Dark Fantasy and Paranormal Books – Free & Bargain Priced!
The Fantasy genre is one of contrasts—light and dark, good and bad–with the expectation of ultimate victory of good over the forces of evil. Fantasy is ultimately an optimistic genre. But at the other extreme of the genre are Dark Fantasy novels which, in contrast, feature a bleak outlook. These aren’t Horror stories, but they may contain elements of the horror genre, and are filtered through a dark world-view, where the stakes have become too high for levity, and the price that’s paid for victory will be severe.
What is a ‘Dark Fantasy (or Paranormal)’ Book?
Dark Fantasy fiction is a form of fantasy in which elements of horror, or anti-heroic protagonists, play a large part. The definition isn’t a strict one, and the genre is, in some ways, a drop-box for stories which sit uncomfortably on the edge of horror and fantasy, but don’t quite fit in either.
For example, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings as a classic fantasy story, with very clear lines between the good protagonists and the evil antagonists, and the Exorcist as a classic horror story with sympathetic protagonists beset by misfortunes which slowly unveil a horrific antagonist (the story developing, in many ways, like a mystery story as the true horror is revealed). So, where does Ann Rice’s Interview with the Vampire lie? A novel in which a traditional creature of horror, the vampire, is treated with consideration and empathy — Dark Fantasy would be a good place to put it.
We include the term ‘paranormal’ in this category because, in many cases, these stories are about paranormal entities or situations and include urban fantasy and much of the vampire genre.
Dark fantasy is also occasionally used to define stories which are told from a monster’s point of view, or which offer a sympathetic attitude towards monsters and supernatural beings which are usually associated with horror. Stephen King’s Dark Tower series is a good example of a Dark Fantasy Book (the first in the series is The Gunslinger). As are Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Saint-Germain, and Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (comic book series) — each of which are examples of this style of dark fantasy. All of which is in contrast to the traditional horror story, which focuses instead on victims and survivors.
More generally, dark fantasy is often used to refer to supernatural horror, by which it attempts to distinguish those horror stories which contain elements of the supernatural, from stories that don’t. For example, stores about vampires or werewolves might be described as dark fantasy fiction, whilst stories about serial killers are simply horror.
Classic Dark Fantasy Book Interview With The Vampire, by Anne Rice
A Modern Classic of the Dark Fantasy and Paranormal Genre: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
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Crime Fiction Seminar at the British Library
I enjoyed this 5 minute monologue by Neil Gaiman on the 3 books which changed his life. Briefly, it’s The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, Michael Moorcock’s ‘Stormbringer’, and Alan Moore’s comic series ‘Swamp Thing’ — which is not really a book but Gaiman was a comic writer, too. But it’s more than just 3 books, it’s a reflection on a life of reading. Worth a watch if you like Neil Gaiman, or simply if you like books and enjoy ‘bonding’ with other booklovers, by listening to how their lives, like yours, have been affected by the books they read.
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The Switch House
CONGRATULATIONS! You've won a role on LET'S SWITCH HOUSES! Your life is going to change. We promise. Your dreams will come true. Everything you've ever wanted, we have it. This is a chance of a lifetime. Come inside. Switch with us.Angela and Terry return home after...
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The Accidental Witch
Phaedra Michaels is a small town psychologist who is beginning to lose hope. Two of her patients at the local hospital in Dismal, Alabama have just killed themselves, she’s still reeling from her divorce and what turned out to be a disastrous marriage, and her father...
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Hard Day’s Knight
Batman meets The Odd Couple meets Dracula in this award-winning horror comedy series! Children are missing. The police are stumped. Halloween is coming, with an ancient evil on the horizon. The vampires are the good guys. This is not your ordinary fall weekend in...
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The Case Of The Night Mark
When Detective Samantha Rain gets bitten by a hellhound, she's forced into the magical world of the Nox, night creatures living in secret between humans. Vampires, Will-O-Wisps, and much more uncommon types hide in a world that runs on oaths, blood, and death.Unsure...
