Books like 'Dark Woods, Deep Water'
Readers who enjoyed Dark Woods, Deep Water by Jelena Dunato also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror dark fantasy myths dark gothic magic lgbtq spooky retellings
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The Magnus Archives: Season 3 by Jonathan Sims
Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsThe Magnus Archives is a horror audiobook written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrates the stories in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly-appointed head archivist of the fictional Magnus Institute; an institution based in London centred on research into the paranormal... -
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... -
A Cage of Kingdoms by K.F. Breene
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe resolution of Weston's story in the Wall Street Journal Bestselling Deliciously Dark Fairytales world.He wasn't supposed to fall in love.Weston has made a mess of things. Since he realized the woman he was supposed to find and bring to justice was his true mate, things have spiraled out of control... -
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsFrom holy cup comes holy light;The faithful hands sets world aright.And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,Mere man shall end this endless night.It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness... -
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Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom, Бром
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA spirited young Englishwoman, Abitha, arrives at a Puritan colony betrothed to a stranger – only to become quickly widowed when her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. All alone in this pious and patriarchal society, Abitha fights for what little freedom she can grasp onto, while trying to stay true to herself and her past... -
Herald by Rob J. Hayes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA thousand years ago, humanity's greatest heroes killed God. Across the land of Helesia, the iron grasp of the Godless Kings is failing. Demons stalk the deep forests, monsters break free of their prisons beneath the World Vein, and terrors of the old world rise again... -
Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsFrom fairy tale forest to gloomy gothic moor, from gleaming epidemiologist’s lab to the sandy shores of Neverland, Seanan McGuire’s short fiction has been surprising, delighting, confusing, and transporting her readers since 2009. Now, for the first time, that fiction has been gathered together in one place, ready to be enjoyed one twisting, tangled tale at a time... -
From the Shadows of the Owl Queen's Court by Benedict Patrick
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsIf you value your life, stay out of the forest. As a captive of the Owl Queen’s Court, Nascha’s life has always been one knife’s edge away from disaster. But when she is threatened for nothing more than the colour of her hair, Nascha attempts the unthinkable: escape through the dreaded Magpie King’s forest... -
Bottle Demon by Stephen Blackmoore
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe sixth book of this dark urban fantasy series follows necromancer Eric Carter through a world of vengeful gods and goddesses, mysterious murders, and restless ghosts.The Necromancer is dead. Long live the Necromancer... -
And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe by Gwendolyn Kiste
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA murdered movie star reaches out to an unlikely fan. An orchard is bewitched with poison apples and would-be princesses. A pair of outcasts fail a questionnaire that measures who in their neighborhood will vanish next. Two sisters keep a grotesque secret hidden in a Victorian bathtub. A dearly departed best friend carries a grudge from beyond the grave... -
Great Tales of Horror by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsH.P Lovecraft: Great Tales of Horror features twenty of horror master H.P... -
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 63 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar... -
All the Fabulous Beasts by Priya Sharma
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe debut short story collection from acclaimed U.K. writer Priya Sharma, All the Fabulous Beasts collects 16 stunning and monstrous tales of love, rebirth, nature, and sexuality. A heady mix of myth and ontology, horror and the modern macabre... -
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... -
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Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“Am I dead?”Mebuyen sighs. She was hoping the girl would not ask.Spells and stories, urban legends and immigrant tales: the magic in Isabel Yap’s debut collection jumps right off the page, from the joy in her new novella, 'A Spell for Foolish Hearts' to the terrifying tension of the urban legend 'Have You Heard the One About Anamaria Marquez'... -
Black Heart, Ivory Bones by Ellen Datlow, Brian M. Stableford
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHair bright as gold...Lips red as blood...Heart black as sin...Truth sharp as bone.. -
Skeleton Song by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsChildren have always disappeared under the right conditions—slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere . . . else. Adventures are always interesting, but they’re not always happy.From the worlds of Wayward Children comes a story of love, of devotion, of bones wrapped in flesh... -
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 Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsI spent most of my life feeling dead inside -- until I met Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.It wasn't until Pan and Neverland that I finally felt alive. But things are not all full of magic and sunlight on the island. There's something darker and more sinister haunting the forest... -
October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween by Richard Chizmar, Robert Morrish
