Psychological Horror

Edgar Allan Poe proposed that “the boundary line between instinct and reason is of a very shadowy nature” (1840). With its 21 stories of serial killers and sociopaths, fixations and fetishes, breakdowns and bad decisions crafted by authors as diverse as their writing styles, Shadowy Natures leads fans of psychological horror down dark and treacherous roads to destinations they will be too unsettled to leave.

1963. When Eleanor meets famous young poet Lyndon Chance, he offers a way to flee her abusive father. In return, she must pretend to be Lyndon's wife. He takes her home to a Tudor manor on the Camel Estuary in Cornwall, where she finds herself in the middle of a feud between Lyndon and his twin brother, Oliver. It's soon clear that the old house hides many dark secrets. But could they be a threat to Eleanor?

Jamie Conklin, el único hijo de una madre soltera, solo quiere tener una infancia normal. Sin embargo, nació con una habilidad sobrenatural que su madre le insta a mantener en secreto y que le permite ver aquello que nadie puede y enterarse de lo que el resto del mundo ignora. Cuando una inspectora del Departamento de Policía de Nueva York le obliga a evitar el último atentado de un asesino que amenaza con seguir atacando incluso desde la tumba, Jamie no tardará en descubrir que el precio que debe pagar por su poder tal vez es demasiado alto.

Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, torn apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances: in their house, on the roadway, in the market. Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye.

Lisa needs to disappear. And her friend's rambling old home in the wilds of Yorkshire seems like the perfect place. It's miles away from the closest town, and no one there knows her or her little boy, Joe. But when Lisa meets some of the locals and hears some disturbing rumours about the house, she realises it might not be the sanctuary she thought. What secret has Rowan Isle House - and her friend - kept hidden all these years? And what will Lisa have to do to survive when her own past finally catches up with her?

A gripping gothic page-turner told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating voice. In a remote and crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from reading. Left to her own devices she devours books in secret and talks to herself in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles.

A mysterious stranger shows up at Riccardo’s apartment with some news: his grandmother Perihan has died, and Riccardo has inherited her villa in Milan along with her famed butterfly collection. The struggling writer is out of options. He’s hoping the change of scenery in Milan will inspire him, and maybe there will be some money to keep him afloat. But Perihan’s house isn’t as opulent as he remembers. The butterflies pinned in their glass cases seem more ominous than artful. Perihan’s group of mysterious old friends is constantly lurking. And there’s something wrong in the greenhouse.

NYPD criminalist Lincoln Rhyme joins his beautiful protégé, Amelia Sachs, in the hunt for the Coffin Dancer - an ingenious killer who changes appearance even faster than he adds to his trail of victims. They have only one clue: the madman has a tattoo of the Grim Reaper waltzing with a woman. Rhyme must rely on his wits and intuition to track the elusive murderer through New York City - knowing they have only 48 hours before the Coffin Dancer strikes again.

A man finds himself the subject of interrogation related to a break in at his home. Or does he? The line between reality and insanity is easily blurred and razor thin for Marv Stillman. Two best friends join one another on yet another adventure, this time to the furthest remote corner of the Rocky Mountains. They seek evidence of an ever-elusive beast.

In the morning, Bram finds the bones of a murdered child. At noon, the murdered child begs for his help. And by nightfall, they have killed a man together and set off into the afterlife, where nothing is what it was, and death is only the beginning of punishment. An eerie story about the nature of death and the self, Midnight Picnic inhabits an American landscape made strange and unfamiliar.

Off the coast of Georgia, near Savannah, generations have been tempted by strange blue lights in the sky near an island called Lyra. At the height of WWII, impressionable young Elle Ranier leaves New York City to forge a new life together on the island with her new husband, Simon. There they will live for decades, raising a family while waging a quixotic campaign to find the source of the mysterious blue offshore light—and the elusive minerals rumored to lurk beneath the surface.

Three lost souls will collide as they navigate through a mysterious town saturated with ash raining endlessly from the sky. They soon discover that they are not alone and will have to work together in order to escape alive. As they uncover clues scattered through the town they will have to decide which is more horrifying, themselves or those who are hiding within the ashes. Heaven is forgetting; hell is remembering.

Abi Allerton is happily married. She lives in a beautiful Victorian semi that she and her husband, Rohan, have lovingly renovated. Her past is firmly behind her. When her old university friend Grace gets back in touch, Abi is hesitant. Their friendship was intense and all-consuming. But with Rohan away for work, Abi could use some company, so she agrees to let Grace stay. Before Abi realises her mistake, it’s too late. Grace is back to her old ways, and Abi is losing grip on her calm, well-ordered life. Because Grace knows Abi’s secret - and she’ll never let her forget it.

Cherry Hollow has been plagued by The Darkness for more than two decades. Death, murder, infidelity, trauma, and severe mental health disorders … It all started in 1998 with the disappearance of a young boy. Or did it? Now, another body has been discovered, hidden in the depths of Beaker Ravine, a place where The Darkness has been luring its victims for years. But this body is different. It’s older. It means The Darkness was around long before anyone even knew it existed …

Charly und ihr Mann Eric sind überzeugt, das große Los gezogen zu haben. Nach Monaten der vergeblichen Suche wurde ihnen das perfekte Haus für ihre wachsende Familie angeboten. Und das zu einem erschwinglichen Preis. Aber noch vor ihrem Einzug bekommt die glänzende Fassade Risse. Vor nicht einmal einem Jahr ermordete der Sohn der Hausherren seine Eltern und beging im Anschluss Selbstmord. Einzig seine Schwester überlebte. Aber wie wahrscheinlich ist es schon, dass sich solch eine Tragödie wiederholt?

After a woman dies, she watches over her son as he struggles with life’s challenges. When he dies, too, he comes to her for help, but she has different plans in store for him.

You did nothing. That doesn’t mean you’re innocent. On a night out, four friends witness a stranger in trouble. They decide to do nothing to help. Later, a body washes up on the banks of the Thames - and the group realises that ignoring the woman has left blood on their hands. But why did each of them refuse to step in? Why did none of them want to be noticed that night? Who is really responsible? And is it possible that the victim was not really a stranger at all?

Thirty-four years ago, on October 31, poor Hannah Talbott took part in a scavenger hunt gone violently wrong. The mean girls made sure of it. To this day, for a haunted local mother, the most unsettling Halloween costume of all is an urban legend they call Hannah-Beast. It’s a reminder of the past she can’t forget. Especially tonight when it’s come back, so close to home.

Months after her sister’s death, Marianne wakes up to find a growth of thick black hairs along her spine. They defy her attempts to remove them, instead proliferating, growing longer. The hairs, Marianne’s doctor tells her, are a reaction to trauma, developed in the wake of the loss of her sister, Marie. Her doctor recommends that Marianne visits Nede, a modern, New Age rehabilitation center in a remote forest in Wales where the patients attend unorthodox therapy sessions and commune with nature. Yet something strange is happening to Marianne and the other patients at Nede....

On Christmas Eve in 1988, seven-year-old Alfie Marsden vanished in the Wentshire Forest Pass when a burst tyre forced his father, Sorrel, to stop the car. Leaving the car to summon the emergency services, Sorrel returned to find his son gone. No trace of the child, nor his remains, have ever been found. Alfie Marsden was declared officially dead in 1995. Elusive online journalist Scott King, whose Six Stories podcasts have become an internet sensation, investigates the disappearance, interviewing six witnesses, to try to find out what really happened that fateful night.