Why am I passionate about this?

Reading Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and other “scary stories” in high school ignited a hunger for suspense. In writing my own gothic horror novel, I explored the why’s and how’s a bit, and discovered that the thing I love about lurking, terrifying danger in books is that it bares a character’s soul more rapidly, and more believably, than almost any other plot device. When we face a fate worse than death, we confront our deepest motivators and challenge bedrock beliefs. I hope you’ll enjoy the books on this list as much as I do! I feel like their particular uniqueness is hard to find.


I wrote

A Voracious Grief

By Lindsey Lamh,

Book cover of A Voracious Grief

What is my book about?

Unable to carry on in London high society after their brother’s death, overprotective aristocrat Ambrose Bancroft and his increasingly unstable…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Door on Half-Bald Hill

Lindsey Lamh Why did I love this book?

In a Celtic-feeling village the reader follows the story of an absolutely ordinary protagonist, Idris. He’s a poet who chooses great peril in order to discover the truth behind a growing despair plaguing the land.

It is the end of times, according to all the oracles. But Idris refuses to accept annihilation’s cold embrace. As the villagers scrape by despite sickness and blighted crops, the bard goes on a search for hope. In the haunted, banshee-infested moor, he discovers the door on half-bald hill.

I really loved this story because it was all my favorite things—a bleak, earthy landscape with a sharp sense of foreboding haunting every page, and in sharp relief, a group of very real persons, each fostering a flame of hope despite overwhelming burdens and gnawing griefs. 

By Helena Sorensen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Door on Half-Bald Hill as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When the Bloodmoon rose, death came rushing into the world. Now the water is bitter, blight consumes everything, the Crone haunts the hills, and the Druid of Blackthorn searches desperately for hope. Sorensen's lyrical tale of light overcoming darkess is a matchless work of Celtic-inspired lore.


Book cover of A Treason of Thorns

Lindsey Lamh Why did I love this book?

One of the most unique stories I’ve ever read, A Treason of Thorns is about an alternate England where magic permeates the land, held in check by several great houses, all of which are possessed by eldricht spirits.

One of these great houses has been promised a Keeper, one who will give her life to serve it, her body slowly poisoned by its power. Violet isn’t afraid of her precious Burleigh House. At least, not until she falls in love and must choose, for the first time, whether she really can put the house first. In the meantime, Burleigh is falling to pieces and the King is bent on its destruction.

A truly thrilling, fast-paced story of risk and daring on the part of a iron-willed young woman who has everything to lose. 

By Laura E Weymouth,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Treason of Thorns as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

An enchancting, lyrical novel from the acclaimed
author of A Light Between Worlds!
'Weymouth's prose is lush and evocative, filled with palpable
descriptions and compelling mystery' KIRKUS

'With lush prose and an eye for atmospheric detail, Weymouth
adeptly spins a tale in which thge heroine is torn between passion
and purpose, destruction and duty.' PUBLISHERS
WEEKLY

When her father is convicted of high treason, Violet Sterling
is exiled. Seven years later she has a chance to return to her beloved
Burleigh House and to Wyn, the boy she left behind. But Burleigh
- one of the six great magical houses…


Book cover of Anathema: A Tragedy in Seven Scenes

Lindsey Lamh Why did I love this book?

Anathema is a 1910 Russian play about a man who inherits great wealth and is haunted by a manipulative spirit called Anathema.

Although David’s intention of using his wealth to help others is altruistic, Anathema gradually leads him down a path of damnation. This play makes you think deeply about the meaning behind each character’s dialogue. You don’t necessarily trust what is said because some characters have hidden motives.

The lurking terror is not, as you might think, the antagonizing Anathema. Instead, the play possesses a uniquely impending sense of doom as David’s life comes to its end and Anathema is the one begging for truth, leaving us wondering how many souls he will mislead in his search for the inverse of damnation.

By Leonid Andreyev,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Anathema as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank…


Book cover of The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Lindsey Lamh Why did I love this book?

Something about the cover called to me from an airport bookshelf—I just knew it was about grief.

