Books like 'Once...'
Readers who enjoyed Once... by James Herbert also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror supernatural dark fantasy urban fantasy paranormal gothic magic fae dark
-
The Ringmaster by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsAs above, so below…who was once friend is now a foe.The Faire is alive. It’s alive, it’s sentient, and it wants more from Cora Glass. Reeling from the revelations that Clown left her with, she struggles once more to find her footing. She never gets the chance.Harrow Faire wants Cora for murder. She assumed it was her death that it was after. She was wrong. It wants her to kill…to save them all... -
![Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke]()
Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsFans of dark fairy-tales like The Hazel Wood and The Cruel Prince will relish this atmospheric and absorbing book based on Guillermo del Toro’s critically acclaimed movie... -
![The Faire by Kathryn Ann Kingsley]()
The Faire by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsWill Cora break, or will she bend…is this the beginning, or the end?Everything Cora thought she knew about Harrow Faire was a lie.All of it.Now as the lines in the sand are drawn, as a war for the Heart of the Faire builds, she must discover how much she is willing to sacrifice to save the people she has come to think of as Family... -
![Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint]()
Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom World Fantasy Award-winning author Charles de Lint, a tale of love, courage, and the transforming power of imagination Isabelle Copley's visionary art frees ancient spirits. As the young student of the cruel, brilliant artist Vincent Rushkin, she discovered she could paint images so vividly real they brought her wildest fantasies to life...Categorized as:
fairy-tale magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings action-adventure anthologies -
-
![Dark Dreamers by Christine Feehan, Marjorie M. Liu]()
Dark Dreamers by Christine Feehan, Marjorie M. Liu
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsChristine FeehanDark DreamShe's known him since she was fifteen. Every night, he is with her: his face, his voice. Tonight, Sara Marten will meet the man who is both angel and demon, salvation and temptation: Falcon - the Carpathian, the banished hero. Tonight, Sara will meet the dark-eyed destroyer destined to be her mate.Margorie M... -
![The Astonishing Strande Brothers by Kathryn Ann Kingsley]()
The Astonishing Strande Brothers by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSome bonds are too strong to be broken. Even by death.“The Astonishing Strande Brothers” is a short story/extended epilogue that tells the tale of the reunion between Julian Strande and his long-lost brother Louis on a snowy holiday at the Strande Estate.It combines characters from both my Harrow Faire and Impossible Julian Strande series... -
![Strange Days by Rick Gualtieri]()
Strange Days by Rick Gualtieri
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAt the edge of chaos, one geek stands tall. Five years ago, dateless dork Bill Ryder somehow saved the world, banishing magic and monsters to the shadows. He thought it was over, that he was finished with that life. Too bad for him, shit’s about to get surreal again. Now the impossible has happened... -
![The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James]()
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn outstanding array—52 pieces in all—of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon JamesSpanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved...Categorized as:
dark magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings 21st-century action-adventure -
![Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint]()
Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsReturn to NewfordFamiliar to Charles de Lint's ever-growing audience as the setting of the novels Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, and many others, Newford is the quintessential North American city, tough and streetwise on the surface and rich with hidden magic for those who can see... -
![The Faerie Games by Michelle Madow]()
The Faerie Games by Michelle Madow
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsI’m Selena Pearce, and in the past few days I’ve been kidnapped by faeries, gifted with powerful magic, and forced by the gods to compete in a twisted game to the death. Growing up on the magical island of Avalon should be great... but I have no magic to speak of. And my parents forbid me from leaving... -
![Widdershins by Charles de Lint]()
Widdershins by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhile bitter conflict rages between the magical North American "animal people" and the more newly-arrived fairy folk, the long-awaited romance between Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell begins to blossom... -
![The Green Man's Foe by Juliet E. McKenna]()
The Green Man's Foe by Juliet E. McKenna
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen you do a good job for someone, there’s a strong chance they’ll offer you more work or recommend you elsewhere. So Daniel Mackmain isn’t particularly surprised when his boss’s architect brother asks for his help on a historic house renovation in the Cotswolds. Except Dan’s a dryad’s son, and he soon realises there’s a whole lot more going on... -
![Devastation by R.L. Caulder]()
Devastation by R.L. Caulder
