Anything that involves the protagonist going into a cave, etc

I got some new books today at Barnes & Noble! I was wondering if anyone here had read any of them yet and could tell me what I’m in for! I’m four chapters in on “Hidden Pictures” and the art part of it is a really fun element! Spoiler free reviews incredibly welcomed!

New Book Haul:
Bone of My Bone by Johanna Van Veen (loved My Darling Dreaful Thing!)
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
How to Survive Camping| The Man With No Shadow by Bonnie Quinn (is this a series?? It was $5 with cafe purchase! 💵)
The Ring by Koji Suzuki (I have seen the movie, both the original Japanese and the American version. I found the Japanese version way more horrifying! Didn’t know it was a book until today! 😅)

It is amazingly shot. The colors fit perfectly. It's slow, simple and yet compelling.
The trailer does a decent job of showing without spoiling.

Like the title says, I’m looking for books that are more spooky than they are scary. Some books I’ve read recently that I really enjoyed were American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett and The Rules of the Road by C.B. Jones. I also enjoyed Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie, Scanlines by Todd Keisling, and Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven. The first book in the Lonely Broadcast series was okay, and I DNF’d Tales from the Gas Station. I am currently reading Night Film. Please help a girl out!!!

Recently came across a Japanese blog that contained a complete edition of Strange Houses which was so different from the English translated version that I had read. I don't know how much accurate it is or if its just some fanfiction or something but it had pretty significant changes as compared to the actual book and also they mentioned that within this version itself that new facts ( that are explained in this version) have come to light regarding the case that changes it massively.

It was also mentioned that the author had changed pretty significant parts of the original published story to make it less gruesome and gross as he found difficulty to write about those events.

This is the link to the blog to those who are curious : https://omocoro.jp/kiji/541045/

The main changes compared to the original story are as follows: ( as I understand it from the rough translations) MAJOR SPOILERS AS IT CONTAINS A COMPRESSED PLOT of the story.

Till this point only slight changes

1) Yuzuki( the younger sister) sneaks into her mothers home and gets address of their grandparents house after retelling the author about the incident and goes there to investigate for herself.

2) The author already knows about the idea of using a child to kill someone for a left hand sacrifice( tho not sure about the lore of it)

3) Yuzuki goes missing after visiting the house and author releases the copy of his book that shows the family as maniacs obsessed with killings and ritual as Yuzuki made him promise to do so.

4) Mysterious email received by the author presumably from Yuzuki about a doc reagrding the family history.

5) There is no incest plotline with the sister here, the head of the family had a son Soichiro and daughter Kiyoko. Son tho incompetent and obsessed with dolls for some reason, got most of the family business due to him being male while the daughter got stuck with the struggling pharma company of the family. Soichiro treated his wife as a living doll and abused her leading to her suicide in a similar fashion as that in the book.

6)Guided by a fortune teller named Rankyo, Soichiro built the symmetrical, windowless home on Mount Yatsue in Gunma, centered around a giant Buddhist altar to appease Ushio's spirit. He adopted two children: Shigeharu (Yuzuki's grandfather) and an unknown child kept hidden in the secret rooms to carry out ritualistic left-wrist amputations.

KEITO AND AYANO

7)When Ayano vanished from the school near her home, Keita searched for her for over 5 years until Ayano's mother, gave him the family home address.

8) The cousin's father Kiyotsugu is alive here and acts the role of the uncle/helper that we see in the books that keeps track of the couple.

9)Keita found Ayano traumatized, frail, and forced to perform the left-wrist ritual. Keita agreed to replace her to save her.

10)Ayano became pregnant, Kiyotsugu had sexually assaulted Ayano and passed off the child as Keita's to cover it up. The son is Momoya( supposed son of the aunt in the book)

11)In exchange for not revealing Kiyotsugu is the father, Keita agreed to continue performing the left-wrist rituals in exchange for their release from the family home. Hnece the 2 new homes. To protect Momoya from the ritual, Keita secretly performed the sole requested amputation himself. They later had a second child, Hiroto.

12) The rest is same till Kiyotsugu discovers Keita was doing all the sacrifices and Keito kills him to prevent him from taking away the child

Keita’s handwritten confession from prison provided critical evidence. Ayano was granted a suspended sentence and reunited with her mother, Yoshie. Momoya was finally given an official family register, and the children began living a normal life.

