Books like 'A Season of Monstrous Conceptions'
Readers who enjoyed A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical horror fantasy supernatural dark fantasy sci-fi cosmic-horror europe urban england
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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... -
![Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales by H.P. Lovecraft]()
Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOriginally written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and 1930s, H. P. Lovecraft's astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction, and cosmology that are as powerful today as they were when first published. This tome presents original versions of many of his most harrowing stories, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, in order of publication... -
![Rage of the Fallen by Joseph Delaney]()
Rage of the Fallen by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsA dangerous few months lie ahead--ones which some of us will be hard-pressed to survive.Thomas Ward has served as the Spook's apprentice for three years. He has battled boggarts, witches, demons, and even the devil himself. Tom has enemies: The Fiend stalks him, waiting for a moment of weakness. The terrifying Morrigan, goddess of witches, warned him never to step foot on her homeland, Ireland...Categorized as:
british-isles dark europe gothic historical-fiction magic paranormal action-adventure -
![Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day by Jonathan L. Howard]()
Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day by Jonathan L. Howard
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJohannes Cabal has faced down the undead, ghosts, monsters, and Satan himself. But before all that, he fought the terrifying Bonewind, a supernatural being that devours life itself, and he did it all without leaving his house. "Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day" was the story that first introduced the necromancer of some little infamy back in 2004... -
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![Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom, Бром]()
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... -
![Lovecraft Unbound by Ellen Datlow, Dale Bailey]()
Lovecraft Unbound by Ellen Datlow, Dale Bailey
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe stories are legendary, the characters unforgettable, the world horrible and disturbing... -
![The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater]()
The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsOlivia Atwater returns to the world of Half a Soul with “a sharp and beautiful gothic romance” (Alix E. Harrow). Dive into The Witchwood Knot, and enjoy a dark faerie tale set in a magical version of Victorian England.The faeries of Witchwood Manor have stolen its young lord. His governess intends to steal him back.Victorian governess Winifred Hall knows a con when she sees one...Categorized as:
europe british-isles united-kingdom england gothic historical-fiction magic paranormal -
![The People's Will by Jasper Kent]()
The People's Will by Jasper Kent
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPart historical adventure, part vampire thriller -- the fourth dark and dazzling novel in Jasper Kent's 'Danilov Quintet'. Turkmenistan 1881: Beneath the citadel of Geok Tepe sits a prisoner. He hasn't moved from his chair for two years, hasn't felt the sun on his face in more than fifty, but he is thankful for that. The city is besieged by Russian troops and soon falls...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction magical-realism paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history book -
![Tempting Fate by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro]()
Tempting Fate by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEurope 1920s. Fifth [published] in the Saint-Germain series, Tempting Fate finds the count as guardian to a Russian war orphan during the Russian Revolution and the end of World War I... -
![The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice]()
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsLestat. The vampire hero of Anne Rice's enthralling new novel is a creature of the darkest and richest imagination. Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the demonic, shimmering 1980s, he rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying existence... -
![The Witching Hour by Anne Rice]()
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsFrom the author of the extraordinary Vampire Chronicles comes a huge, hypnotic novel of witchcraft and the occult through four centuries... -
![The Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher]()
The Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsR. S. Belcher’s debut novel, The Six-Gun Tarot, was enthusiastically greeted by critics and readers, who praised its wildly inventive mixture of dark fantasy, steampunk, and the Wild West. Now Belcher returns to Golgotha, Nevada, a bustling frontier town that hides more than its fair share of unnatural secrets.1870... -
![Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs]()
Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsBefore Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales. Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne...Categorized as:
dark gothic historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal 21st-century action-adventure -
![Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs]()
Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 69 ratingsA boy with extraordinary powers. An army of deadly monsters. An epic battle for the future of peculiardom.The adventure that began with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and continued in Hollow City comes to a thrilling conclusion with Library of Souls...Categorized as:
dark gothic historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal action-adventure audiobook -
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![Great Tales of Horror by H.P. Lovecraft]()
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... -
![Beneath a Waning Moon by Elizabeth Hunter, Grace Draven]()
Beneath a Waning Moon by Elizabeth Hunter, Grace Draven
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTwo delightfully dark tales of Gothic romance from Elizabeth Hunter and Grace Draven.In A Very Proper Monster, Josephine Shaw spends long nights filling the pages of her Gothic stories with the fantastic and the macabre, unaware that the suitor her father has arranged is one of the dark creatures she’s always dreamed... -
![Night of the Soul Stealer by Joseph Delaney]()
Night of the Soul Stealer by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsIt's going to be a long, hard, cruel winter. And there couldn't be a worse place to spend it than up on Anglezarke.Thomas Ward is the apprentice for the local Spook, who captures witches and drives away ghosts. As the weather gets colder and the nights draw in, the Spook receives an unexpected visitor... -
