Fans pick 85 books like Doctor Syn

By Russell Thorndike,

Here are 85 books that Doctor Syn fans have personally recommended if you like Doctor Syn. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig'

Tupenny Longfeather Author Of Bowels of Darkness

From my list on ominously atmospheric stories for a winter's night.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love forests. There's a particular atmosphere, a sense of being close to nature. Yet there's a mystery, you can never see too far ahead. What's around the corner? A truly atmospheric book has the quality of a forest, leading us on but never revealing too much at once. Perhaps beyond the next tree, or page, is something that may not be of our universe.

Tupenny's book list on ominously atmospheric stories for a winter's night

Tupenny Longfeather Why did Tupenny love this book?

Hodgson's sea-based stories, drawing on his experience as a sailor, have a plausibility that draws me in. The vast emptiness of the ocean is depicted vividly, creating a sense of isolation that adds to the terror of his work. Add to this some of the most bizarre creatures in literature and we have a bleak, enchanting atmosphere. I find the sense of brooding horror really puts me in the scene.

By William Hope Hodgson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.


Book cover of Black Magic

Tupenny Longfeather Author Of Bowels of Darkness

From my list on ominously atmospheric stories for a winter's night.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love forests. There's a particular atmosphere, a sense of being close to nature. Yet there's a mystery, you can never see too far ahead. What's around the corner? A truly atmospheric book has the quality of a forest, leading us on but never revealing too much at once. Perhaps beyond the next tree, or page, is something that may not be of our universe.

Tupenny's book list on ominously atmospheric stories for a winter's night

Tupenny Longfeather Why did Tupenny love this book?

The thirst for knowledge of the black arts sets the tone for this book. The smallest events are loaded with ominous foreboding, from the understated beginning to the immensely world-shattering ending. Dirk Renswoude is a dark figure, yet never seemingly repulsive enough to prevent the reader from allying with him, being complicit in his deeds.

By Marjorie Bowen,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Dirk Renswoude is a craftsman and loner of noble birth who has been mistreated by his family. He meets Thierry, a young scholar on his way to study at the university at Basle and they soon discover that they share a fascination with the black arts. Thierry is initially cautious and afraid of blasphemy, whilst Dirk is ambitious and thirsts for power. Dirk leads them on to experiments with mystic circles drawn on the floor in chalk, the chanting of arcane incantations and the evocation of grotesque, demonic visions writhing in the speculum.


Book cover of The Haunter of the Ring & Other Tales

Tupenny Longfeather Author Of Bowels of Darkness

From my list on ominously atmospheric stories for a winter's night.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love forests. There's a particular atmosphere, a sense of being close to nature. Yet there's a mystery, you can never see too far ahead. What's around the corner? A truly atmospheric book has the quality of a forest, leading us on but never revealing too much at once. Perhaps beyond the next tree, or page, is something that may not be of our universe.

Tupenny's book list on ominously atmospheric stories for a winter's night

Tupenny Longfeather Why did Tupenny love this book?

Howard's style is compelling, dragging you through the story with an inescapable inevitability. His characters possess stark, almost brutal qualities, sure of their place in the world they inhabit, even when facing the unknown. With mighty warriors such as Conan, we know they cannot lose but when it comes to Howard's horror stories, success is not so certain.

By Robert E. Howard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Haunter of the Ring & Other Tales as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the unsurpassed imagination of the creator of Conan, Robert E. Howard, here are twenty-one tales of suspense, high adventure and Lovecraftian horror.

Foul sacrifices are made to a reptilian God in Hungary, a werewolf prowls the corridors of a castle in strife-torn Africa, criminal masterminds on both sides of the Atlantic vie for world domination, an enchanted ring exerts a terrible influence upon its wearer...

...And, as written in the pages of the accursed Necronomicon and Unaussprechlichen Kulten, the Great Old Ones watch our world from beyond the void - and wait...


Book cover of Far Off Things

Tupenny Longfeather Author Of Bowels of Darkness

From my list on ominously atmospheric stories for a winter's night.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love forests. There's a particular atmosphere, a sense of being close to nature. Yet there's a mystery, you can never see too far ahead. What's around the corner? A truly atmospheric book has the quality of a forest, leading us on but never revealing too much at once. Perhaps beyond the next tree, or page, is something that may not be of our universe.

Tupenny's book list on ominously atmospheric stories for a winter's night

Tupenny Longfeather Why did Tupenny love this book?

In Machen's stories, occult experiences are related to place, the environment creating conditions in the mind that open it to receive the ethereal. The connection to nature, billions of years of the natural world, provides countless possibilities for unknown forces to intrude on our reality. Far Off Things is an exploration of psychogeography, informed by Machen's early life in Wales.

By Arthur Machen,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Arthur Machen's 1922 collection of essays covers the first part of his life. (It was followed by 1923's "Things Near and Far" and 1924's "The London Adventure.") To the original book has been added a lengthy essay on Machen and his work, as well as a Recommended Works list, covering the essential fiction and non-fiction by this important author. (Of his novella "The Great God Pan," Stephen King said, "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language.")


