Books like 'Woodworm'
Readers who enjoyed Woodworm by Layla Martínez also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary horror fantasy supernatural drama latinx-mc spooky haunted-places literary-fiction magical-realism
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Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 52 ratingsYadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free... -
Street Soldiers by L. Divine
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAt South Bay High, the drama just keeps on growing... In the long-awaited 15th volume of the Drama High series, Street Soldiers picks up with a murder in front of Jayd's grandparents' house. Mama and Daddy are convinced the police have the wrong suspect in custody and have joined forces to help organize the neighborhood and find the real killer... -
Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFollowing the Scotiabank Giller Prize-shortlisted Son of a Trickster comes Trickster Drift, the second book in Eden Robinson's captivating Trickster trilogy.In an effort to keep all forms of magic at bay, Jared, 17, has quit drugs and drinking. But his troubles are not over: now he's being stalked by David, his mom's ex--a preppy, khaki-wearing psycho with a proclivity for rib-breaking... -
Return to Tradd Street by Karen White
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFacing her future as a single mother, psychic Realtor Melanie Middleton is determined to be strong and leave her past with writer Jack Trenholm behind her. But history has a tendency of catching up with Melanie, whether she likes it or not.… Melanie is only going through the motions of living since refusing Jack’s marriage proposal... -
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Assignment in Amsterdam by Carrie Bedford
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSHE CAN SEE WHO’S GOING TO DIE – AND THIS TIME, IT'S EVERYONE! It looks like a plum job for architect Kate Benedict—she’s been sent to Amsterdam to repurpose an ancient mansion, happily assigned to work with an old friend. Should have been a lark! But it's a catastrophe—her old friend’s going to die.And so is the caretaker. And the owner. Not to mention the owner’s personal assistant...Categorized as:
female-mc ghosts literary-fiction action-adventure adult amateur-sleuth book contemporary -
Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn Gabino Iglesias’ second novel, ghosts and old gods guide the hands of those caught up in a violent struggle to save the soul of the American southwest.A man tasked with shuttling children over the border believes the Virgin Mary is guiding him towards final justice. A woman offers colonizer blood to the Mother of Chaos... -
Face the Fire by Nora Roberts
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsMia Devlin knows what it is like to love with your whole heart—and then watch your love walk away. Years ago, she and Sam Logan shared an incredible bond built on passion, legend, and fate. But then one day he fled Three Sisters Island, leaving her lost in memories of the magic they shared—and determined to live without love... -
The Prayer of the Night Shepherd by Phil Rickman
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAt Stanner Hall, a Victorian mansion-turned-hotel, Ben Foley hosts murder-mystery weekends and strives to prove that his hotel is the house on which Arthur Conan Doyle based his immortal Baskerville Hall. As the days shorten and the weather worsens, Foley’s dabbling uncovers more than he can handle... -
The Lamp of the Wicked by Phil Rickman
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt appears that the unlovely village of Underhowle is home to a serial killer. But as the police hunt for the bodies of more young women, Rev. Merrily Watkins fears that the detective in charge has become blinkered by ambition. Meanwhile, Merrily has more personal problems, like the anonymous phone calls, the candles and incense left burning in her church, and the alleged angelic visitations... -
Salsa Nocturna: Stories by Daniel José Older
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA 300 year-old story collector enlists the help of the computer hacker next door to save her dying sister. A half-resurrected cleanup man for Death's sprawling bureaucracy faces a phantom pachyderm, doll-collecting sorceresses and his own ghoulish bosses. Gordo, the old Cubano that watches over the graveyards and sleeping children of Brooklyn, stirs and lights another Malaguena... -
Belle Manor Haunting by Cheryl Bradshaw
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe door to Addison Lockhart's room opens. Five-year-old Sara Belle walks in. The child seems lost and confused. Addison reaches out, grabs Sara's hand, and the room goes black.Addison's eyes open to find she's been transported several decades into the past. She's sitting in the back seat of a car. Sara is beside her. The car stops at an intersection... -
Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend... -
The Remains of an Altar by Phil Rickman
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn 1934, the dying composer Sir Edward Elgar feebly whistled to a friend the theme from his Cello Concerto and said, "If you're walking on the Malvern Hills and hear that, don't be frightened. It's only me... -
Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA haunting ghost story about navigating grief, growing up, and growing into a new gender identityIt's the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug's best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare... -
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Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsThe breathtaking conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Jewels of the Sun and Tears of the Moon...Darcy Gallagher has always believed in the pull of fate, the magic of legend... and the importance of money. She longs to find a rich man who will sweep her away - into a world filled with glamour and adventure, and the exotic life that is her destiny.. -
Red Fox by Karina Halle
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsLibrarian note: alternate cover edition - ASIN B0055PJFA6In the forgotten town of Red Fox, a Navajo couple is tortured by things unseen and by motives unknown. Wild animals slink through their house in the dark, a barrage of stones pound their roof nightly, and mutilated sheep carcasses are turning up on their property... -
The Guests on South Battery by Karen White