Using the reminisce of a 40-year-old attending a funeral, this story illustrates the strangeness of human connection and its unassuming power. Much of the book is a mourning of lost memory, lost friendships, and lost innocence as time has carried the boy he was to the unfamiliar, sterile territory of middle age.

He had somehow forgotten encountering otherworldly evil and watching horrors unfold around him. He’d nearly lost his life. Apart from the sacrifice of one special someone, his story would have ended at age 11. And he’d forgotten.

The antagonist of this story is incredibly creepy, but that’s not the chord that struck deepest for me. It was the stinging, metallic smell of grief that soaks every page that made this a story I’ll never forget. 

By Neil Gaiman, Elise Hurst (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked The Ocean at the End of the Lane as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 'BOOK OF THE YEAR'

AN ACCLAIMED WEST END THEATRE PRODUCTION *****

'Neil Gaiman's entire body of work is a feat of elegant sorcery. He writes with such assurance and originality that the reader has no choice but to surrender to a waking dream' ARMISTEAD MAUPIN

'Some books just swallow you up, heart and soul' JOANNE HARRIS

'Summons both the powerlessness and wonder of childhood, and the complicated landscape of memory and forgetting' GUARDIAN

---

'My favourite response to this book is when people say, 'My childhood was nothing like that - and it was as if…


Book cover of Boys of Blur

Lindsey Lamh Why did I love this book?

What if a Florida farm town was overrun by anthropomorphic swamp monsters and the only people standing between them and the townspeople was an ancient legend with a rusty sword and a twelve-year-old boy?

Charlie Reynolds has two dads and both are good at football, but one was the reason his mom left Florida years ago and his step-dad is the reason they’re moving back. Now Charlie must prove himself to the new football team and grapple with his dad’s abandonment, all while escaping the weird creatures crawling out of the swamp. He struggles to know just what it means to be himself and to be brave at the same time.

I enjoyed this modern Beowulf retelling with its weird monsters, family drama, and incredibly high stakes. I could never anticipate what was going to happen next. 

By N. D. Wilson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Boys of Blur as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Fans of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and Louis Sachar's Holes will enjoy this story about a boy and the ancient secrets that hide deep in the heart of the Florida everglades near a place called Muck City.

When Charlie moves to the small town of Taper, Florida, he discovers a different world. Pinned between the everglades and the swampy banks of Lake Okeechobee, the small town produces sugar cane . . . and the fastest runners in the country. Kids chase muck rabbits in the fields while the cane is being burned and harvested. Dodging flames and blades and breathing…


Explore my book 😀

A Voracious Grief

By Lindsey Lamh,

Book cover of A Voracious Grief

What is my book about?

Unable to carry on in London high society after their brother’s death, overprotective aristocrat Ambrose Bancroft and his increasingly unstable sister Mattie must retreat to their country estate where a mysterious room draws Mattie into another realm; but when Ambrose discovers the vanishing room is actually possessed by a demon, he must grapple with his failure to care for Mattie’s feelings before she’s lost to him forever.

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Black Crow Cabin

By Peggy Webb,

Book cover of Black Crow Cabin

Peggy Webb Author Of Black Crow Cabin

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Bookworm Pianist Master Gardener Gigi to 4 grands Lover of porches and hot tea

Peggy's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

A small town in the grips of evil... a single mom with nowhere to turn... and a madman who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

He is the Collector, and he's taking prized possessions, pets, and children, keeping what he wants, and burying his rejects in shallow graves. When he comes after Rachel Logan, an ordinary schoolteacher living on a ranch with her grandmother and her two children, she has no weapon except her wits.

But how can she stop a monster who outdoes Hannibal Lecter in cunning and depravity?

Black Crow Cabin

By Peggy Webb,

What is this book about?

A small town in the grips of evil... a single mom with nowhere to turn... and a madman who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

He is the Collector, and he's taking prized possessions, pets, and children, keeping what he wants, and burying his rejects in shallow graves. When he comes after Rachel Logan, an ordinary schoolteacher living on a ranch with her grandmother and her two children, she has no weapon except her wits.

But how can she stop a monster who outdoes Hannibal Lecter in cunning and depravity?


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in magical realism, swamps, and war?

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Swamps 7 books
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