The Malevolent Dark Horror Fiction Top 25 – August 2024 Edition
Check out the chart for July
1. I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
The four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Only Good Indians pens a tale set in 1989 told from the perspective of a young killer in a small west Texas town.
2. Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
The Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Camp Damascus tells the story of a man chasing success in Hollywood only to be haunted by his past.
3. The Upwelling by F. Paul Wilson
Book 1 of The Hidden series tells the story of three lives drawn together by an apocalypse. Written by the 2008 Bram Stoker Awards Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
4. Loneliness is a Monster by J. Boote
Book 5 in The Monsters series follows a bullied outsider whose life changes dramatically after his father dies.
5. Behind by Bentley Little
The Bram Stoken Award-winning author of The Revelation writes about a man who’s haunted by a house from his youth that only he could see and a woman’s singing from within that only he could hear.
6. The Town the World Forgot by Boris Bacic
Book 1 in The Town That Shouldn’t Exist series is about a newlywed couple who take refuge from a blizzard in a strange town where a deadly entity stalks the streets.
7. In the Lonely Hours by Shannon Morgan
A modern ghost story about the new inhabitants of a remote centuries-old castle in northwest Scotland who must confront its tragic and terrifying history.
8. Wolf Haven by Anthony M. Strong
Book 15 of the John Decker Thriller series finds Decker returning to his hometown to face an old enemy that’s picking off the town’s residents one by one.
9. The Undead 33: One True Race by RR Haywood
In Season Five of the long-running zombie series, the Battle for Gatwick is over, but the team is broken and in desperate need of rest because the darkest days still lie ahead.
10. Tricksters by N.L. McLaughlin
A secretive pack of bloodthirsty coyote shapeshifters prey on unwitting travelers who venture into town. When his sister fails to return home, a man sets out to find her and uncover the truth of the tiny desert town in west Texas where she disappeared.
11. Tides of Darkness by Andrew Van Wey
Book 2 of Beyond the Lost Coast series follows the lives of a girl and her uncle who are determined to rebuild within the town they want to call home … if only the ghosts would leave her alone.
12. Red Inside by Bridgett Nelson
The two-time Splatterpunk Award-winning author of A Bouquet of Viscera writes a body horror nightmare about workers and patients trapped inside a hospital with an unknown and deadly arachnid species that have the ability to spread through the building at a terrifying pace.
13. Down Into the Sea by Dan Franklin
A vicious twist on coming-of-age horror and on the unyielding, transformative power of desire and the dangers of standing in its path.
14. Book of Madness by Tim Waggoner
The four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author continues his rollicking mash-up of urban fantasy and cosmic horror with Book 2 of his Custodians of the Cosmos series. Billed as Men in Black meets Hellraiser.
15. Living Death Race: Beauty & the Brains by John Everson
The Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Covenant puts the pedal to the metal in an apocalyptic near-future where zombies have taken over, causing the remaining humans to live walled up in a few key cities, except for once a year when their doors open to let the bravest of drivers out to compete in the Living Death Race.
16. The Visitor by Kevin Bachar
The screenwriter of the 2022 horror film The Inhabitant tells a terrifying story of survival for a woman and her dog who find themselves in a cabin during a blizzard and surrounded by strange tracks and mysterious sounds in the forest beyond.
17. Slush Pile by Jason Nickey
A 12-story collection of psychological horror, quiet horror, gore, and the extreme from the author of They Come from Within and Rural Decay.
18. Beyond the Bounds of Infinity edited by Vaughn A. Jackson and Stephanie Pearre
19. Dog by Matt Shaw
A psychological thriller about a man who adopts a dog after losing his wife to a tragic illness. When a stranger claiming to be the dog’s rightful owner knocks on his door and demands the dog back, the man becomes the target of stalking and harassment, forcing him to try and get enough evidence for police before the stranger’s actions escalate.
20. Scream in the Dark by Daemon Manx
Book 1 in The Ojanox series is set in 1979 as a small New York town prepares to welcome the fall season. For one 10-year-old boy, the promising thrills of Halloween are just around the corner, but a mysterious outbreak threatens the children.
21. The Cabin of Nowhere: Dandelion by Flint Maxwell
A young couple on a weekend camping trip in the secluded Ohio woods are forced to find shelter in an abandoned cabin where an old leatherbound book written in red creates a sinister reality for the lovers.
22. That Which Stands Outside by Mark Morris
A London man falls in love with a woman from an isolated Nordic island. When they travel to her homeland, she encounters hostility because the islanders believe her to be a child of a mythic race called the Jötnar. She dismisses the claim as superstitious nonsense, but when the island is rocked by a series of devastating events, he finds himself caught up in a terrifying battle.
23. The Gray God by Sean Flynn
A high school senior cooks meth for his uncle while his cousin hunts for mushrooms to provide cover for their time in the woods. However, the excitement turns to terror when the cousin vanishes in the forest near a reclusive retreat for troubled youths … a retreat that may hold the answer to the cousin’s disappearance.
24. A Safe Place to Die by Otto Schafer
Book 2 in the Wrack and Ruin series continues the story of Zoe and Oliver McCallister after a parasite-carrying asteroid has unleashed a zombie plague upon the world. Billed as “perfect for fans of The Walking Dead or World War Z, and for anyone who has wondered if they could survive when the dead rise.”
25. Here & Now by Amy Cross
Book 1 of The Duchess of Zombie Street series is about a desperate band of survivors trying to survive a zombie apocalypse while taking refuge on a single London street.
THE NEXT TEN
The next 10 releases just outside the Top 25 chart:
26. When I Look at the Sky, All I See Are Stars by Steve Stred
27. Grievers’ Wood by Stephen Barnard
28. Blood Lust by Ab. Cynthe
29. A Flock of Crows and Other Short Stories by Devin Cabrera
30. The Ouija Board Said It Was Hungry by Brandon Wills
31. The Witch of Woodplumpton by David Hatton
32. Drowning in the Drink by Radar DeBoard
33. Wicked Games by Izzy Ravas
34. The Folk in the Woods by E.M. McConnell
35. The Etiquette of Booby Traps by John Boden