Books like 'Scar City'
Readers who enjoyed Scar City by Joel Lane also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary horror dark literary-fiction lgbtq
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The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTHE PURLOINED LETTER THE THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE OF SCHEHERAZADE A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTRÖM. VON KEMPELEN AND HIS DISCOVERY MESMERIC REVELATION THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR THE BLACK CAT. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER SILENCE—A FABLE THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH. THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO... -
![I Have Been All Things Unholy by Bexless]()
I Have Been All Things Unholy by Bexless
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy Chemical Romance AU“He thinks I have stigmata,” Frank said, because what the fucking hell, it couldn't get any worse. He might as well just lay it out.“Oh, well,” said Brian into his hands. “Of course... -
![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... -
![I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down: Collected Stories by William Gay]()
I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down: Collected Stories by William Gay
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWilliam Gay established himself as "the big new name to include in the storied annals of Southern Lit" (Esquire) with his debut novel, The Long Home, and his highly acclaimed follow-up, Provinces of Night. Like Faulkner's Mississippi and Cormac McCarthy's American West, Gay's Tennessee is redolent of broken souls... -
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![ANGEL TRILOGY by C.J. Bishop]()
ANGEL TRILOGY by C.J. Bishop
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings18-year-old Angel’s sudden arrival at the Phoenix throws Dane’s heart into a frenzy. But after losing out so recently with Caleb, he is in no hurry to feel the heartache again and resists his own rapidly growing feelings for the young man, unaware that what Angel needs most right now is someone he can trust and feel safe with... -
![Awakening The Forgotten Goddess: An Urban Fantasy, Greek Mythology Reimagining by Rebekah Sinclair]()
Awakening The Forgotten Goddess: An Urban Fantasy, Greek Mythology Reimagining by Rebekah Sinclair
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the Underworld, lies become truth, villains become heroes. Trust nothing, and trust no one. Especially yourself.In this sequel to the urban fantasy Greek mythology series, "The Forgotten Goddess," the stakes soar to new heights... -
![Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas]()
Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJames Frankie Thomas’s Idlewild is a darkly funny story of two adults looking back on their intense teenage friendship, in a queer, trans, and early-Internet twist on the Manhattan prep school novel.Idlewild is a tiny, artsy Quaker high school in lower Manhattan... -
![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)... -
![Jantar Secreto by Raphael Montes]()
Jantar Secreto by Raphael Montes
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsUm grupo de jovens deixa uma pequena cidade no Paraná para viver no Rio de Janeiro. Eles alugam um apartamento em Copacabana e fazem o possível para pagar a faculdade e manter vivos seus sonhos de sucesso na capital fluminense. Mas o dinheiro está curto e o aluguel está vencido... -
![Arising Son: Part Two: Guardians Of The Temple Saga by Marie Montine]()
Arising Son: Part Two: Guardians Of The Temple Saga by Marie Montine
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRyan arrives in Empia to further investigate his bloodline. But while searching the temple and exercising his uniques powers, he meets an ancient entity: one of the Guardians, and it challenges all that he is by asking him to do a task.When the person closest to him commits the worst betrayal, the Dark becomes even more enticing... -
![Bonding by Maggie Siebert]()
Bonding by Maggie Siebert
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Maggie understands that splatter for splatter's sake is boring. Psychopathy is boring. Coldness is boring. She's interested in feeling, and when her stories turn violent (as they frequently do), it's with a surreal emotional barbarity that distorts the entire world. You can mop up blood with any fabric. Maggie's concern is with the wound left behind, because the wound never leaves-it haunts... -
![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:
dark literary-fiction horror fiction coming-of-age psychological substance-abuse mental-illness -
![Fruiting Bodies: Stories by Kathryn Harlan]()
Fruiting Bodies: Stories by Kathryn Harlan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn stories that beckon and haunt, Fruiting Bodies ranges confidently from the fantastical to the gothic to the uncanny as it follows characters—mostly queer, mostly women—on the precipice of change. Echoes of timeless myth and folklore reverberate through urgent narratives of discovery, appetite, and coming-of-age in a time of crisis... -
![Weremage by Garrett Robinson]()
Weremage by Garrett Robinson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLoren searches across Underrealm for the merchant traitor Damaris, under the orders of the High King herself. But even with a party of Mystics now under her command, the search proves fruitless, for the merchant is crafty and knows her life is forfeit.But even as she tracks Damaris into the Yerrin’s homeland of Feldemar, Loren becomes aware of someone dogging her heels... -
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![Fluid by Jordan Castillo Price]()
Fluid by Jordan Castillo Price
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's been a couple of decades since Wild Bill has been able to savor the bite of an ice-cold, freshly tapped keg. Twenty-odd years since the shivery pucker of a cheap, boxed wine has assaulted his palate. But that doesn't mean Bill's forgotten how to party... -
![Swarm by Jordan Castillo Price]()
Swarm by Jordan Castillo Price
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFor some time, Michael has suspected that Wild Bill's done more than just dabble in art. As with every other piece of his personal history, Bill plays his cards close to his chest. But when he lets on that a mural he painted before his change might still exist, Michael's dying to see it -- and Bill's never been good at saying no... -
