After battling a supernatural sleeping sickness that claimed two of their own, the Diviners have had enough lies. They're more determined than ever to uncover the mystery behind their extraordinary powers, even as they face off against an all-new terror...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book disability -
-
Creation Mage 3 by Dante King
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWith the Exhibition Matches out of the way, I’ve won for myself a sponsor. The enigmatic and likely certifiably crazy Igor Chaosbane has drawn runes into my frat house’s dungeon. Now that’s out of the way, we can really get to training for the War Mage Games. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about my other training methods... -
The People's Will by Jasper Kent
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPart historical adventure, part vampire thriller -- the fourth dark and dazzling novel in Jasper Kent's 'Danilov Quintet'. Turkmenistan 1881: Beneath the citadel of Geok Tepe sits a prisoner. He hasn't moved from his chair for two years, hasn't felt the sun on his face in more than fifty, but he is thankful for that. The city is besieged by Russian troops and soon falls...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history book dark-fantasy -
Cast in Hellfire by S.M. Reine
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMarion Garin is the teenage daughter of Metaraon, the former Voice of God. Now she's also the steward of the Winter Court, which has been in anarchy since a revolution five years earlier. Problem: Marion still doesn't remember anything that happened before two weeks ago. Seth Wilder has a lead on her memories. Whoever stole them and sold Marion's essence to a demon lord in Sheol...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal adult alternate-history angels book coming-of-age demons -
The Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsR. S. Belcher’s debut novel, The Six-Gun Tarot, was enthusiastically greeted by critics and readers, who praised its wildly inventive mixture of dark fantasy, steampunk, and the Wild West. Now Belcher returns to Golgotha, Nevada, a bustling frontier town that hides more than its fair share of unnatural secrets.1870...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history angels book -
Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsThe longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams.After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. With her uncanny ability to read people’s secrets, she’s become a media darling, earning the title “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” Everyone’s in love with the city’s newest It Girl…everyone except the other Diviners...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book disability -
The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsJune 1812. Just weeks after her catastrophic coming-out ball, Lady Helen Wrexhall—now disowned by her uncle—is a full member of the demon-hunting Dark Days Club. Her mentor, Lord Carlston, has arranged for Helen to spend the summer season in Brighton so that he can train her new Reclaimer powers...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure alpha-mc alternate-history audiobook book -
Sky Hammer by Jonathan Moeller
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAll my life I've carried out the Elven archmage Morvilind's dangerous missions. But now the game has spun out of Morvilind's control. Because the Rebel warlord Nicholas Connor has seized the Sky Hammer nuclear doomsday weapon, and he's going to burn Earth and rebuild human civilization in his own twisted image...Categorized as:
dark paranormal action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book contemporary demons -
Darkness on his Bones by Barbara Hambly
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSimon. Something frightful has happened to Jamie. Please come...When James Asher is found unconscious in the cemetery of the Church of St. Clare Pieds-Nus with multiple puncture-wounds in his throat and arms, his wife, Lydia, knows of only one person to call: the vampire Don Simon Ysidro...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century adult alternate-history black-mc book -
The Kindred of Darkness by Barbara Hambly
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen James Asher and his wife Lydia's baby daughter Miranda is kidnapped by the Master Vampire of London, the stakes are high: blindly follow the Master Vampire's instructions, keep out of the way of the human networks that serves the vampires, destroy the interloper who seeks to seize control of the London Nest, and find the key to the Nest's tortuous inner workings: The Book of the Kindred of...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century adult alternate-history black-mc book -
The Queen of Swords by R.S. Belcher
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings1870. Maude Stapleton, late of Golgotha, Nevada, is a respectable widow raising a daughter on her own. Few know that Maude belongs to an ancient order of assassins, the Daughters of Lilith, and is as well the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Anne Bonney, the legendary female pirate...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction -
-
The Devil's Diadem by Sara Douglass
