At university, I studied Classical Studies, which leans heavily into archaeology. As I went on more site visits, I became much more aware of the worlds and lives which exist below our feet. Later, when working as a teacher in Poland, I had the chance to visit one of Europeās deepest active coal mines. The experience surprised me in so many ways, not least the oppressive heat and the darknessāsomething you feel you can almost touch. From that moment onwardāespecially as a horror writerāIāve found myself wondering about the nightmares lurking below our world, as well as above, and beyond.
As someone who has explored the tombs of Egypt in real life, this story dug its claws right into me.
As well as all the claustrophobia, the darkness, and the sense thereās no way out, Moreland confronts you with ancient gods and monsters so terrifying youāll be testing the walls for a secret passage out of there every step of the way.
"The suspense of the story, aided by sly hints from the author, and the atmosphere of a dark, claustrophobic tomb work together to create a scary story. The characters' fear invites the reader into the world to experience the fright themselves."
- Booklist Starred Review
Deep inside the tomb exists a hidden world of wonder and terror.
In 1935, British archaeologists vanished inside an Egyptian cave. A year later, one man returned covered in mysterious scars.
Egyptologist Imogen Riley desperately wants to know what happened to the ill-fated expedition led by her grandfather. On a quest for answers, she joinsā¦
What could be more terrifying than having to plumb the depths of absolute darkness, alone, with nothing but a single cord separating you from escape and being stuck down there forever? How about being on a distant planet, with a sentient AI assistant who is just as likely to be friend or foe?
Author Caitlin Starling delivers scares and isolation in spades in this unique sci-fi horror.
"This claustrophobic, horror-leaning tour de force is highly recommended for fans of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation and Andy Weir's The Martian." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A thrilling, atmospheric debut with the intensive drive of The Martian and Gravity and the creeping dread of Annihilation, in which a caver on a foreign planet finds herself on a terrifying psychological and emotional journey for survival.
When Gyre Price lied her way into this expedition, she thought she'd be mapping mineral deposits, and that her biggest problems would be cave collapses and gear malfunctions. Sheā¦
Rusty Allen is an Iraqi War veteran with PTSD. He moves to his grandfather's cabin in the mountains to find some peace and go back to wilderness training.
He gets wrapped up in a kidnapping first, as a suspect and then as a guide. He tolerates the sheriff's deputy withā¦
In this novella, Curran taps into that sense of whatās below our feet as another world.
A world from a past so distant from ours that weāve forgotten what lurks there. The reader follows Boyd down into the depths and understands his reasons for taking the job in the bowels of the mine, even as things take turn after turn for the worse.
Curran knows exactly when to paint the horror vividly and when to hold back, or lean into the unsettling and the uncanny.
With a kid on the way, Boyd needed the job bad. But the idea of going underground at the Hobart Mine, down into the dark labyrinth of tunnels to get at the raw ore, left him with a brooding sense of unease. Maybe it was the fact that his father had died down in the mines or maybe it was something much worse. Digging a new drift down in Level #8, the lowest level of the mine, an immense shaft opens up. Boyd and a few others volunteer to explore it. Some 400 feet down, they find a passage thatā¦
This book leans heavily into old English folklore, has terrifying creatures and believable characters.
Above and beyond all that, though, is the atmosphere the author creates in the rabbit warren of the Chislehurst Caves. Itās no secret that Budd is a veteran visitor to this terrifying complex of tunnels and caverns, and it really shows in this book. Even the āquietā moments in Enter the Darkness had me shuddering.
Five days before the end of humanity, five unlikely heroes find themselves on an impossible quest to outlive the apocalypse.
5 Stars is the survival story of a mother and her baby facing impossible odds amidst a global apocalypse. Set in a dying world overseen by āThe Neon God,ā theā¦
Like with Tim Curranās The Underdewlling, above, Eyes in the Dust leans into the cosmic with its approach to whatās below our feet.
A giant borehole has been dug in an unnamed, developing world country revealing an inexplicable anomaly. Our story, though, focuses on a single individualās perspective. Cortlandāthe archetypal faceless managerācomes face to face with the nihilistic reality of what lurks miles beneath the soil, and the horror is almost too much to bear.
Decades after his grandfather was buried alive in a Californian gold mine, Dr. Nick Jones teams up with an adventure travel influencer to venture underground and film a documentary, telling the story of what really happened.
What should be a dream come true soon becomes a nightmare as someone or something stirsā¦Below.
This is a multicultural epic fantasy with a diverse cast of characters. Sickly fifteen-year-old Prince Psal, the son of warrior-king Nahas, should have been named Crown Prince of all Wheel Clan lands. But his clan disdains the disabled.
When the mysterious self-moving towers that keep humans safe from the Creator'sā¦