Books like 'Toplin'
Readers who enjoyed Toplin by Michael McDowell also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror psychological dark pulp literary-fiction
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The Complete Stories and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThis single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary history... -
![The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection by Edgar Allan Poe]()
The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection by Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsUniversally acclaimed as the maestro of horror and the morbid, Edgar Allan Poe's dark gift has for more than a century and a half set the standard for the genre.Now, Caedmon Audio presents a classic collection of Poe's most terrifying tales performed by two of the most brilliant interpreters of his work ever to be recorded: Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone... -
![The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin]()
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsSome inhabitants of a peaceful kingdom cannot tolerate the act of cruelty that underlies its happiness.The story "Omelas" was first published in New Dimensions 3, a hard-cover science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg, in October 1973, and the following year it won Le Guin the prestigious Hugo Award for best short story...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction 20th-century anthologies audiobook classics contemporary drama -
![Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, vol. 1 by August Derleth, H.P. Lovecraft]()
Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, vol. 1 by August Derleth, H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA collection of macabre tales reprinted from the golden age of pulps.CONTENTS"The Cthulhu Mythos" by August DerlethThe Call of Cthulhu" by H. P. Lovecraft"The Return of the Sorcerer" by Clark Ashton Smith"Ubbo-Sathla" by Clark Ashton Smith"The Black Stone" by Robert E... -
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![Uncle Otto's Truck by Stephen King]()
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![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. . . -
![The Edgar Allan Poe Collection by Edgar Allan Poe]()
The Edgar Allan Poe Collection by Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEdgar Allan Poe is regarded as one of the foremost American writers. The stories, poems and novels included here span the breadth of Edgar Allan Poe's unparalleled imagination... -
![The Paleblood Hunt by Redgrave]()
The Paleblood Hunt by Redgrave
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"The Paleblood Hunt" is an in-depth exploration behind the lore of the popular FromSoftware video game Bloodborne. Redgrave first introduced this document on Reddit and it has since been revised, and finalized. He closely examines the information available to the player in order to build up the hidden story of the game... -
![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... -
![War, Unfinished by Veronica Lancet]()
War, Unfinished by Veronica Lancet
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is a pitch black villain romance with irredeemable characters. Please check triggers before reading New York City. Vicious Battlefield. Home. With a million dollar bounty on my head, it took me years to step foot in the city again. Now I'm back. And the order of business is rather simple. 1. Destroy my reprobate brother. 2. Take back my stolen legacy. 3. Have a goddamn drink in peace... -
![The Tell-Tale Heart, Plus 3 other Tales of Mystery, Suspense by Edgar Allan Poe]()
The Tell-Tale Heart, Plus 3 other Tales of Mystery, Suspense by Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsThe Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan PoeAdventures of the Noble Bachelorby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Kitchen Table by Alan KingSight Unseen by Dorothy DavisIn the first volume of Mystery Theatre we present the "Tell Tale-Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. It is a frightening story of a troubled man's conscience driving him insane... -
![The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsA definitive edition of stories by the master of supernatural fictionHoward Phillips Lovecraft's unique contribution to American literature was a melding of traditional supernaturalism (derived chiefly from Edgar Allan Poe) with the genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1920s... -
![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... -
![The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIncantations of black magic unearthed unspeakable horrors in Providence, Rhode Island... -
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![The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe]()
The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsThe eerie tales of Edgar Allan Poe, from the 1830s and 40s, remain among the most brilliant and influential works in American literature... -
![The Second Reality by R.R. Haywood]()
The Second Reality by R.R. Haywood
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat are dreams? They are the mind processing the images, memories and emotions that each of us experience. They are unique to the individual and no two persons can ever experience the same dream. Or so Doctor Charlotte Henson thought when she started treating the enigmatic and charming Michael. The Second Reality. A beautiful tale of love conquering all... -
![No, For An Answer by C.J Riggs]()
No, For An Answer by C.J Riggs