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom one of the world's greatest storytellers comes a gripping tale of what hell on Earth truly means ... A foolish monk stole the Devil's favourite diadem and the Devil wants it back.It is mid-twelfth century Europe and Maeb Langtofte joins an aristocratic household to attend Adelie, the wife of the Earl of Pengraic. the earl is a powerful Lord of the Marches, the dark Welsh borderlands...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal adult alternate-history arranged-marriage book demons fae -
The Last Witch: Volume One by M.J. Lawrie
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMy ex-lover is a psychopath, hunting me down for revenge.I am falling in love with his enemy.And I am the last Arcane Witch left alive, destined to return magic to the modern world.My whole life, I have been a prisoner.Starved. Beaten. Hated.By my own family!But most of all, I am feared.I am feared because I am the most powerful woman in the world.Most want me dead... -
The Cure by Teyla Branton
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEven When You CHANGE, Some Things Remain the Same . . . Erin Radkey’s life has altered completely since her Change made her one of the Unbounded. Yet she has learned the hard way that some things never change. Greed...Categorized as:
dark paranormal action-adventure alternate-history book contemporary fiction genetic-engineering -
Red, White, and Blood by Christopher Farnsworth
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Presidential Campaign Trail, 2012: A political operative and a volunteer are brutally murdered while caught in a compromising position. Written in their blood on the wall of the crime scene: IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK.And with that, a centuries-old horror known only as the Boogeyman returns to taunt Nathaniel Cade, the President’s Vampire...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K.J. Charles
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsA story too secret, too terrifying—and too shockingly intimate—for Victorian eyes. A note to the Editor Dear Henry, I have been Simon Feximal’s companion, assistant and chronicler for twenty years now, and during that time my Casebooks of Feximal the Ghost-Hunter have spread the reputation of this most accomplished of ghost-hunters far and wide...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal abuse action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies -
The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling authors of Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours! and the creators of the hit podcast, comes a new novel set in the world of Night Vale and beyond.In the town of Night Vale, there’s a faceless old woman who secretly lives in everyone’s home, but no one knows how she got there or where she came from...until now...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book comedy -
The Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsD-Day is threatened, but one man could rip the heart of the Nazis -- with his bare claws....He is Michael Gallatin, master spy, lover -- and werewolf. Able to change shape with lightning speed, to kill silently or with savage, snarling fury, he proved his talents against Rommel in Africa. Now he faces his most delicate, dangerous mission: to unravel the secret Nazi plan known as Iron Fist...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
The Haunting of H. G. Wells by Robert Masello
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA plot against England that even the genius of H. G. Wells could not have imagined. It’s 1914. The Great War grips the world—and from the Western Front a strange story emerges…a story of St. George and a brigade of angels descending from heaven to fight beside the beleaguered British troops. But can there be any truth to it?H. G...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century adult alternate-history audiobook book fiction -
The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe ultimate secret. The ultimate agent. Nathaniel Cade returns. For 140 years, Nathaniel Cade has been the President's Vampire, sworn to protect and serve his country. Cade's existence is the most closely guarded of White House secrets: a superhuman covert agent who is the last line of defense against nightmare scenarios that ordinary citizens only dream of...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history assassins audiobook -
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:
dark historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history arthurian -
-
Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratings12 May 1940. Westminster, London, England: the early days of World War II.Again.Raybould Marsh, one of "our" Britain's best spies, has travelled to another Earth in a desperate attempt to save at least one timeline from the Cthulhu-like monsters who have been observing our species from space and have already destroyed Marsh's timeline... -
The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 13 ratings"The forest flourished, a lush and spreading refuge from the Wars, coolly green and welcoming. Beyond its borders the land burned flame red, blood red, ghastly black. Men and women, hacked to death, choked the paths and streams as the Armies of Religion clashed and slaughtered. Carrion-hung gibbets loomed starkly through the smoke and all the land was desolate. The forest was a refuge... -
Shatter Stone by Jonathan Moeller
