Fans pick 100 books like The Terror That Comes in the Night

By David J. Hufford,

Here are 100 books that The Terror That Comes in the Night fans have personally recommended if you like The Terror That Comes in the Night. 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 The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat And Other Clinical Tales

Pepper Stetler Author Of A Measure of Intelligence: One Mother's Reckoning with the IQ Test

From my list on exploring what it means to be smart.

Why am I passionate about this?

I never really thought much about how limited and exclusionary our society’s ideas about intelligence are until my daughter, who has Down syndrome, was required to take her first IQ test before she started kindergarten. That experience led me to research the history of the IQ test and how it has shaped our culture’s ideas about intelligence in pernicious ways. I am a college professor who is working to change the educational and employment opportunities available to people with intellectual disabilities. I hope you enjoy the books on this list. May they lead you to reconsider what you think it means to be smart. 

Pepper's book list on exploring what it means to be smart

Pepper Stetler Why did Pepper love this book?

I love Sack’s empathy toward his patients and his commitment to telling a different and highly unique narrative about the human experience. His classic collection of essays is not about intelligence, but each patient he writes about knows and understands the world differently than what is considered normal.

Sacks makes room for the challenges and brilliance of all ways of being in the world.

By Oliver Sacks,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat And Other Clinical Tales as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Celebrating Fifty Years of Picador Books

If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self - himself - he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.

In this extraordinary book, Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent tics or shout involuntary obscenities, and yet are gifted with…


Book cover of The Doors of Perception

Ran Barkai Author Of They Were Here Before Us: Stories from Our First Million Years

From my list on altered states of consciousness and shamanism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an archaeologist dealing with prehistoric societies for the last 30 years. For many hundreds of thousands of years, our ancestors worldwide practiced shamanism and altered states of consciousness. I think this is what makes us human and what allows the persistence and success of our genus. The more I learn about these two subjects, the more I understand their importance and relevance to us today. There is a lesson sent to us by past societies: Pay respect to the world. Respectful behavior is assisted by shamanism and altered states of consciousness. We can be better, feel better, and do better, and the books I recommended are the beginning of this wonderful way. 

Ran's book list on altered states of consciousness and shamanism

Ran Barkai Why did Ran love this book?

It just blows my mind any time I read it, the same way it did the first time. Huxley was way ahead of his time when he wrote this influential book, and he was one of the first prophets of the New Age and the Age of Consciousness.

I was deeply touched by his intimate descriptions of his own experiences with LSD and Mescaline and the way it opened his mind to understanding the complexities of our consciousness beyond our regular and daily way of perceiving the world.

One of my favorite rock bands, The Doors, is named after this book, and it gives me ultimate pleasure to listen to Jim Morrison while reading it. What an experience! 

By Aldous Huxley,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Doors of Perception as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Discover this profound account of Huxley's famous experimentation with mescalin that has influenced writers and artists for decades.

'Concise, evocative, wise and, above all, humane, The Doors of Perception is a masterpiece' Sunday Times

In 1953, in the presence of an investigator, Aldous Huxley took four-tenths of a gram of mescalin, sat down and waited to see what would happen. When he opened his eyes everything, from the flowers in a vase to the creases in his trousers, was transformed. Huxley described his experience with breathtaking immediacy in The Doors of Perception.

In its sequel Heaven and Hell, he goes…


Book cover of Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming

Susan Blackmore Author Of Seeing Myself: What Out-of-body Experiences Tell Us About Life, Death and the Mind

From my list on weird experiences.

Why am I passionate about this?

My life’s obsession with consciousness began with a mystical experience fifty years ago and this drives me still. Academic research, and writing the textbook Consciousness: An Introduction, only deepened my perplexity. What is consciousness? How does it come about? Is it produced by the brain or is that another illusion to add to illusions of self and free will? I cannot keep work separate from life, and this not-knowing has driven decades of meditation, exploring psychedelic drugs, staying alert on the edges of sleep, and many other attempts to ask difficult questions. Who am I? And what does it mean to be alive in this world? 

Susan's book list on weird experiences

Susan Blackmore Why did Susan love this book?

Trying to have lucid dreams is so frustrating! Lucid dreams are those in which you know that you are dreaming – which mostly we do not realise until we have woken up. The experience and its imaginary world are very similar to those in an out-of-body experience, and lucid dreaming provides one way to reach the OBE state. This book is a classic and remains a terrific guide to what lucid dreams can be like, how to reach them, and the science behind why and how they happen. I learned much from LaBerge’s research on dreaming and this inspires me to keep on struggling to become more often lucid myself.

