Here are 51 books that Legion fans have personally recommended if you like
Legion.
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I’ve been fascinated by how people behave and how in-group bias can change who they are. That interest led me into computational sociology (I study human behavior for a living), with my work appearing in The New York Times, USA Today, WIRED, and more. But my deepest fascination has always been with people’s propensity for the horrific. I LOVE the liminal space where fear, secrecy, and belonging collide. Being neurodivergent, living in a small Virginia town with my wife and our neurodivergent, queer son, I see how communities can both shelter and suffocate. That tension is why I’m drawn to stories saturated in dread, beauty, and what lives in the shadows.
I’ve never read another book that got under my skin like A Head Full of Ghosts.
I felt unsettled, not just by the horror, but by the way Tremblay made me question memory, faith, and family. I remember finishing it and just sitting there, trying to figure out what was what. It’s rare for a book to make me feel compassionate and terrified at the same time.
That’s why I recommend it: because it doesn’t leave you when you close the cover. It lingers, and I love that.
The lives of the Barretts, a suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to halt Marjorie's descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show.Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls the terrifying events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
I was a fraternal twin, and my brother died about two hours after birth from a bilateral pulmonary hemorrhage. Knowing this as a child, I became fascinated with death, thinking of it as annihilation. Later, I feared my religion (Christianity) might be false and I would be annihilated at death. Thus I became fascinated by all things philosophical and theological, including theological horror. The works I like most center on themes of the truth of religion and life after death while avoiding preachiness and the trap of telling rather than showing.
I highly recommend The Taking because it continues to haunt me with existential terror—I have never been as frightened by a horror novel in my life. The struggles of a young couple in the face of an apparent alien invasion are frightening enough, but the imagery is overwhelmingly frightening and powerful. When the reveal comes at the end, the surprise was almost too scary to bear, since it concerns entities in which I truly believe. This book lingers with me… and lingers…. and lingers….
On the morning that marks the end of the world they have known, Molly and Neil Sloan awaken to the drumbeat of rain on their roof. A luminous silvery downpour is drenching their small California mountain town. It has haunted their sleep, invaded their dreams, and now, in the moody purple dawn, the young couple cannot shake the sense of something terribly wrong.
As the hours pass, Molly and Neil listen to disturbing news of extreme weather phenomena across the globe. By nightfall, their little town loses all contact with the outside world. A thick…
I was a fraternal twin, and my brother died about two hours after birth from a bilateral pulmonary hemorrhage. Knowing this as a child, I became fascinated with death, thinking of it as annihilation. Later, I feared my religion (Christianity) might be false and I would be annihilated at death. Thus I became fascinated by all things philosophical and theological, including theological horror. The works I like most center on themes of the truth of religion and life after death while avoiding preachiness and the trap of telling rather than showing.
This is one of the books that made me wonder at the world. What begins as a conventional story of a boy haunted by an “imaginary friend” turns into something far more complex and frightening. For most of the novel I had no idea of a theological element in the book, so when that element hit it was a surprise, at least to me. The effect reminded me of Rudolf Otto’s description of meeting a supernatural being as “mysterious, tremendous, and fascinating”—I was pulled in even as I was drawn away.
The Guardian of the Palace is the first novel in a modern fantasy series set in a New York City where magic is real—but hidden, suppressed, and dangerous when exposed.
When an ancient magic begins to leak into the world, a small group of unlikely allies is forced to act…
I am the author of three novels (with two more set to release next year); Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree; The Dead Rockstar Trilogy; and I'm happiest when straddling literary genres. I have published works of historical fiction, as well as southern gothic, horror, speculative fiction, dark fantasy, and literary fiction. My debut, Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree was nominated for Georgia Author of the Year in 2020. In addition to writing, I am a genealogist and recently went back to school to obtain my history degree. My love of writing, history, and family all intersect to inform my writing and I always set my characters in good old Georgia.
This novel is the perfect blend of historical fiction and horror, and King perfectly captures small-town rural life among people who hold a little too strongly to both tradition and stereotypes. The novel invokes that particular dread that can only be raised by those philosophical questions that one can’t seem to answer; the horror of the unknown. Plus, given my own book, I have a soft spot for traveling preachers who aren’t what they seem.
A spectacularly dark and electrifying novel about addiction, religion, music and what might exist on the other side of life.
In a small New England town, in the early 60s, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister, Charles Jacobs. Soon they forge a deep bond, based on their fascination with simple experiments in electricity.
