Books like 'Ritual'
Readers who enjoyed Ritual by Steve Stred also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
horror supernatural cults demons fundamentalism folk-horror rural religion dark spirituality
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The Crane Diaries: Stained by Apryl Baker
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsI Am Death. I Am Darkness. I Am Creation. These are the simple truths Emma Rose Crane, AKA Mattie Hathaway, has run from for the last two years, but the situation she finds herself in will not let her flee her past anymore. It’s barreling toward her at the speed of a bullet. Mattie finds herself back in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the trial of Dan’s mother... -
![The Fallen: Genesis by Tillie Cole]()
The Fallen: Genesis by Tillie Cole
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTHE FALLEN: GENESIS (A Deadly Virtues Prequel) IN THE BEGINNING... They told them they were evil. They told them they were possessed by demons. They told them that darkness ran in their veins. Holy Innocents Home for Children is a haven for orphaned boys who have nothing and no one. The priests watch over them, educate them, raise them in the family of the church. Except for some... -
![All of a Winter's Night by Phil Rickman]()
All of a Winter's Night by Phil Rickman
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt begins in the fog, with a bleak village funeral. In the early hours of the following morning, Merrily Watkins and her daughter Jane are made aware that Aidan Lloyd, son of a wealthy farmer, will not be resting in peace. A rural tradition is displaying its sinister side as an old feud re-ignites... -
![Anointed by Charity B.]()
Anointed by Charity B.
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratings-Zebadiah- The last time I saw her, she was marked with blood. Excommunicated. Now she’s returned, along with my temptation. Our touch is blasphemous. Perverse. They say she’s tainted, but they will not speak against me. His holy blood is in my veins and my word is truth. I’m the f*cking Prophet. -Laurel Ann- For twelve years, I fought for my soul in this evil world... -
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![Devil's Door by Lee Mountford]()
Devil's Door by Lee Mountford
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHalloween night, 1982. Many people were brutally killed or simply vanished at the Blackwater Hotel—formerly Perron Manor. The events of that night have always remained a mystery.Until now...Ray and Rita Pearson, along with their daughter, Chloe, move into the hotel to help with its renovation and grand opening. All under the watchful eye of the mysterious owner, Marcus Blackwater... -
![Soul's Gate by James L. Rubart]()
Soul's Gate by James L. Rubart
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“Every now and then we get a break from reality. A glimpse into the other world that is more real than the reality we live in 99 percent of our days. The Bible is about a world of demons and angels and great evil and even greater glory.”What if you could travel inside another person’s soul?To battle for them. To be part of Jesus healing their deepest wounds... -
![The Prayer of the Night Shepherd by Phil Rickman]()
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]()
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... -
![The Events at Poroth Farm by T.E.D. Klein]()
The Events at Poroth Farm by T.E.D. Klein
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Events at Poroth Farm is a horror novella written by T.E.D Klein, in which Jeremy, a college lecturer, takes a summer vacation in Gilead, New Jersey, to prepare for a course on Gothic literature he'll be teaching in the upcoming semester. He rents an outbuilding from Mennonite couple Sarr and Deborah Poroth, and at first his holiday is happy and productive, but then odd things begin to happen... -
![Hurt by Travis Thrasher]()
Hurt by Travis Thrasher
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHis Rebellion Will Soon Turn to Hope When Chris Buckley first encountered the mysteries of creepy Solitary, North Carolina, he had little idea how far he would fall into the town’s shadows. After losing the love of his life, Chris tried to do things his way. He hunted answers. Then he gave up trying to find them. But now Chris comes back to Solitary knowing there’s a purpose for his being there...Categorized as:
cults fundamentalism religion spirituality action-adventure book christian contemporary -
![Temple of the Inner Flame by Amber Fisher]()
Temple of the Inner Flame by Amber Fisher
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSinister secrets lurk within the temple walls...Necromancer Kezia Bernard sees her ability as both a blessing and a curse. While it’s an honor to connect the African diaspora to their ancestors and heal wounds from the past, her power is overshadowed by a crushing affliction. One that has cost her all she holds dear... -
![Immortelle by Catherine McCarthy]()
Immortelle by Catherine McCarthy
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Elinor’s daughter, Rowena, is found poisoned and dead in an animal trough, Elinor is sure the local parish priest is to blame. A ceramic artist by trade and influenced by her late grandmother’s interest in supernatural magic, Elinor crafts an immortelle for Rowena’s grave and attempts to capture the girl’s spirit in the clay model of a starling... -
![Cold Sanctuary by Anthony M. Strong]()
Cold Sanctuary by Anthony M. Strong
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe bogeyman is real. In a tunnel deep beneath an Alaskan mountain, a man is brutally murdered. Just one in a series of grisly deaths, it is not long before whispers grow that the Qalupalik, a terrifying creature born from centuries of superstition and fear, has come to wreak havoc on the small coastal town of Shackleton, Alaska...Categorized as:
cults dark fundamentalism spirituality adult anthologies fiction genetic-engineering -
![Gravestone by Travis Thrasher, Kirby Heyborne]()
Gravestone by Travis Thrasher, Kirby Heyborne
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHis fear will soon turn to anger…. At first, Chris Buckley was simply warned. And watched. But as Chris unravels the haunting riddles of the town of Solitary, he finds that much more than the life of a town is at stake. Whether facing a pastor with a house full of skeletons or a cousin he never knew existed, Chris is forced to choose between light and darkness, life and nightmarish death... -
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![Possession by Lee Mountford]()
Possession by Lee Mountford
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA haunted cathedral. A possessed priest.Sarah Pearson and her team are sent on their first assignment together—to investigate a case of possession in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic.Father Hus, a respected priest, has reportedly succumbed to possession from a supernatural entity. On top of that, there are stories of a ghostly and bloody monk wandering the halls at night... -
![The Remains of an Altar by Phil Rickman]()
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... -
![Between by Mary Ting]()
Between by Mary Ting
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsAs the alkins head back to Crossroads, Claudia leads her normal life; but not for long. Having a special soul, Claudia attracts danger, and she soon finds out who Gamma asked to watch over her. The Twelve, known as Divine Elders on Earth, are very much involved when they find out that Aliah, one of the God's first angels, escaped from the Abyss when the gates were opened by Aden... -
![I'll Bring You the Birds From out of the Sky by Brian Hodge]()
I'll Bring You the Birds From out of the Sky by Brian Hodge
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Nona Conklin brings him a painting by the great-grandfather she never knew, gallery owner Timothy Randolph knows he's found the project of a lifetime: curating a spectacular cache of folk art hidden for decades in the mountains of her home. "God never made a lazier man than Cecil Conklin. Never put a more slothful soul in a fella big enough to wrestle an ox to the ground... -
![Demonic by Jeff Strand]()
Demonic by Jeff Strand
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of PRESSURE and AUTUMN BLEEDS INTO WINTER, comes a new novel of unrelenting terror.Corey is falling in love with his co-worker Quinn. This is a problem. Not only because Quinn is married, but because her husband is a serial killer known as the Toledo Trasher, who has been forcing her to participate in his savage crimes... -
![The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman]()
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and the Practical Magic series comes an enchanting novel about love, heartbreak, self-discovery, and the enduring magic of books. One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her... -
![The Shadow at the Bottom of the World by Thomas Ligotti]()
The Shadow at the Bottom of the World by Thomas Ligotti
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA longtime Lovecraft devotee, who has extended the weird tale to the next level via the likes of Borges and Burroughs, Thomas Ligotti is usually published as part of a general anthology of horror writers. But now Ligotti has pulled together a collection of his favorite fiction, both old and new, representing his best and most characteristic works... -
![The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron by Ross E. Lockhart, Justin Steele]()
The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron by Ross E. Lockhart, Justin Steele
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThere are Things - terrifying Things - whispered of in darkened forests beyond the safe comfort of firelight: The Black Guide, the Broken Ouroboros, the Pageant, Belphegor, Old Leech... These Things have always been here. They predate you. They will outlast you. This book pays tribute to those Things. For We are the Children of Old Leech...and we love you... -
![We Sang in the Dark by Joe Hart]()
We Sang in the Dark by Joe Hart
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEighteen years ago tragedy struck The Refuge cult in northern Minnesota. Forty people committed suicide and the entire compound burned to the ground. At just thirteen, Clare was the sole survivor found wandering miles from the encampment, hands blistered, memories of the horrific event wiped from her mind... -
![The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack: 40 Modern and Classic Lovecraftian Stories by John Gregory Betancourt, H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack: 40 Modern and Classic Lovecraftian Stories by John Gregory Betancourt, H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis volume assembles no less than 40 stories set in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Ranging from Lovecraft's own tales (including classics such as the novel At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Colour Out of Space) to works by his friends and contemporaries (Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E... -
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![Dark Gods by T.E.D. Klein]()
Dark Gods by T.E.D. Klein
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFour unusually literate horror novellas, by the former editor of "The Twilight Zone" magazine... -
![Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood]()
Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsAlternate cover for this ISBN can be found hereSpine-tingling supernatural tales from "the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere" (H.P. Lovecraft)By turns bizarre, unsettling, spooky, and sublime, Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories showcases nine incomparable stories from master conjuror Algernon Blackwood... -
![Eight Days To Live by Iris Johansen, Jennifer Van Dyck]()
Eight Days To Live by Iris Johansen, Jennifer Van Dyck
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEve Duncan and her adopted daughter, Jane Macguire, are pitted against the members of a secretive cult who have targeted Jane and have decided that she will be their ultimate sacrifice. In eight days they will come for her. In eight days, what Jane fears the most will become a reality. In eight days, she will die... -
![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... -
![Lucifer's Flood by Linda Rios Brook]()
Lucifer's Flood by Linda Rios Brook
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“The sensation of falling was terrifying…we tumbled out of the realm of the heavenly light into perpetual darkness. We had not seen darkness before--not like this anyway... A strange man shows up at the office of language expert Samantha Yale with a mysterious scroll written in an even more mysterious language... -
![Ritualistic Human Sacrifice by C.V. Hunt]()
Ritualistic Human Sacrifice by C.V. Hunt
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNick Graves is a miserable man. Every day he comes home from his dream job to a stale marriage. On the day he finally summons the courage to tell his wife, Eve, he wants a divorce she has exciting news for him – she’s pregnant. Nick is a spiteful man. He purchases his dream home in an ideal location far away from family, friends, and coworkers... -
![Swarm and Steel by Michael R. Fletcher]()
Swarm and Steel by Michael R. Fletcher
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTo escape the hell she created, a woman must team up with a novice warrior and return to her homeland in this gritty epic fantasy where delusions are literally made real.Zerfall awakens in an alley, wounded and unable to remember her past. Chased by an assassin out into the endless wastes of the desert, she is caught, disfigured, and left for dead... -
![The Nightmare Girl by Jonathan Janz]()
The Nightmare Girl by Jonathan Janz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen family man Joe Crawford confronts a young mother abusing her toddler, he has no idea of the chain reaction he's setting in motion. How could he suspect the young mother is part of an ancient fire cult, a sinister group of killers that will destroy anyone who threatens one of its members? When the little boy is placed in a foster home, the fanatics begin their mission of terror... -
![I Knocked Up Satan's Daughter: A Demonic Romantic Comedy by Carlton Mellick III]()
I Knocked Up Satan's Daughter: A Demonic Romantic Comedy by Carlton Mellick III
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJonathan Vandervoo lives a carefree life in a house made of legos, spending his days building lego sculptures and his nights getting drunk with his only friend-an alcoholic sumo wrestler named Shoji. It's a pleasant life with no responsibility, until the day he meets Lici. She's a soul-sucking demon from hell with red skin, glowing eyes, a forked tongue, and pointy red devil horns.. -
![At Fear's Altar by Richard Gavin]()
At Fear's Altar by Richard Gavin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“Richard Gavin's new collection has some of the finest weird fiction I have ever read, tales that are unique and effective. His sequel to H. P. Lovecraft's 'The Hound' is especially delicious. This is a wonderful book, highly recommended!” —W. H. Pugmire “Richard Gavin is one of the bright new stars in contemporary weird fiction... -
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![Witch by Patrick Logan]()
Witch by Patrick Logan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNo food, no money, no way to make a living... how far would you go to make sure that you and your daughter are fed? After her husband's death, Anne LaForet is alone... alone to raise her young daughter in an area of the swamp that is too foul to grow anything. Anne is no criminal, but circumstances force her to resort to theft... -
![The Meadows by London Clarke]()
The Meadows by London Clarke
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA decades-old murder. A strange, blood-thirsty cult. And a house full of spirits.It was supposed to be a new beginning, a fresh start in the Shenandoah Valley, where Scarlett’s memories weren’t riddled with drug addiction and rehab. But after purchasing an abandoned house with a checkered past in the hopes of transforming it into a luxury bed and breakfast, strange things start to happen... -
![Requiem for the Devil by Jeri Smith-Ready]()
Requiem for the Devil by Jeri Smith-Ready
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSet in modern-day Washington, D.C., Requiem for the Devil depicts the end of the Devil's ten-billion-year career. For the first time in his existence, Lucifer falls in love, and this event threatens to transform his identity and perhaps even his destiny. Gianna O'Keefe is the woman who drags him out of his ancient despair and points him toward possible salvation... -
![The Vessel by Adam Nevill]()
The Vessel by Adam Nevill
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'A watcher may remark that after sleeping for so long, the building appears to have been roused.'Struggling with money, raising a child alone and fleeing a volatile ex, Jess McMachen accepts a job caring for an elderly patient. Flo Gardner—a disturbed shut-in and invalid. But if Jess can hold this job down, she and her daughter, Izzy, can begin a new life... -
![Sisters of the Crimson Vine by P.L. McMillan]()
