Books like 'An Excellent Host'
Readers who enjoyed An Excellent Host by Chelsea G. Summers also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
horror fantasy myths cannibalism dark-academia gothic retellings
-
Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, Volume 2 by August Derleth, Robert Bloch
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCthulhu the Terrible...Bringer of death, madness and mutilation beyond man's wildest nightmares. Dweller in the abyssal depths of earth and ocean. Bearer of horrors from beyond time and space. Keeper of unspeakable arcane mysteries from the dark aeons before mankind's spawning. Here are tales of occult abomination that will stretch your nerves to he very limits of supernatural terror...H.P... -
![Poetry and Tales by Edgar Allan Poe]()
Poetry and Tales by Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRead throughout the world, admired by Dostoyevsky and translated by Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe has become a legendary figure, representing the artist as obsessed outcast and romantic failure. His nightmarish visions, shaped by cool artistic calculation, reveal some of the dark possibilities of human experience... -
![Stara Słaboniowa i Spiekładuchy by Joanna Łańcucka]()
Stara Słaboniowa i Spiekładuchy by Joanna Łańcucka
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWy to, Słaboniowa, zawsze tak zakręcicie, że człowiek sam nie wie, w co wierzyć, i widzi rzeczy, których nie ma.W mroźny zimowy wieczór stara kobieta staje przy drewnianym płocie i jak co dzień spogląda bystrym okiem na rodzinną wieś. Gdzieś z nieprzeniknionych ciemności nadciąga zło, jakiego jeszcze mieszkańcy Capówki nie doświadczyli... -
![Bony-Legs by Joanna Cole]()
Bony-Legs by Joanna Cole
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a terrible witch vows to eat her for supper, a little girl escapes with the help of a mirror and comb given to her by the witch's cat and dog... -
-
![The Master's Apprentice: A Retelling of the Faust Legend by Oliver Pötzsch]()
The Master's Apprentice: A Retelling of the Faust Legend by Oliver Pötzsch
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA young man’s destined quest becomes a dance with the devil in a mesmerizing retelling of the Faust legend by the bestselling author of the Hangman’s Daughter Tales series.It’s the fifteenth century and only heretics are curious about the universe.Germany, 1494. Born under a rare alignment of the stars, Johann Georg Gerlach, “the lucky one” to his mother—is fated for greatness... -
![Don't Push the Button! by Bill Cotter]()
Don't Push the Button! by Bill Cotter
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn enhanced eBook guaranteed to cause giggles! There’s only one rule in Larry’s book: don’t push the button. (Seriously, don’t even think about it!) It does look kind of nice though…Okay, quick. No one is looking. — push the button. Uh, oh... -
![The Kat Dubois Chronicles Vol 1: Books 1-3 by Lindsey Sparks]()
The Kat Dubois Chronicles Vol 1: Books 1-3 by Lindsey Sparks
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe first three books in the Kat Dubois Chronicles bundled together! Three years ago, the gods abandoned us. We've been alone ever since. Kat Dubois is immortal, and she’s retired. She’s long since hung up her sword and left assassinating immortals to someone else...anyone else... -
![Dead Stream Curse by J.R. Erickson, Nicole Jatho Swanson]()
Dead Stream Curse by J.R. Erickson, Nicole Jatho Swanson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA secret they intended to take to the grave. But the dead will tell.. -
![Artemis Fowl: Books 5-8 by Eoin Colfer]()
Artemis Fowl: Books 5-8 by Eoin Colfer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsArtemis Fowl is the teenage child genius and most powerful criminal mastermind in history! He continues his devastating international crime spree, pursued all the time by Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police Force...Categorized as:
myths retellings action-adventure anthologies anti-hero children-books fiction horror -
![The Lumberjack's Dove by GennaRose Nethercott]()
The Lumberjack's Dove by GennaRose Nethercott
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“Serious art does not need to be weighty or explicitly topical. It can be, as it is here, apparently as light as a feather: The Lumberjack’s Dove is, in its manner, a folktale; it is also a meditation on attachment, on loss, on transformation... -
![Herald by Rob J. Hayes]()
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... -
![Carrion by Amarah Calderini]()
Carrion by Amarah Calderini
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn a world devastated by plague, Willa has spent her life on the run, both from the mysterious illness that destroys the ability to dream and a secret that would get her imprisoned forever.But when an unknown power calls her to the top of a high rise one night, there is no outrunning it... -
