swap_horiz Desperation 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

Blackwater

Blackwater is a novel by Michael McDowell set in 1980s Alabama. The story follows the Blackwood family as they confront...

Supernatural Family Saga 1980S Southern Gothic

8.9 Great

5

'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

6

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

7

My Soul to Keep

This 1997 supernatural thriller by American author Tananarive Due explores the dark side of immortality through a secret...

Family 1990S Immortal Tananarive Due

8.3 Great

8

The Cipher

Kathe Koja's 1991 debut body horror novel centers on a seemingly bottomless hole that warps the minds and bodies of thos...

1990S Cosmic Horror Transgressive Kathe Koja

8.2 Great

9

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

10

Bag of Bones

Stephen King's 1998 ghost story about a grieving novelist who retreats to his Maine lake house and encounters supernatur...

Grief 1990S Ghost Story Haunted House

7.8 Good

11

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

12

Duma Key

Stephen King's 2008 novel about a construction executive who survives a serious accident and develops uncanny supernatur...

Supernatural Florida 2000S Art

7.6 Good

13

The Between

Tananarive Due's 1995 debut novel is a contemporary horror story about a man haunted by alternate realities and dark fam...

Supernatural Psychological 1990S Tananarive Due

7.5 Good

14

Black House

The 2001 sequel to The Talisman, co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub, featuring an adult Jack Sawyer investigati...

Supernatural 2000S Serial Killer Stephen King

7.0 Good

15

Mr. X

Peter Straub's 1999 novel about a man who discovers his absent father's supernatural legacy, blending Lovecraftian horro...

Supernatural Mystery 1990S Lovecraftian

7.0 Good

16

Lasher

Anne Rice's 1993 second Mayfair Witches novel, continuing the story after the spirit Lasher has taken human form and pur...

Supernatural 1990S Demon Witches

6.8 Fair

17

The Regulators

Richard Bachman (Stephen King)'s 1996 novel set in an Ohio suburb terrorized by supernatural forces, published as a them...

Supernatural 1990S Suburban Evil

6.5 Fair

18

Others

A 1999 horror novel by James Herbert in which a physically deformed private detective investigating a missing baby case...

Supernatural Mystery British 1990S

6.5 Fair

19

Taltos

Anne Rice's 1994 third Mayfair Witches novel, revealing the origins of the Taltos, an ancient supernatural race whose hi...

Supernatural 1990S Witches Anne Rice

6.3 Fair

20

Rose Madder

Stephen King's 1995 novel following a woman who escapes an abusive husband and finds herself drawn into a mythological w...

Mythology Supernatural 1990S Stephen King

6.2 Fair