Books like 'First Date'
Readers who enjoyed First Date by R.L. Stine also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
horror mystery thriller high-school spooky
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The Last Party by A.R. Torre
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA loving mother. A notorious murderer. They both have reasons to hide their secrets in a novel of escalating shock and suspense by New York Times bestselling author A. R. Torre.Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and their precious daughter, Sophie, in a gated Pasadena community. Affluent, sociable, and accomplished, Perla plays the part of loving wife and mother to perfection... -
Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole, B.T. Urruela
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEdwin 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... -
After She Fled by J.R. Erickson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor six long years, Max has avoided Draven, her hometown that holds the remnants of a ghastly accident, but when her brother dies, she is drawn back into the clutches of her haunted past.In the wake of her family's shattered happiness, Max is caught in a nightmarish whirlwind of horrors that defy the laws of our world... -
Day of Reckoning: The Stereoscope by John Saul
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen attorney Ed Becker spots the carved antique dresser in a dusty attic, he takes it to restore. Then Ed and his young daughter, Amy, make a curious discovery: Inside one of the drawers are a set of old pictures and a stereoscope, an old-fashioned device that allows you to see images in three dimensions. Oddly, all the photos resemble their house, where Ed’s grandparents lived long ago... -
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The Best of Mystery: 63 Short Stories Chosen by the Master of Suspense by Alfred Hitchcock
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThese 63 spine-tingling stories originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery magazine, and in the words of the master himself, they'll "make your blood run cold." Hitchcock coolly serves up cool cops, clever gangsters, bodies stuffed in trunks, kidnappings, adulterous affairs, murder, and espionage, and the resulting thrills are positively delicious... -
Cold, Thin Air: A Collection of Disturbing Narratives and Twisted Tales by C.K. Walker
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA doll is more than what she seems, a monster lives within a child's walls, a murder solved, another remembered, an experiment in death, and the tale of a demonic, forgotten statue. These are just a few of the freighting stories contained inside. I invite you in to experience the hauntingly horrifying, the terrifyingly true and the unsettlingly unique texts within.. -
Grimm's Puppets by Tom Prater
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the autumn of 1968, the bodies of six brothers were found hanging from Hollyhead's billboard dressed in white, flowing gowns. Their killer was never identified.Twelve years later, another death has occurred. Will Metlocke, an author with seemingly psychic abilities, is called back to his hometown by his estranged father in a plea to help solve the murders... -
What Lies Below by Barbara Taylor Sissel
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEveryone has nightmares. One woman is living hers… Gilly O’Connell’s nightmares aren’t just bad dreams; they’re glimpses of terrifying realities to come. Gilly has spent her entire life trying to suppress the foreboding visions. So when a dismissed premonition leads to her husband’s murder, she buries the guilt and pain of the unsolved crime in the only way she knows how—she runs from it... -
Twist of Fate: The Locket by John Saul
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJules Hartwick should be on top of the world. He has a distinguished career as president of the First National Bank of Blackstone, and his lovely daughter will soon be married. But his contentment is shattered: he's under investigation by the Federal Reserve--and that frightening audit threatens the financing of the Blackstone Center, which is slated to rise on the site of the old Asylum... -
In the Shadow of Evil: The Handkerchief by John Saul
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhile researching an historical piece on the Asylum for the town’s newspaper, editor Oliver Metcalf digs through the attic that once belonged to his father, the last superintendent of the facility. There, among the dusty medical records, Oliver discovers a beautifully embroidered linen handkerchief with an ornate “R” in one corner... -
Tortured Dreams by Hadena James
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen the US Marshals Serial Crimes Tracking Unit comes knocking at Aislinn Cain's door, she is given a chance to use her past to save other people's futures. She has survived attacks by two different serial killers and devoted her life to studying the darker side of human history. A new killer is using medieval torture methods to slay his victims... -
The September House by Carissa Orlando
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings... -
Strangers by Dean Koontz
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsSix strangers are unaccountably seized by nightmares, attacks of fear, and bouts of uncharacteristic behavior. The six begin to seek each other out as puzzling photographs and messages arrive, indicating that the cause may lie in a forgotten weekend stay at an isolated Nevada motel. Koontz has topped a fine roster of horror and suspense novels with an almost unbearably suspenseful page-turner... -
Petrified Women by Jeremy Ray
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSome 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... -
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The Town the World Forgot by Boris Bacic
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNo one ever escapes from this town.Newlyweds Lisa and John’s summer drive through the Oregonian wilderness takes a chilling turn when an unexpected blizzard traps their car. Desperate for refuge, they find hope in a sign: WELCOME TO ____. Bundling up, they trek through the storm and find that, within the town, the blizzard ceases, though it rages just beyond the town's limits... -
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane by Laird Koenig