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERKaren White invites you to explore the brick-walked streets of Charleston in her fifth Tradd Street novel, where historic mansions house the memories of years gone by, and restless spirits refuse to fade away.. -
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsYears ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command...Categorized as:
drama ghosts haunted-places literary-fiction magical-realism spooky 21st-century action-adventure -
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsIn this propulsive novel by the author of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and The Elephant Vanishes, one of the most idiosyncratically brilliant writers at work in any language fuses science fiction, the hard-boiled thriller and white-hot satire into a new element of the literary periodic table... -
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'...Categorized as:
ghosts literary-fiction magical-realism poc-mc spooky adult anthologies contemporary -
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCursed Bunny is a genre-defying collection of short stories by Korean author Bora Chung. Blurring the lines between magical realism, horror, and science-fiction, Chung uses elements of the fantastic and surreal to address the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society...Categorized as:
ghosts literary-fiction magical-realism 21st-century adult anthologies contemporary dark -
The Man in the Moss by Phil Rickman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPerfectly preserved in black peat, the Man in the Moss is one of the most fascinating finds of the century. But for the isolated community of Bridelow, his removal is a sinister sign—a danger to the ancient spiritual tradition. In the weeks approaching the Celtic feast of the dead, tragedy strikes again and again in Bridelow... -
American Gothic Tales by Joyce Carol Oates, Charles Brockden Brown
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJoyce Carol Oates has a special perspective on the “gothic” in American short fiction, at least partially because her own horror yarns rank on the spine-tingling chart with the masters. She is able to see the unbroken link of the macabre that ties Edgar Allan Poe to Anne Rice and to recognize the dark psychological bonds between Henry James and Stephen King... -
Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis collection features tormented individuals who play out their doom in various odd little towns, as well as in dark sectors frequented by sinister and often blackly comical eccentrics. The cycle of narratives that includes the title work of this collection, for instance, introduces readers to a freakish community of artists who encounter demonic perils that ultimately engulf their lives...Categorized as:
ghosts literary-fiction magical-realism spooky 20th-century 21st-century adult anthologies -
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Lanny by Max Porter
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThere’s a village sixty miles outside London. It’s no different from many other villages in England: one pub, one church, red-brick cottages, council cottages and a few bigger houses dotted about. Voices rise up, as they might do anywhere, speaking of loving and needing and working and dying and walking the dogs... -
Ghost of You by Kelly Moran
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's no secret among the Phantoms crew that lead investigator Sammy Hanesworth pretty much hates team psychologist Cain McClutchen. The friction between them is taut with tension...and unexpected attraction. He knows full well that something about him rubs her the wrong way, even though he admires the witty, gorgeous spitfire more than a lot... -
The End of Temperance Dare: A Novel by Wendy Webb
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHaunting and atmospheric, The End of Temperance Dare is another thrilling page-turner from the author reviewers are calling the Queen of the Northern Gothic.When Eleanor Harper becomes the director of a renowned artists’ retreat, she knows nothing of Cliffside Manor’s dark past as a tuberculosis sanatorium, a “waiting room for death... -
The Keepers of Metsan Valo by Wendy Webb
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe spirits of Nordic folklore come calling in this entrancing tale of family secrets and ancient mysteries by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Haunting of Brynn Wilder.In Metsan Valo, her family home on Lake Superior, Anni Halla’s beloved grandmother has died. Among her fond memories, what Anni remembers most vividly is her grandmother’s eerie yet enchanting storytelling... -
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsLisamarie Hill, the protagonist of Eden Robinson's coming-of-age novel Monkey Beach, is a terror. She'll run out of an evacuating car to get a better view of a tidal wave. She'll drag you unconscious to a deserted island with nothing but cigarettes, marshmallows, and the need to get you talking. Whatever her age, she'll ask awkward questions... -
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIn this gripping debut tinged with supernatural horror, a young Cree woman's dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home.When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow's head in her hands, she panics... -
Colorful by Eto Mori
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA beloved and bestselling classic in Japan, this groundbreaking tale of a dead soul who gets a second chance is now available in English for the very first time."Congratulations, you've won the lottery!" shouts the angel Prapura to a formless soul. The soul hasn't been kicked out of the cycle of rebirth just yet—he's been given a second chance...Categorized as:
drama literary-fiction magical-realism poc-mc 20th-century anthologies asian-mc audiobook -
Inspector Specter by E.J. Copperman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDetective Lt. Anita McElhone is one of Harbor Haven's finest. She's also a hard-boiled ghost skeptic. So when she shows up on the doorstep of Alison Kerby's Haunted Guesthouse to ask for supernatural help in solving the murder of her former partner it's hard to tell which woman is more flabbergasted... -
Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror & Delight by Ryan Douglass, Kalynn Bayron
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsNight of the Living Queers is a YA horror anthology that explores a night when anything is possible, exclusively featuring queer authors of color putting fresh spins on classic horror tropes and tales.No matter its name or occasion, Halloween is more than a Hallmark holiday, it’s a symbol of transformation... -