![The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis]()
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA sensational new novel from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms that tracks a group of privileged Los Angeles high school friends as a serial killer strikes across the city... -
![Putting on the Ritz by Joe Keenan]()
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![The Essential Clive Barker: Selected Fiction by Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin]()
The Essential Clive Barker: Selected Fiction by Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"I wonder if the reverse is not also in some way true. That the artist is constantly working on anelaborate and fantasticated self-portrait, but at the end has drawn, unbeknownst, a picture of the world... -
![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:
lgbtq literary-fiction 21st-century book coming-of-age contemporary culinary female-author -
![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:
lgbtq literary-fiction adult anthologies classics contemporary female-author fiction -
![Where I End by Sophie White]()
Where I End by Sophie White
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMy mother.At night, my mother creaks. The house creaks along with her.Through our thin shared wall, I can hear the makings of my mother gurgle through her body just like the water in the walls of the house...Teenage Aoileann has never left the island. Her silent, bed-bound mother is a wreckage, the survivor of a private disaster no one will speak about... -
![Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee]()
Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'You said that you would come back. You looked me in the eye and said that. Well, if you had, this is what you would have seen: soft wood, black cracks, fridges in the road. The broken spines of old rides at Dreamland.'In the coastal resort of Margate, hotels lie empty and sun-faded 'For Sale' signs line the streets. The sea is higher - it's higher everywhere - and those who can are moving inland... -
![I'm a Therapist, and My Patient is In Love with a Pedophile: 6 Patient Files From Prison by Dr. Harper]()
I'm a Therapist, and My Patient is In Love with a Pedophile: 6 Patient Files From Prison by Dr. Harper
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe highly anticipated sequel to I'm a Therapist, and My Patient is Going to be the Next School ShooterI've counseled the most chilling criminals... A young inmate who fell in love with a pedophile. A man who intentionally infected strangers with HIV. A patient with an extremely unusual addiction. A sociopath who wanted to have a conscience... -
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![The Portable Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde]()
The Portable Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIncludes the following works: Novels—The Portrait of Dorian Gray; Plays—Salome and The Importance of Being Earnest; Writings—De Profundis, Critic as Artist, and Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Very Young; and selections from Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband, and A Woman of No Importance... -
![The Unforgotten Flame by Rebekah Sinclair]()
The Unforgotten Flame by Rebekah Sinclair
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"We should have seen this coming.I should have seen this coming."Calypso, a resilient Wind Siren, grapples with the aftermath of a devastating battle that thrusts her best friend, Rhea, into the clutches of their greatest enemy, Ares, the God of War... -
![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... -
![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... -
![Keys to Love by S.J. Frost]()
Keys to Love by S.J. Frost
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor two years, Julian Forrester's been playing keyboards and piano for Conquest. Having left behind a classical career, he's reached a level of fame like he's never dreamed. But fame and fortune can't bring him the one thing he wants most; love. Morgan Chandler spent years teaching students to love music until budget cuts forced him out of a job... -
![A Tiny Upward Shove by Melissa Chadburn]()
A Tiny Upward Shove by Melissa Chadburn
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“Wild and ambitious . . . [with] something ablaze at its core. It burns.” ― The New York Times Book ReviewA Tiny Upward Shove is inspired by Melissa Chadburn's Filipino heritage and its folklore, as it traces the too-short life of a young, cast-off woman transformed by death into an agent of justice―or mercy.Marina Salles’s life does not end the day she wakes up dead... -
![Kill for You by Syn Blackrose]()
Kill for You by Syn Blackrose
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLEV I don't do relationships. I don't do feelings. I don't do what's considered the norm. I love hurting people. I love their screams. I love their begging. I live for it. Until him. Aaron. He has his own version of crazy. His crazy mixed with mine? That's a recipe for disaster. AARON My life is not my own. My stepbrother won't let me go. I have to end him. I'm not normal... -
![The Girl Who Couldn't Come by Joey Comeau]()
The Girl Who Couldn't Come by Joey Comeau
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis is a book of dirty stories. They are weird and fun and often bewildering, like sex itself... -
![Please Stop Trying to Leave Me by Alana Saab]()
Please Stop Trying to Leave Me by Alana Saab
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA debut novel about love, family, queerness, and losing your mind in the modern world marks the arrival of a truly original, haunting voice in fiction who will make you laugh, cry, and scream, all in the same breath... -
![Quicksilver & Shadow, Volume 2: Collected Early Stories: Contemporary, Dark Fantasy, and Science Fiction Stories by Charles de Lint]()
Quicksilver & Shadow, Volume 2: Collected Early Stories: Contemporary, Dark Fantasy, and Science Fiction Stories by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsQuicksilver & Shadow is the second volume (of a projected three) of Charles de Lint's Collected Early Stories. At nearly 150,000 words it's even larger than volume one, A Handful of Coppers, and includes the very obscure 20,000 word novella, "Berlin," and its over 30,000 word counterpart "Death Leaves an Echo... -