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNadia Moran has made a lot of mistakes in her career as a master thief, but thanks to her wit and her magical skills, she's been able to avoid the consequences. But now the consequences have caught up to her. She owes a favor to the powerful Knight of Grayhold, and the time has come to pay up. And unless Nadia does something clever, repaying that favor is going to get her killed.. -
The Seat of Magic by J. Kathleen Cheney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMagical beings have been banned from the Golden City for decades, though many live there in secret. Now humans and nonhumans alike are in danger as evil stalks the streets, growing more powerful with every kill…. It’s been two weeks since Oriana Paredes was banished from the Golden City... -
The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsNicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman with an enigmatic past. Consumed by thoughts of vengeance, he is consoled only by thoughts of the beautiful, dangerous Madeline. He is also the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien..Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
The Beast of Nightfall Lodge by Steven Sidor
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA mysterious explorer hires a team of adventurers to join him in a hunt for a monstrous beast, in this rip-roaring sequel to Fury From the Tomb. When Egyptologist Rom Hardy receives a strange letter from his old friend, the bounty-hunting sniper Rex McTroy, he finds himself drawn into a chilling mystery...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history animals book -
The Third Section by Jasper Kent
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRussia 1855. After forty years of peace in Europe, war rages. In the Crimea, the city of Sevastopol is besieged. In the north, Saint Petersburg is blockaded. But in Moscow there is one who needs only to sit and wait - wait for the death of an aging tsar, and for the curse upon his blood to be passed to a new generation...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal adult alternate-history book dark-fantasy espionage -
The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCaptain Elliott Parrish of Her Majesty’s 17th Lancers cavalry division finds most of his assignment in the Crimea insufferable.Rampant cholera, missing supplies, and inept planning quickly mire the promise of a decisive summer victory for the British. Facing a harrowing winter campaign, Elliott must rally disheartened men through sickness, battle and starvation...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
A Rope of Thorns by Gemma Files
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsYOU MUST LET BLOOD TO GET BLOODNew Mexico, 1867. As consort to resurrected Mayan goddess Ixchel, hexslinger Reverend Asher Rook has founded Hex City, the first place in all of human history where magicians can live and work together safely...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal adult alternate-history audiobook book dark-fantasy -
Armed In Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn 1328, Bruges is under siege by the Chatelaine of Hell and her army of chimeras -- humans mixed with animals or armour, forged in the deep fires of the Hellbeast. At night, revenants crawl over the walls and bring plague and grief to this city of widows.Margriet de Vos learns she's a widow herself when her good-for-nothing husband comes home dead from the war. He didn't come back for her... -
-
Stoker's Wilde by Steven Hopstaken, Melissa Prusi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Historical details and supernatural monsters abound, but it is the odd couple of Wilde and Stoker, with their diametrically opposed personalities and interesting quirks, that drives this story. Pass this volume on to readers who are hungry for more historical stories with a supernatural frame." - BooklistLonglisted for The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize 2019...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal adult alternate-history audiobook book epistolary -
The Last Bogler by Catherine Jinks
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWith the plague of bogles in Victorian London barely contained, bogle hunter Alfred Bunce needs all the help he can get. So Ned Roach becomes a bogler’s apprentice, luring child-eating monsters from their lairs just like his friends Jem and Birdie. It’s dangerous work that takes Ned into mysterious and hidden parts of the city... -
61 A.D. by David McAfee
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBritannia, 61 A.D. For ten years, Taras has lived in the young city of Londinium, feeding off the city’s underbelly. But now Theron, his old enemy, has come looking for revenge, and Taras’ nights of living in relative peace are about to end.Yet not even Theron can slip into town unnoticed, and the Council of Thirteen sends Ramah to deal with the two renegades once and for all...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal adult alternate-history apocalyptic book fiction gothic -
Elusive by Genevieve Cogman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRevolutionary France is full of blood and bite as vampires plot for power.Eleanor, once a lowly English maid, is now a member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, know for their daring deeds and recusing aristocrat vampires from the guillotine.This time, Eleanor and the League are investigating the disappearance of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, the notorious French statesman and diplomat...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal fantasy vampires fiction urban-fantasy historical magic -