The Wonder State by Sara Flannery Murphy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the author of Girl One comes a spellbinding adventure about a strange power lurking in the Arkansas Ozarks, and the group of friends obsessed with finding it.Five friends arrive back in Eternal Springs, Arkansas, the small town they all fled after high school graduation. Each is drawn home by a cryptic, scrawled two-word letter that reads, You promised... -
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Be Still, My Love by Deborah J. Hughes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsABOUT BE STILL, MY LOVE:A personal loss throws medium Tess Schafer's beliefs into question and severs her communications with "the other side". Unable to move on with her life, she takes a healing vacation to a haunted resort on the coast of Maine. Her arrival triggers a spike in paranormal activity and the return of her spiritual connection... -
Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSpace-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It's all they've heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago... -
Sodom Road Exit by Amber Dawn, Deborah Burgess
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's the summer of 1990, and Crystal Beach has lost its beloved, long-running amusement park, leaving the lakeside village a virtual ghost town. It is back to this fallen community Starla Mia Martin must return to live with her overbearing mother after dropping out of university and racking up significant debt... -
The Haunting of St. Xavier by Carol Lynne, T.A. Chase
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJustice comes to all in time.Although empty for over fifty years, St. Xavier Monastery was still an awe inspiring structure and Jason Bentley thought he'd found the perfect location for his newest resort. Yet once construction begins to bring the magnificent building back to its former glory, odd events begin to occur. While the death of a stonemason shakes Jason, he decides to continue anyway... -
The Drake House by Kelly Moran
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn her dreams, a ghost demands to be heard...Trisha Eaton has been plagued by mysterious nightmares ever since her parents adopted her as a young girl. She chalked them up to childish nuisances until they return-- with a vengeance. Something about the Drake house next door to her family’s apple orchard haunts her. Now, her night terrors and sleepwalking seem to be luring her to something dark... -
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940's Until Now by Peter Straub, John Collier
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLike its companion volume, this Library of America hardcover contains 750 pages of classic tales of horror, hauntings, terrifying obsessions, and unearthly presences...Categorized as:
ghosts literary-fiction magical-realism adult anthologies classics contemporary female-author -
The Ruin of Delicate Things by Beverley Lee
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBarrington Hall is a place of secrets - something Dan Morgan has worked hard to forget. But when a heart-breaking loss brings him back to the place where he spent his childhood summers, Barrington Hall will do what it must to make him remember.Faye Morgan blames her husband for the death of their teenage son. She doesn’t want to leave the place Toby called home... -
The Punished by Peter Meredith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings12-year-old Curt Regis lives the carefree life of a beggar and a thief. Homeless since the age of six, he uses his guile and street smarts, as well as a glib, smooth lying tongue to reign as king of the street rats. So when he is caught breaking into a school and is sent back into foster care for the ninth time, he is quite confident that it will be a short stay... -
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... -
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe Sentence asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book.A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store...Categorized as:
magical-realism literary-fiction ghosts poc-mc female-mc north-america usa minnesota -
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The House on Tradd Street by Karen White
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsPractical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she's going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog, and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets.Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries... -
Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo, Susan Sontag
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsA classic of Mexican modern literature about a haunted village.As one enters Juan Rulfo's legendary novel, one follows a dusty road to a town of death. Time shifts from one consciousness to another in a hypnotic flow of dreams, desires, and memories, a world of ghosts dominated by the figure of Pedro Páramo - lover, overlord, murderer... -
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsThe Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low or empty, or why their matriarch won’t ever leave their home in Four Rivers—even for graduations, weddings, or baptisms...Categorized as:
female-mc ghosts latinx-mc literary-fiction magical-realism poc-mc spooky action-adventure -
The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAsylum meets Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, in this riveting tale of ghosts, secrets, and family, from master of suspense Katie Alender.Delia's new house isn't just a house. It used to be an insane asylum, a place to lock up "troubled" young women long ago. And a restless, wicked spirit is still at play--and it doesn't want defiant girls like Delia to go anywhere... -
Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsA romantic cabin getaway doesn’t go exactly as planned. High up on the windswept cliffs of Pale Peak, Faye and Felix celebrate their new engagement. But soon, a chorus of ghastly noises erupts from the nearby woods: the screams of animals, the cries of children, and the mad babble of a hundred mournful voices. A dark figure looms near the windows in the dead of night, whispering to Faye... -
When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson by Ellen Datlow, Joyce Carol Oates
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA chilling anthology in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers...
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