![The Willows by Algernon Blackwood]()
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTwo friends are midway on a canoe trip down the Danube River. Throughout the story Blackwood personifies the surrounding environment—river, sun, wind—and imbues them with a powerful and ultimately threatening character...Categorized as:
cosmic-horror dark gothic historical-fiction magical-realism paranormal spooky 20th-century -
![The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey]()
The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsWhile attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, Dr. Warthrop is asked by his former fiancé to rescue her husband from the Wendigo, a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh, and which has snatched him in the Canadian wilderness... -
![Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney]()
Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsNow it's the dark's turn to be afraid The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, deal with the dark. Together they rid the county of witches, ghosts, and boggarts. But now there's some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown... -
![The Devil You Know by P.N. Elrod]()
The Devil You Know by P.N. Elrod
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPREVIEW AVAILABLE at vampwriter-dot-com/DevilYouKnowEXCERPT.htmVampire PI Jack Fleming travels to Long Island to attend a funeral.Problem: There's more than one body in the grave.Delving into his past, Jack follows clues leading to an old murder, new betrayals, and a hard look at the man he was vs. the vampire he's become... -
![The Secrets Of Dr Taverner (Ash Tree Press Occult Detectives Library) by Dion Fortune]()
The Secrets Of Dr Taverner (Ash Tree Press Occult Detectives Library) by Dion Fortune
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOf the many authors who have turned their hands to the creation of 'supernatural sleuths', few have been so colourful, and as contradictory, as Dion Fortune...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal 20th-century adult anthologies dark-fantasy -
![Song in the Dark by P.N. Elrod]()
Song in the Dark by P.N. Elrod
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsP. N. Elrod's novels of "The Vampire Files" blend the seductive shadows of classic noir into a sanctuary for a most unusual private investigator-vampire Jack Fleming. In Elrod's newest novel, Jack is under the gun when the New York mafia wants his hide, and the love of his life is wanted for murder... -
![Cold Streets by P.N. Elrod]()
Cold Streets by P.N. Elrod
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsVampire detective Jack Fleming's latest venture-the Lady Crymsyn nightclub-has become the favorite haunt for Chicago's elite. But amongst his patrons lurk a smarmy blackmailer and a dangerous up-and-coming mobster from New York-both unaware how deadly Jack can be when blood is spilled.. -
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![Jilo by J.D. Horn]()
Jilo by J.D. Horn
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAged Mother Jilo is wise in the ways of magic…but once upon a time, she was just a girl.1950s Georgia: King Cotton has fallen. Savannah is known as the “beautiful woman with a dirty face,” its stately elegance faded by neglect, its soul withering from racial injustice and political corruption... -
![Small Favors by Erin A. Craig]()
Small Favors by Erin A. Craig
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTHE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the critically-acclaimed author of House of Salt and Sorrows comes a mesmerizing and chilling fairy-talesque novel about Ellerie Downing, a young woman in a small town with monsters lurking in the trees and dark desires hidden in the shadows--in Amity Falls, nothing is more dangerous than a wish come true. Unique, enchanting, and haunting... -
![A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson]()
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsA lyrical and dreamy reimagining of Dracula’s brides, A Dowry of Blood is a story of desire, obsession, and emancipation. Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king... -
![The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros]()
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratings"The City Beautiful is the haunting, queer Jewish historical thriller of my darkest dreams." —Dahlia Adler, creator of LGBTQ Reads and editor of That Way Madness LiesDeath lurks around every corner in this unforgettable Jewish historical fantasy about a city, a boy, and the shadows of the past that bind them both together. Chicago, 1893... -
![Hollow City by Ransom Riggs]()
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 76 ratingsThis second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine’s island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises...Categorized as:
dark gothic historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Wine-Dark Sea by Robert Aickman]()
The Wine-Dark Sea by Robert Aickman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsPeter Straub called Robert Aickman 'this century's most profound writer of what we call horror stories'. Aickman's 'strange stories' (his preferred term for them) are a subtle exploration of psychological displacement and paranoia. His characters are ordinary people that are gradually drawn into the darker recesses of their own minds... -
![The Thing on the Doorstep by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Thing on the Doorstep by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 27 ratings"The Thing on the Doorstep" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror fiction. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales...Categorized as:
cosmic-horror dark gothic historical-fiction paranormal 20th-century adult audiobook -
![The Spook's Tale and Other Horrors by Joseph Delaney, Patrick Arrasmith]()
The Spook's Tale and Other Horrors by Joseph Delaney, Patrick Arrasmith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThis is 3 stories inside, one about Alice and grimmalkin and those two that hav been published with 3 additional stories in the stort story collection as Spooks`s Stories witches (uk) or A Coven of witches (us) but with the additions World book day story Spooks`s tale included in this edition.The Last Apprentice series follows the terrifying adventures of the Spook's apprentice, Thomas Ward... -
![The Bone Key: The Necromantic Mysteries of Kyle Murchison Booth by Sarah Monette]()
The Bone Key: The Necromantic Mysteries of Kyle Murchison Booth by Sarah Monette
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe dead and the monstrous will not leave Kyle Murchison Booth alone, for an unwilling foray into necromancy has made him sensitive to--and attractive to--the creatures who roam the darkness of his once-safe world. Ghosts, ghouls, incubi: all have one thing in common. They know Booth for one of their own . . -
![Revelator by Daryl Gregory]()