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsClassic novellas, never-before-published stories, essays on the history, literature, and films of Halloween, and real-life memories of October 31st-from today's best practitioners of fear:Dean Koontz * Peter Straub * Poppy Z. Brite * Rick Hautala * Steve Rasnic Tem * Elizabeth Engstrom * Thomas Ligotti * Gary A. Braunbeck * Jack Ketchum * Thomas F. Monteleone * Hugh B... -
Dracula the Undead by Freda Warrington
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe legend returns . . . - It is seven years since a stake was driven through the heart of the infamous Count Dracula. Seven years which have not eradicated the terrible memories for Jonathan and Mina Harker, who now have a young son. To lay their memories to rest they return to Transylvania, and can find no trace of the horrific events... -
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsIn America, demons wear white hoods.In 1915, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan's ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die... -
Briar Queen by Katherine Harbour
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe dark, moody, and mystical fantasy begun in Thorn Jack, the first novel in the Night and Nothing series, continues in this bewitching follow up--an intriguing blend of Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alice in Wonderland, and A Midsummer Night's Dream--in which Finn Sullivan discovers that her town, Fair Hollow, borders a dangerous otherworld . . -
Danse Macabre by Laura M. Hughes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLibrarian note: Older covers for this edition can be found here: 2-Oct-2016; 4-Feb-2016; 9-Oct-2015.The dead beckon and the little girl obeys. Night after night she answers the graveyard’s call, though she dreads her encounters with the creature that dwells there... -
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The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales by Angela Slatter
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA stunning, emotional and eclectic collection of fantasy and dark tales. These are the stories told to warn children, entertain adults and beguile all... -
Pan by Francesco Dimitri
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNelle notti romane ci sono bambini che sognano, e che nel sogno, ogni volta, ripetono il viaggio verso una grande isola che non c'è. Nelle notti romane ci sono ville borghesi illuminate dalla luna piena, e dai loro giardini spesso s'innalzano, non visti, mastodontici galeoni pirata... -
The Hounds of Avalon by Mark Chadbourn
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Hounds of Avalon are coming... For these are the twilight days, when eternal winter falls and the gods destroy themselves in civil war... when an invasion force of ghastly power threatens to eradicate all life. Humanity's last chance lies with two friends, as different as night and day, but bound together by an awesome destiny... -
Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer by Tanith Lee
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHow would it be if Snow White were the real villain & the wicked queen just a sadly maligned innocent? What if awakening the Sleeping Beauty should be the mistake of a lifetime--of several lifetimes? What if the famous folk tales were retold with an eye to more horrific possibilities?Only Tanith Lee could do justice to it... -
Terms of Surrender by Craig Schaefer
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFelix Rossini is a man with a thousand enemies. Framed for murder, hunted by Mirenze's protectors as well as the criminal underworld, he struggles to survive and fight back against the conspiracy that has marked him for death. A conspiracy of another kind is brewing across the ocean, as the corrupt aristocracy draws Livia Serafini’s oldest friends into a plot to destroy her... -
Withered Hill: A dark and unsettling British folk horror novel by David Barnett
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIf you find your way here, you’re already lost.InsideA year ago Sophie Wickham stumbled into the isolated Lancashire village of Withered Hill, naked, alone and with no memory of who she is.Surrounded by a thick ring of woodland, its inhabitants seem to be of another world, drenched in pagan, folklorish traditions... -
In Mercy, Rain by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsJack Wolcott was only twelve years old when she and her twin sister Jill, descended the impossible staircase and found herself in the Moors, a world of drowned gods and repugnant royals... -
L'Esprit de L'Escalier by Catherynne M. Valente
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the award-winning, bestselling author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland comes Catherynne M. Valente's dark fantasy tale "L’Esprit de L’Escalier", a Tor.com Original.In this provocative and rich retelling of the Greek myth, Orpheus, the musician son of Apollo and Calliope, successfully rescues his wife Eurydice from Hades after her untimely death... -
The Antlered King by Marianne Gordon
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn this stunning conclusion to the Raven’s Trade duology that began with The Gilded Crown, Hellevir’s bargains with Death to save the ones she loves—including the princess she risked everything to bring back to life—may just lead to the ultimate sacrifice... -
Monstrous by Nicole M. Rubino
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 5 ratings"I’ve never been afraid of the dark. I never needed any reassurance that there was no monster in my closet or under my bed. Perhaps that’s because a part of me always knew I was one." Monstrous claws weren't the type of gift I’d been expecting for my eighteenth birthday, along with the desire to eat my ex-boyfriend... -
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That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMiskatonic University has a long-whispered reputation of being strongly connected to all things occult and supernatural. From the faculty to the students, the fascination with other-worldly legends and objects runs rampant. So, when Carter Weston’s professor Dr... -