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAlone in the darkened house, with only fire's glow and thirteen flickering candles for illumination, silent except for the mounting chords of a Liszt concerto, Rynn was preparing a solemn celebration. Until a knock at the door shattered sanctuary.Rynn is the little girl who lives in the house at the end of the lane with her father-or so she says... -
Watch Them Die by Kevin O'Brien
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDIFFERENT VICTIMS The blonde film student. The brunette paralegal. The red-headed artist. DIFFERENT METHODS The first victim is strangled. The second is stabbed repeatedly. And the third is pushed out of an open window.SAME MADMAN In the city of Seattle, no single woman is safe. From afar he watches the ones he so desperately wants. Willing to do whatever it takes to prove his love... -
Prey by James Carol
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHAS JEFFERSON WINTER FINALLY MET HIS MATCH?Six years ago a young married couple were found brutally stabbed to death in their home in Upstate New York. Local police arrested a suspect who later committed suicide... -
Return to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIvy Jensen survived the Dark House once, but can she make it out a second time? Two months have passed since Ivy narrowly escaped the Nightmare Elf’s grip, but the memories of Parker, Natalie, Shayla, Frankie, and Garth continue to haunt her. Their killer is still out there—somewhere. The police trail has gone cold, though, and it’s up to Ivy to piece together the clues to find him... -
Final Breath by Kevin O'Brien
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOnce A Killer's Chosen You. . . At first, the deaths seem random. A young Portland couple brutally murdered in a game gone awry. . .a Chicago woman who plummeted to her death from an office building. . .an aspiring screenwriter asphyxiated in his New York apartment. But the macabre souvenirs television reporter Sydney Jordan receives hint at a connection that is both personal and terrifying... -
Wormwood by Chad Lutzke, Tim Meyer
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor some kids, Long Lake, Georgia is home. But for fourteen-year-old Baker Gray, it’s just another stop, another town in another state. Because of his mother’s nomadic lifestyle, he’s never had a best friend, never kissed a girl, and he’s certainly never met anyone like Cassandra Larsson—the enigmatic, older girl whose idea of fun blurs the line between right and wrong... -
The Mean Ones by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSo what if Sadie hears talking dead animals and a strange, comforting male voice in her head? The therapist insists these are just symptoms of PTSD. It makes sense considering that she hid under the bed and watched as her best friends were slaughtered.But the murders were seventeen years ago, back when her name was Sabrina. Now, she’s Sadie: a perfectly normal 29-year-old... -
Arrival by Paul Elard Cooley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe crew of the deep-sea exploration rig Leaguer discovers oil sweeter, purer, and sure to be more easily refined than anything that’s ever existed. To confirm their own analysis of their billion dollar find, a test barrel is flown from the drill site off the coast of Papua/New Guinea to Houston Analytical Laboratories (HAL)... -
Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Black Sheep and So Thirsty.Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous she grew up in a haunted house... -
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Spellbinders in Suspense by Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Bloch
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTable of contents:"The Chinese Puzzle Box" by Agatha Christie"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell"The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier"Puzzle For Poppy" by Patrick Quentin"Eyewitness" by Robert Arthur"Man From The South" by Roald Dahl"Black Magic" by Sax Rohmer"Treasure Trove" by F... -
Bad News by Amy Cross
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA missing girl. A man with a past. And a reporter who'll do anything to uncover the truth. When she's fired from her job at a TV station, Maggie Carter sets out to prove that she's got what it takes... -
The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA couple inherits an apartment with a spine-tingling past in this binge-worthy thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six.Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill... -
Clever Little Thing by Helena Echlin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA taut, powerful psychological thriller following a mother who must confront a sudden and terrifying change in her daughter after the abrupt death of their babysitter.Charlotte’s daughter Stella is sensitive and brilliant, perhaps even a genius, but a recent change in her behavior has alarmed her mother... -
The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky, Голди Молдавски
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNew girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends... -
Whistle by Linwood Barclay
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a supernatural chiller in which a woman and her young son move to a small town looking for a fresh start, only to be haunted by disturbing events and strange visions when they find a mysterious train set in a storage shed.Evil has a one track mind...Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year... -
Your Word Or Mine by Lia Middleton
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen 15-year-old Anabelle King was assaulted on her way home, she thought she had done everything right. But a vital piece of evidence meant that the jury let her attacker go.Eighteen years later, Anabelle King is now Ava Knight, a successful barrister who always follows the rules. But that all changes when, one day at court, she reads a familiar name in the Michael Osborne... -
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... -
Monsters by Emerald Fennell
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA blackly comic tale about two children you would never want to meet. Set in the Cornish town of Fowey, all is not as idyllic as the beautiful seaside town might seem. The body of a young woman is discovered in the nets of a fishing boat. It is established that the woman was murdered. Most are shocked and horrified. But there is somebody who is not - a twelve-year-old girl... -
Beast by Matt Wesolowski
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsElusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories… In the wake of the 'Beast from the East' cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast... -