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMY BEST FRIEND KILLED HERSELF.MY OWN PERSONAL ANGEL WAS RIPPED FROM MY FINGERTIPS, AND I TOOK A DEEP DIVE, INTO MY OWN VERSION OF HELL.IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE I LOST HER, A YEAR SINCE I RECEIVED HER DIARY, AND FOUND OUT EXACTLY WHAT CAUSED IT...WHO CAUSED IT, AND NOW IT'S PAYBACK.I'VE PLANNED HER REVENGE FOR THE PAST SIX MONTHS, AND I WONT STOP UNTIL EACH OF THEM PAY THE PRICE... -
![Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau]()
Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIf your mind is the enemy, where do you run?Years after a harrowing war experience, ex-mercenary Jespar Dal'Varek has taken to drifting. It's a lonely existence, but, barring the occasional bout of melancholia, he has found the closest thing to peace a man like him deserves. Life is "all right."Or so he believes... -
![Abandoned Grace: An Interview with Devin Andersen by Marissa Honeycutt]()
Abandoned Grace: An Interview with Devin Andersen by Marissa Honeycutt
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs an author, I know that characters often take on lives of their own. But what would you do if you received a phone call from someone you thought only existed in the pages of your book? That is exactly what happened to me, Marissa Honeycutt, author of The Life of Anna... -
![Solstice of the Drowned Empire by Frankie Diane Mallis]()
Solstice of the Drowned Empire by Frankie Diane Mallis
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsLord Rhyan Hart, Heir Apparent to the Arkasva, High Lord of Glemaria, Imperator to the North hates everything about his title. Its length, its pretentiousness, and the fact that it connects him directly to his father, the sadistic violent man he hates more than anyone in Lumeria... -
![Left To You by Daniel J. Volpe]()
Left To You by Daniel J. Volpe
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhat would you do to save a loved one?Robert’s mother, Helen, is ravaged with cancer. Every day could be her last, and Robert dreads losing the last member of his family. Robert’s friend and Holocaust survivor, Josef, tells him an unholy story and leaves him a way to save his dying mother. But, as with everything in life, the salvation comes with a steep price... -
![Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories by Shirley Jackson]()
Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories by Shirley Jackson
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAcclaimed in her own time for her short story “The Lottery” and her novel The Haunting of Hill House—classics ranking with the work of Edgar Allan Poe—Shirley Jackson blazed a path for contemporary writers with her explorations of evil, madness, and cruelty... -
![Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi]()
Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFour brand-new horror novellas from “a modern-day Algernon Blackwood” all about books, stories, manuscripts – the written word has never had sharper teeth…From the bestselling author of Come with Me, four standalone horror novellas set in a shared universe! In The Skin of Her Teeth, a cursed novel drives people to their deaths. A delivery job turns deadly in The Dark Brothers’ Last Ride... -
![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:
dark literary-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult book classics contemporary -
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![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... -
![The Devil's Pocketbook by Ross Jeffery]()
The Devil's Pocketbook by Ross Jeffery
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsErik and Lara are in mourning for their daughter, who was born “incompatible with life”. To get away from their suffocating grief and the ever-present shadow their daughter has cast in their lives since passing, and desperately trying to recover their increasingly rocky relationship, they take a trip to the seaside town of Polperro, in Cornwall... -
![Clive Barker's the Midnight Meat Train Special Definitive Edition by Clive Barker]()
Clive Barker's the Midnight Meat Train Special Definitive Edition by Clive Barker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn 1984 the Books of Blood by Clive Barker were published and quickly gained a following worldwide. Literary eminences like Stephen King noticed early on the creativity and powerful prose throughout the Books of Blood, bringing Clive Barker's stories to the forefront of horror fiction... -
![আমি এবং আমরা by Humayun Ahmed]()
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![Poor Things by Alasdair Gray]()
Poor Things by Alasdair Gray
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOne of Alasdair Gray's most brilliant creations, Poor Things is a postmodern revision of Frankensteinthat replaces the traditional monster with Bella Baxter—a beautifulyoung erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of an infant.Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion isrealized when he finds the drowned body of Bella, but his dream isthwarted by Dr... -
![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:
dark literary-fiction 20th-century 21st-century adult anthologies contemporary cosmic-horror -
![The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsOne of the feature stories of the Cthulhu Mythos, H.P. Lovecraft's 'the Call of Cthulhu' is a harrowing tale of the weakness of the human mind when confronted by powers and intelligences from beyond our world... -
![The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka]()
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsThe Metamorphosis and Other Stories, by Franz Kafka, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook classics contemporary -
![The Wine-Dark Sea by Robert Aickman]()