By Stephen LaBerge, Howard Rheingold,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“[A] solid how-to book . . . For amateur dream researchers, this is a must.”—Whole Earth Review
 
Lucid Dreaming—conscious awareness during the dream state—is an exhilarating experience. Because the world you are experiencing is one of your own creation, you can do the impossible and consciously influence the outcome of your dreams.
 
Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming goes far beyond the confines of pop dream psychology, establishing a scientifically researched framework for using lucid dreaming. Based on Dr. Stephen LaBerge’s extensive laboratory work at Stanford University mapping mind/body relationships during the dream state, as well as the teachings of…


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Book cover of Girl of Light

Girl of Light By Elana Gomel,

A girl of Light in a world of darkness.

In Svetlana's country, it’s a felony to break a mirror. Mirrors are conduits of the Voice, the deity worshiped by all who follow Light. The Voice protects humans of MotherLand from the dangers that beset them on all sides: an invading…

Book cover of The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment

Christian Grobmeier Author Of The Zen Programmer

From my list on Zen which changed the way I think.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a software developer who discovered Zen, I am not a master, but rather a humble student. Embracing Zen has transformed my perspective on work and life, providing me with invaluable tools to manage stress and maintain balance. Through this book, I hope to share these insights and empower others to experience the profound benefits of Zen in their own lives.

Christian's book list on Zen which changed the way I think

Christian Grobmeier Why did Christian love this book?

This groundbreaking work by Philip Kapleau provides an authoritative introduction to Zen practice, weaving together personal accounts, teachings, and practical guidance.

Delve into the fundamentals of Zen, including zazen (meditation), koan study, and enlightenment experiences. Accessible and informative, The Three Pillars of Zen is popular, and I quickly understood why. It is for sure not an easy read, but it helps as orientation in the world of Zen, teaching terms, thoughts, and the general philosophy of Zen.

I was totally confused, especially in my early days, but studying this book helped me to access new terminology, think and understand my teachers better.

By Roshi Philip Kapleau,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Three Pillars of Zen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this classic work of spiritual guidance, the founder of the Rochester Zen Center presents a comprehensive overview of Zen Buddhism. Exploring the three pillars of Zen—teaching, practice, and enlightenment—Roshi Philip Kapleau, the man who founded one of the oldest and most influential Zen centers in the United States, presents a personal account of his own experiences as a student and teacher, and in so doing gives readers invaluable advice on how to develop their own practices. Revised and updated, this 35th anniversary edition features new illustrations and photographs, as well as a new afterword by Sensei Bodhin Kjolhede, who…


Book cover of Sing Me to Sleep: A Series of Sacrilegious Events Novel

Aveda Vice Author Of Feed

From my list on short monster romances doing things differently.

Why am I passionate about this?

Monsters intrigue me. I’ve always enjoyed the weird and obscure – the creatures who are recognizably not human. Being a queer, autistic person, I’ve often felt as if I didn’t understand the world…or the world didn’t understand me. Reading and writing about monsters sheds a new light on the parts of myself that I was taught are undesirable. By conventional standards, the monsters in these stories are horrifying, yet they find people who love them and their monstrosity. Monsters get their happy endings – and I can get mine, too.

Aveda's book list on short monster romances doing things differently

Aveda Vice Why did Aveda love this book?

What I wouldn’t give for my sleep hallucinations to fuck me instead of terrifying me. Even in this novella-sized package, Sing Me to Sleep has tons of world building to kick off the upcoming series in this universe. If you struggle with nightmares or just want to read about an Indian American woman overcoming trauma and falling for her monstrous sleep paralysis demon, do yourself a favor! (There’s tail action.)

By RM Virtues,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sing Me to Sleep as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Penelope has lost so much in six months.

Her father, her sense of security, her ability — and willingness— to sleep. Her family is most concerned about the latter at the moment, and when her sister Jenna leaves her alone in their shared home for the first time since The Incident, Penelope finally accepts some help. The only problem? There are side effects. Well, one: sleep paralysis.

And the demon who came for her fear.

