Fans pick 89 books like 666

By Jay Anson,

Here are 89 books that 666 fans have personally recommended if you like 666. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Miss Finney Kills Now and Then

Chuck W. Chapman Author Of Freak on a Moped

From my list on horror you’ve never heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of the horror genre since I was a kid. Even though sometimes I was so scared, I had to sleep with the light on or not sleep at all. Something about the darkness and the unknown has always seemed so alluring. I can't even count the number of horror movies I've watched or books I've read. That feel of the hair standing up on your arms or the back of your neck is a thrill like no other. 

Chuck's book list on horror you’ve never heard of

Chuck W. Chapman Why did Chuck love this book?

Again, this is one that has stuck with me for many years. The twist on the age-old vampire story where an elderly lady must commit murder to grow younger is interesting and unique. Her two nieces, one ambitious, one off the rails crazy, assist her in her evil doings while the Keystone detective, sort of, investigates. As I recall, it was a delightfully horrible guilty pleasure.

By Al Dempsey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Miss Finney Kills Now and Then as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Mage of the Hellmouth

Chuck W. Chapman Author Of Freak on a Moped

From my list on horror you’ve never heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of the horror genre since I was a kid. Even though sometimes I was so scared, I had to sleep with the light on or not sleep at all. Something about the darkness and the unknown has always seemed so alluring. I can't even count the number of horror movies I've watched or books I've read. That feel of the hair standing up on your arms or the back of your neck is a thrill like no other. 

Chuck's book list on horror you’ve never heard of

Chuck W. Chapman Why did Chuck love this book?

A hybrid Dungeons & Dragons fantasy novel and a gruesome supernatural horror story meet head-on in this story of a Stoner whose job it is to save the world with his RPG skills. You guessed it, the world is doomed. As is the case with most of Communale’s novels, the absurd meets the hilarious to produce the terrifying.

By John Wayne Comunale,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Jake loves his job working for a local family-owned craft ice cream factory.
That is, until he’s transferred to the company’s main facility on the other side of town. The new
workplace means new rules. And that means no more showing up on the job stoned and having
two beers for lunch. The new position makes him uncomfortable and, while he’s told there are
numerous coworkers, they never seem to be around much when he’s there. When his best friend
goes missing and his new supervisors show up at a party, Jake begins to dig deeper. All of the
strange…


Book cover of Sour

Chuck W. Chapman Author Of Freak on a Moped

From my list on horror you’ve never heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of the horror genre since I was a kid. Even though sometimes I was so scared, I had to sleep with the light on or not sleep at all. Something about the darkness and the unknown has always seemed so alluring. I can't even count the number of horror movies I've watched or books I've read. That feel of the hair standing up on your arms or the back of your neck is a thrill like no other. 

Chuck's book list on horror you’ve never heard of

Chuck W. Chapman Why did Chuck love this book?

Tales of a witch's curse in Appalachia draw a grieving father to sacrifice everything for his son. How far will a parent go to save their child and then how much farther will they have to go to save themselves? A Southern voodoo twist on Pet Cemetery that’s twice as frightening and just as engaging.

By Tony Evans,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

SOMETHING EVIL ROSE FROM WITHIN, AN ANCIENT BEING, ONE OLDER THAN TIME ITSELF...

Deep in the mountains of Appalachia, a legend is told about something evil that lurks within the dense woods of Gunrack Hollow. A witch is said to live there, one whose appetite for innocent souls dates back hundreds of years.

Sam Fletcher had heard the story his whole life, but he never really believed it. After all, as his father always said, it's just an old folktale...only a story.

But two years ago, something happened that made him believe. Something that ties back to an ancient evil…


Book cover of In Rod We Trust

Chuck W. Chapman Author Of Freak on a Moped

From my list on horror you’ve never heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of the horror genre since I was a kid. Even though sometimes I was so scared, I had to sleep with the light on or not sleep at all. Something about the darkness and the unknown has always seemed so alluring. I can't even count the number of horror movies I've watched or books I've read. That feel of the hair standing up on your arms or the back of your neck is a thrill like no other. 

Chuck's book list on horror you’ve never heard of

Chuck W. Chapman Why did Chuck love this book?

This collection of short stories are designed to be reminiscent of the old Twilight Zone TV series. As a huge fan of the show, I was interested to see how the interpretation to short story would work. It works very well. If you enjoyed the show (and/or the movie) you'll enjoy this book. Rod Serling would be proud.

