Books like 'Lights Out'

Readers who enjoyed Lights Out by R.L. Stine also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  horror  mystery  thriller  suspense  revenge  high-school  dark  crime  children

  • An Evil Mind by Chris Carter

    An Evil Mind by Chris Carter

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    A freak accident in rural Wyoming leads the Sheriff's Department to arrest a man for a possible double homicide, but further investigations suggest a much more horrifying discovery - a serial killer who has been kidnapping, torturing and mutilating victims all over the United States for at least twenty-five years...
  • Hunting Evil by Chris Carter

    Hunting Evil by Chris Carter

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    'Every story one day comes to an end.' As roommates, they met for the first time in college. Two of the brightest minds ever to graduate from Stamford Psychology University. As adversaries, they met again in Quantico, Virginia. Robert Hunter had become the head of the LAPD’s Ultra Violent Crimes Unit...
  • The Night Stalker by Chris Carter

    The Night Stalker by Chris Carter

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    When an unidentified female body is discovered laid out on a slab in an abandoned butcher's shop, the cause of death is unclear. Her body bears no marks, except for the fact that her lips have been stitched shut...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • I Am Death by Chris Carter

    I Am Death by Chris Carter

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    AN EVIL MIND was Chris Carters's most acclaimed novel to date, described by the Daily mail as: 'A chilling, compulsive portrait of a psychopath, and proves that Carter is now in the Jeffrey Deaver class.' It spent three weeks in the Sunday Timestop ten and received brillant reviews and sales. This terrifying new standalone thriller reunites Hunter and Garcia in their most explosive case to date...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • Written in Blood by Chris Carter

    Written in Blood by Chris Carter

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Don't miss GENESIS, the latest must-read serial killer thriller from master of the genre, Chris Carter. Available to order now. ‘Wonderful storytelling, with a superbly drawn killer, it underlines exactly how good Carter has become’ Daily MailTHE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER    A serial killer who will stop at nothing…  The Killer His most valuable possession has been stolen...
  • Two Footsteps by Belle Brooks, Karen Harper

    Two Footsteps by Belle Brooks, Karen Harper

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    "My life is in the Wolf's hands." He is the Wolf. I am his Red. The game has begun and he wants me dead. But who is the Wolf? And why has he chosen me? He whistles a tune that's haunting. He glares at me through eyes that are vacant. I feel his heart beating, yet I know he has no soul. He moves like the wind...I can't hear his footsteps. I want this to end. He's playing with my mind...
  • Police by Jo Nesbø

    Police by Jo Nesbø

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    When a police officer is found murdered at the scene of an old unsolved murder case that he was involved in investigating, it can hardly be a coincidence. When the same thing happens to two other officers in a matter of months the pattern is as clear as it is terrifying. None of the old cases were ever solved. The killings are extremely brutal and the police have no leads...
  • Der Insasse by Sebastian Fitzek

    Der Insasse by Sebastian Fitzek

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Vor einem Jahr verschwand der kleine Max Berghoff.Nur der Täter weiß, was mit ihm geschah.Doch der sitzt im Hochsicherheitstrakt der Psychiatrie und schweigt.Max' Vater bleibt nur ein Weg, um endlich Gewissheit zu haben: Er muss selbst zum Insassen werden.Der InsasseUm die Wahrheit zu finden, muss er seinen Verstand verlieren...
  • The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

    The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    A woman being held captive is willing to risk everything to save herself, her unborn child, and her captor’s latest victim in this claustrophobic thriller in the tradition of Misery and Room. On an isolated farm in the United Kingdom, a woman is trapped by the monster who kidnapped her seven years ago...
  • Appetite for Innocence by Lucinda Berry

    Appetite for Innocence by Lucinda Berry

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Be careful what you post online. Your next check-in might lead him right to you...A serial rapist is kidnapping teenage girls. But he’s not interested in just any teenage girls—only virgins. He hunts them by following their status updates and check-ins on social media. Once he’s captured them, they’re locked away in his sound-proof basement until they’re groomed and ready...
  • Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein

    Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    We don’t pick and choose what to be afraid of. Our fears pick us.Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing...
  • I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll

    I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Every Wednesday, like clockwork, the terror returns. It seems like an ordinary Wednesday, until the phone rings. A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

    What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    They say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  revenge  suspense  thriller  abuse  adult  audiobook
  • The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

    The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying… yet enticing...
    Categorized as:
    dark  crime  thriller  horror  fiction  contemporary  mystery  feminism
  • Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole, B.T. Urruela

    Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole, B.T. Urruela

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Edwin Allen Mercer I want them all to read my words. And they do. Every last blood-stained sentence, they've read and praised me for. They love the gore and violence, the realness. And I get a sense of power with it all because I know a secret: the victims in my books—they’re real and have all died on my table. And maybe that’s why the last book had such awful reviews...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  high-school  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary
  • All of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins

    All of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    It’s been a long time since the Hardwicke family has been on holiday. But thirteen-year-old Galen has wanted to see the wild dolphins at Scotland’s Chanonry Point for as long as she can remember, and her mother Christine – a lone parent since her beloved husband left – is determined she gets her wish. But their serene trip is about to be interrupted...
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  thriller  dark  mystery  fiction  audiobook  family
  • Hell's Half Acre by Will Christopher Baer

    Hell's Half Acre by Will Christopher Baer

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Kidnapping, snuff films, amputee geeks and a requiem of lost love.Cast adrift after the blood symphony of Penny Dreadful, Phineas Poe is looking for answers in the form of a woman. He tracks Jude to San Francisco, where he finds her involved with John Ransom Miller, a wealthy sociopath with a mysterious hold over her...
  • Le Manuscrit Inachevé by Franck Thilliez, Jean-Yves Berteloot

    Le Manuscrit Inachevé by Franck Thilliez, Jean-Yves Berteloot

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Aux alentours de Grenoble, un jeune a fini sa trajectoire dans un ravin après une course-poursuite avec la douane. Dans son coffre, le corps d’une femme, les orbites vides, les mains coupées et rassemblées dans un sac...
  • The Cabin in the Woods by Sarah Alderson

    The Cabin in the Woods by Sarah Alderson

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    The unmissable new thriller from the bestselling author and screenwriter of Netflix movie, The Weekend Away.In a cabin in a wood,A woman by the window stood.Glancing out, she thought she heardFootsteps, whistling, something stirred.Hiding here, she fears the night,For what’s done in the dark will come to light...
  • One Fear by Belle Brooks

    One Fear by Belle Brooks

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    “My one fear is now my reality.” He didn’t offer his name when he fulfilled his need to include me as a player in his game. I’m number thirteen. Just a number given to the bitches who wronged him. I was blindsided. Stolen from my life. In his devilled eyes, I have a debt to pay…he wants my final breath to see us even...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  abuse  action-adventure  adult  book
  • Three Strikes by Kate Kessler

    Three Strikes by Kate Kessler

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Three Strikes is the new novel in a thriller series where a criminal psychologist uses her own dark past to help law enforcement catch dangerous killers.Thanksgiving is approaching, and Audrey Harte has a lot to be thankful for -- her mother has recovered from surgery, her relationship with Jake is solid, her father is relatively sober, and her career is evolving in an exciting direction...
  • The Pale White by Chad Lutzke

    The Pale White by Chad Lutzke

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    After being held against their will in a house used for trafficking, three girls plan their escape.Alex: A hardened goth-punk who’s convinced she’s a vampire with a penchant for blood.Stacia: A seventeen-year-old raised by an alcoholic mother, her fellow captives the only family she’s ever truly had.Kammie: The youngest of the three—a mute who finds solace in a houseplant...
  • Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson

    Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Caroline Webb knows what it means to lose the person you love most. Twenty years ago, her five-year-old daughter, Hayley, was the light of her life, her treasure, her angle. Then came the terrible day when Hayley was kidnapped from her favorite swing. More than a month passed before her burned, lifeless body was found. All that remained was the silence of Caroline's heartache--and her guilt..
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  horror
  • Vicious by Kevin O'Brien

    Vicious by Kevin O'Brien

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    NO MOTIVE For more than two years, he held Seattle in a terror grip. A cold-blooded killer who abducted young mothers right in front of their sons and murdered them execution style. Then, as suddenly as the killings began, they seemed to stop.NO MERCY Susan Blanchette is looking forward to a relaxing weekend getaway with her fianc�, Allen, and young son, Matthew...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  espionage
  • Don't Scream by Wendy Corsi Staub

    Don't Scream by Wendy Corsi Staub

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Don't Tell A Soul. . . In a remote, heavily wooded area near the Berkshires of Massachusetts, Rachel Lorant died on her birthday. But she didn't die alone. That night, her four sorority sisters make a solemn, trembling pledge. They will never reveal what has just happened in those woods--ever. Instead, they will take their terrible secret to their graves. . . Don't Think About The Past. .
    Categorized as:
    crime  revenge  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  family
  • All the Pretty Faces by Rita Herron