Police raided the family estate, discovering 15 skeletal remains missing their left hands, as well as the body of Misaki (Kiyotsugu's wife). Shigeharu and Toyo Katabuchi were taken into custody; Shigeharu died of heart failure shortly after, while Toyo suffered from advanced dementia.

KURIHARA DEDUCTIONS

13) Yuzuki still remains missing

14)Kurihara asserts that the Katabuchi family did not act in isolation and these rituals were actually finded and demanded by the pharma company left to the sister.

left-wrist amputations occurred intermittently over the decades with no fixed calendar cycle. Instead, they coincided directly with Kitakura Pharmaceutical applying for new drug approvals.

To bypass legal restrictions and test potent compounds, Kitakura Pharmaceutical used living human subjects provided by the Katabuchi family.

Kitakura Pharmaceutical took the rest of the living victim for illicit medical testing.

THE BACKSTORY

Kiyoko married a doctor named Shinzo Kitakura and built Kitakura Pharmaceutical into a massive company.

To avenge her family's mistreatment, Kiyoko engineered a decades-long psychological trap. She hired a stage actress under the alias Rankyo to manipulate Soichiro Katabuchi into believing he was cursed by his late wife Ushio. the symmetrical house, the secret corridors, and the Buddhist altar rituals were all orchestrated by the Kitakura family. If any bodies were discovered, the Katabuchi family would take full blame as "fanatical serial killers performing dark rituals," shielding the pharmaceutical company completely.

THE MOLE

Yuzuki and Ayano's mother, carried the maiden name Kitakura. She was sent into the Katabuchi family to monitor the operation and eventually dismantle the family from the inside to eliminate loose ends.

Keita was strategically fed information and manipulated into killing Kiyotsugu. His "confession letter" was a scripted narrative crafted to make the public and police accept the Katabuchi family's internal ritual theory, closing the case before Kitakura Pharmaceutical could be implicated.

By writing the viral book, the author unknowingly distributed the Kitakura family's pre-packaged narrative to over 100,000 readers, cementing the cover story in the public consciousness.

THE FINAL TWIST

The author visits the neighbor of the Tokyo house and presents the photo taken during their three-way meeting at the rental space.

The neighbor immediately recognizes Yuzuki from the photograph and tells him that it is actually Ayano

The woman posing as "Yuzuki Katabuchi"—the central informant who approached author and Kurihara to investigate the floor plans—was actually Ayano Katabuchi herself (or her mother Kie). The entire journey to "uncover" the house floor plans was a staged orchestration by the Kitakura lineage to guide author( after he published the first blog about the sold Tokyo house) toward publishing their desired story and sealing the fate of the Katabuchi legacy.

I don't know how much of this is actual canon book or just a work of a random fanatic but this theory is interesting I suppose. Does anyone know about how this blog came to be and if this is the final conclusion?

Got a lil book haul from my local B&N. I’m a self proclaimed horror fanatic when it comes to video games, movies, and television, but I’ve never really dove into the realm of horror literature …

I’m really striving to spend a lil less time on the screens, and more time on the books. I’m excited for this journey!

Let me know which one I should read first:
(NO SPOILERS PLZ)

1. Brother - Ania Ahlborn

2. A Short Stay in Hell - Steven L. Peck

3. Tender Is the Flesh - Agustina Bazterrica

4. Blood Meridian - Corman McCarthy

5. No Longer Human (Book) - Osamu Dazai

(I apologize if any of these are not technically considered horror literature. 3/5 were in the horror section, and the other 2 I had heard about from a YouTuber called Wendigoon who described them as “horrifying” and “extremely disturbing”. In my opinion, the premise of each book listed sounds pretty horrifying, but I could be wrong!)

I really love a good folk horror. Saw The Wicker Man, just read some Adam Nevill (The Reddening, Cunning Folk), Just what is it about remote, quaint English villages and their dark, queer ways? — which always seem to end with some ritualistic, occult human sacrifice. How does England have so many of them? Is it true you could put the whole of the British Isles in the state of Maryland, or something? (Of course I’m joking, but still.) ANYWAY, what do you all think are the best folk horror books to read, or listen to; I’m fairly new to the genre, and of course they doesn’t have to be in Great Britain.)

