Books like 'Cult of Loretta'
Readers who enjoyed Cult of Loretta by Kevin Maloney also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
horror transgressive-mc literary-fiction coming-of-age
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The Green Mile: The Screenplay by Frank Darabont
Rated: 4.62 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsTells the story of John Coffey, a death row inmate who exhibits supernatural powers that make the guards and prisoners around him reexamine their... -
![Of Foster Homes and Flies by Chad Lutzke, Alberto Plumed]()
Of Foster Homes and Flies by Chad Lutzke, Alberto Plumed
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA neglected 12-year-old boy does nothing to report the death of his mother in order to compete in a spelling bee. A tragic coming-of-age tale of horror and drama in the setting of a hot New Orleans summer. "Original, touching coming of age." ~Jack Ketchum, author of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR "With OF FOSTER HOMES & FLIES, Lutzke is firing on all cylinders. It's a lean mean emotional machine... -
![The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters]()
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years.July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction historical-fiction mystery contemporary drama indigenous-mc -
![The Trials of Koli by M.R. Carey]()
The Trials of Koli by M.R. Carey
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Trials of Koli is the second novel in M R. Carey’s breathtakingly original Rampart trilogy, set in a strange and deadly world of our own making.Beyond the walls of Koli’s small village lies a fearsome landscape filled with choker trees, vicious beasts and shunned men. As an exile, Koli’s been forced to journey out into this mysterious, hostile world. But he heard a story, once...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book dystopia fiction -
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![The Dungeon Leader by Konrad Ryan]()
The Dungeon Leader by Konrad Ryan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsTrapped in a dungeon and infected with a werewolf virus, Tad wrestles with Fenrir, the wolf inside his dagger. Somehow the wolf can hear his thoughts. He taunts Tad. Can Tad escape the dungeon? And what of Titan and the danger it poses to Earth?Even if he returns to Earth, it has its own problems. The creators have all entered Titan; Titanspawn blocks the sky and the world is freezing over... -
![Maldoror and the Complete Works by Comte de Lautréamont]()
Maldoror and the Complete Works by Comte de Lautréamont
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAndre Breton described Maldoror as -the expression of a revelation so complete it seems to exceed human potential.- Little is known about its pseudonymous author, aside from his real name (Isidore Ducasse), birth in Uruguay (1846) and early death in Paris (1870)... -
![In the Scrape by James Newman, Mark Steensland]()
In the Scrape by James Newman, Mark Steensland
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMost kids dream about a new bike, a pair of top-dollar sneakers endorsed by their favorite athlete, or that totally awesome videogame everyone's raving about. But thirteen-year-old Jake and his little brother Matthew want nothing more than to escape from their abusive father... -
![Wallflower by Chad Lutzke]()
Wallflower by Chad Lutzke
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter an encounter with a homeless man, a high school graduate becomes obsessed with the idea of doing heroin, challenging himself to try it just once. A bleak tale of addiction, delusion, and flowers."Bleak as hell and honestly horrific."~John Boden, author of JEDI SUMMER"Using his strong narrative, he (Lutzke) conveys the everyday realistic horror and pulls the reader right into the ugliness...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction horror fiction psychological dark substance-abuse mental-illness -
![Hurt Others by Sam Pink]()
Hurt Others by Sam Pink
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOh man, it just had to happen. Someone had to be a bagger at a grocery store and fantasize about hitting children in the head with wine bottles. Someone had to fear a puddle floating at him from across the street. Someone had to celebrate beating up a pregnant woman. Someone just HAD to be a nanny, and stare at giant motorized spiders...Categorized as:
literary-fiction transgressive-mc 21st-century adult anthologies contemporary fiction horror -
![The Commandant's Daughter by Catherine Hokin]()
The Commandant's Daughter by Catherine Hokin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1933, Berlin. Ten-year-old Hanni Foss stands by her father’s side watching the torchlit procession to celebrate Adolf Hitler as Germany’s new leader. As the lights fade, she knows her safe and happy childhood is about to change forever. Practically overnight, the father she adores becomes unrecognisable, lost to his ruthless ambition to oversee an infamous concentration camp…Twelve years later... -