    All the Pretty Faces by Rita Herron

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Josie DuKane is on shaky ground. Having narrowly escaped the notorious Bride Killer, she penned a tell-all memoir that dug up a town’s dark past. Now the book is being made into a movie, and Josie must visit the very place that will trigger an avalanche of unwanted memories—Graveyard Falls...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • The Girls He Adored by Jonathan Nasaw

    The Girls He Adored by Jonathan Nasaw

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    For ten years, the charmingly disheveled veteran FBI Special Agent E.L. Pender has been investigating the apparently random disappearances of a dozen women across the country. The only detail the cases have in common is the strawberry blond color of the victims' hair, and the presence of a mystery man with whom they were last seen...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • Either Side of Midnight by Tori de Clare

    Either Side of Midnight by Tori de Clare

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    WHAT IF THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE TURNED INTO YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE? When nineteen-year-old Naomi Stone is snatched from her husband at knifepoint on the night of their wedding and taken to a deserted cemetery, she knows her life is finished. Drugged and disorientated, she loses consciousness as she lies in an open grave with a gun to her head...
  • The Islanders by Caroline Mitchell

    The Islanders by Caroline Mitchell

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    She thinks the island will keep her safe—she is wrong.Traumatised by the death of a child in her care, top London paediatrician Claire seeks refuge on remote Selkie Island in the wilds of the Irish Sea with her husband Daniel and their baby daughter Kitty...
  • Paranoia by Franck Thilliez

    Paranoia by Franck Thilliez

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Rare...
  • You're Family Now by Jack Stainton

    You're Family Now by Jack Stainton

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘ EPIC!! EPIC!! EPIC!! This book had EVERYTHING I love in a book!! ' Goodreads ReviewerHe only had to do one thing. Love her family…Matt Walker was a chancer; he’d spent his entire profession chasing the next job. His personal life took on a similar mantra; a succession of one-night stands and brief relationships. Life was slowly drifting him by...
  • My Perfect Daughter by Sarah A. Denzil

    My Perfect Daughter by Sarah A. Denzil

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Most mothers hope their little girl turns out like their dad, but not Zoe. She hopes the apple falls far from the tree.Zoe didn't meet her daughter the way most mothers do. She finds five-year-old Maddie alone and dirty on a countryside road. Frightened for Maddie's safety, she picks her up and takes her back to her father, not knowing what she's about to step into...
  • People Like Them by Minka Kent

    People Like Them by Minka Kent

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Nobody’s perfect—although one beautiful couple certainly comes close. Discover the cracks beneath the polished surface in this unsettling short story from bestselling author Minka Kent.Veronica and Ryan Hartley are the envy of Auburn Drive. When the exclusive neighborhood hosts its annual progressive dinner party, the couple’s perfection is on display...
  • The Mountain King by Anders de la Motte

    The Mountain King by Anders de la Motte

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    This atmospheric and sinister mystery, perfect for fans of the Nordic thrillers of Jo Nesbo and Stieg Larsson, follows an overachieving female inspector investigating the darkest side of humanity.Criminal inspector Leonore Asker seems to have the leading position at Malmö’s Major Crime Division within reach...
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  thriller  dark  mystery  fiction  audiobook  noir
  • The Intruders by Louise Jensen

    The Intruders by Louise Jensen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    It should be the perfect a manor house available rent free in exchange for a bit of housesitting. But when Cass and James dig deeper, they find the place has been abandoned since a robbery left almost all the inhabitants dead almost thirty years ago. But they’ve got to save for a deposit somehow, so they move in, and things quickly take a strange turn...
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  thriller  dark  horror  mystery  audiobook  fiction
  • ASBO by Iain Rob Wright

    ASBO by Iain Rob Wright

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    YOUR FEAR IS THEIR ENTERTAINMENT...Andrew’s life is one of bored contentedness: a teenage daughter, a faithful wife, and a middle-class job. He even has a Mercedes. His life is without drama, and the comfort of middle-age is setting in.That all changes when he refuses to buy a pack of cigarettes for the local gang of youths...
  • Petrified Women by Jeremy Ray

    Petrified Women by Jeremy Ray

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Some pranks go too far. This one could be deadly.Harley has the perfect boyfriend. Why can’t her best friend see that? He’s nothing like the others, especially the one who still haunts her memories. She’s finally picked a “keeper” with Aiden.Sure, he’s a bit eccentric. His wood carving hobby is a little odd. His need for isolation while he carves his life-size female figurines is strange...
  • Down in the Zero by Andrew Vachss