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“Whatever you do, always give 100% – unless you’re donating blood.”My new role is not to be taken lightly, but I don’t even know where the hell to start.I have to learn to be vulnerable enough to admit when I need help from those that I trust.But what happens when you place your trust in the wrong person?One wrong decision on my part, could change the realms forever... -
![Breaking Chaos by Ben Galley]()
Breaking Chaos by Ben Galley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe endgame has begun. The battle for the emperor’s throne grows ever fiercer. The City of Countless Souls cowers behind locked doors as the whims of the downtrodden and the powerful bring the great game of Araxes to its chaotic conclusion.With the soulblade at his hip and magic in his soul, Caltro’s freedom is almost within reach... -
-
![Beyond the Veil by Nicole R. Taylor]()
Beyond the Veil by Nicole R. Taylor
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Collection of Urban Fantasy Adventures Beyond the veil lies a world of magic, mystery, and adventure! From author Nicole R. Taylor comes five full length novels, each a first in a series... -
![Insidious Monsters by Debbie Cassidy]()
Insidious Monsters by Debbie Cassidy
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNever fall for the monster inside you.Telarion and I have an understanding:*Never talk about our emotions.*Never express our feelings to each other.*Never spend the evenings together.Luckily, catching eldritch is time consuming and exhausting work... -
![Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near]()
Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA deliciously dark bubblegum-gothic fairytale from a stunning new Australian talent.‘He's gone the same way as those little birds that bothered me with their awful songs! And you will too, you and your horrible heart-music, because you won't stay out of my woods!'There's a dead girl in a birdcage in the woods. That's not unusual. Isola Wilde sees a lot of things other people don't... -
![Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs]()
Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsBefore Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales. Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne... -
![Carpe Demon by J.C. McKenzie]()
Carpe Demon by J.C. McKenzie
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAs an ambassador with the Supernatural Regulatory Division, Andy McNeilly is responsible for acting as the Liaison for the Vancouver Vampire horde. The problem? She detests the Vampire Master, and the SRD can’t discover the beast she keeps locked inside... -
![Grim Solace by Ben Galley]()
Grim Solace by Ben Galley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNothing is certain in Araxes. Not even death. Stolen from the widow’s clutches, master thief and ghost Caltro Basalt must learn new ways to survive the cutthroat society of the Arctian Empire. His one hope for freedom and justice? A gift from the dead gods, who continue to beg for a saviour. Breaking a soul takes time, and Caltro’s spirit is far from broken... -
![The Ammonite Violin & Others by Caitlín R. Kiernan]()
The Ammonite Violin & Others by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn Caitlín R. Kiernan's The Ammonite Violin & Others, one of contemporary dark fantasy s most bewitching and distinctive voices is back with another banquet of the weird and unexpected. In his introduction, Jeff VanderMeer (City of Saints and Madmen, Finch) writes, Kiernan creates her own light in this remarkable collection, and shines it on dark places... -
![Chapel of Ease by Alex Bledsoe]()
Chapel of Ease by Alex Bledsoe
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe latest installment in Alex Bledsoe's critically-acclaimed Tufa series that Kirkus Reviews calls "powerful, character-driven drama...a sheer delight." (starred review)When Matt Johanssen, a young New York actor, auditions for "Chapel of Ease," an off-Broadway musical, he is instantly charmed by Ray Parrish, the show's writer and composer... -
![As Above, So Below by Dana Isaly]()
As Above, So Below by Dana Isaly
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBranwen is about to become her coven’s youngest ever High Priestess. At the ripe age of twenty-seven, she is the only one with a full range of power.And everyone is looking to her to set things right.Yet on the night of the ritual, everything goes wrong. Branwen is betrayed, cast out, and stripped of her powers.Left to wander in the human world alone, she loses herself and her faith in the Gods... -
![Queen of the Dark Things by C. Robert Cargill]()
Queen of the Dark Things by C. Robert Cargill
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt is half a year since the wizard Colby lost his best friend to an army of fairies from the Limestone Kingdom, a realm of mystery and shadows beyond our own. But in vanquishing these creatures Colby sacrificed the anonymity that protected him. Now, word of his deeds has spread, and powerful enemies from the past - including one Colby considered a friend - have resurfaced to exact their revenge... -
-
![Skeleton Song by Seanan McGuire]()
Skeleton Song by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsChildren have always disappeared under the right conditions—slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere . . . else. Adventures are always interesting, but they’re not always happy.From the worlds of Wayward Children comes a story of love, of devotion, of bones wrapped in flesh... -
