Books like 'Cruel Summer'
Readers who enjoyed Cruel Summer by Wesley Southard also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
horror monsters/creatures retellings dark
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Shadows over Innsmouth by Stephen Jones, H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLibrarian Note: Please do not confuse this anthology with the original novella "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H.P. Lovecraft. Although "Shadows Over Innsmouth" includes the said novella, the book is a collection of Innsmouth-related stories by a number of later authors and not a single story or novel... -
![Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying by Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis]()
Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying by Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsCALL OF CTHULHU is Chaosium's classic roleplaying game of Lovecraftian horror in which ordinary people are confronted by the terrifying and alien forces of the Cthulhu Mythos. CALL OF CTHULHU uses Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying System, easy to learn and quick to play. This bestseller has won dozens of game-industry awards and is a member of the Academy of Adventure Game Design Hall of Fame... -
![Anghellic by Shayne Silvers]()
Anghellic by Shayne Silvers
Rated: 4.71 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsCallie Penrose has taken over Castle Dracula all for herself, finally feeling like she has time to take a breath and relax. Until she learns that her new real estate acquisition comes with a few unsavory job perks, Nate Temple has been abducted, and Darling and Dear—the mysterious Armorers of the Apocalypse—have been hiding much more than even she suspected... -
![Mobius by Garon Whited]()
Mobius by Garon Whited
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFaced with war and the end of the world, Eric--or Halar the First, King of Karvalen--must find a way to stop a godlike entity bent on his destruction. His quest will be no easy thing, not a straight line to his goal, but even he can't anticipate just how far it will lead him on this epic journey... -
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![Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett]()
Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis book is well on its way to becoming a true children's classic. Early reviews of the story and the tickle me concept are creating a very positive reaction from everyone that reviews the book. The story is about a loveable rascal that has just flown in from Planet Tickle. His mission is to tickle any child who happens to follow along in this book... -
![Ocean of Blood by Darren Shan]()
Ocean of Blood by Darren Shan
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsBefore Larten Crepsley was a vampire general...Before he was Darren Shan's master... Before the War of Scars...Larten Crepsley was a teenager. And he was sick of the pomp and circumstance of fusty old vampires telling him what to do. Taking off on his own with his blood brother, Wester, Larten takes off into the world to see what his newly blooded vampire status can get him in the human world... -
![Last Resort by Anthony M. Strong]()
Last Resort by Anthony M. Strong
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn island with a secret, deep inside the Bermuda Triangle.After a tumultuous year, the last thing on John Decker’s mind when he and fiancé, Nancy, arrive on the tropical island paradise of Singer Cay, is the Bermuda Triangle. He’s about to marry the woman he loves, surrounded by friends and family. A well-earned break and a dream destination wedding.But Singer Cay hides a dark and mysterious past... -
![Crimson Deep: A Thriller by Anthony M. Strong]()
Crimson Deep: A Thriller by Anthony M. Strong
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSomething ancient has found new prey… Us.Deep in the Florida woodlands, a pair of recreational divers are attacked and killed. Miles away, a research team captures an impossible sight on their remote-operated submersible. Meanwhile, a team of bank robbers speed toward their Florida hideout... -
![Whitechapel Rising by Anthony M. Strong]()
Whitechapel Rising by Anthony M. Strong
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn impossible killer stalks the streets of London.Jack the Ripper faded into history over a century ago, his identity lost to the ages. Until a work crew restoring a Mayfair home make a shocking find. A secret basement room walled up since Victorian times. The Whitechapel murderer's lair. And inside, a corpse that has waited in silent darkness for over a hundred years. But it won't stay that way. -
![Witches of the Deep by C.N. Crawford, Carlos Quevedo]()
Witches of the Deep by C.N. Crawford, Carlos Quevedo
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFiona and her friends are on the run from the ruthless witch-hunters, seeking refuge in the werewolf city of Dogtown. But sadly for Fiona, no sanctuary awaits them there. Plagued by its inhabitants and her own twisted past, Fiona is searching for one thing: a way out. Her only hope is to complete a series of grueling tasks set forth by a gorgeous—but terrifying—sea-demon... -
![Operation Mongolia by William Meikle]()
Operation Mongolia by William Meikle
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's supposed to be a routine job, walking a pair of stranded archaeologists out of the Gobi Desert. But when the rains come unexpectedly, S-Squad's troubles are only starting. There is something in the sand, something red and wriggling. Thirsty for water. Hungry for flesh... -
![Operation Norway by William Meikle]()
Operation Norway by William Meikle