![The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard by J.G. Ballard]()
The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard by J.G. Ballard
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFirst published in 1978, this collection of nineteen of Ballard's best short stories is as timely and informed as ever. His tales of the human psyche and its relationship to nature and technology, as viewed through a strong microscope, were eerily prescient and now provide greater perspective on our computer-dominated culture... -
!['Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?': Joyce Carol Oates by Joyce Carol Oates]()
'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?': Joyce Carol Oates by Joyce Carol Oates
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJoyce Carol Oates’s prize-winning story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” takes up troubling subjects that continue to occupy her in her fiction: the romantic longings and limited options of adolescent women; the tensions between mothers and daughters; the sexual victimization of women; and the American obsession with violence...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction 20th-century anthologies classics female-author feminism fiction -
![Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates]()
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe sixties and seventies witnessed the emergence of Joyce Carol Oates as one of America's foremost writers of the short story. In 1962, 'The Fine White Mist of Winter, ' composed when the author was 19 years old, appeared in The Literary Review and was selected for both the O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories of that year...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies classics contemporary dark -
![Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance, #1 by Robin Furth]()
Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance, #1 by Robin Furth
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Dark Tower is the backbone of Stephen King's legendary career. Inspired more than thirty years ago by works as diverse as J.R.R. Tolkien's epics, Robert Browning's poetry, and Sergio Leone's Westerns, this is the tale that Stephen King has never abandoned... -
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![Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont]()
Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe macabre but beautiful work, Les Chants de Maldoror, has achieved a considerable reputation as one of the earliest and most extraordinary examples of Surrealist writing. It is a long narrative prose poem which celebrates the principle of Evil in an elaborate style and with a passion akin to religious fanaticism... -
![The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler]()
The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRoot is... different.Though raised in a fearful society that reveres tradition and conformity, she’s irreverent, outspoken, and deeply curious. Her blindness sets her even further apart.Centuries after the Reckoning, a global biotech plague, savage chimeras still threaten human survival. After Root hears a voice that no one else can hear, she flees into the wilderness...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction action-adventure adult apocalyptic book dark dystopia -
![Sour under the flesh by Stuart Bray]()
Sour under the flesh by Stuart Bray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA serial killer know as "The Preserver" collects the heads of those he deems worthy of eternal perfection while trying to live his upscale life with his wife and son... -
![The Value of X by Poppy Z. Brite]()
The Value of X by Poppy Z. Brite
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGary and Rickey grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward, products of New Orleans as surely as Community Coffee or the Superdome. Friends since childhood, they become lovers at age 16 and must deal with the realities of being gay in a hardscrabble neighborhood, a traditional Catholic family, and the restaurant kitchens where they've begun to work...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction 21st-century book contemporary culinary female-author fiction -
![We Live Inside You by Jeremy Robert Johnson]()
We Live Inside You by Jeremy Robert Johnson
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWe are within you, and we are growing. Watching. Waiting for your empires to fall. It won't be long now. We are the fear of death that drives you and the terrible hunger that reshapes you in its name. We are the vengeance born from senseless slaughter and the pulsing reptile desire that negates your consciousness... -
![We So Seldom Look on Love by Barbara Gowdy]()
We So Seldom Look on Love by Barbara Gowdy
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNow in paperback, this masterfully crafted story collection by the author of the internationally best-selling novel Mister Sandman is a haunting book that is certain to both disturb and entertain...Categorized as:
literary-fiction transgressive-mc adult anthologies classics contemporary female-author fiction -
![Dark Spring by Unica Zürn]()
Dark Spring by Unica Zürn
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDark Spring is an autobiographical coming-of-age novel that reads more like an exorcism than a memoir. In it author Unica Zurn traces the roots of her obsessions: The exotic father she idealized, the "impure" mother she detested, the masochistic fantasies and onanistic rituals which she said described "the erotic life of a little girl based on my own childhood...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction transgressive-mc 20th-century adult book classics female-author -
![The Bone Fire by György Dragomán]()
The Bone Fire by György Dragomán
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom an award-winning European writer, a Gothic page-turner with all the menace and promise of a fairy tale In the aftermath of a revolution that has plunged her country into chaos, thirteen-year-old Emma’s small corner of the world is shattered after her dissident parents' death in a car crash...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction action-adventure adult book contemporary family fiction -
![The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell]()
The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe hilarious, bittersweet novel from the playwright behind EDUCATING RITA, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and award-winning musical BLOOD BROTHERS.Dear Morrissey,I'm feeling dead depressed and down. Like a streetlamp without a bulb or a goose at the onset of Christmas time.Anyroad, I thought I'd pen a few lines to someone who'd understand...It's 1991...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction action-adventure audiobook book contemporary fiction horror -
![Com més profunda és l'aigua, més lleig és el peix by Laia Font i Mateu]()
Com més profunda és l'aigua, més lleig és el peix by Laia Font i Mateu
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEn quin moment l’amor esdevé obsessió, i què passa llavors? Una història captivadora sobre vincles emocionals complicats.Sinopsi:És l’Edie, de 16 anys, qui troba la seva mare Marienne penjant d’una vella corda de saltar enmig de la sala, un bassal d’orina a terra, gairebé morta...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction adult audiobook book contemporary domestic-drama drama -
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![La mano que cura by Lina María Parra Ochoa]()
La mano que cura by Lina María Parra Ochoa
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHay encuentros que dejan una huella indeleble en nuestra memoria y nuestro cuerpo, encuentros que nos cambian profundamente o, tal vez, solo nos desvelan quiénes somos en realidad. Eso es lo que le ocurre a la niña Soledad cuando conoce a Ana Gregoria, su maestra de escuela, de quien aprenderá a hacer trabajos, amarres, bebedizos. A llamar al silencio sobre sí misma para no ser vista ni escuchada... -
![The No Hellos Diet by Sam Pink]()
The No Hellos Diet by Sam Pink
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"The thought of calling off work is like the thought of suicide, just nice to think about."In The No Hellos Diet, Sam Pink brings you straight into a world you've never been to before -- your own life. Find yourself working at a department store where everyone must wear red and khaki clothing. Find yourself throwing out garbage for fifty cents more than minimum wage... -
![Penance by Eliza Clark]()
Penance by Eliza Clark
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsOne of Granta's Best Young British Novelists 2023From the author of the cult hit Boy Parts comes a chilling, brilliantly told story of murder among a group of teenage girls—a powerful and disturbing novel as piercing in its portrait of young women as Emma Cline’s The Girls... -
![Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe]()
Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA collection of the poems by the famous American writer.Al Araaf --Alone --Annabel Lee --Bells --Bridal ballad --City in the sea --Coliseum --Conqueror worm --Dactylic couplet --Deep in earth --Dream --Dream-land --Dreams --Dream within a dream --Eldorado --Elizabeth --Enigma --Eulalie --Evening star --To F --To F-SS... -
![Zombie by Chuck Palahniuk]()
Zombie by Chuck Palahniuk
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn 'Zombies', the absurdity of both life and death are on full display as the best and brightest of a high school prep school become tragically addicted to the latest drug craze - electronic shocks from cardiac defibrillators.Funny, caustic, bizarre, poignant - this story represents everything listeners have come to love and expect from Chuck Palahniuk.©2015 Chuck Palahniuk (P)2016 W.F. Howes Ltd...Categorized as:
literary-fiction transgressive-mc 21st-century book comedy contemporary dark fiction -
