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| Abigale Hall by Lauren A. ForryIn postwar Britain, orphans Eliza and Rebecca are sent to a remote, rundown Welsh manor to work as servants. There, the housekeeper keeps them under her thumb in order to prevent them from learning the house's evil secrets. But 17-year-old Eliza finds disturbing evidence of old crimes and must act quickly to protect herself and her 12-year-old sister. Escalating tension and a dramatic climax make this gothic debut a true page-turner. |
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Gwendy's Button Box
by Stephen King
The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told... until now.There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: "Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me." On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat.
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| The White Road by Sarah LotzSoon after Simon Newman, the co-creator of a website that features creepy videos, has a nearly fatal experience spelunking in Wales, he embarks on another quest: to film dead bodies on Mt. Everest. But Simon finds that Mt. Everest's danger doesn't just come from the natural forces of cold, altitude, and risky climbs -- there's a malevolent entity up there. Or is his head injury from the Welsh disaster causing hallucinations? Fans of Dan Simmons' The Abominable will be enthralled. |
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| Black Mad Wheel by Josh MalermanIn this second novel by Josh Malerman, author of the highly acclaimed Bird Box, the U.S. government recruits a Detroit rock band in 1957 to search for the origin of a strange and destructive sound in the Namib Desert. After the trip to Africa, band leader and pianist Philip Tonka emerges from a coma in an Iowa clinic, and he struggles to recall what happened in the desert. Malerman's "uncluttered prose evokes awe and terror" (Library Journal, starred review), while his knowledge of music enriches his storytelling. |
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The Dark Net
by Benjamin Percy
The Dark Net is real. An anonymous and often criminal arena that exists in the secret far reaches of the Web, some use it to manage Bitcoins, pirate movies and music, or traffic in drugs and stolen goods. Now an ancient darkness is gathering there as well, threatening to spread virally into the real world. A ragtag crew is assembling to stop it: twelve-year-old Hannah, who has been fitted with the Mirage, a high-tech visual prosthetic to combat her blindness, and sees shadows surrounding some people; Lela, a technophobic journalist, has stumbled upon a story nobody wants her to uncover; Mike Juniper, a one-time child evangelist who suffers from personal and literal demons, has an arsenal of weapons stored in the basement of the homeless shelter he runs; and Derek, a hacker with a cause, believes himself a soldier of the Internet, part of a cyber army akin to Anonymous. They have no idea what the Dark Net really contains.
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| The Only Child by Andrew PyperCan a nameless man accused of a heinous crime in modern New York really be two centuries old and the model for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and Frankenstein? Psychiatrist Lily Dominick is driven to investigate this claim...especially because the monstrous man also says he's her father. After he escapes from the psychiatric hospital, she pursues him to Eastern Europe -- but she, too, is being followed! "Gothic fans, rejoice!" says Toronto's Globe and Mail about Canadian author Andrew Pyper's expert homage to 19th-century literature. |
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| The Loney by Andrew Michael HurleyReferring to a Bible verse (Matthew 9:32–34) that suggests that healing can come from the Devil rather than God, The Loney explores a series of events from the first-person narrator's childhood. As an adult, the narrator, nicknamed "Tonto," sees a news report that reminds him of the annual Easter pilgrimages his family made to a remote English coastal area. Realizing that secrets he had thought long buried might be revealed, he decides to write down his own version of the disturbing occurrences before anybody else does. This leisurely paced, lyrical, and haunting tale won the 2015 Costa Book Award for First Novel. |
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| We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonIn author Shirley Jackson's classic We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Mary Catherine "Merricat" Blackwood explains her family's story. Merricat is obsessive-compulsive and fascinated by witchcraft, her sister Constance is a recluse, and their uncle Julian is an invalid. Merricat is content with their isolation until Cousin Charles arrives and begins harassing her, until she deals with him in shocking fashion. Throughout, Jackson portrays the Blackwood house as one of the story's characters, intensifying the brooding quality of this intricate gothic novel. |
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| The Quick by Lauren OwenFans of Victorian-set gothic horror, vampire tales with large casts of characters, London's creepy, dark streets, and leisurely, elegant writing will appreciate this immersive read. In her debut, novelist Lauren Owen recounts the tale of a young poet from Yorkshire who goes to London -- and disappears. When his sister goes looking for him, she discovers a group of amateur vampire hunters trying to stop the murderous plots of a socially elite occult society. If you enjoyed Bram Stoker's original Dracula or Charles Palliser's Rustication, you won't want to miss this. |
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| Fiercombe Manor by Kate RiordanIn the summer of 1933, Alice Everleigh, unwed and pregnant, takes refuge in a country manor, where her mother's childhood friend serves as housekeeper to the Stanton family. Free to wander about the place, Alice inevitably discovers secrets from the past. As she becomes absorbed in a 30-year-old diary left by Lady Elizabeth Stanton, Alice is plagued by menacing supernatural phenomena. Fans of Daphne du Maurier and Diane Setterfield will find this "bewitching blend" of gothic elements "atmospheric and entertaining" (Publishers Weekly). |
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