The Devil You Know by Poppy Z. Brite
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTHE DEVIL YOU KNOW is a tradepaperback edition of the sold-out limited edition of Poppy's latest short story collection. In her third short story collection, Poppy Z. Brite finds fresh ways of exploring territory both familiar and strange... -
Academy of Villains by Ever King
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA dark magic academy, fated mate bonds, and secret societies collide in this Greek mythology-inspired fantasy. If you love Throne of Glass, Zodiac Academy, and Harry Potter, welcome to Academy of Villains.In a kingdom where magic is slowly disappearing, an evil king expands his territory to gain more power, destroying towns and villages along the way... -
The Takers by R.W. Ridley
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNever say their name! If you do, they will find you! If they find you, they will eat you! Thirteen-year-old Oz Griffin knows it's his fault that the Takers are eating everyone in sight. He also knows that a comic book written by a neighborhood boy is the key to defeating them. But every time he and his band of survivors try to read the comic book, the Takers draw closer... -
Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn by Robert Holdstock
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsChristian Huxley's father entered the world of Ryhope Wood years ago--and never returned. Christian vows to find him, but, like his father, he becomes consumed with the living dreams. As he enters Ryhope, he falls for a young Celtic warrior named Guiwenneth, who is caught in a timeless tale of bravery and sacrifice. Together, they discover the meaning of the Gate of Ivory and the Gate of Horn... -
Among the Thorns by Veronica Schanoes
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAmong the Thorns, by Veronica Schanoes, is a dark fantasy taking place in seventeenth century Germany, about a young woman who is intent on avenging the brutal murder of her peddler father many years earlier, by a vagabond with a magic fiddle... -
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom USA Today bestselling author T. Kingfisher comes A Sorceress Comes to Call―a dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic.Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms―there are no secrets in this house―and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend... -
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsFrom USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairytale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.“This brilliant novella is not to be missed.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED reviewYou may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince... -
Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the bestselling author M. R. Carey comes an utterly unique and enchantingly dark epic fantasy fable like no other.This is the tale of Once Was Willem, who - eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England - rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham... -
Blood Moon by Geoffrey Huntington
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe mystery of the Tower at Ravenscliff is at last revealed in the long await continutation of The Ravenscliff Series."The terror begins on page one and never stops! This is my kind of book-filled with magic and dozens of frightening surprises." -R.L. Stine"A rich, riveting and sophisticated read... -
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Hollowed: A Sleepy Hollow Reimagining by Jessica S. Taylor
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNothing is ever as it seems in Sleepy Hollow…Sleepy Hollow is crumbling. To protect the supernatural town from the mundane world, each year a resident is sacrificed to The Dullahan, the Headless Horseman that protects the veil around the Hollow.Nineteen-year-old Katrina van Tassel knows she’s a disappointment to her parents, for more reasons than one... -
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA world-weary woman races against the clock to rescue the children of a wrathful tyrant from a dangerous, otherworldly forest.At the northern edge of a land ruled by a monstrous, foreign tyrant lies the wild forest known as the Elmever. The villagers know better than to let their children go near—once someone goes in, they never come back out... -
Nocturnes by John Connolly
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom #1 internationally bestselling author John Connolly comes Nocturnes, a dark, daring, utterly haunting short story anthology of lost lovers and missing children, predatory demons, and vengeful ghosts.Connolly’s collection of supernatural novellas and stories echoes the work of some of the masters of the genre while never losing his own distinctive voice... -
The Nine by Tracy Townsend
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the dark streets of Corma exists a book that writes itself, a book that some would kill for... Black market courier Rowena Downshire is just trying to pay her mother’s freedom from debtor's prison when an urgent and unexpected delivery leads her face to face with a creature out of nightmares. Rowena escapes with her life, but the strange book she was ordered to deliver is stolen... -
The Very Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCaitlín R. Kiernan is one of dark fantasy and horror’s most acclaimed and influential short fiction writers... -
The Rutting Season by Brian Keene
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSomething very strange is happening in LeHorn's Hollow... Eerie, piping music is heard late at night, and mysterious fires have been spotted deep in the woods. Women are vanishing without a trace overnight, leaving behind husbands and families. When up-and-coming novelist Adam Senft stumbles upon an unearthly scene, it plunges him and the entire town into an ancient nightmare...
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