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Sleight of Hand
Not dead. Yet. Not undead either, but the odds are stacking up against Amber.Denver’s brutal drug gangs want her dead, but there's no chance for her to hide away. Her PI business is already struggling to get by, and she has to take a job for a wealthy local...
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The Science of Women in Horror
From scream queens to femmes fatale, horror isn’t just for the boys. Gothic media moguls Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence, authors of The Science of Monsters, and co-hosts of the Horror Rewind podcast called “the best horror film podcast out there” by Film Daddy,...
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Ghost Detective
Everybody dies. Nobody leaves . . . Award-winning author Scott William Carter returns with his tenth novel, a spellbinding tale of a man who bridges both sides of the great divide.After narrowly surviving a near-fatal shooting, Portland detective Myron Vale wakes with...
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Dark Legacy
Immortals, vampires, and love collide! When Morgan Winterborne is named head of her immortal clan after her mother’s sudden death, she hardly expects to be thrown into a game of cat and mouse with her own uncle. Or a mysterious man from her mother’s past who stalks...
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Island of Bones
????? Listed as one of Cedar Hollow Horror Reviews' BEST HORROR BOOKS of 2018. A haunted Key West resort. Ghosts of a secretive family past. A deadly hurricane.When Ellie Whitaker leaves her dead-end job behind to spread her grandmother's ashes in tropical paradise,...
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The Case Of The Night Mark
When Detective Samantha Rain gets bitten by a hellhound, she's forced into the magical world of the Nox, night creatures living in secret between humans. Vampires, Will-O-Wisps, and much more uncommon types hide in a world that runs on oaths, blood, and death.Unsure...
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An Alec Winters Series (Complete, Books 1-4)
A hard-core depiction of good vs evil! This supernatural suspense, dark urban fantasy series is a controversial tale of transformation to angel and demon where Alec Winters roams the gritty streets of New Orleans to protect its innocent victims and brutally destroy...
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Ruled by Blood
Once upon a time, there was a princess with no notion of right and wrong, and a queen a thousand times more twisted.In the realm of Tenebris, home to the unseelie folk, curses are served for breakfast with a side of betrayal.Vlari was born a threat to Queen Morgana....
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Braineater Jones
No memory. No pulse. No clue.The undead private eye everybody calls “Braineater Jones” has an axe to grind. Somebody plugged him and dumped his corpse in a swimming pool. Worse yet, his memory’s gone. He has no idea who killed him or why.But he’s damn sure going to...
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Don’t Move
From the authors of the bestselling Awakened trilogy.Megan Forrester has barely survived the unthinkable. Six months ago, she witnessed a horrific accident that killed her husband and son, and lives with the guilt of knowing she could have done more to save them. Now,...
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Fate of the Fallen
Fate of the Fallen is the start of a brand new adventure from New York Times bestselling author Kel KadeNot all stories have happy endings.Everyone loves Mathias. Naturally, when he discovers it’s his destiny to save the world, he dives in head first, pulling his best...
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Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter
For all the rabid fans who devoured Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, comes A.E. Moorat’s Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter! This outrageously entertaining and deeply irreverent tale of palace intrigue and bloody supernatural mayhem features the most unlikely monster-slayer...
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The Living And The Dead
For fans of STEPHEN KING and DEAN KOONTZ … author TODD TRAVIS (Creatures of Appetite) has gathered a haunting collection of suspense stories exploring the monsters, both living and dead, which surround us all. - A brilliant biophysicist on the verge of proving there...
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House of Sol Alpha
Who has time for homework and class when your friends are in mortal danger?Indulge in a fast-paced urban fantasy series with powerful characters, non-stop action, and thrilling psychic powers. When Micah is ambushed at a hospital, his life changes forever. Armed with...
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Bad News
A missing girl.A man with a past.And a reporter who'll do anything to uncover the truth.When she's fired from her job at a TV station, Maggie Carter sets out to prove that she's got what it takes. Determined to be as devious, deceptive and duplicitious as her most...