![Tales From the Hinterland by Melissa Albert]()
Tales From the Hinterland by Melissa Albert
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA gorgeously illustrated collection of twelve fairy tales by the author of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country!Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal and beautiful world where a young woman spends a night with Death, brides are wed to a mysterious house in the trees, and an enchantress is killed twice―and still lives... -
![Silver Birch, Blood Moon by Ellen Datlow, Garry Kilworth]()
Silver Birch, Blood Moon by Ellen Datlow, Garry Kilworth
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe four previous volumes in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's anthology series of fairly tales retold with a distinctively modern edge have been hailded by reviewers as "brilliant," "provocative," and "disturbing... -
![Briar Queen by Katherine Harbour]()
Briar Queen by Katherine Harbour
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe dark, moody, and mystical fantasy begun in Thorn Jack, the first novel in the Night and Nothing series, continues in this bewitching follow up--an intriguing blend of Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alice in Wonderland, and A Midsummer Night's Dream--in which Finn Sullivan discovers that her town, Fair Hollow, borders a dangerous otherworld . . -
![ImPerfect Curse by C.N. Rowan]()
ImPerfect Curse by C.N. Rowan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨? 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙮.I’m exhausted. Done in. Needing a stiff drink and about a week’s sleep. But that’s not going to happen.Because Franc is dying, struck by a curse placed on him by the Sistren Of Bordeaux, one of the most powerful groups of Talented in France... -
![A Dream of Blood and Magic by Olivia Boothe]()
A Dream of Blood and Magic by Olivia Boothe
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsUnderworld meets Kingdom of the Wicked in this forbidden love, rivals to lovers, high stakes, slow-burn gothic contemporary fantasy romance.A SINISTER DARKNESS BREWS, SOWING THE SEEDS OF WAR. AND AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL IS A YOUNG WITCH WILLING TO RISK IT ALL TO SAVE THOSE SHE LOVES... -
![The Devil's Backbone by J.L. Murray]()
The Devil's Backbone by J.L. Murray
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“What does Death fear?”Niki has been to Hell and back to find a single shred of something to call a life. As Death, she has very little time to do anything but usher the lost souls to their resting places. But when Lucifer, the reason for her taste of happiness, comes up missing, Niki has to face how she feels about him. And about the prospect of losing him... -
![Sleeping in Flame by Jonathan Carroll]()
Sleeping in Flame by Jonathan Carroll
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWalker Easterling is a retired actor turned successful screenwriter living in the Vienna of strong coffee, fascinating friends, and mysterious cafes. When he falls in love with Maris York, a beautiful artist who creates cities, his life becomes alive in fantastic and unsettling ways... -
![The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke]()
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsTwo sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting... -
![In Mercy, Rain by Seanan McGuire]()
In Mercy, Rain by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsJack Wolcott was only twelve years old when she and her twin sister Jill, descended the impossible staircase and found herself in the Moors, a world of drowned gods and repugnant royals... -
-
![L'Esprit de L'Escalier by Catherynne M. Valente]()
L'Esprit de L'Escalier by Catherynne M. Valente
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the award-winning, bestselling author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland comes Catherynne M. Valente's dark fantasy tale "L’Esprit de L’Escalier", a Tor.com Original.In this provocative and rich retelling of the Greek myth, Orpheus, the musician son of Apollo and Calliope, successfully rescues his wife Eurydice from Hades after her untimely death... -
![Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece]()
Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA heartwarming novel of hope, fate, and folk magic unfolds when a young woman travels to a sleepy southern town in the Appalachian Mountains to bury her best friend. Mel Smith has always known life isn’t easy. After all, she was abandoned as an infant and raised in foster care... -
![The Cold Kiss of Death by Suzanne McLeod]()
The Cold Kiss of Death by Suzanne McLeod
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsGenny Taylor works for Spellcrackers.com ±Making Magic Safe. But her own life is anything but safe!‘The ghost grasped her shift and ripped it open. The three interlacing crescents carved red-raw and bleeding into her thin chest didn’t look any better than the last dozen times I’d seen them... -
![That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley]()
That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMiskatonic University has a long-whispered reputation of being strongly connected to all things occult and supernatural. From the faculty to the students, the fascination with other-worldly legends and objects runs rampant. So, when Carter Weston’s professor Dr... -
![Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories by Elizabeth Hand]()
Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories by Elizabeth Hand
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWidely praised and widely read, Elizabeth Hand is regarded as one of America's leading literary fantasists. This new collection (an expansion of the limited-release Bibliomancy, which won the World Fantasy Award in 2005) showcases a wildly inventive author at the height of her powers... -
![Vigil by Angela Slatter]()
Vigil by Angela Slatter
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsVerity Fassbinder has her feet in two worlds. The daughter of one human and one Weyrd parent, she has very little power herself, but does claim unusual strength - and the ability to walk between us and the other - as a couple of her talents. As such a rarity, she is charged with keeping the peace between both races, and ensuring the Weyrd remain hidden from us... -
![100 Wicked Little Witch Stories by Martin H. Greenberg, Martin Mundt]()
100 Wicked Little Witch Stories by Martin H. Greenberg, Martin Mundt
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe witches who populate these 100 delightfully scary stories include practitioners of white witchcraft & devotees of black magic. Most are female, some are male. A few are thoroughly unclassifiable. They can be born witches or made witches, & may mix simple love potions or volatile concoctions that threaten all we hold dear...Categorized as:
magic myths paranormal retellings witches-wizards anthologies children-books classics -
![Blood Moon by Geoffrey Huntington]()
Blood Moon by Geoffrey Huntington
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe mystery of the Tower at Ravenscliff is at last revealed in the long await continutation of The Ravenscliff Series."The terror begins on page one and never stops! This is my kind of book-filled with magic and dozens of frightening surprises." -R.L. Stine"A rich, riveting and sophisticated read... -
![Vault of Glass by Candace Robinson]()
Vault of Glass by Candace Robinson
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSome see it... Some don't...People in the town of Deer Park, Texas are vanishing. There is a strange museum, known as Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault, that appears overnight. Perrie Madeline's best friend and ex-boyfriend are among the missing. Perrie, along with her friend August, go on a pursuit to search for them in the mysterious museum... -
![Sorrow's Point by Danielle DeVor]()
Sorrow's Point by Danielle DeVor
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNot All Exorcists are Equal....One is Marked.When defrocked ex-priest, Jimmy Holiday, agrees to help an old friend with his sick daughter, he doesn’t expect the horrors that await him. Blackmoor, his friend’s new residence, rests upon the outskirts of the town of Sorrow’s Point... -
-
![Indexing by Seanan McGuire]()
Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 30 ratings“Never underestimate the power of a good story.”Good advice...especially when a story can kill you.For most people, the story of their lives is just that: the accumulation of time, encounters, and actions into a cohesive whole... -
![Unbound by Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr]()
Unbound by Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 29 ratings1 Ley Line Drifter by Kim Harrison - Pixy Jenks faces murderous dryad locked inside statue 2 Reckoning by Jeaniene Frost - Bones, faces New Orleans ghouls who eat victims alive - horror 3 Dark Matters by Vicki Pettersson - JJ superhero has illicit affair with Shadow agent Solange 4 The Dead, the Damned, and the Forgotten by Jocelynn Drake - Savannah vampire Keeper Mira investigates murder 5 Two... -
![Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora Goss]()
Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora Goss
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsRed as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora Goss is a dark fantasy about a kitchen girl obsessed with fairy tales, who upon discovering a ragged woman outside the castle during a storm, takes her in--certain she’s a princess in disguise... -
![Spectre of the Black Rose by James Lowder, Voronica Whitney-Robinson]()
Spectre of the Black Rose by James Lowder, Voronica Whitney-Robinson
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this chilling sequel of The Knight of the Black Rose, Lord Soth, an important character in both the Dragonlance and Ravenloft settings, fights to keep his reign of terror from crumbling... -
![Death Watch by Ari Berk]()
Death Watch by Ari Berk
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThey say the dead should rest in peace. Not all the dead agree.One night, Silas Umber’s father Amos doesn’t come home from work. Devastated, Silas learns that his father was no mere mortician but an Undertaker, charged with bringing The Peace to the dead trapped in the Shadowlands, the states of limbo binding spirits to earth... -
![Shadowland by Peter Straub]()
Shadowland by Peter Straub
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsYou have been there…if you have ever been afraid.Come back. To a dark house deep in the Vermont woods, where two friends are spending a season of horror, apprenticed to a Master Magician.Learning secrets best left unlearned. Entering a world of incalculable evil more ancient than death itself. More terrifying. And more real.Only one of them will make it through...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