    Down in the Zero by Andrew Vachss

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Andrew Vachss has reinvented detective fiction for an age in which guilty secrets are obsolete and murder isn't even worth a news headline. And in the person of his haunted, hell-ridden private eye Burke, Vachss has given us a new kind of hero: a man inured to every evil except the kind that preys on children...
  • Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

    Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns…with a family reunion that leads to murder.After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours...
    Categorized as:
    crime  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  gothic
  • Get Dirty by Gretchen McNeil

    Get Dirty by Gretchen McNeil

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    The members of Don’t Get Mad aren’t just mad anymore . . . they’re afraid. And with Margot in a coma and Bree stuck in juvie, it’s up to Olivia and Kitty to try to catch their deadly tormentor. But just as the girls are about to go on the offensive, Ed the Head reveals a shocking secret that turns all their theories upside down...
  • Burden Falls by Kat Ellis

    Burden Falls by Kat Ellis

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    THE BRAND NEW TERRIFYING THRILLER FROM KAT ELLISFrom its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well - since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she's been plagued by creeping visions...
  • Deity by Steven Dunne

    Deity by Steven Dunne

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    A brilliant new serial killer thriller from a hugely talented British author to rival the best from Mark Billingham, Peter James and Peter Robinson. When four Derby College students are reported missing, few in Derby CID, least of all DI Damen Brook, pay much attention. But then a film on the internet is discovered purporting to show the students committing mass suicide...
  • Lincoln Hospital by Cassia Brightmore

    Lincoln Hospital by Cassia Brightmore

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    On the twenty-third day—he hunts, bringing the scum of the earth to justice; his justice. Ending up as a patient on Dr. O’Reilly’s table could either save your life or end it in the most horrific way. New York City. The infamous city that never sleeps; the place where dreams either shine brightly or shatter into razor sharp pieces of metal. For Dr...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  revenge  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary
  • The Madman's Tale by John Katzenbach

    The Madman's Tale by John Katzenbach

    Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    It’s been twenty years since Western State Hospital was closed down and the last of its inmates reintegrated into society. Francis Petrel was barely out of his teens when his family committed him to the asylum, after his erratic behavior culminated in a terrifying outburst...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • Night Sins by Tami Hoag

    Night Sins by Tami Hoag

    Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    A sensational New York Times bestseller and subject of a CBS-TV miniseries, Night Sins has confirmed Tami Hoag's reputation as the new modern master of suspense.This gripping tale unfolds in a peaceful Minnesota town, where crime is something that just doesn't happen. But when a young boy disappears, it marks the beginning of a unspeakable nightmare...
    Categorized as:
    children  crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book
  • Eyeshot by Taylor Adams

    Eyeshot by Taylor Adams

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    James and Elle Eversman are a young couple travelling through the Mojave desert on their way to a new life. When their car mysteriously breaks down they are stranded in the middle of nowhere without much water and no cell-phone reception.A mile away a deadly sniper has them in his cross-hairs. They are pinned down behind their broken-down car, surrounded by open ground in all directions...
  • Hanover House by Brenda Novak

    Hanover House by Brenda Novak

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Hanover House The Hanover House Chronicles Prequel novella to my new Hanover House Chronicles (digital only). Welcome to Hanover House…. Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the psychopathic mind...
  • Flood by Andrew Vachss

    Flood by Andrew Vachss

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Burke's newest client is a woman named Flood, who has the face of an angel, the body of a high-priced stripper, and the skills of a professional executioner.  She wants Burke to find a monster for her—so she can kill him with her bare hands...
  • The Serial Killer's Daughter by Lesley Welsh

    The Serial Killer's Daughter by Lesley Welsh

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Charmer, liar, father… Killer. Suzanne’s life changes forever the day she receives a visit from Rose Anderson, the woman who has been living with her estranged father, Don. Don is dead, but Rose wants Suzanne to have his possessions – including a series of intimate diaries and a mysterious collection of photographs of women...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier

    Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier

    Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    "Top of the line thriller writing...You better call in sick, because you're not going anywhere until you finish reading it. Oh, and you might want to lock the door, too. Just to be safe." --#1 bestselling author Jeffery Deaver Fans of Chelsea Cain and Lisa Gardner will devour this edgy thriller about the gruesome secrets hidden beneath a small-town amusement park...
    Categorized as:
    crime  dark  suspense  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  drama
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