![Guide by Dennis Cooper]()
Guide by Dennis Cooper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsChris is a young porn star who wants to experience death at someone else's hand; Mason has lurid fantasies about members of British pop bands; Sniffles is a teenage runaway whose need for love outweighs his attachment to life... -
![The Arrival of Missives by Aliya Whiteley]()
The Arrival of Missives by Aliya Whiteley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsThe Arrival of Missives is a genre-defying story of fate, free-will and the choices we make in life. In the aftermath of the Great War, Shirley Fearn dreams of challenging the conventions of rural England, where life is as predictable as the changing of the seasons. The scarred veteran Mr...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction adult anthologies female-mc feminism fiction historical -
![Boy in Darkness and Other Stories by Mervyn Peake, Joanne Harris]()
Boy in Darkness and Other Stories by Mervyn Peake, Joanne Harris
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA must-have for fans of the Gormenghast books, this anthology constitutes a chapter in the life of Titus Groan that unfolds beyond the pages of the author's monumental trilogy. Disturbingly atmospheric, these stories are told with the force and simplicity of allegory. This special volume includes rare stories as well as some never-before-seen illustrations...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies classics dark dark-fantasy -
![The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories by Jeffrey Ford]()
The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories by Jeffrey Ford
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAt times literary, at other times surreal, this collection offers an eclectic group of stories that deal with real-life conflicts, human values, and coming-of-age experiences all placed within fantastical settings. One tale recounts the author's search for a Kafka story that can only be found in an elusive and quite possibly cursed edition...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction adult anthologies audiobook fiction horror male-author -
![Season of the Witch: A Novel by James Leo Herlihy]()
Season of the Witch: A Novel by James Leo Herlihy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBy the author of Midnight Cowboy: A teenage girl runs away to the East Village in “one of the best and most convincing novels . . . of the Woodstock generation” (Publishers Weekly). As she explains in her diary, seventeen-year-old Gloria Random is running away from her Midwest childhood home. It’s the fall of 1969, and her best friend John has been called up for the draft...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction book contemporary female-mc fiction friendship historical-fiction -
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![The Fiery Angel by Valery Bryusov]()
The Fiery Angel by Valery Bryusov
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"In a vividly atmospheric recreation of the occult underworld of sixteenth century Germany, during an age of Inquisition, three souls meet: an innocent young man choosing between Love and Duty, a woman prone to visions and a Knight, who is either angel or demon." Religious experience and sexual hysteria meet in an apocalyptic vision of the spiritual crisis of modern life... -
![Remember Why You Fear Me by Robert Shearman]()
Remember Why You Fear Me by Robert Shearman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDeliciously frightening, darkly satirical, and always unexpected, Robert Shearman has won the World Fantasy Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Edge Hill Reader's Prize. Remember Why You Fear Me gathers together his best dark fiction, the most celebrated stories from his acclaimed books, and ten new tales that have never been collected before... -
![Eustace Chisholm and the Works by James Purdy]()
Eustace Chisholm and the Works by James Purdy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHis fifth novel...Categorized as:
literary-fiction transgressive-mc 20th-century adult book classics fiction historical -
![Girl Like a Bomb by Autumn Christian]()
Girl Like a Bomb by Autumn Christian
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAutumn Christian's third novel is a dark journey of self-discovery. An existential labyrinth of love, sex, and self-actualization where the only way out is through. When high schooler Beverly Sykes finally has sex, her whole life changes. She feels an explosion inside of her that feels like her DNA is being rearranged, and she discovers a strange power within...Categorized as:
literary-fiction transgressive-mc adult audiobook book contemporary female-author female-mc -
![Black Gum by J. David Osborne]()
Black Gum by J. David Osborne
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter his life spirals out of control, a young man navigates a world of juggalos, transients, and petty criminals with Shane, an enigmatic small-time drug dealer with a penchant for body modification... -