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's supposed to be a simple sanitation job, a post war scientific base that needs cleansed of anything that might prove incriminating to British and Norwegian governments. But when the S-Squad try to complete their mission they are pursued in the mountains and fjords by something out of legend. They have woken a sleeping beast. Now it's angry, ready for a fight... -
![The Sacrifice by Emily Shore]()
The Sacrifice by Emily Shore
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“Don’t you know better than to play with monsters?”I’ve spent my life in the Borderlands with no feeling. I am half a ghost, born with half a soul and numb because of it. On my 22nd birthday, I’m bound for the Sacrifice in the Wailing Woods and come face to face with the monsters—only to discover I can feel them.Perhaps I’d rather play with the monsters than kill them... -
![Cold Sanctuary by Anthony M. Strong]()
Cold Sanctuary by Anthony M. Strong
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe bogeyman is real. In a tunnel deep beneath an Alaskan mountain, a man is brutally murdered. Just one in a series of grisly deaths, it is not long before whispers grow that the Qalupalik, a terrifying creature born from centuries of superstition and fear, has come to wreak havoc on the small coastal town of Shackleton, Alaska... -
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![Crown of Ashes by Amanda Aggie]()
Crown of Ashes by Amanda Aggie
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"We're all villains here." - Alice WhittakerBoth The Demon Prince and Crown of Ashes hit #1 in Amazon Charts for Paranormal Angel Romance, Dark Fantasy, Dark Fantasy Horror, Folklore, and Amazon New Releases!A year ago, we managed to escape the realm of monsters, unscathed.The mistake of trying to strike a bargain with the High King has been buried in the past…Or so we thought... -
![The Graveyard Shift by D.M. Guay]()
The Graveyard Shift by D.M. Guay
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA frightfully funny novel for fans of Tom Holt and Christopher Moore.Lloyd Wallace is the most clueless crossing guard the intersection of hell and earth has ever seen. So clueless, that he doesn't even realize the beer cave in the corner store where he works is the gateway to hell.The gate needs a hero, but Lloyd's a zero, a loser with a capital L... -
![The Quiet Boy by Nick Antosca]()
The Quiet Boy by Nick Antosca
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBut there was no Goldilocks in his story. There were only the Wolfs, who lived together in a cave above a town. Big Wolf, Middle Wolf, and Little Wolf. Big Wolf was a brute. Little Wolf was timid. Middle Wolf was the peacemaker... -
![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... -
![Cryptid Country by Gerry Griffiths]()
Cryptid Country by Gerry Griffiths
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSix months after the Cryptid Zoo tragedy gained national attention, violent creatures still terrorize the country. Nick and Meg Wells continue to deal with the horrifying experience having to institutionalize their catatonic son, Gabe, in a facility for the mentally disturbed... -
![Issaura's Claws by Katharine E. Wibell]()
Issaura's Claws by Katharine E. Wibell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“According to legend, when the world was young, the goddess Issaura appeared among men. Those who treated her with kindness received the gift of the gods—the ability to transform into an animal form. This was a great honor but one that separated this race from other humans. Before Issaura departed the mortal realm, she promised to return if her people were ever at the point of destruction... -
![A Dark Roux by Blaine Daigle]()
A Dark Roux by Blaine Daigle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBeneath the black waters of the Louisiana bayou hides a world of dark mysticism. A world steeped in superstition and the decay of family legacies. A world Rhiannon LeBeau thought she’d left behind fifteen years ago after a summer of tragedy and horror... -
![We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim]()
We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrankenstein meets Indian mythology in this twisty, darkly atmospheric fantasy where the horror is not the monsters you face but the ones you create.After her sister Lasya’s sudden death, Kajal vows to do whatever it takes to bring her back. No cost is too great, even if it means preventing Lasya’s soul from joining the cycle of reincarnation... -
![Piper Prince by Amber Argyle]()
Piper Prince by Amber Argyle
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCan you hear him? The beast is coming for you. Long ago, a curse fell upon the land—a curse of forgetting and wraiths, a curse that ensured no daughters were born to the pied pipers in over three centuries. The pipers were all that stood between humanity and utter destruction, so they did the only thing they could: they stole the daughters of the nearby kingdom with their hypnotizing melodies... -
![A God of Wrath & Lies by K.M. Moronova]()
A God of Wrath & Lies by K.M. Moronova
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsImportant Notice - Some of the content in this book may be triggering for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.Trauma is haunting. Twisted.It can take everything we have... can't it? All that we are.Well, at least mine did.Since my dog died, I've been cursed with dreams of blood and cries. Things that were once so clear are now foggy. Why have the gods plagued my life? With loss and rot... -
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![The Dark Army by Joseph Delaney]()
