I've loved horror since I was a kid. However, the horror of the unexpected has frequently popped up in my life. This started most prominently with a day on the beach, near the haunted Hotel del Coronado; while my mind was busy thinking of ghosts, I busily picked up various seashells, only to be shocked to find a crab in one of the shells I had attempted to retrieve. Several paranormal experiences and many late nights of research later, I have become the writer presenting you this list today. I've spent a lot of time watching movies, teaching, and reading about sociology. Happy reading!
This is a sci-fi book from famous sci-fi author Phillip K. Dick. Besides suggesting some big, scary questions, it didn't exactly stick to what I usually go for in a sci-fi book.
For a while, it involved this product, Ubik, which has so many uses that it's everywhere. But the story drew me in with a relatively everyman-type guy on a team of psionic corporate spies—and then things get weird. It's the kind of weird like when I was struggling to remember this amazing horror movie I had seen, only to realize the media in question had actually been this unforgettable book.
A classic science fiction tale of artifical worlds by one of the great American writers of the 20th century
Glen Runciter is dead.
Or is he?
Someone died in the explosion orchestrated by his business rivals, but even as his funeral is scheduled, his mourning employees are receiving bewildering messages from their boss. And the world around them is warping and regressing in ways which suggest that their own time is running out.
If it hasn't already.
Readers minds have been blown by Ubik:
'Sheer craziness, a book defying any straightforward synopsis . . . a unique time travel adventure…
Hey, look! It's totally a superhero comic! Some superheroes will probably get some super powers, and maybe a villain will try to destroy a town, and, true to superhero form, at least everything is kind of relatively okay in the end (not to spoil anything).
It has pretty much everyone's favorite superhero, since it has a lot of superheroes. Which is really interesting, because the first few pages are sheer horror. Seriously, it isn't every book that gets my mind flirting with a panic attack, but this one was fine after setting it down for a moment. Then it's mostly a superhero comic again and not really a horror story, except for when it is a horror story.
The biggest adventure in DC's history is here! Join visionary writer Grant
Morrison, today's most talented artists, and a cast of unforgettable heroes from
52 alternative Earths of the DC Multiverse! Prepare to meet the Vampire
League of Earth-43, the Justice Riders of Earth-18, Superdemon, Doc Fate, the
super-sons of Superman and Batman, the rampaging Retaliators of Earth-8, the
Atomic Knights of Justice, Dino-Cop, Sister Miracle, Lady Quark, and the latest,
greatest Super Hero of Earth-Prime: YOU! THE MULTIVERSITY is more than a
multipart comic-book series. It's a cosmos spanning, soul-shaking experience
that puts YOU on the frontline in the…
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
A friend recommended this book while in high school. I was trying to find more great sci-fi books, and he recommended this one.
It's a bit of a real-world dystopian story, and I apologize for that in advance. Our perspective follows a "Third", or the third-born child in a family. Unfortunately, being a "Third" means not being allowed to exist. It's the sort of dystopian book that could happen; I dread the times such things have happened in real life, and remain hopeful such things do not happen at all.
Luke Garner has spent his entire life—all twelve years—in hiding. The government has outlawed families with more than two children. As the Garners’ third child, Luke’s very life is in danger. When Luke meets Jen, another “shadow child,” he begins to question the government’s policies.
I found this book in my high school library, fresh off of The Old Kingdom (trilogy, at the time), and while I needed a break from the Ender's series. Seeing it on the shelf, it looked like a perfect option against the cultural backdrop that was the success of The Matrix.
This is from the less-likely-to-happen end of dystopian spectrum and involves evil overlords ruling over everyone after anyone over the age of fourteen has "disappeared" due to the "Change". No one over fourteen exists due to something called a "sad birthday", of which the details here will be spared, except to say it makes the annual games between districts look like little more than fanfare. Also, please keep stocking this book in school libraries because it is terrifying.
From renowned fantasy author of the Old Kingdom series, Garth Nix, comes a dystopian fantasy perfect for fans of Hunger Games and Divergent.
Imagine a world where your fourteenth birthday is your last and where even your protector may not be trusted....
In a futuristic urban wasteland, evil Overlords have decreed that no human shall live a day past their fourteenth birthday. On that Sad Birthday, the children of the Dorms are taken to the Meat Factory, where they will be made into creatures whose sole purpose is to kill.
The mysterious Shade—once a man, but now more like the…
A witchy paranormal cozy mystery told through the eyes of a fiercely clever (and undeniably fabulous) feline familiar.
I’m Juno. Snow-white fur, sharp-witted, and currently stuck working magical animal control in the enchanted town of Crimson Cove. My witch, Zandra Crypt, and I only came here to find her missing…
It's another sci-fi book! Luckily, it has a fun, psychedelic-flower-child color palette, so it should be fine.
Probably the biggest stretch on this list, this is mostly horror by implication. There are a lot of real-life event references, several characters are hippies (including the main character), and there's even a thread of romance. On the flip side, there's also some other stuff from the era of the "Summer of Love", like clandestine organizations and war protests that poignantly reminded me of the oxymoron, "fighting for peace".
In 1969 a timid teen sets out on a road trip. His goal? Find out the origins of his bizarre super human abilities. Always the follower, his trip is derailed when he befriends a group of extremist war protesters
This book bounces off of several sci-fi tropes as it settles into a horror story. One day, Anna is in school when she notices shadows stretching, but everything changes when the shadows start to encompass everything.
I wrote it based on those late-night conversations with friends about the nature of reality and watching hundreds of horror movies.
“Rowdy” Randy Cox, a woman staring down the barrel of retirement, is a curmudgeonly blue-collar butch lesbian who has been single for twenty years and is trying to date again.
At the end of a long, exhausting shift, Randy finds her supervisor, Bryant, pinned and near death at the warehouse…