![Verdigris by Michele Mari]()
Verdigris by Michele Mari
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAt the tail end of the 1960s, the thirteen-year-old Michelino spends his summers at his grandparents’ modest estate in Nasca, near Lake Maggiore, losing himself in the tales of horror, adventure, and mystery shelved in his grandfather’s library... -
![On Sun Swallowing by Dakota Warren]()
On Sun Swallowing by Dakota Warren
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“On Sun Swallowing is a sweet and bloody collection of poetry, dancing in the spaces between skinned knees and red wine, satin and switchblades, rosaries and Dionysian ecstasy. Her writings are haunted by the ghosts of girlhood, god/s, lovers and the landscape of childhood, but Warren is unflinching - she haunts her ghosts in return, with sharp lyricism and cutthroat vulnerability...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age feminism fiction contemporary horror dark-academia mental-illness -
![I Am No One You Know by Joyce Carol Oates]()
I Am No One You Know by Joyce Carol Oates
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI Am No One You Know contains nineteen startling stories that bear witness to the remarkably varied lives of Americans of our time. In "Fire," a troubled young wife discovers a rare, radiant happiness in an adulterous relationship. In "Curly Red," a girl makes a decision to reveal a family secret, and changes her life irrevocably...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction adult anthologies contemporary female-author fiction gothic -
![Wicked Wonders by Ellen Klages, Karen Joy Fowler]()
Wicked Wonders by Ellen Klages, Karen Joy Fowler
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe award-winning author of The Green Glass Sea returns with smart and subversive new talesA rebellious child identifies with Maleficent instead of Sleeping Beauty. Best friends Anna and Corry share one last morning on Earth. A solitary woman inherits a penny arcade haunted by a beautiful stranger. A prep-school student requires more than luck when playing dice with a faerie... -
![Hair Side, Flesh Side by Helen Marshall]()
Hair Side, Flesh Side by Helen Marshall
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLyrical and tender, quirky and cutting, Helen Marshall’s exceptional debut collection weaves the fantastic and the horrific alongside the touchingly human in fifteen modern parables about history, memory, and cost of creating art... -
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![The Gravedigger by Peter Grandbois]()
The Gravedigger by Peter Grandbois
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn a small, whitewashed village, indistinguishable from any other in Andalusia, Juan Rodrigo is a gravedigger. The job was handed down to him by his father, as was the ability to hear the voices of the dead and to tell their stories to the living... -
![Rules for Being Dead by Kim Powers]()
Rules for Being Dead by Kim Powers
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Kim Powers's haunting and spellbinding novel Rules for Being Dead reads like an intoxicating blend of the best of Shirley Jackson, Alice Sebold and Fannie Flagg. --STARRED Review, Shelf AwarenessIt's the late 1960s in McKinney, Texas. At the downtown theater and the local drive-in, movies--James Bond, My Fair Lady, Alfie, and Dr... -
![A Firefly in the Dark by Shazaf Fatima Haider]()
A Firefly in the Dark by Shazaf Fatima Haider
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings‘By turns terrifying and amusing, this is not a book you want to read before you go to sleep. Or maybe you do...’—Jerry Pinto Sharmeen’s life is disrupted when, after an unexpected tragedy, she moves into her Nani’s rambling ancestral bungalow with her family... -
![Rag: Stories by Maryse Meijer]()
Rag: Stories by Maryse Meijer
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne of Vol. 1 Brooklyn and Tor.com's Books to Read in February From the author of Heartbreaker, a disquieting collection tracing the destructive consequences of the desire for connectionA man, forgotten by the world, takes care of his deaf brother while euthanizing dogs for a living. A stepbrother so desperately wants to become his stepsibling that he rapes his girlfriend... -
![My Only Wife by Jac Jemc]()
My Only Wife by Jac Jemc
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTen years ago the narrator unlocked the door of a wrecked apartment, empty of any trace of his wife. As stunning as her disappearance is his response. He freezes on the facts of her, haunting his recollections. This is the story of a man unable to free himself enough from the idea of a woman to try to find her... -
![Narrow Rooms by James Purdy]()
Narrow Rooms by James Purdy
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA powerful story of love turned round, of passion and fierce discovery, of lives illuminated by flickering violence...
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