Books like 'A Short Stay in Hell'
Readers who enjoyed A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck & Sergei Burbank also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy horror supernatural action / adventure mystery psychological religion dystopia existentialism
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The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsMara Dyer knows she isn't crazy. She knows that she can kill with her mind, and that Noah can heal with his. Mara also knows that somehow, Jude is not a hallucination. He is alive. Unfortunately, convincing her family and doctors that she's not unstable and doesn't need to be hospitalised isn't easy. The only person who actually believes her is Noah... -
![This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti]()
This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 40 ratings"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12Ashton is just a typical small town... -
![Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky]()
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsHarry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is a work of alternate-universe Harry Potter fan-fiction wherein Petunia Evans has married an Oxford biochemistry professor and young genius Harry grows up fascinated by science and science fiction. When he finds out that he is a wizard, he tries to apply scientific principles to his study of magic, with sometimes surprising results... -
![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... -
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![The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin]()
The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsMara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.There is.She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.She should.She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.She will now.Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story.Retribution has arrived... -
![The Devil's Only Friend by Dan Wells]()
The Devil's Only Friend by Dan Wells
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsJohn Wayne Cleaver hunts demons: they've killed his neighbors, his family, and the girl he loves, but in the end he's always won. Now he works for a secret government kill team, using his gift to hunt and kill as many monsters as he can......but the monsters have noticed, and the quiet game of cat and mouse is about to erupt into a full scale supernatural war... -
![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... -
![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 . .Categorized as:
dystopia magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure audiobook boarding-school book classics -
![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:
dystopia magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook contemporary crime -
![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... -
![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:
spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book classics contemporary -
![The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood]()
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsThe Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud tells the haunting story of a young man who narrowly survives a terrible car wreck that kills his little brother. Years later, the brothers’ bond remains so strong that it transcends the normal boundaries separating life and death. Charlie St. Cloud lives in a snug New England fishing village...Categorized as:
afterlife magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age contemporary death -
![Brother Odd by Dean Koontz]()
Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsLoop me in, odd one.The words, spoken in the deep of night by a sleeping child, chill the young man watching over her. For this was a favorite phrase of Stormy Llewellyn, his lost love, and Stormy is dead, gone forever from this world. In the haunted halls of the isolated monastery where he had sought peace, Odd Thomas is stalking spirits of an infinitely darker nature...Categorized as:
magical-realism religion spirituality 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book california -
![Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz]()
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsThe dead don't talk. I don't know why. But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it’s different... -
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![Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott]()
Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDenis Egan is dead. He’s okay with that. It’s been five years since he died, and the place where souls go is actually pretty nice. Sure, there are some things about his life and how it ended he can’t quite recall, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Remembering could prevent Denis from moving on to whatever’s next. However, something is standing in his way...Categorized as:
afterlife low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![The Haunting of Rachel Harroway: The Beginning by J.S. Donovan]()
The Haunting of Rachel Harroway: The Beginning by J.S. Donovan
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1983, a family of four was murdered in their nineteenth century Queen Anne manse. There were no witnesses, no real investigation, and no survivors.Over thirty years later, the house is suddenly back on the market. Ready to settle down, a young married couple moves from New York City to their dream home in the quiet town of Highlands, North Carolina... -
![Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory]()
Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn 1968, after the first zombie outbreak, Wanda Mayhall and her three young daughters discover the body of a teenage mother during a snowstorm. Wrapped in the woman’s arms is a baby, stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda — and he begins to move...Categorized as:
dystopia action-adventure alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook book coming-of-age contemporary -
![Alice by Christina Henry]()
Alice by Christina Henry
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsA mind-bending new novel inspired by the twisted and wondrous works of Lewis Carroll... In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside. In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back... -
![American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett]()
American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett
Rated: 3.78 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSome places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico... -
![The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall]()
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
Rated: 3.84 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsEric Sanderson wakes up in a house one day with no idea who or where he is. A note instructs him to see a Dr. Randle immediately, who informs him that he is undergoing yet another episode of acute memory loss that is a symptom of his severe dissociative disorder. Eric's been in Dr...Categorized as:
magical-realism spirituality 21st-century action-adventure adult amnesia animals book -
![Oracle by Andrew Pyper, Joshua Jackson]()
Oracle by Andrew Pyper, Joshua Jackson
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOracle is a psychological thriller audiobook following Nate Russo, an FBI psychic who helps solve abductions and homicides by touching those close to the missing persons. His unique gift comes with a terrible price: He sees the horrific moments before the victims disappeared... -
![The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison]()
The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison
Rated: 3.74 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsJohn M. Harrison delivers an extraordinary, genre-bending novel that weaves together mythology, sexuality, and the troubled past and present of Eastern Europe. It begins on a hot May night, when three Cambridge students carry out a ritualistic act that changes their lives...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult book contemporary dark -
![Insomnia by Stephen King]()
Insomnia by Stephen King
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsRalph Roberts has a problem: he isn't sleeping so well these days. In fact, he's hardly sleeping at all. Each morning, the news conveyed by the bedside clock is a little worse: 3:15...3:02...2:45...2:15. The books call it "premature waking"; Ralph, who is still learning to be a widower, calls it a season in hell...Categorized as:
magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book classics contemporary -
![The Blizzard by Vladimir Sorokin]()
The Blizzard by Vladimir Sorokin
Rated: 3.69 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA dazzling, utterly distinctive saga from Russia's most celebrated—and most controversial—novelistVladimir Sorokin is one of Russia's most popular and provocative novelists...Categorized as:
dystopia low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary -
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![Innocence by Dean Koontz]()
Innocence by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.73 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHe lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from society, which will destroy him if he is ever seen. She dwells in seclusion, a fugitive from enemies who will do her harm if she is ever found. But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives...Categorized as:
dystopia magical-realism religion spirituality action-adventure adult animals apocalyptic -
![After Dark by Haruki Murakami]()
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
Rated: 3.76 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsIn After Dark—a gripping novel of late night encounters—Murakami’s trademark humor and psychological insight are distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery.Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny’s when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city...Categorized as:
magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book classics coming-of-age contemporary -
![The Silent Land (Library) (UK) by Graham Joyce]()
The Silent Land (Library) (UK) by Graham Joyce
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Jake and Zoe are buried under a flash avalanche while skiing in the French Pyrenees, they miraculously dig their way out from under the snow--only to discover the world they knew has been overtaken by an eerie and absolute silence...Categorized as:
afterlife dystopia magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book -
![Shift by Em Bailey]()
Shift by Em Bailey
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOlive Corbett is not crazy. Not anymore. She obediently takes her meds and stays under the radar at school. After "the incident," Olive just wants to avoid any more trouble, so she knows the smartest thing is to stay clear of the new girl who is rumored to have quite the creepy past.But there’s no avoiding Miranda Vaile... -
![Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke]()
Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke
Rated: 3.65 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe conclusion to Between the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea, this gothic thriller romance with shades of Stephen King and Daphne du Maurier is a must-read for fans of Beautiful Creatures and Anna Dressed in Blood.Freddie once told me that the Devil created all the fear in the world.But then, the Devil once told me that it's easier to forgive someone for scaring you than for making you cry... -
![17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma]()
17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma
Rated: 3.63 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are seventeen and gone without a trace...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure book children-books contemporary crime death -
![The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant]()
The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant
Rated: 3.63 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt isn’t ten-year-old Pia’s fault that her grandmother dies in a freak accident. But tell that to the citizens of Pia’s little German hometown of Bad Münstereifel, or to the classmates who shun her. The only one who still wants to be her friend is StinkStefan, the most unpopular child in school.But then something else captures the community’s attention: the vanishing of Katharina Linden... -
![The Revelry by Katherine Webber]()
The Revelry by Katherine Webber
Rated: 3.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor fans of Laini Taylor, E. Lockhart, and Holly Black, the chilling story of a girl who goes to a once-a-year-party in the woods... and then must piece together the fantastical things that happened to her after she wakes up with no memory of the night before.Once a year in the woods outside Ember Grove, the Revelry occurs... -
![Song of Kali by Dan Simmons]()
Song of Kali by Dan Simmons
Rated: 3.61 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsCalcutta: a monstrous city of immense slums, disease and misery, is clasped in the foetid embrace of an ancient cult. At its decaying core is the Goddess Kali: the dark mother of pain, four-armed and eternal, her song the sound of death and destruction...Categorized as:
magical-realism religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult asia audiobook -
![Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein]()
Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein
Rated: 3.55 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn this haunting debut, Garth Stein brilliantly invokes his Native American heritage and its folklore to create an electrifying supernatural thriller. When a grieving mother returns to the remote Alaskan town where her young son drowned, she discovers that the truth about her son's death is shrouded in legend— and buried in a terrifying wrinkle between life and death...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary drama -
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![And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich]()
And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich
Rated: 3.56 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsStay away from the woods…When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt’s home, it’s immediately clear that the manor is cursed... -
![Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis]()
Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis
Rated: 3.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Marshall King and Elyse Alton suddenly wake up tangled in each other's arms with zero memory of how they got there or even who they are, it's the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.Terrified by their amnesia, Marshall and Elyse make a pact to work together to find the answers that could restore their missing memories... -
![The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle]()
The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • Publishers WeeklyNew Hyde Hospital’s psychiatric ward has a new resident. It also has a very, very old one...Categorized as:
magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary dark -
![The End of the Day by Claire North]()
The End of the Day by Claire North
Rated: 3.40 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsCharlie has a new job. He gets to travel, and he meets interesting people, some of whom are actually pleased to see him.It's good to have a friendly face, you see. At the end.But the end of all things is coming. Charlie's boss and his three associates are riding out, and it's Charlie's job to go before.Sometimes he is sent as a courtesy, sometimes as a warning. He never knows which...Categorized as:
dystopia low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary -
![The Keep by Jennifer Egan]()
The Keep by Jennifer Egan
Rated: 3.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAward-winning author Jennifer Egan brilliantly conjures a world from which escape is impossible and where the keep-–the tower, the last stand-–is both everything worth protecting and the very thing that must be surrendered in order to survive. Two cousins, irreversibly damaged by a childhood prank, reunite twenty years later to renovate a medieval castle in Eastern Europe...Categorized as:
magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary dark -
![Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand]()
Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand
Rated: 3.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom Shirley Jackson Award-winner Elizabeth Hand comes a haunting and atmospheric new mystery perfect for fans of White Lotus, about a young man hired to work as a caretaker in Hawaiʻi who is drawn into the island's darkest secrets. Grady Kendall applies to work as a live-in caretaker for a luxury property in Hawaiʻi on a whim—it's as far from small-town Maine as he can imagine... -
![What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine]()
What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine
Rated: 3.26 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn this darkly funny, striking debut, a highly unusual young woman must venture into the woods at the edge of her home to remove a curse that has plagued the women in her family for millennia—an utterly original novel with all the mesmerizing power of The Tiger’s Wife, The Snow Child, and Swamplandia!Cursed... -
![Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke]()
Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke
Rated: 3.25 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsEvery story needs a hero.Every story needs a villain.Every story needs a secret.Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair and freckles. Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee. Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them. Wink. Poppy. Midnight. Two girls. One boy...Categorized as:
magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book bullying coming-of-age contemporary dark
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