Books like 'Dearest'
Readers who enjoyed Dearest by Jacquie Walters also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary horror mystery psychological supernatural dark gothic suspense family thriller
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Different Seasons by Stephen King
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsFrom the Magical Pen of Stephen King, Four Mesmerizing Novellas…“Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”An unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge…the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award nominee The Shawshank Redemption... -
![The Shining by Stephen King, Campbell Scott]()
The Shining by Stephen King, Campbell Scott
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 89 ratingsFirst published in 1977, The Shining quickly became a benchmark in the literary career of Stephen King. This tale of a troubled man hired to care for a remote mountain resort over the winter, his loyal wife, and their uniquely gifted son slowly but steadily unfolds as secrets from the Overlook Hotel's past are revealed, and the hotel itself attempts to claim the very souls of the Torrance family... -
![Changeling by Matt Wesolowski]()
Changeling by Matt Wesolowski
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsOn Christmas Eve in 1988, seven-year-old Alfie Marsden vanished in the Wentshire Forest Pass, when a burst tyre forced his father, Sorrel, to stop the car. Leaving the car to summon the emergency services, Sorrel returned to find his son gone. No trace of the child, nor his remains, have ever been found. Alfie Marsden was declared officially dead in 1995... -
![Grave Matter by Karina Halle]()
Grave Matter by Karina Halle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHorror Romance meets science fiction in this dark and delicious gothic psychological thriller by NYT bestseller Karina Halle, perfect for fans of Gothikana, Ninth House, and Mexican Gothic. Aspiring mycologist Sydney Denik is getting a second chance... -
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![Home Before Dark by Riley Sager]()
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 74 ratingsIn the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?What was it like? Living in that house.Maggie Holt is used to such questions... -
![Demon by Matt Wesolowski]()
Demon by Matt Wesolowski
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsScott King’s podcast investigates the 1995 cold case of a demon possession in a rural Yorkshire village, where a 12-year-old boy was murdered in cold blood by two children. Book six in the chilling, award-winning Six Stories series.In 1995, the picture-perfect village of Ussalthwaite was the site of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, in a case that shocked the world... -
![Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi]()
Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFour brand-new horror novellas from “a modern-day Algernon Blackwood” all about books, stories, manuscripts – the written word has never had sharper teeth…From the bestselling author of Come with Me, four standalone horror novellas set in a shared universe! In The Skin of Her Teeth, a cursed novel drives people to their deaths. A delivery job turns deadly in The Dark Brothers’ Last Ride... -
![Come with Me by Ronald Malfi]()
Come with Me by Ronald Malfi
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA masterful, heart-palpitating novel of small-town horror and psychological dread from a Bram Stoker nominee.Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife Allison is killed. Haunted by her absence--and her ghost--Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country... -
![Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King]()
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 41 ratings"I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger..." writes Wilfred Leland James in the early pages of the riveting confession that makes up "1922." the first in this pitch-black quartet of mesmerizing tales from Stephen King... -
![The Only One Left by Riley Sager]()
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsAt seventeen, Lenora HopeHung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it... -
![My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon]()
My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA spine-tingling psychological thriller about a woman who, after taking in her dying, alcoholic mother, begins to suspect demonic possession is haunting her family.Alison has never been a fan of Christmas. But with it right around the corner and her husband busily decorating their cozy Vermont home, she has no choice but to face it. Then she gets the call... -
![A Ghost Arrives: A Novel by Abe Moss]()
A Ghost Arrives: A Novel by Abe Moss
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEvery family has its secrets, and every ghost has its reasons.★★★★★ "A creepy, slow burning ghost story with a twist that was dark in so many different ways! Imaginative, creative, and not afraid to deal the punches..." - Amazon ReviewerAfter moving back in with his elderly father, Wallace Harper discovers that something else has taken up residence in his childhood home.. -
![River of Ashes by Alexandrea Weis, Lucas Astor]()
River of Ashes by Alexandrea Weis, Lucas Astor
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSome truths are better kept secret. Some secrets are better off dead. ALONG THE BANKS OF THE BOGUE FALAYA RIVER, sits the abandoned St. Francis Seminary. Beneath a canopy of oaks, blocked from prying eyes, the teens of St. Benedict High gather here on Fridays. The rest of the week belongs to school and family—but weekends belong to the river.And the river belongs to Beau Devereaux... -
![Nightmare at 20,000 Feet by Richard Matheson, Stephen King]()
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet by Richard Matheson, Stephen King
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRemember that monster on the wing of the airplane? William Shatner saw it on The Twilight Zone, John Lithgow saw it in the movie-even Bart Simpson saw it. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is just one of many classic horror stories by Richard Matheson that have insinuated themselves into our collective imagination... -
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![Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar, Harsh Nayyar]()
Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar, Harsh Nayyar
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPallavi is an aspiring writer living in California. Her mother, Usha, is thousands of miles away in Delhi - and obsessed with finding her daughter a husband... -
![Later by Stephen King]()
Later by Stephen King
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsSOMETIMES GROWING UP MEANS FACING YOUR DEMONS The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn... -
![Angel Eyes: The Haunting of January House by A.N. Willis]()