![Checkmate Checkmate by Cameron Jace]()
Checkmate Checkmate by Cameron Jace
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat's the most you've ever lost in a game of chess?Want to play chess?An epidemic of perpetual sleep threatens to drive the world mad...Are you good at it?Unless Alice and the Pillar can solve a global chess game where every world leader plays to save their own country... -
![The Complete Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Tyler]()
The Complete Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Tyler
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFor all those who journey to J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, here is the complete guide to its lands, legends, histories, languages, and people... -
-
![Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural by Marvin Kaye, Saralee Kaye,]()
Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural by Marvin Kaye, Saralee Kaye,
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA gripping, chilling collection of 47 stories and six poems, dating back to Shelley and Stevenson, but also including modern masters... -
![Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were: Creatures, Places, and People by Michael F. Page]()
Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were: Creatures, Places, and People by Michael F. Page
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHardcover sales of more than 70,000 copies have made the Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were a classic illustrated reference to myths and legends from all corners of the world. Here--culled from mythology, literature, and folk tales--is the mystical realm that has populated humanity's imagination for centuries... -
![The Legend Thief by E.J. Patten]()
The Legend Thief by E.J. Patten
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSky thought he had problems before, when his uncle disappeared, his family moved to an odd new town, and he kept the world's deadliest monster imprisoned. But now, the entire Hunters of Legend are coming to Exile to kill him. Turns out he needs the same friends that he kept in the dark to keep safe, to stop an unspeakable evil from wreaking havoc on the world... -
![The Ghosts Omnibus One by Jonathan Moeller]()
The Ghosts Omnibus One by Jonathan Moeller
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHere for the first time in one volume are the first four books of the internationally bestselling THE GHOSTS saga - CHILD OF THE GHOSTS, BLADE OF THE GHOSTS, GHOST IN THE FLAMES, and GHOST IN THE BLOOD. When her life is torn apart by sorcery and murder, young Caina Amalas joins the Ghosts, the legendary spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar... -
![The Ancient Ones (The Ancient Ones Trilogy, Book 1) by Cassandra L. Thompson]()
The Ancient Ones (The Ancient Ones Trilogy, Book 1) by Cassandra L. Thompson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen David stumbles upon a tragic young woman in a sordid Limehouse pub, he has no idea she’d recognize him as the last vampyre alive, nor that she’d be the one to pull out his story... -
![Weep, Woman, Weep by Maria DeBlassie]()
Weep, Woman, Weep by Maria DeBlassie
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA compelling gothic fairytale by bruja and award-winning writer Maria DeBlassie.The women of Sueño, New Mexico don’t know how to live a life without sorrows. That’s La Llorona’s doing. She roams the waterways looking for the next generation of girls to baptize, filling them with more tears than any woman should have to hold... -
![Fierce as a Tiger Lily by Kendra Moreno]()
Fierce as a Tiger Lily by Kendra Moreno
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTo die is no adventure. . .Tiger Lily knows that better than anyone. Death and the Tribes of Neverland have an intimate relationship, if only because their magic feeds the deity. Tiger has always walked in the darkness, and as a Daughter, she calls Death a friend.But Neverland is in trouble and Tiger finds herself in the middle of darkness she knows and a new insanity she doesn't... -
![Rokk the Walking Mountain by Adam Blade]()
Rokk the Walking Mountain by Adam Blade
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn order to free the Mistress of the Beasts from the spell she is under, Tom travels to a mountain town that has been devastated by a rockslide... -
![Darren Shan: First Bites by Darren Shan]()
Darren Shan: First Bites by Darren Shan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHorror fans, it's time to feast on three FULL novels from Darren Shan! The New York Times bestselling author invites you to devour the first books in each of his best-loved series... -
![The Red House by Tony Abbott]()
The Red House by Tony Abbott
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCould the road to the afterlife be a two-way street? After diving into Derek's world in books #1 and #2, readers are in for more spooky, sinister adventure in this latest installment.Derek didn't ask for this.It's bad enough that his brother's body is hosting a dead soul. Then there's that whole business of the evil dead waging war... -