Book cover of Life and Death of the Salt Marsh

Judith Weis Author Of Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History

From my list on the marine environment.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a marine biologist who studies salt marshes, fishes, crabs, and marine pollution. I fell in love with the ocean as a child and am interested in sharing my love and knowledge with other people. So, in addition to my scientific research, I write books for the general public. This was the first one, and I wanted a second author to help me write in a "user-friendly" way, different from technical writing. 

Judith's book list on the marine environment

Judith Weis Why did Judith love this book?

One of nature's unappreciated great gifts is the salt marshes growing along the East Coast from Newfoundland to Florida–a ribbon of green growth, growing intertidally, part on solid land, part in moving water.

This book shows how these marshes develop and grow, what kinds of plants and animals inhabit them, and how they interact ecologically. It also demonstrates how important salt marshes are ecologically, what they do for us, and how we are destroying them. Another book with poetic writing by biologists.

"At low tide, the wind blowing across Spartina grass sounds like wind of the prairie. When the tide is in, the gentle music of moving water is added to the prairie rustle.... "

By John Teal, Mildred Teal,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Life and Death of the Salt Marsh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"At low tide, the wind blowing across Spartina grass sounds like wind of the prairie. When the tide is in, the gentle music of moving water is added to the prairie rustle.... "One of nature's greatest gifts is the string of salt marshes that edges the East Coast from Newfoundland to Florida -- a ribbon of green growth, part solid land, part scurrying water. Life and Death of the Salt Marsh shows how these marshes are developed, what kinds of life inhabit them, how enormously they have contributed to man, and how ruthlessly man is destroying them.


Book cover of The Marsh King's Daughter

Andrew Welsh-Huggins Author Of The End of the Road

From my list on women solving mysteries and seeking revenge.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a veteran journalist and a long-time lover of mysteries and crime fiction. My new novel, The End of The Road ties together my experience over many years covering true crime and my love of the Classics—my college major—and in particular Homer’s Odyssey. In later years, reading Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, in which she recasts the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War as the story of his long-suffering wife Penelope, inspired me to tell my own tale of an arduous journey from Penelope’s perspective. Being a crime reporter and mystery aficionado helped me spin Penny’s story from a procedural and plotting standpoint; reading Homer helped me explore the literary side of her adventure.

Andrew's book list on women solving mysteries and seeking revenge

Andrew Welsh-Huggins Why did Andrew love this book?

Dionne’s book drew me in immediately with its provocative opening lines: “If I told you my mother’s name, you’d recognize it right away. My mother was famous, though she never wanted to be. Hers wasn’t the kind of fame anyone would wish for.”

Dionne divides the subsequent story between past and present, beginning with protagonist Helena’s hunt for her father after he escapes from prison, knowing he'll come for her. To track him, Helena uses the backwoods skills her father taught her as she grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula wilderness.

Through flashbacks, we learn the bizarre details of Helena’s upbringing as the child of a woman her father abducted as a teenager and held captive for years. Totally gripping.

By Karen Dionne,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Marsh King's Daughter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Published in ebook and paperback as Home

You'd recognise my mother's name if I told it to you. You'd wonder, briefly, where is she now? And didn't she have a daughter while she was missing?

And whatever happened to the little girl?

Helena's home is like anyone else's. With a husband and two daughters, and a job she enjoys. But no one knows the truth about her childhood.

Born into captivity and brought up in an isolated cabin until she was 12, Helena was raised to be a killer by the man who kept her captive - her own father.…


Book cover of The Birds of Devon

Lesley Adkins Author Of When There Were Birds

From my list on the history of British birds.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having grown up on the south coast of Hampshire, I love both the countryside and the sea. After studying ancient history, archaeology, and Latin at the University of Bristol, I worked for many years as a field archaeologist and met my husband Roy on an excavation of a Roman villa at Milton Keynes. We have worked together ever since, as archaeologists and as authors of books on archaeology, ancient history, naval history, and social history. Our wide-ranging interests proved invaluable when writing our book When There Were Birds.

Lesley's book list on the history of British birds

Lesley Adkins Why did Lesley love this book?

Numerous books were compiled in the 19th century on birds of specific counties, which are now historic documents. My favourite is The Birds of Devon, first published in 1892 by William D’Urban and Murray Mathew, who had known each other since childhood. It has wonderful, evocative descriptions of landscapes and of the immense numbers of birds that could still be seen and heard then, though the authors do give warnings about landscapes being destroyed, in particular by the railways and by the drainage of marshes and moors. Readers today may want to skip their numerous lists, but their descriptions depict a vanished world.

By W. S. M. D'urban,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Birds of Devon 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 was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

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…


Book cover of Harrow County Omnibus Volume 1

Mark Fearing Author Of Last Exit to Feral

From my list on horror I read again and again and again.

Why am I passionate about this?