The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Alienist meets Dracula in this gripping, gothic-horror thriller from young UK phenom Chris Wooding.Thaniel, just seventeen, is a wych-hunter. Together, he and Cathaline--his friend and mentor--track down the fearful creatures that lurk in the Old Quarter of London. It is on one of these hunts that he first encounters Alaizabel Cray. Alaizabel is half-crazed, lovely, and possessed... -
The Last Wizards' Ball by Charlaine Harris
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratings#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns with the sixth and final installment in the critically acclaimed Gunnie Rose series as sisters Lizbeth Rose and Felicia must face their fates at the last Wizards’ Ball...Categorized as:
paranormal historical-fiction dark romance fantasy urban-fantasy magic alternate-history -
Deep Roots by Ruthanna Emrys
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsAphra Marsh, descendant of the People of the Water, has survived Deep One internment camps and made a grudging peace with the government that destroyed her home and exterminated her people on land. "Deep Roots" continues Aphra’s journey to rebuild her life and family on land, as she tracks down long-lost relatives... -
Where Oblivion Lives by T. Frohock
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Frohock has intricately woven a unique reinterpretation of history. Eloquent prose accompanies a lyrical theme amid prewar tensions, enriching this imaginative historical fantasy...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history angels audiobook -
The Wounded Hawk by Sara Douglass
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsthe Demon-King wears the Crown of England and only a man strong enough to resist love can defeat him. Casting aside his vows to the Church, and protected by the powerful Duke of Lancaster and his son Hal Bolingbroke, thomas Neville is now free to pursue his quest for Wynkyn de Worde's casket... -
Damiano's Lute by R.A. MacAvoy
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThis novel is a sequel to Damiano. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Italian Renaissance, this alternate history takes place in a world where real faith-based magic exists. Our hero is Damiano Dalstrego. He is a wizard’s son, an alchemist and the heir to dark magics...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history angels book -
-
Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAleksandr made a silent promise to the Lord. God would deliver him -- would deliver Russia -- and he would make Russia into the country that the Almighty wanted it to be. He would be delivered from the destruction that wasteth at noonday, and from the pestilence that walketh in darkness -- the terror by night. 1825, Europe -- and Russia -- have been at peace for a decade...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal adult alternate-history book dark-fantasy fiction -
Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History by Rose Fox, Daniel José Older
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1514 Hungary, peasants who rose up against the nobility rise again – from the grave. In 1633 Al-Shouf, a mother keeps demons at bay with the combined power of grief and music. In 1775 Paris, as social tensions come to a boil, a courtesan tries to save the woman she loves. In 1838 Georgia, a pregnant woman's desperate escape from slavery comes with a terrible price... -
Raphael by R.A. MacAvoy
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsWeakened by his contact with mortals, the Archangel Raphael falls prey to his brother Lucifer, who strips him of his angelic powers. Sold in the Moorish slave markets, confused and humbled by his sudden humanity, Raphael finds his only solace in the friendship of the darkskinned Berber woman Djoura, and the spiritual guardianship of his former pupil Damiano Delstrego...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history angels book -
The Litany of Earth by Ruthanna Emrys
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe state took Aphra away from Innsmouth. They took her history, her home, her family, her god. They tried to take the sea. Now, years later, when she is just beginning to rebuild a life, an agent of that government intrudes on her life again, with an offer she wishes she could refuse. "The Litany of Earth" is a dark fantasy story inspired by the Lovecraft mythos...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal adult alternate-history book cosmic-horror cthulhu -
Bloodrush by Ben Galley
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Prime Lord Hark is found in a pool of his own blood, his only son Merion Hark finds his world turned upside down and inside out. The Prime Lord’s last will and testament forces Merion west across the Iron Ocean, to the very brink of the Endless Land and all civilisation. To a place they call Wyoming... -
The Cold Eye by Laura Anne Gilman
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the anticipated sequel to Silver on the Road, Isobel is riding circuit through the Territory as the Devil's Left Hand. But when she responds to a natural disaster, she learns the limits of her power and the growing danger of something mysterious that is threatening not just her life, but the whole Territory...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure alternate-history book coming-of-age demons
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.