100 books like Nightbooks

A Southern Gothic historical horror, Hoodoo is a story of fair and foul folk magic in 1930s Alabama. Hoodoo Hatcher is the only person in his family without a knack for the hoodoo that gave him his name—and that’s a problem, because the evil Stranger is coming for him, and he’ll need all the courage and smarts he can summon to keep himself and his family safe. To me, the greatest joy of this wonderful book is Hoodoo’s distinctive, humorous voice, and Ron Butler brings him perfectly to life in his performance; it’s not easy for an adult to make a child’s voice sound authentic, but Butler knocks it out of the park. 

Most know VE Schwab for her YA Series, though she's also written some exemplary middle-grade books.

Her City of Ghosts series is one of my favorites, mainly because of the relationship between Cassidy and Jacob. I find there are few books for kids with great boy-girl friendships, and this one is made even better by the fact that poor Jacob is dead—or caught into the veil between life and death—or something.

Readers of the three books will learn why and travel deep into the spooky shadows of the most haunted cities in the world. 

This is my eleven-year-old son’s favorite book by master of kiddie horror K.R. Alexander, and I’ll admit that when I read the paperback, I didn’t understand why. The story of Kevin’s obsessive desire to win the annual haunted house contest—no matter what dark forces he angers in the process—was very good, but I thought some of Alexander’s other books were better. Then I listened to the audiobook, and I’ll be darned if I don’t agree with my son now. Michael Crouch infuses Kevin with exactly the right levels of vulnerability and desperation, making us understand every terrible decision he makes...even as we cringe in anticipation of the consequences.

There are two things that I’ve always loved in my books: animal POV and spooky vibes.

This book has both! In so many ways, the things we face in our everyday life can feel like a horror story, or feel like monsters. For a fox, that would be things like rabies, hunters, fires, etc.

The prose was so good and so vivid, and I really worried with each different story how the little foxes were going to survive. One of my absolute favorites.

There are certainly many different types of lists on which this book belongs. I always tell people Ghost Story is the scariest thing I’ve ever read. I was fortunate enough to relay that to the late great Peter Straub at a horror writers’ conference many years ago. Though I’m sure he would have liked praise for a more contemporary work, there’s a timelessness in the terror he evokes in this book. But that’s not the reason I include it here. It’s because I think ghosts are a form of Fate. Violence, injustice, visceral reactions—these are the things we associate with ghosts, and these are the elements that are central to the story of the punishing hand of Fate in this novel. 

In this book, the protagonist escapes to modern-day London and uncovers a centuries-old mystery. The story is told in parallel timelines juxtaposing modern-day and Victorian London, and it’s such a cool vibe. I loved how the FMC, Caroline, walks the same roads and travels the same paths as the long-dead apothecary and how their stories of women in a misogynist society mirror each other.  

I loved following Caroline as she pieced together the story of the poisoners and the “crimes” they committed and how she stepped into her own and found her confidence.

While Piers Anthony boasts an amazing roster of books longer than my arm, one of my favorites, Shade of the Tree, reminds me of the primacy of nature. 

A father moves himself and his two young children to an estate deep in the Florida woods, an inheritance from his odd uncle. I recall reading it first as a young teenager when it first came out and growing enthralled with Anthony’s skill at creating nature itself as a character; in this case the brooding, eerie forest surrounding the estate.

First in a reissued series, this has a local 1990s Upper East Side vibe. “Jake” (short for Jacqueline) is part of a supportive group of ghostwriters who regularly meet to discuss the problems and pitfalls of their chosen career.

But she soon finds herself solving the murder of one of their own. I loved the uniquely detailed characters –the writers, Jake’s mother, her mom’s best friend, the neighbors. Enjoyable wit and humor prevail throughout, and the lively situations that lead Jake into both peril and perplexing romantic possibilities are enjoyable.

The ease with which older and younger generations blend is a definite asset to a plot with some real surprises.

Half the fun of reading a Detective John Corey novel is his smartass humor and snarky dialogue. The other half is watching his dogged pursuit of the bad guys. In Radiant Angel, he's working for the Diplomatic Surveillance Group in New York City. His assignment? Keep tabs on a Russian diplomat who may be an enemy agent on a deadly mission. 

The threat? A nuclear bomb—aka radiant angel—small enough to fit in a suitcase, big enough to blow New York City to smithereens, with enough radioactive fallout to cripple the US for years. The bonus is experiencing the action from the Russian agent's perspective, including his fear of failing to complete his mission. And the clock is ticking so John Corey must figure out how to stop him pronto.

This one had my head spinning right round, baby! Happy marriage, babies, a nice home—what more could a young wife ask for?

How about someone she can trust, for starters, and how ’bout her husband’s ex-lover quits coming around all the time, tattling tales of his murky past? It reminded me of an old friend of mine who fell in love with a guy she’d met through an online dating site. He claimed he was long divorced, but—whoops—was actually still married, and living with his estranged wife in separate parts of their house.

You can probably guess how that ended, but not this book. With every wild plot turn, I was grabbing for the Oh sh*t handle and gasping for breath.