Decades later, Jamie is living a nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Now an addict, he sees Jacobs again - a showman on stage, creating dazzling 'portraits in…
I was a fraternal twin, and my brother died about two hours after birth from a bilateral pulmonary hemorrhage. Knowing this as a child, I became fascinated with death, thinking of it as annihilation. Later, I feared my religion (Christianity) might be false and I would be annihilated at death. Thus I became fascinated by all things philosophical and theological, including theological horror. The works I like most center on themes of the truth of religion and life after death while avoiding preachiness and the trap of telling rather than showing.
As I read this collection of ghost stories, a sense of awe, wonder, and even joy, came into my mind and heart. These stories are better than those of M. R. James—the twist at the end of each story made me literally chill. Kirk’s world is a Christian world, but he is never preachy, focusing on the storyline. Like Poe, the single effect in the stories is stunning, surprising the reader with marvels and an expanded view of the world.
Widely regarded as the founder of the modern conservative movement, Russell Kirk was a noted man of letters whose prodigious literary career included a syndicated newspaper column and a regular page in National Review. This volume demonstrates another compelling side of Kirk the imaginative author who could communicate his powerful vision through the dramatic genre of the ghost story.
Ancestral Shadows collects nineteen of Kirk's best ghostly tales from periodicals and anthologies published throughout his life. In the tradition of Defoe, Stevenson, Hawthorne, Coleridge, Poe, and other master writers, these frightful stories conjure the creaks…
I’ve spent a lifetime reading horror, I was probably in third grade when I stumbled across a battered collection of short stories by Saki in the adult section of the library—where I wasn’t supposed to be. I snuck the book back to the children’s section, started reading, and I was hooked. Then it was Edgar Allan Poe, and from Poe until now, it’s been every horror novel or short story I could find. The best of them have never left me. And they make up my list, The Most Terrifying Novels You Can’t Escape From.
The pages of The Exorcist brought me as close to the experience of true evil as I ever want to be.
Evil triumphant. Evil that seemed ultimately destined to remain triumphant. Beyond the capacity of feeble humans to even resist, much less to mount an attack and snatch back innocence from the demon’s control.
To read The Exorcist is to inhale fumes of hell. And the smell lingers.
Father Damien Karras: 'Where is Regan?' Regan MacNeil: 'In here. With us.'
The terror begins unobtrusively. Noises in the attic. In the child's room, an odd smell, the displacement of furniture, an icy chill. At first, easy explanations are offered. Then frightening changes begin to appear in eleven-year-old Regan. Medical tests fail to shed any light on her symptoms, but it is as if a different personality has invaded her body.
Father Damien Karras, a Jesuit priest, is called in. Is it possible that a demonic presence has possessed the child? Exorcism seems to be the only answer...
Aury and Scott travel to the Finger Lakes in New York’s wine country to get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings at the Songscape Winery. Disturbed furniture and curious noises are one thing, but when a customer winds up dead, it’s time to dig into the details and see…
No movie has traumatized me more than The Exorcist. I saw it at a sleepover when I was twelve years old, and I’ve never forgotten Regan McNeil’s disfigured face and demonic voice. It’s hard to say how many nightmares that possessed little girl has generated. I read the novel a few years later and was equally shocked. Creating art that can affect someone in such a formative way has been my goal ever since. I often set my stories in my native state of West Virginia, which because of its scenic beauty, is commonly referred to as “Almost Heaven.” I feel that it’s my job to balance that out.
Whether you believe in Ed and Lorraine Warren’s now legendary cases of paranormal investigation or not is irrelevant to enjoying this “non-fiction” book. The Warrens investigated many of the most famous hauntings from the 1950s to the 1990s—most notably, a murder/haunting in Amityville, NY, a possessed doll named, Annabelle, and a reported poltergeist in the town of Enfield in north London, England—all of which have been dramatized in popular horror movies, further expanding their legacy. The Warrens have their supporters and detractors like anyone claiming to have evidence of the paranormal. The abundance of evidence (“haunted” artifacts, such as dolls, mannequins, stuffed animals deemed responsible for paranormal activity) in the Warren’s cases, however, was stored in their own home which also operated as an occult museum. If you are suffering from the onset of demonic possession, it could be beneficial to chuck Grandma’s hand-me-down Raggedy Ann doll out the window.