-
![The Ammonite Violin & Others by Caitlín R. Kiernan]()
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... -
![My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino]()
My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLabyrinth meets folk horror in this darkly romantic tale of a girl who wishes her baby brother away to the Lord of the WoodGrowing up in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania feels like drowning. Leah goes to church every Sunday, works when she isn’t at school, and takes care of her baby brother, Owen. Like every girl in Winston, she tries to be right and good and holy... -
![We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim]()
We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrankenstein meets Indian mythology in this twisty, darkly atmospheric fantasy where the horror is not the monsters you face but the ones you create.After her sister Lasya’s sudden death, Kajal vows to do whatever it takes to bring her back. No cost is too great, even if it means preventing Lasya’s soul from joining the cycle of reincarnation... -
![Fantastic Tales: Visionary and Everyday by Italo Calvino]()
Fantastic Tales: Visionary and Everyday by Italo Calvino
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCompiled by Italo Calvino, one of the essential writers of the twentieth century (and editor of the best-selling Italian Folktales), Fantastic Tales is a rich and wide-ranging collection of twenty-six classic, uncanny tales from the nineteenth century written by an intriguing panoply of European and American authors... -
![Dracula Volume I by Bram Stoker]()
Dracula Volume I by Bram Stoker
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWidely read across the world, "Dracula" is regarded as one of the most popular and feared characters in the literature. The protagonist Jonathan Harker notices several strange incidents while visiting the mysterious Count Dracula. Set in late nineteenth century, it is in the form of diary entries, letters and a few newspaper clippings. Full of suspense, it is an all-time classic horror story... -
![Eight Muses of the Fall by Edgar Calabia Samar]()
Eight Muses of the Fall by Edgar Calabia Samar
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis novel is on the one hand a young man’s frustrated attempt to write the great Filipino novel, and on the other, his coming to terms with the futility of his search for his lost mother. Along the way, he is guided and misdirected by some muses and demons to reimagine his personal past without the burden of national history... -
![The Brothers Grimm: 101 Fairy Tales (Word Cloud Classics) by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm]()
The Brothers Grimm: 101 Fairy Tales (Word Cloud Classics) by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThey are the stories of characters we’ve known since childhood: Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella. But the works originally collected by the Brothers Grimm in the early 1800s are not necessarily the versions told before bedtime. They’re darker and often don’t end very happily--but they're often far more interesting... -
![The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Cthulhu Mythos was H. P. Lovecraft's greatest contribution to supernatural literature: a series of stories that evoked cosmic awe and terror through their accounts of incomprehensibly alien monsters and their horrifying incursions into our world... -
![Doll Face by D.J. Krimmer, C Hebert]()
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... -
![A Bouquet of Czech Folktales by Karel Jaromír Erben]()
A Bouquet of Czech Folktales by Karel Jaromír Erben
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsErben compiled and wrote A Bouquet based on his studies of Slavic folktales and folk songs. First published in 1853, it is dotted with murder and mayhem : graves opening and the dead walking the earth, the animate becoming the inanimate and vice versa, ogres and monsters of lake and wood, human transformations reminiscent of Ovid's Metamorphoses... -
-
![Beware!: R.L. Stine Picks His Favorite Scary Stories by R.L. Stine]()
Beware!: R.L. Stine Picks His Favorite Scary Stories by R.L. Stine
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDim the lights. Lock the doors. Pull down the shades—and BEWARE! It's time to read the favorite scary stories of R.L. Stine, bestselling children’s author and master of the spooky tale.R.L. Stine has gathered a selection of all things scary, and even added two new tales of his own! Short stories, fables old and new, comics, and poems... -
![The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow, William F. Nolan]()