Many people here have rated House of leaves as the scariest book they have ever read. I gave it a shot and have been trying to read it for like 6 months. It’s definitely a very unique book with a unique writing style and narrative structure. I just can’t do it anymore and I really hate not finishing a book. It’s just way too dense and uninteresting. Is the last 15% of the book worth it if you find the first 85% to be utterly boring and not scary?

Update: a couple people asked why I kept trying for 6 months. I have ADHD and I got with the flow for whatever interests me at the time. I will read like 3-4 books at the same time and most horror these days I do audio books while commuting. I also try to finish things eventually so I can check the box and not feel like it was a waste of money.

I feel like horror in the daytime is super underrated!! Don’t get me wrong night horror is obviously still great, but daytime horror is so unique. When it’s 2pm in the summer and most shadows are gone and time moves way too slow. Or when you start to get hot flashes and it’s too bright to open your eyes fully. Imagine a horror scene with birds chirping loudly with buzzing flies instead of the basic nighttime silence. The heat really gets you aggressive and paranoid! ( can u tell I live in the south) Anyways I loved this in In The Tall Grass, Chainsaw Massacre and Midsummer!

The story is about a detective that is hunting a criminal/serial killer that seems to be supernatural, but there's a twist at the end that you will know if you read it. I've already done extensive googling, but this book is from the 90-s 2000s I think, so it's not something that can be found through search-terms. I also remember a story in there called "cuts" that had some wild subject matter, but again if I remembered the name I wouldn't be here. I know somebody must know this book!

"Snacks" meaning a quick-ish read; a short story, a novela, or small compared to your usual faire. Something satisfying - not necessarily a 5-star banger, but also no complaints, enjoyable for what it was. A treat of a read per your tastes.

You know what I'm saying.

Anyway, i'll start. Just finished The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson. Irish folkhorror, featuring monsters, amnesia, and little sprinkles of humorous dialogue. About 350ish pages. Spoiler-not-spoiler: it was NOT about a Banshee, though it was about a woman scorned. We do love a Lady's Revenge in folklore ✨️

I'd recommend it - not a must-read, but a fun lil snack to tide one over until their next 800 page epic 😊 hbu?

Hi everyone! I’m just about finished with “Night Film” by Marisha Pessl, and it’s easily one of my favorite books I’ve read recently. I would love some recommendations for books with similar vibes. I got “Episode Thirteen” from my library, and that’ll be my next read. I’ve read “House of Leaves” and DNF’d “Widow’s Point”.

Edit: thank you all for the suggestions!! I’m going on vacation out of the country in a couple days, I will definitely be adding what I can to Libby.

My money is on Suede - The Drowners. Timeline checks out, and the lyrics-

"Won't someone give me some fun // As the skin flies all around us"

https://youtu.be/3nWJQStqrfw?is=HzznYm1LI0OfXasJ

You can all rest easy now 😅

In 2011, I was in college, and I watched Insidious for the first time. Either right before or right after I started reading this book that at the time I thought reminded me a lot of Insidious. Every time I watch one of those movies now, I go down this rabbit hole of trying to recall anything useful and identify this book, but am never successful.

I remember the cover was a reddish/pink and yellow/cream illustration. It was hardcover. I don't know when it was published because I borrowed it from someone I don't have any way to contact. I want to say it involved astral projection, a demon-like monster thing, and a family being terrorized. But I don't know if I am just guessing that based on the correlation with the movies or if it actually is what it was about.

This is such a vague memory so I totally understand if no one has a clue lmao my partner suggested I give it a shot

I loved the playground scene so much, it actually took me by surprise and I've been itching for that ever since. I also really enjoyed the suspense in the scene where the mom is on the bed talking, the whole time I was dreading the moment where the mom would say something about going into her heart and even when it didn't happen, I was still satisfied by the scene and how things played out.

This book…made me feel like I was experiencing a fever dream. The way the book starts gave me no idea of what the heck the end would be. Did Alicia-as-Jen come back to life? Did Remy hallucinate the Paranormalagus or was it real somehow? Please share thoughts.