By Tom Sawyer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked In Rod We Trust as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. This is a dimension of imagination. In the case of these stories, it is where author Tom Sawyer’s imagination takes flight. Mr. Sawyer, as a popular Michigan horror fiction author of many delights ( From Paradise to Hell, Dark Harbors), pays an ultimate tribute to Rod Serling’s own imagination, which influenced viewers around the world since its inception decades ago with The Twilight Zone TV series. Here, Sawyer continues the tradition seamlessly on these pages. So sit back, relax, and cross over into the sight and sound and…


Book cover of Coraline (The Graphic Novel)

Carolyn Watson Dubisch Author Of Deluge: The People That Melt in the Rain #1

From my list on YA graphic novels about a magical world that are not Harry Potter.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an author and illustrator, I much prefer to present my writing with visuals. It’s how I write, by “seeing the story” in my mind. I have written and illustrated many graphic novels and comics on my own and as a part of a team. The art in comic books can be so much work it is often broken into stages: penciled art, then inked, and then colored. These graphic novels are some of the best magical stories for kids that I’ve ever read, and as someone who reads all the time, that’s saying a lot.    

Carolyn's book list on YA graphic novels about a magical world that are not Harry Potter

Carolyn Watson Dubisch Why did Carolyn love this book?

Coraline and her very preoccupied parents move into their new house. They seem to have very little time for her. While exploring the house, she finds a little door that takes her to another house. One that is exactly the same but different. Her “other” parents are doting on her, and aside from the fact that they have terrifying buttons for eyes, they seem to love and need her around. 

This is the graphic novel version of the creepy story that captivated so many kids by Neil Gaiman and the first visualization of the story before it was animated. I have always loved this version illustrated by P. Craig Russell.

By Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Coraline (The Graphic Novel) 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?

When Coraline moves to a new house she is fascinated by the fact that their house is in fact only half a house. Divided into flats years before, the other flat, it soon becomes clear to Coraline, is not quite as cosy and safe as her own.


Book cover of Liminal

Nick Walker Author Of Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities

From my list on neuroqueer speculative fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My first passion, as a youngster, was speculative fiction—stories and comics that set the imagination ablaze with visions of wondrous possibilities and impossibilities. Later, my experiences of being queer, transgender, and autistic led me to an academic career in which I helped create the field of Neurodiversity Studies and something called Neuroqueer Theory (which is what you get when you mix Queer Theory and neurodiversity together and shake vigorously). These days I’m back to writing fiction, including the urban fantasy webcomic Weird Luck, and I’m thrilled to find myself part of an emerging wave of neuroqueer speculative fiction. Here are some of the best so far...

Nick's book list on neuroqueer speculative fiction

Nick Walker Why did Nick love this book?

Okay, I’m bending the rules just a little bit here. We’re not supposed to include our own books on this list—and this isn’t my book, but I am one of the three co-editors. No list of essential neuroqueer fiction would be complete, though, without mention of the annual Spoon Knife neuroqueer lit anthology. Spoon Knife accepts fiction of all genres, plus some short memoir and poetry; anything goes, as long as the editors deem the content and style to be sufficiently neuroqueer (and each volume has a different team of editors). I picked Volume 5 for this list because it’s a volume that ended up including a lot of speculative fiction. Pieces by 24 authors, all wildly different from each other, each one a strange little neuroqueer gem.

By Andrew M. Reichart (editor), Dora M. Raymaker (editor), Nick Walker (editor)

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Tales of thresholds and transitions, entry points and crossings-over, states of in-betweenness, things that lurk at the edges of memory or awareness or reality. This fifth volume of the Spoon Knife neuroqueer lit anthology features mind-expanding, genre-bending work from 24 authors:Alice Beecher • Allyson Shaw • Alyssa Gonzalez • Alyssa Hillary • Amara George Parker • Andrew M. Reichart • Athena “Tina” Monday • Brett Gaffney • Brianna Bullen • Cody Goodfellow • Craig Laurance Gidney • David Robinson • Dora M. Raymaker • Jessica Goody • Lucas Scheelk • Margaret Killjoy • Nick Walker • Noley Reid • Orrin…


Book cover of Another Kind

Barbara Perez Marquez Author Of The Cardboard Kingdom

From my list on to send your kid on an unforgettable adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a writer, I strive to create stories that I wish I had found on shelves when I was younger. In that same way, every title on this list not only brings new ways to find adventures through reading, but will hopefully leave young readers with new skills to face the world around them. We often think just cause a story has fantastical elements that it makes them detached from reality, but give any of these a read and you'll find, the farther it is from real life, the brighter the common themes we all share shine through.