Fear is the only thing that matters to the demons of the Somni Dae, and as long as they deliver it back to Hell, they…


Book cover of Wondrous Events: Foundations of Religious Belief

Gregory Shushan Author Of The Next World: Extraordinary Experiences of the Afterlife

From my list on extraordinary experiences of the afterlife.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an award-winning author of three books on near-death experiences across cultures and throughout history. I’ve had a lifelong interest in the ancient world, anthropology, myth, religions – and extraordinary phenomena such as near-death experiences. So it was natural to combine these interests, which I first did while studying Egyptology. While reading the ancient texts describing otherworld journeys after death, I was reminded of NDEs and their counterparts in medieval visionary literature. This sent me on a decades-long “otherworld journey” of my own, earning various degrees, fellowships, and awards. In addition to my other books, I’m now embarking on a second PhD project, on NDEs in Classical antiquity.

Gregory's book list on extraordinary experiences of the afterlife

Gregory Shushan Why did Gregory love this book?

Wondrous Events is one the best books on the “experiential source hypothesis” – a term coined by David Hufford that describes how apparently “paranormal” experiences lead to the formation of new “supernatural,” religious, or folk beliefs.

McClenon, a sociologist, saw the importance of looking at the evidence for this hypothesis across cultures, taking in historical and modern cases in China, Japan, and elsewhere.

Rather than focusing on one particular type of experience, he hones in on the dynamics of how extraordinary experiences are interpreted in cultural terms and integrated into beliefs systems. Along the way he discusses NDEs and out-of-body experiences, apparitions, ESP, sleep paralysis, psychokinesis, poltergeists, spiritual healing, and more.

Written within a concise, clear, and authoritative style, the book is a model of how scholarly wring can appeal to mainstream readers.

By James McClenon,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

James McClenon examines the relationship between wondrous events-extrasensory perception, apparitions, out-of-body and near-death experiences, sleep paralysis, psychokinesis, firewalking, psychic surgery, and spiritual healing-and the foundations of religious belief.


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Book cover of Caesar’s Soldier

Caesar’s Soldier By Alex Gough,

Who was the man who would become Caesar's lieutenant, Brutus' rival, Cleopatra's lover, and Octavian's enemy? 

When his stepfather is executed for his involvement in the Catilinarian conspiracy, Mark Antony and his family are disgraced. His adolescence is marked by scandal and mischief, his love affairs are fleeting, and yet,…

Book cover of The Psychology of Dreaming

Antonio Zadra Author Of When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep

From my list on the science of dreams.

Why am I passionate about this?

Although I had many intriguing dreams during my childhood, including fantastic flying dreams, the idea of becoming a sleep scientist never crossed my mind. All that changed during my first year in college. It was then that I experienced an exceptionally long and vivid lucid dream that changed my life; it was because of this dream that I decided to become a dream researcher. Today, I’m a professor of psychology at the University of Montreal, director of the department’s Dream Research Laboratory, and have published over 100 scientific articles and book chapters on sleep and dreams. I don’t have as many flying dreams as I once did, but I do have a really cool job while awake. 

Antonio's book list on the science of dreams

Antonio Zadra Why did Antonio love this book?

This book, written by an actual dream researcher, presents a smart and easy-to-read introduction to the psychology of dreams. Covering topics like the history of dreaming, how dreams are scientifically studied, how to work with dreams for personal insight, the possible functions of dreams, lucid dreaming, nightmares, and what the future of dream research may hold, Malinowski does a commendable job of introducing the reader to a wealth of information about dreams. Complete with personal examples, eye-opening insights, and a thoughtful discussion of ethical questions surrounding emerging dream-related technologies, this delightful book is sure to please those looking for an engaging introduction to dreams.

By Josie Malinowski,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Why do we dream? What is the connection between our dreams and our mental health? Can we teach ourselves to have lucid dreams?

The Psychology of Dreaming delves into the last 100 years of dream research to provide a thought-provoking introduction to what happens in our minds when we sleep. It looks at the role that dreaming plays in memory, problem-solving, and processing emotions, examines how trauma affects dreaming, and explores how we can use our dreams to understand ourselves better. Exploring extraordinary experiences like lucid dreaming, precognitive dreams, and sleep paralysis nightmares, alongside cutting-edge questions like whether it will…


Book cover of Precognitive Dreamwork and the Long Self: Interpreting Messages from Your Future

Theresa Cheung Author Of The Dream Dictionary from A to Z

From my list on dream decoding.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was born into a family of psychics and spiritualists, where dream decoding was the order of the day. I did my Bachelor's degree in Theology and English at King's College, Cambridge University, and since graduating have devoted my life to spreading the word about the healing and transformative power of dream work. I share my passion for mainstreaming dream decoding as a potent personal and spiritual growth tool through my numerous dream and spiritual awakening books, podcasts, media appearances, my Sunday Times bestselling author status, and my collaboration with scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists researching dreams and the science of consciousness; I have earned the title Queen of Dreams.