The Dark Army by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNewly risen from the dead, Thomas Ward has been tasked with leading an army into battle against the dark, alongside his apprentice, Jenny, and the witch assassin Grimalkin. But their battle goes terribly wrong, and Tom’s situation seems hopeless until Alice—a powerful witch turned to the dark—appears... -
![The Book of Cthulhu by Ross E. Lockhart, Caitlín R. Kiernan]()
The Book of Cthulhu by Ross E. Lockhart, Caitlín R. Kiernan
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Cthulhu Mythos is one of the 20th century's most singularly recognizable literary creations. Initially created by H. P. Lovecraft and a group of his amorphous contemporaries (the so-called "Lovecraft Circle"), The Cthulhu Mythos story cycle has taken on a convoluted, cyclopean life of its own... -
![Spook's Dark Assassin by Joseph Delaney]()
Spook's Dark Assassin by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe third chilling installment in the new Spook's legend ...An assassin lurks in the darkness between earth and oblivion - but who are they, and what is their mission? The people of the County live in fear of the beasts bent on bringing the war to their home... -
![Dungeon Bound 2 by Bastian Knight]()
Dungeon Bound 2 by Bastian Knight
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA week ago, all Gabriel wanted was to graduate and settle into a boring but safe job. Last night he tore a man's soul out to save a gorgon.He's never felt more alive.But their victory over his longtime bully provides only a short reprieve. There are darker threats than greedy adventurers hidden deep beneath Lostbarrow, and more enemies await in the city above... -
![Her Heart Beats for Ancient Beasts by Calvin Demmer]()
Her Heart Beats for Ancient Beasts by Calvin Demmer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAncient beings, merciless monsters, unearthly creatures, and other beasts roam these pages.A short story collection... -
![Doll Face by D.J. Krimmer, C Hebert]()
Doll Face by D.J. Krimmer, C Hebert
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDoll FaceShall We Play A Game?Amid the suffocating embrace of night,I stumble upon him, a beacon of light.The Boogeyman, a seductive terror,Whispers haunting promises, cruel and fair.Eyes that glint with otherworldly fire,In his grasp, I’m consumed by dark desire.A love twisted and sickeningly sweet,Tangled in the depths of darkness, where nightmares meet... -
![The Watchers by A.M. Shine]()
The Watchers by A.M. Shine
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThis forest isn't charted on any map. Every car breaks down at its treeline. Mina's is no different. Left stranded, she is forced into the dark woodland only to find a woman shouting, urging Mina to run to a concrete bunker. As the door slams behind her, the building is besieged by screams... -
![Creature by Hunter Shea]()
Creature by Hunter Shea
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe monsters live inside of Kate Woodson. Chronic pain and a host of autoimmune diseases have robbed her of a normal, happy life. Her husband Andrew’s surprise of their dream Maine lake cottage for the summer is the gift of a lifetime. It’s beautiful, remote, idyllic, a place to heal. But they are not alone... -
![The Forgotten Island by David Sodergren]()
The Forgotten Island by David Sodergren
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Ana Logan agrees to go on holiday to Thailand with her estranged sister Rachel, she hopes it will be a way for them to reconnect after years of drifting apart. But now, stranded on a seemingly deserted island paradise with no radio and no food, reconciliation becomes a desperate fight for survival.For when night falls on The Forgotten Island, the dark secrets of the jungle reveal themselves... -
![Goetia by Mel Odom]()
Goetia by Mel Odom
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe trilogy that began in Exodus continues: 2024: Four years after the Demons opened the planar rift known as the Hellgate, mankind's desperate struggle to survive continues. Simon Cross, expatriate of the secret Templar order, works to find and transport survivors out of the ruined city... -
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![In Darkness and Dank by K.L. Hiers]()
In Darkness and Dank by K.L. Hiers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsKittisak Amarin is not a scientist—he's barely a student, but he joined his college professor's research team for an expedition into the Amazon as a last ditch effort to pass his biology course... -
![Down in the Hollow by Timothy Hobbs]()
Down in the Hollow by Timothy Hobbs
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt all begins with a decapitated head found at the bottom of a dark well. Bertram Stone is a former Texas Ranger running from the changes of an ever-evolving world. Horses were being replaced by cars. Laws were changing how Bertram could deal justice. Wanting to live out his golden years in peace, Stone flees to the quiet town of Hamilton, Texas where he becomes the local sheriff... -
![Kong: Skull Island - The Official Movie Novelization by Tim Lebbon]()
Kong: Skull Island - The Official Movie Novelization by Tim Lebbon
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn March 2017, the producers of Godzilla transport audiences to the birthplace of one of the most powerful monster myths of all in KONG: SKULL ISLAND, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures. When a scientific expedition to an uncharted island awakens titanic forces of nature, a mission of discovery becomes an explosive war between monster and man. Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L... -
![Cavern of the Damned by Russell James]()
Cavern of the Damned by Russell James
