Modern Horror

A terrifying, thrilling collection of must-listen horror stories chock-full of nightmarish supernatural beings and the murderously disturbed that are sure to keep you up all night long.

In the early 20th century, World War I was the most devastating event humanity had yet experienced. New machines of war left tens of millions killed or wounded in the most grotesque of ways. The Great War remade the world's map, created new global powers, and brought forth some of the biggest problems still facing us today. But it also birthed a new art form: the horror film, made from the fears of a generation ruined by war. From Nosferatu to Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man, the touchstones of horror can all trace their roots to the bloodshed of the First World War.

Much has been written about the storied New Hollywood of the 1970s, but while Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola were making their first classic movies, a parallel universe of directors gave birth to the modern horror film - aggressive, raw, and utterly original. Based on unprecedented access to the genre's major players, New York Times critic Jason Zinoman's Shock Value delivers the first definitive account of horror's golden age.

From its first publication in 1992, Men, Women, and Chain Saws has offered a groundbreaking perspective on the creativity and influence of horror cinema since the mid-1970s. Investigating the popularity of the low-budget tradition, Carol Clover looks in particular at slasher, occult, and rape-revenge films. Although such movies have been traditionally understood as offering only sadistic pleasures to their mostly male audiences, Clover demonstrates that they align spectators not with the male tormentor, but with the females tormented.

After the loss of her mother, a woman returns to the San Fernando Valley only to uncover a haunting secret about her childhood friend. A visiting professor at a charming but strange California liberal arts college must face her past in order to protect her son. A sister, lost in the woods, confronts the dangerous truth about her brother, her stepmother, and herself. Rose's dog Wolfie has died, and three seductive women offer to help return him to her. But only if she will pay the price.

Guy is about to finish writing his breakthrough online article. He overheard the story by chance in a pub and it’s guaranteed to go viral - all he needs to do is persuade the World’s Unluckiest Man to talk to him. His best friend Larry’s quest for killer clickbait material has led him to a recently appeared shanty town in Glasgow, where he finds some kind of urban voodoo cult. Ex-cop Sam has already come face-to-face with the terrifying force behind both these phenomena, but he’s been trying to put it out of his mind.

Verity King has a problem with her husband. He’s been turned into a frog, and contrary to opinion, that’s not an improvement. A cryptic message, a severed finger in her fridge, and no signs of forced entry make it clear to Tempest why he was called, but Mr King’s worrying transformation is just the first act. Almost before he can add up the clues, a second victim confirms the theme and Tempest finds himself up against someone performing modern retellings of the Grimm Brothers’ Fairy Tales … with real live human characters. Tempest also has a new partner and it’s not his old army...

WARNING: Due to extremely disturbing content, this book is intended for MATURE READERS ONLY. Midian, Tennessee is a city on the brink of ruin. Coming off a cataclysmic event that has changed the course of the town and revealed the threat to all, no respite comes to the beleaguered people of Midian. For demons are pouring into the town from every corner of the earth, with appetites both gross and varied. Ruin creeps ever closer, and as the lonely watch tries to stave off ruin, they may face find their greatest threat isn't a demon at all...but rather a fellow human whose own lusts for power ...

A mysterious internet figure, known only as Mr. Boy, is preying on depressed teenagers and brainwashing them into horrific acts of self-harm and suicide. The macabre message behind "The Dropout Challenge" is simple: Drop out of sight. Drop out of school. Drop out of society. Drop out of life altogether.

Harry Keogh is the man who can talk to the dead, the man for whom every grave willingly gives up its secrets, the one man who knows how to travel effortlessly through time and space to destroy the vampires that threaten all of humanity.

Some legends don’t want to stay hidden—and some secrets won’t stay buried. When a Navajo girl vanishes in the high desert of Arizona, Lux Branson is asked to help, even though this time the stakes are deeply personal. Her old friend Jackson believes his girlfriend was taken by a Skinwalker—an evil shapeshifter from Navajo lore. Skeptical but determined, Lux joins the search. The deeper they go into the red rock canyons and sacred lands, the more disturbing the evidence becomes. Something ancient is watching. And it doesn’t want them to leave. With time running out and local ...

