swap_horiz Blackwater Alternatives

1

Boy's Life

Robert McCammon’s *Boy's Life* is a supernatural horror novel exploring themes of innocence and corruption through the e...

Supernatural Coming Of Age Small Town 1990S

9.0 Excellent

2

Swan Song

Robert McCammon’s *Swan Song* presents a sprawling post-apocalyptic horror narrative set in 1987. The novel explores the...

Post Apocalyptic Epic Supernatural 1980S

8.9 Great

3

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Ray Bradbury’s *Something Wicked This Way Comes* is a celebrated 1962 horror novel exploring themes of temptation and lo...

Classic Supernatural Coming Of Age Ray Bradbury

8.9 Great

4

Carrion Comfort

Dan Simmons's 1989 novel about psychic vampires who feed on human consciousness, tracing their activities from World War...

Epic 1980S Mind Control Dan Simmons

8.7 Great

5

The Hellbound Heart

Clive Barker's 1986 novella that introduced the Cenobites and the Lament Configuration puzzle box, directly inspiring th...

1980S Body Horror Demons Clive Barker

8.6 Great

6

'Salem's Lot

Stephen King's 1975 vampire novel set in the fictional Maine town of Jerusalem's Lot, widely regarded as a landmark of A...

Supernatural Vampire Small Town 1970S

8.5 Great

7

Summer of Night

Dan Simmons's 1991 novel set in a 1960 Illinois small town where a group of children discover and confront an ancient ma...

Supernatural Coming Of Age Small Town 1990S

8.4 Great

8

The Vampire Lestat

Anne Rice's 1985 second Vampire Chronicles entry, narrated by Lestat de Lioncourt, who recounts his origins and reinvent...

Vampire 1980S Gothic Anne Rice

8.3 Great

9

Weaveworld

Clive Barker's 1987 fantasy-horror novel about a magical realm hidden within a carpet whose inhabitants must be protecte...

Epic Dark Fantasy 1980S Clive Barker

8.2 Great

10

Watchers

A 1987 thriller by Dean Koontz about a genetically enhanced golden retriever that escapes a covert government laboratory...

Government Thriller 1980S Creature

8.2 Great

11

The Talisman

Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 co-authored fantasy-horror novel about a boy who travels a parallel world called th...

Dark Fantasy 1980S Road Trip Stephen King

8.1 Great

12

Koko

Peter Straub's 1988 novel following four Vietnam veterans who investigate a series of murders in Asia they believe are c...

Psychological 1980S Serial Killer War Trauma

8.0 Great

13

Little Heaven

Little Heaven is a 2016 horror novel by Canadian author Nick Cutter, notable for its extreme violence and its setting of...

Supernatural Western 2010S Nick Cutter

8.0 Great

14

The Monk

Matthew Lewis's 1796 Gothic masterpiece follows the violent downfall of a Catholic monk in Madrid, notorious for its sho...

Classic Supernatural Gothic Transgressive

8.0 Great

15

The Witching Hour

Anne Rice's 1990 novel launching the Mayfair Witches series, tracing a New Orleans dynasty of witches and their centurie...

Supernatural Family Saga 1990S Witches

7.8 Good

16

The Great and Secret Show

Clive Barker's 1989 novel, first in the Art trilogy, about a postal worker who discovers a mystical substance called the...

Epic Supernatural 1980S Cosmic Horror

7.7 Good

17

The Damnation Game

Clive Barker's 1985 debut novel, a Faustian horror story about a gambler relentlessly pursued by a supernatural figure d...

Supernatural 1980S Gothic Faustian

7.5 Good

18

The Dark

A 1980 horror novel by James Herbert about a malevolent supernatural darkness that spreads across London, possessing and...

Supernatural British 1980S James Herbert

7.3 Good

19

Mystery Walk

A 1983 horror novel by Robert R. McCammon about a young man named Billy Creekmore who possesses a supernatural ability t...

Supernatural 1980S Psychic Robert Mccammon

7.0 Good

20

Sepulchre

A 1987 horror novel by James Herbert in which a bodyguard protecting a powerful businessman gradually uncovers his clien...

Supernatural British 1980S Occult

7.0 Good