Revelator by Daryl Gregory
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of Spoonbenders comes the gripping tale of a family's mysterious religion, and the daughter who turns her back on their god. In 1933, nine-year-old Stella is left in the care of her grandmother, Motty, in the backwoods of Tennessee...Categorized as:
cosmic-horror dark gothic historical-fiction magical-realism paranormal spooky adult -
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![The Tale Of The Vampire Bride by Rhiannon Frater]()
The Tale Of The Vampire Bride by Rhiannon Frater
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAll I ever wanted was the freedom to live life as I pleased, despite my aristocratic parents’ hopes I’d secure a prestigious husband. But my fate was far more terrible than an arranged marriage when my family became prisoners to one of the most fearsome and powerful vampires of all time, Count Vlad Dracula... -
![Hellmouth by Giles Kristian]()
Hellmouth by Giles Kristian
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBohemia. 1370. A lost soul named Galien leads a band of hardened mercenaries on a mission for Mother Church. But in the dark forests of central Europe, a darker secret awaits. Bestselling author Giles Kristian (Lancelot, The Raven Viking Trilogy) takes us on an unnerving ride into fear and paranoia, bloodshed and redemption... -
![The Palace by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro]()
The Palace by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrancesco Ragoczy da San Germano, the immortal vampire, seeks only to hide himself in his Florentine palace. But after falling for Estasia, a cousin of Botticelli, the wealthy foreigner loses all his desire for isolation. Her unquenchable passion more than matches his -- and San Germano must have her. While happiness seems imminent, danger lurks around the corner... -
![Dracula the Undead by Freda Warrington]()
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... -
![The Delicate Dependency: A Novel of the Vampire Life by Michael Talbot, Thomas Walker]()
The Delicate Dependency: A Novel of the Vampire Life by Michael Talbot, Thomas Walker
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEver since Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the vampire has evolved from the ferocious blood-sucking fiend as portrayed in the penny dreadfuls such as Varney the Vampyre into a strangely alluring, erotic figure promising eternal life. But, it’s eternal life with a horrifying price attached, the overwhelming need to feast on the blood of the living... -
![Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror by Mitchell Lüthi]()
Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror by Mitchell Lüthi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSet in 12th-century Jerusalem, Pilgrim follows the treacherous journey of a German knight and his companions as they return home after seven arduous years battling for God in the Holy Land. Within this sprawling tale lies a tapestry of medieval horror, intertwining history and folklore, encompassing both a metaphysical and literal odyssey... -
![Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark]()
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... -
![Dark Road Rising by P.N. Elrod]()
Dark Road Rising by P.N. Elrod
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsView our feature on P.N. Elrod’s Dark Road Rising.The first new Vampire Files novel in four years! Vampire P.I. Jack Fleming is playing babysitter to Gabriel “Whitey” Kroun, a dangerously unstable mobster—and newly-created vampire—with deadly secrets to hide... -
![The Third Section by Jasper Kent]()
The Third Section by Jasper Kent
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRussia 1855. After forty years of peace in Europe, war rages. In the Crimea, the city of Sevastopol is besieged. In the north, Saint Petersburg is blockaded. But in Moscow there is one who needs only to sit and wait - wait for the death of an aging tsar, and for the curse upon his blood to be passed to a new generation...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction magical-realism paranormal adult alternate-history book dark-fantasy -
![A Rope of Thorns by Gemma Files]()
A Rope of Thorns by Gemma Files
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsYOU MUST LET BLOOD TO GET BLOODNew Mexico, 1867. As consort to resurrected Mayan goddess Ixchel, hexslinger Reverend Asher Rook has founded Hex City, the first place in all of human history where magicians can live and work together safely...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction lgbtq magical-realism paranormal romantic-love adult alternate-history -
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![Better in the Dark by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro]()
Better in the Dark by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHere at last is a long-hinted-at chapter in the undead existence of the immortal Count Saint-Germain: the story of Ranegonda of Saxony, one of the three great loves of Saint-Germian's life.937 A.D. The Saxon fortress of Leosan is under the almost unheard-of rule of a woman... -
![All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter]()
All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLong ago Miren O'Malley's family prospered due to a deal struck with the Mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren's grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren's freedom...Categorized as:
dark gothic historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal spooky action-adventure -
![All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter]()
All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLong ago Miren O'Malley's family prospered due to a deal struck with the Mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren's grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren's freedom...Categorized as:
dark gothic historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal spooky action-adventure -
![Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff]()
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThe critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.Chicago, 1954...Categorized as:
cosmic-horror dark gothic historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal spooky -
![The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones]()
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Aderyn ("Ryn") only cares about two things: her family, and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae...Categorized as:
dark gothic historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal spooky action-adventure -
![The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke]()
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsTwo sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting...Categorized as:
dark gothic historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal spooky action-adventure
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