What if Edgar Allan Poe's masterpieces happened in our world? Step into five chilling retellings that transport Poe's most terrifying tales into the 21st century, where ancient horrors take on frightening new forms. From sterile hospital corridors to corporate boardrooms, from contaminated mansions to digital graveyards, these stories prove that the human capacity for guilt, obsession, and revenge transcends any era. "The Monitor" - A night-shift nurse's paranoia spirals into murder, where the tell-tale heart becomes the relentless beeping of medical equipment, and guilt echoes through ...

Deep in the Louisiana bayou, a nightmare stalks the shadows. When a young girl goes missing near the swamps, Lux Branson is called in to investigate. Locals whisper of the Rougarou—a Cajun werewolf said to punish the wicked. But Lux isn’t one to chase ghost stories. Until the bodies start turning up. What begins as a routine search becomes a tense and terrifying hunt through tangled wetlands, where folklore bleeds into reality and something savage lurks just out of sight. As the full moon rises and the line between myth and monster fades, Lux must confront a creature older than the ...

Three deeply unsettling stories. One world where monsters wear human faces, shadows whisper secrets, and legends aren’t just bedtime tales. Each story grips you quietly… then drags you into darkness. Inside this chilling mini-anthology, you’ll discover: psychological dread, haunted homes, urban legends, and survival against impossible evil.Stories Included: Smile In a cold and cruel future, people are forced to smile through unimaginable pain or die trying. One mother watches helplessly as her son dares to resist… and pays the ultimate price. Lady in My House After moving back into ...

Patrick Bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980s Manhattan. Young, handsome, and well educated, Bateman earns his fortune on Wall Street by day while spending his nights in ways we cannot begin to fathom. Expressing his true self through torture and murder, Bateman prefigures an apocalyptic horror that no society could bear to confront.

A Collection of Short Tales is an anthology of unique stories that will capture one's imagination. Characters that you might cheer or jeer for are woven into these stories. Maybe... just maybe you will get lost within a tale and emerge a new person. Or maybe... just maybe you will have a good laugh. Either way dive into this compilation of distinctive stories and have fun.

The History of Slasher Films: From Cult Classics to Modern Horror Icons is your ultimate guide to one of cinema’s most enduring—and thrilling—genres. Whether you're a longtime horror fan or just discovering the thrill of the Final Girl, this engaging and in-depth book traces the evolution of the slasher film from its early roots in the 1930s to its 21st-century reinvention. Packed with fascinating film history, cultural analysis, iconic characters, and must-watch movie recommendations, this book explores how slasher movies reflect our fears, challenge social norms, and continue to ...

The time is the early '80s. The characters go to the same schools and eat at the same restaurants. Their voices enfold us as seamlessly as those of DJs heard over a car radio. They have sex with the same boys and girls and buy from the same dealers. In short, they are connected in the only way people can be in that city.

On the wind-battered isle of Altnaharra, off the wildest coast of Scotland, a clan prepares to bring about the end of the world and its imminent rebirth. The Adder is coming and one of their number will inherit its powers. They all want the honor, but young Eve is willing to do anything for the distinction. A reckoning beyond Eve’s imagination begins when Chief Inspector Black arrives to investigate a brutal murder and their sacred ceremony goes terribly wrong. And soon all the secrets of Altnaharra will be uncovered.

After thirty-four years in the same weatherworn farmhouse on Dagger Lane, Tommy Hearst thought he knew every creak and whisper the old place could conjure. But when he uncovers a rotting corpse sealed behind wallpaper and hears his dead mother's voice carved into mirrors, he realizes the house isn't haunted—it's alive. As the walls breathe and whisper secrets long buried, Tommy is pulled into a horrifying family legacy—one bound in blood, sealed with silence, and broken by his very birth. Something ancient stirs beneath the floorboards. Something that has been waiting. Watching. ...