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBroke and desperate, paleontologist Grant Coleman gets the chance of a lifetime exploring a long-sealed cave, the fabled home of a gigantic creatures. NPS Ranger McKinley Stinson discovers a rancher’s prize bull has been butchered by an airborne killer, and tracks the blood trail back to the re-opened cavern. But as she’s about to arrest the trespassers, the unstable roof collapses, trapping all... -
![Sunblind by Michael McBride]()
Sunblind by Michael McBride
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen U.S. Border Patrol Agent Christian Rivera discovers the body of an undocumented alien in the middle of the vast Sonoran Desert with three enigmatic words carved into her flesh, presumably by her own hand, it triggers a frantic search for the remainder of her party, a group of twenty-five men and women who have inexplicably vanished into the desert... -
![Savages by Greg F. Gifune]()
Savages by Greg F. Gifune
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt began as a vacation to the Cook Islands. But when seven friends are lost in the South Pacific after their boat goes down in a storm, they must survive at sea for several days in a small raft. Blown miles off course from their original position, and deep into open waters, they eventually encounter a small uncharted island... -
![Reign of Ruin by Jennifer Bene]()
Reign of Ruin by Jennifer Bene
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings'The priests want me to thank God, but the only thing I pray for is death.'There is nothing before Eden. Just flashes of a time before Danielle woke up in chains, in hell, to be violated and broken.Over, and over, and over.They say that God honors those who serve, that each baptism is a gift, but all Danielle wants is to die.Eden has other plans... -
![Tamer Animals by Justin M. Woodward]()
Tamer Animals by Justin M. Woodward
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIT WAS JUST A CAMPING TRIP Down by the old Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge, four high school friends only wanted to kick back, smoke some weed and forget about their problems for a day or two. Sure, there were stories that the area was haunted, but there was no way they were true... -
![Wolfsbane by William W. Johnstone, William Teason]()
Wolfsbane by William W. Johnstone, William Teason
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOnce the bayou was thick with wolfsbane. But for years the people of Ducros Parish, Louisiana, have been free of the ancient root--and its ancient evil. But now it has returned, and Ducros Parish will once again be a place of nightmarish terror. Johnstone is the author of Cat's Cradle... -
![Outbreak by Richard Denoncourt]()
Outbreak by Richard Denoncourt
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis is an alternate cover edition for B00M2AOH78 SOCIETY HAS FALLEN, the world is infected, and one young man, Kip Garrity, must venture out into the ruins of his small town to find the medicine that can save his dying father. The only problem is, their town is overrun by the victims of a virus that turned most of humanity into mindless cannibals. Luckily, Kip has been well trained for this... -
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![Creatures by David Burkett, David Burkett]()
Creatures by David Burkett, David Burkett
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the personal plane of a highly ranked Brazilian cabinet member and his family disappears in the Amazon, a search and rescue helicopter records evidence of a massive anomaly in the jungle. Doc Morrison, a renowned geologist, is called in to help investigate what could be the collapse of the largest cavern known to man... -
![The Yeti by Rick Chesler, Jack Douglas]()
The Yeti by Rick Chesler, Jack Douglas
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTHE MOST INFAMOUS CRYPTID EVER TO CAPTURE THE IMAGINATION OF THE PLANET... A MAN PUTTING HIS LIFE AT RISK... When evolutionary biology professor Dr. Zack Hitchens loses his wife in a senseless accident, he decides to follow her dreams all the way to the roof of the world-- the peak of Mount Everest... -
![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... -
![Beautiful Adam by Laura Lascarso]()
Beautiful Adam by Laura Lascarso
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsI can make Adam the biggest star the world has ever known. All I demand in return is a pound of flesh.Pet projects have never been my thing, not really, but when I see this lovely creature, this beautiful, uncorrupted man, I just can’t resist. Adam is simply delicious. A twunky, twenty-something mound of malleable clay I will mold into the most exquisite masterpiece ever made.He will be ruined... -
![A Delicious Descent by Amanda Meuwissen]()
A Delicious Descent by Amanda Meuwissen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDracula retold, with Jonathan as the object of the legendary vampire’s obsession.Engaged to his dear friend Mina, Jonathan Harker jumps at the chance to delay their wedding by accepting an assignment in far-off Transylvania. Jonathan loves Mina but not in the way a man should love a wife, for his true passion lies with the company of men, an illicit craving he can never indulge... -
![This Wicked Fate by Amanda Aggie]()
This Wicked Fate by Amanda Aggie
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor fans of The Witcher and Brave, this fantasy romance, featuring a fierce heroine and a druid with Golden Retriever energy, is both steamy and swoon worthy! I’m the Princess of Solaria, a realm full of beasts that could make the Devil cower. Except that title means nothing, because I’ll be dead by the week’s end...
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