The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow, William F. Nolan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis groundbreaking anthology inaugurates an exciting new annual tradition—a giant collection of the greatest fantasy and supernatural stories published in 1987... -
![Time and the Gods by Lord Dunsany]()
Time and the Gods by Lord Dunsany
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis omnibus contains all the stories from Dunsany's earlier collections: Time and the Gods, The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, A Dreamer's Tales, The Book of Wonder, The Last Book of Wonder, and The Gods of Pegāna... -
![The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighth Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow]()
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighth Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis is one installment of a prestigious annual anthology of fantastic and "horror" genre writing—mostly fiction, with a smattering of poetry and an essay. The over 50 selections represent both established names in the field and relatively less known authors, and the structure of the book is typical of "year's best" collections... -
![Muro the Rat Monster by Adam Blade]()
Muro the Rat Monster by Adam Blade
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTom now seeks the second potion ingredient that will free his ailing mother from Wizard Velmal's fiendish sorcery... -
![American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps by Peter Straub, Edgar Allan Poe]()
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps by Peter Straub, Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsStraub, a contemporary master of literary horror and fantasy, offers an authoritative and diverse gathering of stories calculated to unsettle and delight. Ghostly narratives of the Edwardian era, lurid classics from the pulp heyday, and modern-day masterpieces are included in these collections... -
![The Ghost Road by Tony Abbott]()
The Ghost Road by Tony Abbott
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCould the road to the afterlife be a two-way street? Reader reviews are in, and Tony Abbott is capturing the middle-grade fantasy audience with this new series!Derek can't claim to be a normal fourteen-year-old anymore. Not after what he discovered at the Red House. His role in the war against the dead is more pivotal --- and more terrifying --- than he could have imagined... -
![Welcome to Sorrow by Cameron Jace]()
Welcome to Sorrow by Cameron Jace
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBonus prequel to the Grimm Diaries Prequels... -
![Liar, Liar, Head on Fire by Vera Strange]()
Liar, Liar, Head on Fire by Vera Strange
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Remember our deal, Wonder Boy. The Zeus Cup belongs to me!"On the outside, twelve-year-old Hector seems like he’s got it all. He’s strong, fast, and rumored to be the favorite to win this year’s Zeus Cup at the Mt. Olympus Spartan Race, the highest honor in his small Midwestern town. Hector’s parents and his five siblings trained to win gold in their twelfth year, but all fell short... -
![L'Esprit de L'Escalier by Catherynne M. Valente]()
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... -
-
![Malpertuis by Jean Ray, John Flanders]()
Malpertuis by Jean Ray, John Flanders
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA manuscript stolen from a monastery, the ancient stone house of a sea-trading dynasty, which may be haunted. These are familiar ingredients for a Gothic novel, but something far more strange and disconcerting is taking place within the walls of Malpertuis as the relatives gather for the impending death of Uncle Cassave. The techniques of H. P... -
![Academy of Villains by Ever King]()
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... -
![Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn by Robert Holdstock]()
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... -
![Japanese Gothic Tales by Kyōka Izumi]()
Japanese Gothic Tales by Kyōka Izumi
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsResisting the various forms of realism popular during the Meiji enlightenment, Izumi Kyoka (1873-1939) was among the most popular writers who continued to work in the old-fashioned genres of fantasy, mystery, and romance... -
![The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw]()
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... -
![Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors by Doug Murano, Michael Bailey]()
Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors by Doug Murano, Michael Bailey
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat happens when we make monsters? What happens when we make monsters of ourselves? Grotesque beings lurch from our darkest dreams. Vicious beasts stalk our twisted pasts. Lost souls haunt our deepest regrets. They are the blood on our hands. They are the obsessions in our heads. They are the vengeance in our hearts. They are the chilling shadows in the night...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