Angel Eyes: The Haunting of January House by A.N. Willis
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEveryone in Ashton, Colorado, knows that January House is haunted. Tucked away on an isolated hillside, the place has seen grisly murders and unsolved disappearances. An artists’ commune took up residence there in the 1970s, creating a controversy that still divides the town. Now, a reclusive painter has died in the crumbling house. The police say it’s natural causes... -
![The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James]()
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsThe secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel... -
![The Whisper Man by Alex North]()
The Whisper Man by Alex North
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsIn this dark, suspenseful thriller, Alex North weaves a multi-generational tale of a father and son caught in the crosshairs of an investigation to catch a serial killer preying on a small town.After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new house, a new town: Featherbank.But Featherbank has a dark past... -
![Nightingale House by Steve Frech]()
Nightingale House by Steve Frech
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDaniel Price has just had the breakthrough of his life when his novel cracks the best seller list. He and his wife, Nicole, decide to move into the majestic Nightingale House on the shores of Willow Lake, in the town of Kingsbrook, Maine. But Daniel's world is shattered when Nicole is killed in a car crash, and he must raise their eight year-old daughter, Caitlyn, on his own... -
![The Intruders by Louise Jensen]()
The Intruders by Louise Jensen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt should be the perfect a manor house available rent free in exchange for a bit of housesitting. But when Cass and James dig deeper, they find the place has been abandoned since a robbery left almost all the inhabitants dead almost thirty years ago. But they’ve got to save for a deposit somehow, so they move in, and things quickly take a strange turn... -
![Crossroads by Laurel Hightower]()
Crossroads by Laurel Hightower
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHow far would you go to bring back someone you love? When Chris's son dies in a tragic car crash, her world is devastated. The walls of grief close in on Chris's life until, one day, a small cut on her finger changes everything. A drop of blood falls from Chris's hand onto her son's roadside memorial and, later that night, Chris thinks she sees his ghost outside her window... -
![The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane by Laird Koenig]()
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane by Laird Koenig
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAlone in the darkened house, with only fire's glow and thirteen flickering candles for illumination, silent except for the mounting chords of a Liszt concerto, Rynn was preparing a solemn celebration. Until a knock at the door shattered sanctuary.Rynn is the little girl who lives in the house at the end of the lane with her father-or so she says... -
![Dark Corners by Liz Schulte]()
Dark Corners by Liz Schulte
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsElla Reynolds knew from the first moment she walked into the old house someone or something was watching her. Waiting. Her husband's violent murder sent her spiraling into a world of grief and isolation, but Ella isn't alone. Who or what is responsible for her husband's death is still with her. Darkness has engulfed the past year of Ella's life... -
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![A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat]()
A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA teen girl and her family return to her mother's childhood home, only to discover that the house's strange beauty may disguise a sinister past, in this contemporary gothic horror from the author of What We Harvest.The house was supposed to be a fresh start. That's what Libby's mom said... -
![We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer]()
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsThe Turn of the Key meets Parasite in this eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit—soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit... -
![The Other by Thomas Tryon]()
The Other by Thomas Tryon
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEntranced and terrified, the reader of The Other is swept up in the life of a Connecticut country town in the thirties—and in the fearful mysteries that slowly darken and overwhelm it.Originally published in 1971, The Other is one of the most influential horror novels ever written... -
![The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware]()
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsWhen she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family... -
![In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards]()
In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIsabel’s life seemed perfect. Successful business, beautiful house, adoring husband. And then she was dead.For four years Jessica has never doubted that her sister Isabel’s death was an accident. But when Jessica’s young daughter seems to know long-forgotten details about her aunt’s past, Jessica can’t shake the feeling that there’s a more sinister truth behind the tragedy... -
![Phantoms by Dean Koontz]()
Phantoms by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThey found the town silent, apparently abandoned. Then they found the first body, strangely swollen and still warm. One hundred fifty were dead, 350 missing. But the terror had only begun in the tiny mountain town of Snowfield, California.At first they thought it was the work of a maniac. Or terrorists. Or toxic contamination. Or a bizarre new disease.But then they found the truth... -
![Duma Key by Stephen King]()
Duma Key by Stephen King
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsWhen Edgar Freemantle moves to the remote island of Duma Key to escape his past, he doesn't expect to find much there.But Duma has been waiting for him, and something in the view from his window urges him to discover a talent he never knew he had.Edgar Freemantle begins to paint. And as he paints, the island's secrets begin to stir... -
![Blood Harvest by Sharon J. Bolton]()
Blood Harvest by Sharon J. Bolton
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe's been watching us for a while now...Now you see herGillian is haunted by the disappearance of her little girl two years ago. A devastating fire burned down their home, but she remains convinced her daughter survived.Now you don'tTen-year-old Tom lives by a neglected church... -
![Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra]()