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![Antediluvian Tales by Poppy Z. Brite]()
Antediluvian Tales by Poppy Z. Brite
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe work of almost every New Orleans writer has been irrevocably split into two periods: pre-Katrina and post-Katrina. As Poppy Z. Brite writes in the foreword to this new mini-collection, "After the events of 2005, I couldn't see pairing stories I'd written before the flood with those I'd written after; for better or worse, my life, my outlook, and, necessarily, my work has changed forever .. -
![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... -
![Weathercock by Glen Duncan]()
Weathercock by Glen Duncan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe confession of Dominic Francis Hood - Roman Catholic, sadist, conspirator to murder, witness to a miracle. His childhood had the usual benefits, but after watching a miracle performed by Father Malone, Dominic realises a part of him is skewed, and that mere fantasy will never be enough... -
![The Letters of Mina Harker by Dodie Bellamy, Dennis Cooper]()
The Letters of Mina Harker by Dodie Bellamy, Dennis Cooper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn Dodie Bellamy's imagined "sequel" to Bram Stoker's fin de siècle masterpiece Dracula, Van Helsing's plain Jane secretarial adjunct, Mina Harker, is recast as a sexual, independent woman living in San Francisco in the 1980s... -
![Light Up the Dark by Suki Fleet]()
Light Up the Dark by Suki Fleet
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor two years Nicky has wandered the dark empty corridors of the overgrown Thorn Hall, unseen and untouched, feeling like a ghost. His only company, the cold man who promised to keep him safe from harm, Lance. But when Lance dies, Nicky’s assurance of safety disintegrates and his world suddenly becomes a lot more real and a lot more dangerous. Scared to leave the house, Nicky longs for daylight... -
![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... -
![Sticky Fingers 2 by J.T. Lawrence]()
Sticky Fingers 2 by J.T. Lawrence
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDiverse, dark-humoured, and deliciously bite-sized, this compelling collection of 12 short stories by JT Lawrence include:GATSBY'S DOUBLEAn artist's Pomeranian has been replaced by an imposter.COURT, MARRY, KILLWhose body ends up being unzipped by fish on the ocean floor?ROCKABYE BABYA female-only cult has a very dark side...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook contemporary female-mc -
![Rage by Kimberly A. Bettes]()
Rage by Kimberly A. Bettes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBrian Boozer is a good kid in a bad situation. At thirteen, he's already endured the pain of losing his father and the agony of living with a step-father who hates and abuses him. At school, Brian suffers even more torment, delivered by bullies who seem to enjoy making his life miserable. The only bright spot in Brian's life is Carly, the girl on whom he's had a crush for years... -
![Liar, Dreamer, Thief by Maria Dong]()
Liar, Dreamer, Thief by Maria Dong
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKatrina Kim may be broke, the black sheep of her family, and slightly unhinged, but she isn’t a stalker. Her obsession with her co-worker, Kurt, is just one of many coping mechanisms—like her constant shape and number rituals, or the way scenes from her favorite children’s book bleed into her vision whenever she feels anxious or stressed... -
![The Right Way to Wrong by Ashlynn Mills]()
The Right Way to Wrong by Ashlynn Mills
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat happens when your delusions become your reality and the monsters are no longer only in your head?CallumTrying to escape his traumatic past, Callum leaves the life he once knew behind. A change of scenery. A new job. Different friends. He’s moving forward, and breaking free of the haunting memories by replacing them with new ones... -
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![Stag Dance by Torrey Peters]()
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn this collection of one novel and three novellas, the bestselling author of Detransition, Baby pushes trans-genre to its limits to explore who gets included—and excluded—from the possibilities of gender...Categorized as:
lgbtq literary-fiction fiction contemporary trans-mc horror anthologies 21st-century -
![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:
dark literary-fiction feminism fiction contemporary horror dark-academia mental-illness -
![Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher]()
Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFaith shapes the landscape, defines the laws of physics, and makes a mockery of truth. Common knowledge isn't an axiom, it's a force of nature. What the masses believe is. But insanity is a weapon, conviction a shield. Delusions give birth to foul new gods.Violent and dark, the world is filled with the Geisteskranken—men and women whose delusions manifest, twisting reality... -
![Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook]()
Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWake In Fright was first published in 1961 and the film version, The Outback, starring Donald Pleasance was released in 1971. Both the book and the film have achieved a cult status as the Australian answer to US and UK novels and films of 1960s youthful alienation... -
![Last Summer by LO Gold, Luna Wicked]()
Last Summer by LO Gold, Luna Wicked
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSome secrets are better left buried…When a group of six strangers are invited into the woods for a content creator retreat where they’re guaranteed to make money, it seems like a perfect escape. However, as accidents turn into incidents and blood begins to spill, they start to suspect they were lured into the wilderness for a reason... -
![Smoking Poppy by Graham Joyce]()
Smoking Poppy by Graham Joyce
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGraham Joyce travels to an enthralling, suspense-charged landscape in this hallucinatory novel of a father's quest to save his daughter -- without destroying himself. Dan Innes has received shattering news from the British Embassy in Bangkok: his daughter, Charlie, whom he hasn't seen or spoken to in two years, has been imprisoned in a Thai jail for drug smuggling...
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