Theresa's book list on dream decoding

Theresa Cheung Why did Theresa love this book?

I am including this book for its fascinating presentation of dreamwork, a timeless state where past, present, and future meet, offering you glimpses into your future every single night in your night vision. Written by journalist and science fiction writer Eric Wargo, reading it will most certainly stretch your mind and inspire your dream work. 

In centuries past, dreams were regarded as oracles predicting future outcomes, but that approach fell out of favour with the Freud and Jung revolution firmly placing dream decoding as a psychological personal awareness and growth tool.

Wargo does not discourage dreamers from working with their dreams as self-help tools, but he does present a powerful case for all dreams being potentially precognitive, offering an insight into potential futures.

By Eric Wargo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Precognitive Dreamwork and the Long Self as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A guide to dream precognition and its implications

* Outlines a set of clear principles to help guide dreamworkers, illustrated through real precognitive dream experiences

* Shows how to detect precognitive dreams through their characteristic features, explaining how dreams relate to memory and why dreams about future experiences are often symbolic or distorted

* Explores the mind-blowing implications of precognition for our lives, including how our present thoughts actually shape--or shaped--our past

Once only the stuff of science fiction, evidence has grown that precognition--glimpses of your future in dreams and visions and being influenced subtly in waking life by what…


Book cover of Rich in Love

David Haynes Author Of Right by My Side

From my list on kids with attitude.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a forty-five-year career educator, sharing my classrooms with students from primary school through graduate programs in creative writing. What I love most in every classroom I enter is sharing the books and stories and poems I love with my students. The best days: when I’m reading one of my favorite parts of the book out loud to the group and I look up and they laugh or gasp, or I look up and see their eyes full of joy. If it’s my own work I’m reading from, all the better!

David's book list on kids with attitude

David Haynes Why did David love this book?

Ah, these juvenile narrators: they think they know it all. Lucille Odem has it all figured out. She can fix her broken family and heal her parent’s broken hearts—because of course she can. For me, the pleasure of a great young adult narrator is watching as even the smartest of these smarty pants comes to learn that we all have blind spots and that it’s often the things we can’t see or don’t know that are the most important part of the equation. What a sweet book this is.  

By Josephine Humphreys,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Rich in Love as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

At the age of seventeen, Lucille Odom finds herself in the middle of an unexpected domestic crisis. As she helps guide her family through its discontent, Lucille discovers in herself a woman rich in wisdom, rich in humor, and rich in love.


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Book cover of Curiosity and the Cat

Curiosity and the Cat By Martin Treanor,

Curiosity is certain she saw fairies at the bottom of the garden. Little does she know . . . they saw her first.

Emotionally abandoned by her mother and infatuated by a figurine of a fairy ballerina she discovers in an old toy shop, eight-year-old Curiosity Portland steals the figurine,…

Book cover of Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

Marsha Hayles Author Of Breathing Room

From my list on when illness touches a young person's life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author fortunate to be alive because of emergency medical treatments I received as an infant, treatments not available to one of my older sisters who died as a result. That I grew up in Rochester Minnesota—home to the world-famous Mayo Clinic where my father worked as a pediatric endocrinologist—also may have increased my awareness of how illness and its medical treatments can affect a young person’s life. 

Marsha's book list on when illness touches a young person's life

Marsha Hayles Why did Marsha love this book?

Peg Kehret brings humor and a genuine can-do attitude to her memoir about being struck by polio when she was twelve years old, leaving her paralyzed in both her arms and legs. The story of her fight to recover and to walk again is enriched by her friendship with fellow patients, the generous love of her family, and the care of a determined nurse. Peg is neither saint nor grouch—just someone you like as much as you admire. This is a feel-good book about a feel-bad topic. 

By Peg Kehret,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Small Steps as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

Peg Kehret was stricken with polio when she was twelve years old. At first paralyzed and terrified, she fought her way to recovery, aided by doctors and therapists, a loving family, supportive roommates fighting their own battles with the disease, and plenty of grit and luck. With the humor and suspense that are her trademarks, acclaimed author Peg Kehret vividly recreates the true story of her year of heartbreak and triumph.


Book cover of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat And Other Clinical Tales
Book cover of The Doors of Perception
Book cover of Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming

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