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratings***Note that many reviews contain spoilers***A razor-sharp thriller about a mother forced to the breaking point when her life and the lives of her children are threatened by an intruderHome alone with her young children during a blizzard, a mother tucks her son back into bed in the middle of the night. She hears a noise—old houses are always making some kind of noise... -
![Skeleton Crew by Stephen King]()
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsIn this brilliant collection of stories, Stephen King takes readers down paths that only he could imagine.A supermarket becomes the place where humanity makes its last stand against destruction. A trip to the attic becomes a journey to hell. A woman driver finds a scary shortcut to paradise. An idyllic lake harbors a bottomless evil... -
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![Ghost Story by Peter Straub]()
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsIn life, not every sin goes unpunished.GHOST STORYFor four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past -- and get away with murder... -
![Hydra by Matt Wesolowski]()
Hydra by Matt Wesolowski
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsElusive online investigative journalist Scott King investigates the case of Arla Macleod, who bludgeoned her family to death, in another episode of the chilling, award-winning Six Stories series... -
![Ghost Stories by Henry James]()
Ghost Stories by Henry James
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWith an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury. Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche... -
![Sundial by Catriona Ward]()
Sundial by Catriona Ward
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsAll Rob ever wanted was a normal life.Nothing like her childhood, growing up in the lonely, wild Mojave Desert on her family's ranch, Sundial. Surrounded by dogs, coyotes, and research assistants.For a while, it seemed like Rob got her wish: A husband, two daughters, the white picket fence, and margaritas with the neighbors... -
![Lay Me to Rest by E.A. Clark]()
Lay Me to Rest by E.A. Clark
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSome secrets never stay buried for long…Devastated by the death of her husband, Annie Philips is shocked to discover she is pregnant with his unborn child. Hoping for a fresh start, she travels to a remote stone cottage in Anglesey, amidst the white-capped mountains of North Wales.She settles in quickly, helped by her mysterious new neighbour, Peter... -
![Follow You Home by Mark Edwards]()
Follow You Home by Mark Edwards
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIt was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, a final adventure before settling down.After a perfect start, Daniel and Laura’s travels end abruptly when they are thrown off a night train in the middle of nowhere. To find their way back to civilisation, they must hike along the tracks through a forest…a haunting journey that ends in unimaginable terror... -
![The Dead Zone by Stephen King]()
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsJohnny, the small boy who skated at breakneck speed into an accident that for one horrifying moment plunged him into The Dead Zone. Johnny Smith, the small-town schoolteacher who spun the wheel of fortune and won a four-and-a-half-year trip into The Dead Zone... -
![Four Past Midnight by Stephen King]()
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsAt midnight comes the point of balance. Of danger. The instang of utter stillness when between two beats of the heart, an alternative reality can slip through, like a blade between the ribs, and swithc you into a new and terrifying world... -
![One Dark Night by Hannah Richell]()
One Dark Night by Hannah Richell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen a body is found the day after Halloween, a small British community must reckon with its past and the dangers lurking in its present in this spine-tingling novel from “not to be missed” (Hayley Scrivener, author of Dirt Creek) author Hannah Richell... -
![The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp, Jesús Cañadas]()
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp, Jesús Cañadas
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsJack Sparks died while writing this book.It was no secret that journalist Jack Sparks had been researching the occult for his new book. No stranger to controversy, he'd already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed... -
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![The Dogs by Allan Stratton]()
The Dogs by Allan Stratton
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOut of the corner of my eye, I catch something moving by the barn.When I look, it disappears. Wait. There it is again, at the cornfield. Some movement, some thing. Mom and I have been on the run for years. Every time he catches up with us, we move to a new place and start over.But this place is different.This place is full of secrets. And they won't leave me alone... -
![Whispers by Dean Koontz]()
Whispers by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsFor thirty-five years, Bruno Frye has lived in the shadow of the mother who made his heart beat with constant fear. And even though she died five years ago, the whispers still haunt him in the dark…enough to make him kill—and kill again…Hilary Thomas is one of his intended victims... -
![Night Chills by Dean Koontz]()
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 26 ratings#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz unleashes a contagion on a small Maine town--one that triggers the darkest desires of the soul.Designed by top scientists and unleashed in a monstrous conspiracy, night chills are seizing the men and women of Black River--driving them to acts of rape and murder. The nightmare is real. And death is the only cure.. -
![The Crying Child by Barbara Michaels]()
The Crying Child by Barbara Michaels
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTrapped between madness and imagination...From the moment she arrived on King's Island, Joanne McMullen knew that her sister's grief over losing her child had driven her dangerously close to madness. Jo grew anxious when Mary confided that she heard a thin, insistent wail that rose up beyond the dark Maine woods... -
![The Siren and the Specter by Jonathan Janz]()
The Siren and the Specter by Jonathan Janz
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen David Caine, a celebrated skeptic of the supernatural, is invited by an old friend to spend a month in “the most haunted house in Virginia,” he believes the case will be like any other. But the Alexander House is different. Built by a 1700s land baron to contain the madness and depravity of his eldest son, the house is plagued by shadows of the past and the lingering taint of bloodshed... -
![Bag of Bones by Stephen King]()
Bag of Bones by Stephen King
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsFour years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway...
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