Sisters of the Crimson Vine by P.L. McMillan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJohn Ainsworth nearly died in that car crash.Soon he’ll learn there are worse fates.After a brutal accident, John awakens in the dilapidated Crimoria Convent under the care of thirteen unconventional nuns. Grievous injuries trap him within the borders of the ruined sanctuary and its strangely successful vineyard... -
![House Infernal by Edward Lee]()
House Infernal by Edward Lee
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA CITY, BUILT WITH BLOOD AND BONES... Three things are about to join a crypt in Hell with a house on Earth... Nuns molested and drained of blood. A virginal student seduced by the perverse and taunted by things worse than ghosts. And six Angels, imprisoned in Hell and made pregnant by God knows what... — A HOUSE, BUILT FOR THE CHURCH, BUT DESIGNED BY SATAN... When Venetia Barlow begins work at St... -
![The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories by Peter Haining, Elizabeth Albright]()
The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories by Peter Haining, Elizabeth Albright
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsExpanded with great new stories, this is the biggest and best anthology of ghostly hauntings ever. Over 40 tales of visitation by the undead--from vengeful and violent spirits, set on causing harm to innocent people tucked up in their homes, to rarer and more kindly ghosts, returning from the grave to reach out across the other side... -
![Devil's Creek by Todd Keisling]()
Devil's Creek by Todd Keisling
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGIVE US THAT OLD-TIME RELIGIONAbout fifteen miles west of Stauford, Kentucky lies Devil’s Creek. According to local legend, there used to be a church out there, home to the Lord’s Church of Holy Voices—a death cult where Jacob Masters preached the gospel of a nameless god.And like most legends, there’s truth buried among the roots and bones... -
![The Devil's Playground by Craig Russell]()
The Devil's Playground by Craig Russell
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA riveting 1920s Hollywood thriller about the making of the most terrifying silent film ever made, and a deadly search for the single copy rumored still to exist, from the internationally acclaimed author of The Devil Aspect .1927: Mary Rourke—a Hollywood studio fixer—is called urgently to the palatial home of Norma Carlton, one of the most recognizable stars in American silent film... -
![Little Eve by Catriona Ward]()
Little Eve by Catriona Ward
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWinner of the Shirley Jackson Award for best novel and the August Derleth Prize for best horror novel, Catriona Ward's Little Eve is a heart-pounding literary gothic with a devastating twist.Eve and Dinah are everything to one another, together day and night. They are raised among the Children, a clan ruled by a mysterious figure they call Uncle... -
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![White Pines by Gemma Amor]()
White Pines by Gemma Amor
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA woman, returning to her roots. A town, built on sacred land. A secret, cloaked in tradition and lore. Welcome to White Pines.Don't get too comfortable.This is the new cosmic-folk-Celtic-cult-horror novel from Gemma Amor, the Bram Stoker Award nominated author of Dear Laura, Cruel Works of Nature and Till the Score is Paid... -
![The Scream by John Skipp, Craig Spector]()
The Scream by John Skipp, Craig Spector
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRock 'n' Roll. Hell. Two great tastes that taste great together. Long before Elvis gyrated on the Sullivan Show or the Beatles toiled the smoky red-light bars of Hamburg, music has been sowing the seeds of liberation. Or damnation. With each new generation the edge of rebellion pushed farther. Rhythms quickened. Volume increased. Lyrics coarsened... -
![Halcyon by Rio Youers, George Newbern]()
Halcyon by Rio Youers, George Newbern
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratings'Halcyon' is the answer for all Americans who want to escape, but paradise isn't what it seems.A beautiful island in the middle of Lake Ontario―a self-sustaining community made up of people who want to live without fear, crime, or greed. Halcyon is run by Valerie Kemp, aka Mother Moon, benevolent and altruistic on the outside, but hiding an unimaginable darkness inside... -
![The Hungry Ones by Chris Sorensen]()
The Hungry Ones by Chris Sorensen
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAt the outskirts of Maple City sits the Crossroads Motel, a throwback to the days when the motor lodge was king. Two years ago, the motel was the site of an act so brutal that its buildings were left to rot.Jessie Voss, however, sees promise in the Crossroad's bare bones and buys it up, determined to breathe new life into the place... -
![Mister Magic by Kiersten White]()
Mister Magic by Kiersten White
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWho is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show -and discover the secret of its enigmatic host -in this dark supernatural thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hide.Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children's program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on... -
![God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe]()
God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLucifer's War, which damned legions of angels to Hell, is an ancient and bitter memory shrouded in the smoke and ash of the Inferno. The Fallen, those banished demons who escaped the full wrath of Heaven, have established a limitless and oppressive kingdom within the fiery confines of Hell...
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