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Touch
Touch is an electrifying thriller by the author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and 84K.He tried to take my life. Instead, I took his.It was a long time ago. I remember it was dark, and I didn't see my killer until it was too late. As I died, my hand...
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Viscera
“[Viscera] is dark, weird, and wonderfully human, and I cannot recommend it enough. It’s far and away the weirdest, most original thing you will read this year, and Gabriel Squailia gives it heart that matches its entrails beat-for-beat.”—B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy BlogThe...
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Rough Cut
Horror legend Harry Tuttle is desperate for a hit. Harry’s career has been on a painful slide ever since he directed a couple of box office winners in the 1980s. Enter Marcus Stegman, a young unknown with a horror picture of his own. It’s not only a brilliant debut —...
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Magic Triumphs
Mercenary Kate Daniels must risk all to protect everything she holds dear in this epic, can't-miss entry in the thrilling #1 New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series.Kate has come a long way from her origins as a loner taking care of paranormal problems in...
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Pines
The one-million copy bestseller that inspired the Fox TV show.Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of...
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A Longer Fall
#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns with “a gripping, twisty-turny, thrill ride of a read (Karin Slaughter) in which Lizbeth is hired onto a new crew, transporting a crate into Dixie, the self-exiled southeast territory of the former United...
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Anno Dracula
"Kim Newman's Anno Dracula is back in print, and we must celebrate. It was the first mash-up of literature, history and vampires, and now, in a world in which vampires are everywhere, it's still the best, and its bite is just as sharp. Compulsory reading, commentary,...
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John Dies at the End
"David Wong has updated the Lovecraft tradition and infused it with humor that rather than lessening the horror, increases it dramatically. Every time I set the book down down, I was wary that something really was afoot, that there were creatures I couldn't see, and...
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The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
The New York Times Best Seller #1 April LibraryReads PickApril Indie Next Pick Goodreads Big Book of Spring Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this '90s-set horror novel about a women's book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern...
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Ghosts of Gotham
Irresistibly drawn to mysteries, if only to debunk them, reporter Lionel Page exposes supernatural frauds, swindlers, and charlatans. His latest case is an obsession—at least for an ancient and wealthy heiress: verify the authenticity of a lost Edgar Allan Poe...
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Oblivion
Once a god. Now a target. They stole the greatest part of him, and he damn well wants it back. Waking confused on a still battlefield, Darius knows he must be a great fighter, because all around are the bodies of lesser warriors. As he gathers himself up, he has but a...
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Boy’s Life
An Alabama boy’s innocence is shaken by murder and madness in the 1960s South in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song. It’s 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama. People either work for the paper mill up the Tecumseh River, or for the local...
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From Daylight To Madness
The latest book from Kindle Award for Horror 2020 Winner, and author of Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent; Jennifer Anne Gordon.***ON SALE LIMITED TIME ONLY***On an almost uninhabitable rocky island off the coast of Maine, a Hotel looms over the shore, an...
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Tales of Mystery Unexplained
Tales of Mystery Unexplained....What happened to Elisa Lam, found dead in a water tower atop a hotel roof? Who were the two men who came to see her & what was in the mystery box they gave her? Why did the location of her gravestone match the zip code of a Bookstore,...
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Nightworld Academy
Welcome to the Nightworld Academy, attended by vampires, shifters, and witches. A place filled with harmony and mutual respect between the supernatural races. Sometimes. I'm told my curse is a gift. A valuable one that could cost me my life.My visions of the future...
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The Vampire Club
MONTY PYTHON MEETS THE LOST BOYS!#1 bestselling Kindle authors, J.R. Rain and Scott Nicholson, unleash The Vampire Club—a group of lovable, laughable, larcenous college students turned vampire hunters!Nearly two hundred years ago, a man was killed with a silver bullet...
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Hench: A Novel
“This book is fast, furious, compelling, and angry as hell." -- Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author The Boys meets My Year of Rest and Relaxation in this smart, imaginative, and evocative novel of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, told with...
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