One of the gifts of the horror genre is that the stories use metaphor to examine human behaviors that defy understanding. My favorite horror novels, novellas, and short stories can be read again and again. While my Feral graphic novel series is for middle school readers, I wanted to provide grey areas, perhaps more than the editor always liked! I wanted the adventure, the scares, the questions, the uncertainty that would let the small town of Feral take on a larger-than-life presence for a reader and encourage revisiting it whenever the mood strikes. It's almost pleasant, the rhythm, the anticipation. A little unnerving too.

Mark's book list on horror I read again and again and again

Mark Fearing Why did Mark love this book?

This is the only graphic novel/comic book on my list and it goes above and beyond in art and story.

I have enjoyed reading the Harrow County stories many times. I prefer the collected edition where you can take your time and read comic issues 1-16 of Darkhorse Comics Harrow County. The artwork pulls you in, and the story is filled with zippy turns and good dialogue.

It pulls from many of the books I've mentioned in building an early American horror story that heads off in multiple directions. I can smell the grass and trees, hear the click-clack of the horse-pulled carts, and taste autumn in the air while reading these books.

A topic for another time would be examining the different experiences when reading a graphic novel compared to a novel. The strengths and weaknesses, what exactly the illustrations add, but for a horror fan who has never…

By Cullen Bunn, Tyler Crook (illustrator), Carla McNeil (illustrator) , Hannah Lavender (illustrator) , Jenn Lee (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Harrow County Omnibus Volume 1 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first half of the highly acclaimed, Eisner-nominated horror fantasy tale, collected in a value-priced omnibus.

Emmy always knew that the woods surrounding her home crawled with ghosts and monsters. But on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she learns that she is connected to these creatures--and to the land itself--in a way she never imagined.

Collects issues 1-16 of Harrow County.


Book cover of Wonderlands: Essays on the Life of Literature

Margot Livesey Author Of The Hidden Machinery: Essays on Writing

From my list on reading and writing fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the Scottish countryside, reading passionately. When adults asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer came from my latest book: a nun, an outlaw, a queen, or an explorer. Not until I was in my twenties did I realise that I wanted to be the person behind the covers of a book, not between them. My early stories, written between waitressing shifts, were bafflingly bad. Gradually I began to understand that the fiction I loved was driven by a hidden machinery. I now teach at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and have been lucky enough to explore this idea with many talented students.

Margot's book list on reading and writing fiction

Margot Livesey Why did Margot love this book?

As a boy, Baxter stood at the window of his mid-western home and looked out at the empty street. He went on to fill that street with stories. In Wonderlands he talks about how those stories were made in terms of craft—he writes vividly about requests, lists, dreams, ghostsand the events in his own life that shaped his fiction, including a long period of failure. An deeply companionable book.  

By Charles Baxter,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Searching and erudite new essays on writing from the author of Burning Down the House.

Charles Baxter’s new collection of essays, Wonderlands, joins his other works of nonfiction, Burning Down the House and The Art of Subtext. In the mold of those books, Baxter shares years of wisdom and reflection on what makes fiction work, including essays that were first given as craft talks at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.

The essays here range from brilliant thinking on the nature of wonderlands in the fiction of Haruki Murakami and other fabulist writers, to how request moments function in a story.…


Book cover of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Alexandria Blaelock Author Of The Ghost and Ms Cox

From my list on ghosty best friends.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was five when we moved to Australia, and soon after I discovered two things: I am the seventh child of a seventh child, with magic powers including the ability to see ghosts. My mother’s brother Dennis drowned when he was six. Naturally I started talking to him. Mind you, Mum also told me if the wind changed my face would stay like that, so the ghost thing probably wasn’t true either. Technically she only brought two of us to term. Dennis and I still talk, but we don’t have much in common anymore. With that in mind, please enjoy my ghosty best friends book recommendations.

Alexandria's book list on ghosty best friends

Alexandria Blaelock Why did Alexandria love this book?

I found this one in a charity shop and read it in a day. It was a while after that I saw the tv series, and a while after that the movie. And it’s another one I still have in my bookshelves.

It’s another story about finding your place in the world, but at the same time, it’s about a timid widow, mother of two, finding herself through the mentorship of the ghost of a well travelled sailor. One who’s there waiting for her at the end of her life, not her bloody husband! 

By R.A. Dick,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Ghost and Mrs. Muir as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The basis for Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s cinematic romance starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison.
 
Burdened by debt after her husband's death, Lucy Muir insists on moving into the very cheap Gull Cottage in the quaint seaside village of Whitecliff, despite multiple warnings that the house is haunted. Upon discovering the rumors to be true, the young widow ends up forming a special companionship with the ghost of handsome former sea captain Daniel Gregg. Through the struggles of supporting her children, seeking out romance from the wrong places, and working to publish the captain's story as a book, Blood and Swash,…


Book cover of The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig'
Book cover of Black Magic
Book cover of The Haunter of the Ring & Other Tales

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