The Wine-Dark Sea by Robert Aickman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsPeter Straub called Robert Aickman 'this century's most profound writer of what we call horror stories'. Aickman's 'strange stories' (his preferred term for them) are a subtle exploration of psychological displacement and paranoia. His characters are ordinary people that are gradually drawn into the darker recesses of their own minds...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook classics cosmic-horror -
![The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratings"The Rats in the Walls" is a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. Written in August–September 1923, it was first published in Weird Tales, March 1924.The story is narrated by the scion of the Delapore family, who has moved from Massachusetts to his ancestral estate in England, known as Exham Priory. On several occasions, the protagonist and his cats hear the sounds of rats scurrying behind the walls... -
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![Cold Hand in Mine by Robert Aickman, Reece Shearsmith]()
Cold Hand in Mine by Robert Aickman, Reece Shearsmith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full. The listener is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul... -
![A Collapse of Horses by Brian Evenson]()
A Collapse of Horses by Brian Evenson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA stuffed bear's heart beats with the rhythm of a dead baby; Reno keeps receding to the east no matter how far you drive; and in a mine on another planet, the dust won't stop seeping in. In these stories, Brian Evenson unsettles us with the everyday and the extraordinary—the terror of living with the knowledge of all we cannot know...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 21st-century adult anthologies contemporary dystopia fiction horror -
![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... -
![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... -
![To Charles Fort, with Love by Caitlín R. Kiernan]()
To Charles Fort, with Love by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTo Charles Fort, with Love is award-winning fantasist Caitlín R. Kiernan's third collection of short fiction, a haunting parade of the terrible things which may lie beyond the boundaries of science, the minds which may exist beyond psychology, and the forbidden places which will never be located in any orthodox globe... -
![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 20th-century adult anthologies classics contemporary fiction horror -
![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... -
![Hannahwhere by John M. McIlveen]()
Hannahwhere by John M. McIlveen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWinner of the 2015 Drunken Druid Award (Ireland) for high literary merit.Nominee for the 2015 Bram Stoker Award (HWA) in the First Novel category.In a suburb on Boston’s North Shore, a catatonic little girl is found behind a dumpster. She is a mystery... -
![Children of Chaos by Greg F. Gifune]()
Children of Chaos by Greg F. Gifune
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn a torrential downpour, Phil, Jamie and Martin-three teenage boys-encounter a strange and enigmatic man covered in horrible scars who will change their lives, their destinies and the very fate of their souls forever. When their encounter mistakenly leads to murder, they realize this eerie stranger may not have been a man at all, but something much more.. -
![Borderlands 3 by Thomas F. Monteleone, Elizabeth Massie]()
Borderlands 3 by Thomas F. Monteleone, Elizabeth Massie
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe stories we tell are not limited to monsters and harsh otherworlds. Yet the fiction books in the Borealis imprint certainly belong to a world other than our own. This line encompasses our science fiction, fantasy and horror novels and anthologies... -
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![The Door by Boris Bacic]()
The Door by Boris Bacic
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThere's a locked door in Nathan's new apartment. At night, it opens.He doesn’t care – until he starts hearing eerie scratching noises coming from behind it. Footsteps resound in his apartment, objects are mysteriously moved out of place, and no matter what he tries, he can’t get the door open. Then one night, the door opens on its own, revealing a long, dark corridor... -
![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... -
![The Whalestoe Letters by Mark Z. Danielewski]()
The Whalestoe Letters by Mark Z. Danielewski
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsBetween 1982 and 1989, Pelafina H. Lièvre sent her son, Johnny Truant, a series of letters from The Three Attic Whalestoe Institute, a psychiatric facility in Ohio where she spent the final years of her life... -
![Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher]()
Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFaith shapes the landscape, defines the laws of physics, and makes a mockery of truth. Common knowledge isn't an axiom, it's a force of nature. What the masses believe is. But insanity is a weapon, conviction a shield. Delusions give birth to foul new gods.Violent and dark, the world is filled with the Geisteskranken—men and women whose delusions manifest, twisting reality...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary dark-fantasy -
![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... -
![The Secret of Ventriloquism by Jon Padgett]()
The Secret of Ventriloquism by Jon Padgett
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJon Padgett's The Secret of Ventriloquism, named the Best Fiction Book of 2016 by Rue Morgue Magazine, heralds the arrival of a significant new literary talent...
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