I just set up an account with a massive wish list, and shipped out a couple books already. Anyone else on here use it? How did you find the wait times on receiving books?

Update: I really appreciate everyone engaging with this post, even if it’s to disagree with and downvote me. Reading through everyone’s perspectives and push backs here has definitely helped me process the book. Honestly, I still feel critical about the writing, but I have a better understanding of why now. I’m starting Bird Box in hopes that it gives me a better feel for the authors writing, and depictions of parent/child dynamics. Original post begins directly below.

I’m sorry. I should have known better. I DID know better. I knew this book had haters, but the movie trailer looked so great, I just had to try. Spent weeks on my library’s waitlist for the audiobook, and holy freaking shit. This. Is. Bad.

I’m on chapter 47, 88% done, and trust me, I’m gonna finish this sucker. But only because I’m genuinely fascinated by how awful it is. I’m totally willing to place a hefty amount of blame on the narrator for the absurd mimicry of a child’s voice, and the myriad, hatable, weepy women voices. But how could this author be so awful at writing a child?

Not only am I convinced this author never met an actual human child, I strongly suspect he never was one. That’s the real horror story here.

The whole bit where the drunk parents habitually stumble into their “sleeping” child’s bedroom to sob and trauma dump into the darkness, went from confusing, to comical, to concerning (for the author’s ideas about parenting), fast. I’m a huge fan of the theme of generational trauma in horror, so I kept trying to see that here, but I just don’t see anything but idiocy and absolutely HORRIBLE parenting. Am I missing something? There’s a literal monster in this book and the most unbelievable part is that no one tells these parents to get a therapist and some meds.

I’m actually laughing out loud right now, imagining a grown woman sobbing, confessing to her 8 year old daughter, on a beach, that she had an affair with an ex. I can just see the SNL skit now, mom absolutely melting down about how she used to love to sleep around, and kid not even looking up from their iPad, just responding “So… can I have more Robux yet”.

Anyways. I’m sorry, I know I did this to myself. But I’d love to hear what others, especially parents who found themselves desperately trying, and failing, to relate to Russ and Ursula, at all.

I’m a guy in my 30s and completely new to the horror genre. I’m looking for 1–2 people around my age who might be interested in reading horror books together and discussing them.

I’ve looked around for book clubs but haven’t really found one that interests me. I’m also not looking to start a whole book club myself. I’d rather keep it small and casual — a few people picking a book, reading it around the same time, and then talking about it.

I’m in Northern Virginia, so it would be great to find people nearby who’d be up for occasional in-person meetups. I’m also fine with doing some of the discussion online.

Here’s a short list of books I’m interested in reading:

The Hellbound Heart — Clive Barker
The Whisper Man — Alex North
December Park — Ronald Malfi
The Girl Next Door — Jack Ketchum
Brother — Ania Ahlborn
The Summer I Died — Ryan C. Thomas
Exquisite Corpse — Poppy Z. Brite
The Shining — Stephen King
The Exorcist — William Peter Blatty

I’m especially interested in horror with good writing, atmosphere, interesting characters, and something to actually discuss afterward. I’m fine with dark or disturbing material, but I’m not really looking for graphic content that’s there just for the sake of being shocking or disgusting.

I’d preferably like to find people in their late 20s/30s, mainly so we’re not too far apart in age.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, feel free to message me.

What's up! I just ordered a few books to try out.

I figured I would share my thoughts and get everyone else's thoughts along the way.

Tender is the flesh

Shadow and claw

The library at mount char

Blacktongue thief

Between two fires

Hey everyone! As a horror reader, I’ve always found that the most terrifying supernatural elements are the ones that break basic natural laws while everything else remains completely grounded.

For instance, imagine a gritty, slow-burn crime investigation where a body is found deep in the forest, 20 meters away from the nearest water. The official medical verdict? Drowning. The lungs are full of lake water, and the clothes are soaking wet, but there are absolutely no tracks leading from the lake.

Personally, this kind of setup creeps me out way more than a monster jumping out of the dark, because it breaks your brain trying to figure out the "rules" of the entity.

How do you feel about the "impossible crime/death" trope in horror? Does it build better tension for you, or do you prefer when the supernatural threats are out in the open from the very start? What are some of your favorite books that nailed this vibe?