swap_horiz The Dark 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

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

6

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

7

'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

8

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

9

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

10

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

11

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

12

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

13

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

14

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

15

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

16

Haunted

A 1988 horror novel by James Herbert in which skeptical psychic investigator David Ash visits a country house and confro...

Ghost British 1980S Haunted House

7.2 Good

17

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

18

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

19

The Secret of Crickley Hall

A 2006 novel by James Herbert about a grief-stricken family who move into a remote English hall haunted by the ghosts of...

Ghost British 2000S Haunted House

6.8 Fair

20

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