If you think ghosts are only responsible for hauntings, think again. This New York Times Best Seller reveals the grave religious process behind supernatural events and how it can happen to you. Used as a text in seminaries and classrooms, this is one book you can't put down. For over five decades Ed and Loraine Warren have been considered America's foremost experts on demonology and exorcism. With thousands of investigations to their credit, they reveal what actually breaks the peace in haunted houses. Chapters include Annabelle and The Enfield Poltergeist. Don't miss the the Warrens in the hit film 'The…
I have been fascinated with ghosts since an early age (Casper the Friendly Ghost was a favorite childhood cartoon) because this is the supernatural being that could be in your home right now! I have read numerous ghost stories/novels and have learned all the nuances that spirits can present from poltergeist activity to seances to spiritual possession. I zoom in on those ghost stories where the past is critical to the intent of the haunting spirit, whether it be beneficial or malevolent in nature. As a neuroscientist and author of paranormal fantasy novels, my distinctive background also allows me to approach this genre in a unique way.
I read this chilling story of the supernatural infestation of the Lutz’s home when I was a teenager, and it scared me so much (because it was a true story) that I could only read it during the day!
The idea that an other-worldly entity primarily communicated with the children was both captivating and creepy, perpetuating the belief that kids and animals are more sensitive to the paranormal world, and compelled me to read more about this genre.
Like a lot of screen adaptations, the book is so much better than the movie!
“A fascinating and frightening book” (Los Angeles Times)—the bestselling true story about a house possessed by evil spirits, haunted by psychic phenomena almost too terrible to describe.
In December 1975, the Lutz family moved into their new home on suburban Long Island. George and Kathleen Lutz knew that, one year earlier, Ronald DeFeo had murdered his parents, brothers, and sisters in the house, but the property—complete with boathouse and swimming pool—and the price had been too good to pass up.
Twenty-eight days later, the entire Lutz family fled in terror.
This is the spellbinding, shocking true story that gripped the…
I love to write thriller/mystery books and the more twists I can come up with, the happier I am. I want the reader to be drawn in, and become a part of the stories. That’s why I picked these five books. I like the way they pull you into the stories, and keep you guessing, sometimes even to the end. I have always been fascinated by the workings of the criminal mind. I worked in Law Enforcement for over 25 years and received my Associate Degree in Criminal Justice Technology/Latent evidence, helping me to spin stories, keeping people guessing, and yearning to find out what’s happening next!
I was hooked by James Patterson’s first book of the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. A predator that enjoys playing mind games with Detective Cross, and a kidnapping that sends one of those thoughts through your mind, “No, they didn’t do that, did they?” One of the things I enjoyed are the short chapters. It’s filled with psychological suspense, a real thriller that I didn’t want to put down. This is something that I crave in books. For it to grab my attention, hold it, and surprise me at the end. And Patterson delivers.
The legendary thriller that launched the Alex Cross phenomenon
Adapted into a major Hollywood movie starring Morgan Freeman _________________________________
Two children have been kidnapped from an elite private school in Washington DC, and Detective Alex Cross is charged with finding them.
The kidnapper's identity is quickly determined as one of the children's teachers. But capturing him is the true challenge.
As Cross gets pulled deeper into the strange world of the kidnapper, it becomes clear he is far more dangerous than anyone could have anticipated. _________________________________
'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
My abiding interest is in how people find meaning in their lives in a post-church, secular world, and what happens when they fail. I have concluded that life needs to be seen as an arc leading to significant end; it needs to be experienced as a coherent story. The vital role of culture here is in providing archetypal stories, usually from a long time ago, but ones constantly retold and brought up to date, which provides background shapes to identify with, armatures as it were. I've explored these challenges in a series of books: Ego and Soul, The Western Dreaming, The Existential Jesus, and soon to appear, The Saviour Syndrome.
Dostoevsky’s central character is Nicholas Stavrogin, a Russian aristocrat, around Hamlet’s age. He has the aura of the mysterious stranger, arriving from beyond, haunted, solitary, fearless, and living outside all normal social bounds and conventions. He carries direct Christ allusions, stavros meaning ‘cross’ in Greek. Everybody from his own generation is in love with him, male and female. A few years earlier, adoring disciples travelled the world with him. He taught them that if it could be mathematically proved that the truth excludes Christ, he would choose Christ.
But Stavrogin lost his faith, and thereafter plunged into a life of violence and debauchery, seducing a number of women in the town, even, it is rumoured, raping a twelve-year-old girl. Without faith, he is equally without passion. Having lost the one indispensable thing, he kills himself.
The Possessed or The Devils (also translated as Demons) is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in the journal The Russian Messenger in 1871–2. It is considered one of the four masterworks written by Dostoevsky after his return from Siberian exile, along with Crime and Punishment(1866), The Idiot (1869) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Demons is a social and political satire, a psychological drama, and large scale tragedy. This is "Dostoevsky's most confused and violent novel, and his most satisfactorily 'tragic' work." Inspired by the true story of a political murder that horrified Russians in 1869, Fyodor Dostoevsky conceived…