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Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOn a creepy island where everyone has a strange obsession with the year 1994, a newcomer arrives, hoping to learn the truth about her son's death--but finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into the bizarrely insular community and their complicated rules...Clifford Island. When Willow Stone finds these words written on the floor of her deceased son's bedroom, she's perplexed... -
The Quiet Ones by Brandon Massey
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom award-winning suspense author Brandon Massey comes a thrilling novel of buried secrets and stunning revelations... LOST Twenty-five years ago, a jealous ex-boyfriend murdered Mallory Steele's mother. With no close family to take in Mallory and her older sister, the girls became wards of the state--and were soon ripped apart, sent to live with different foster families... -
Comes the Blind Fury by John Saul
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsA century ago, a gentle blind girl walked the cliffs of Paradise Point. Then the children came -- taunting, teasing -- until she lost her footing and fell, shrieking her rage to the drowning sea... Now Michelle has come from Boston to live in the big house on Paradise Point. She is excited about her new life, ready to make new friends.. -
The Dark Hour by K.J. Young
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“Deliciously creepy!”—Barbara Taylor Sissel, bestselling author of The Truth We BuryMark Norman can’t catch a break—until he’s hired as a live-in home health aide for two elderly siblings who live at Alden Manor, a run-down mansion mired in the past. His charges, former stage magicians Roy and Alma Walgrave, give off an eerie vibe, but they are also wealthy and careless with their money... -
The Bone Weaver's Orchard by Sarah Read, Daniel Pérez Castrillón
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHe’s run away home. That’s what they say every time one of Charley Winslow’s friends vanishes from The Old Cross School for Boys.It’s just a tall tale. That’s what they tell Charley when he sees the ragged grey figure stalking the abbey halls at night.When Charley follows his pet insects to a pool of blood behind a false wall, he could run and let those stones bury their secrets... -
Faint of Heart by Jeff Strand
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA 32,000-word novella of brutal suspense by the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of PRESSURE, DWELLER, and WOLF HUNT.Rebecca Harpster is frightened of spending the night alone, but she assures her husband Gary that she'll be fine when he goes out camping with his buddies for the weekend. They have a safe little home in the woods of Alaska with an excellent security system... -
The Green Room by Nag Mani
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsQueen Victoria School, Nainital. Founded: 1855. "She wears an old uniform," Nisha continued, "pale white face, dark shadows around her eyes. She is often seen sitting on this very chair. And it is said that the chair is always found in front of the mirror no matter where you leave it... -
Nothing Hidden Ever Stays by H.R. Mason
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA two-hundred-year-old curse. A tangled thread of mental illness. A growing list of Ross family women dying young. The house where it all began, Desolate Ridge, holds all the secrets.Abandoned at a hospital when she was only three years old, Aubrey Ross grew up as a ward of the state, passed from one foster family to the next... -
The Foxglove Killings by Tara Kelly
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGramps always said that when the crickets were quiet, something bad was coming. And the crickets have been as silent as the dead. It started with the murdered deer in the playground with the unmistakable purple of a foxglove in its mouth. But in the dying boondock town of Emerald Cove, life goes on... -
The Evil Within by S.M. Hardy
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the brink of a breakdown, two years after the death of his fianc�e, Jim Hawkes quits his high-powered job in the City to rent a cottage in the Devonshire countryside seeking some well-needed rest. But Slyford St James is far from the peaceful haven Jim was hoping for... -
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Fight, Team, Fight by R.L. Stine
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPhoebe Yamura wants to win the state cheerleading competition... -
The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSam knows that he and his friend Lloyd made a colossal mistake when they accepted the ride home. They have ended up in a dark mansion in the middle of nowhere with a man who means to harm them. But Sam doesn't know how to get them out. They were trapped, then separated. Now they are alone... -
Darkness by John Saul
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsVillejeune, Florida. A secluded little town at the edge of a vast, eerie swamp. Far from prying eyes. Far from the laws of civilization. Here folks live by their own rules -- dark rites of altars and infants, candles and blood.Years ago the Andersons left town with a dream. Now they are back. To live out a nightmare. Something has been waiting for them. Something unspeakably evil... -
The Neighbor by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA prequel to The CityThe year is 1967. Malcolm Pomerantz is twelve, geeky and socially awkward, while his seriously bright sister, Amalia, is spirited and beautiful. Each is the other’s best friend, united by a boundless interest in the world beyond their dysfunctional parents’ unhappy home... -
Silent Source by James Marshall Smith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSILENT SOURCE is an award-winning debut thriller inspired by one of Homeland Security’s top scenarios for terrorist attacks on America. Forensic mastermind, Damon Keane, investigates a series of bewildering cases of a fatal syndrome—a slow, excruciating death—cropping up in Atlanta. Now a priest is dying at Grady Memorial hospital. Delirious and in torment . . -
The Association by Bentley Little
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThriller by the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Walking. "Follow the rules. Don't say a word. And lock your doors." Those were the rules of the homeowners' association Barry and Maureen joined when they moved to Colorado. They didn't know the association might kill them...
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