Barbara's book list on to send your kid on an unforgettable adventure

Barbara Perez Marquez Why did Barbara love this book?

Got a kid with a want for the supernatural? May and Bream's heartfelt approach to cryptids and the supernatural make a perfect mix to carry this compelling and page-turning book. Perfect to share among friend groups and explore what it is to belong and how we can all help each other even past our differences.

By Cait May, Trevor Bream,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Another Kind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

Six kids search for a new place to call home in this middle grade graphic novel debut by comic creators Cait May and Trevor Bream, for fans of Marvel's Runaways and The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag. Another Kind is not your average monster story.

Tucked away in a government facility nicknamed the Playroom, six not-quite-human kids learn to control their strange and unpredictable abilities. Life is good-or safe, at least-hidden from the prying eyes of a judgmental world.

That is, until a security breach forces them out of their home and into the path of the Collector, a…


Book cover of Experimental Film

Paul Jessup Author Of Glass House

From my list on horror that will blow your mind (kaboom).

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved weird horror from a young age, and that passion only grew as the years went on. It all started when I was ten, and I got an anthology of classic horror for my birthday. Inside I read The White People by Machen, Cast the Runes by MR James, and The Colour Out of Space by Lovecraft, and I was hooked. Ever since then I chased that same thrill of the horror that is so out there and strange it just breaks your brain and changes you inside out. I have a feeling I’ll be chasing that obsession until the end of my days.

Paul's book list on horror that will blow your mind (kaboom)

Paul Jessup Why did Paul love this book?

Another fun bit of psychedelic folk horror, combined with a really cool history of the experimental films of Canada.

The narrator is compelling, and the whole time you feel the pull of her obsession to the film she’s looking into, even if it unsettles her and terrifies her at the same time. Love that pull of danger, wanting to look, to see, but knowing that doing so will probably kill you…

It's like horror novel catnip.

By Gemma Files,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Experimental Film as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The award-winning author of the Hexslinger Series "explores the world of film and horror in a way that will leave you reeling" (Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach Trilogy).

Former film teacher Lois Cairns is struggling to raise her autistic son while freelancing as a critic when, at a screening, she happens upon a sampled piece of silver nitrate silent footage. She is able to connect it to the early work of Mrs. Iris Dunlopp Whitcomb, the spiritualist and collector of fairy tales who mysteriously disappeared from a train compartment in 1918.

Hoping to make her own mark on…


Book cover of Bitter Seeds

J.L. Gribble Author Of Steel Victory

From my list on blending fantasy and alternate history.

Why am I passionate about this?

With a graduate degree in Writing Popular Fiction (seriously, someone gave me a degree for writing an urban fantasy book), I know that genres are nothing more than marketing terms that tell bookstores which shelves to put the books on. As an author, combining genres and subverting their topes allows me to stretch their potential and tell fresh stories that might not find an easy home on a single shelf, so it’s also important for me to read and support those making the same attempts. Stories that adhere to strict reader expectations will always find a home, but I’ve always had way more fun exploring the other possibilities.

J.L.'s book list on blending fantasy and alternate history

J.L. Gribble Why did J.L. love this book?

I did my best to put together a list of alternate history books that didn’t feature either the American Civil War or World War 2, but this book was too interesting to leave out (and also, it doesn’t involve the Nazis winning the war in yet another veiled attempt at white supremacism fanfic). It does fit within my list in how Tregillis also flips many of the tropes of the genres explored here, especially regarding the main character’s role within the plot. And lest you think all alternate history stories with a healthy dose of fantasy must feature a romantic element, Tregillis’ unflinching take on the horrors of war (but add magic and make it equally horrifying) should more than make up for it.

By Ian Tregillis,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Raybould Marsh is a British secret agent in the early days of the Second World War, haunted by something strange he saw on a mission during the Spanish Civil War: a German woman with wires going into her head who looked at him as if she knew him. When the Nazis start running missions with people who have unnatural abilities - a woman who can turn invisible, a man who can walk through walls, and the woman Marsh saw in Spain who can use her knowledge of the future to twist the present - Marsh is the man who has…


Book cover of Miss Finney Kills Now and Then
Book cover of Mage of the Hellmouth
Book cover of Sour

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