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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Positive
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome meets World War Z and I Am Legend in this thrilling tale that has it all: a compelling story, great characters, and explosive action, making Positive the ultimate zombie novel of our time.Anyone can be...
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The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women
Thirty-five uncanny and erotic tales of vampires written by supernatural fiction’s greatest mistresses of the macabre. "Fashions change, and the urbane vampire created by Byron and cemented in place by Stoker has had to move on . . . Are you, like me,...
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The Devil in Silver
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review ? The Washington Post ? Publishers Weekly New Hyde Hospital's psychiatric ward has a new resident. It also has a very, very old one. Pepper is a rambunctious big man, minor-league troublemaker,...
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The Haunting of Coyote Island
A dark secret, a secluded island, and nowhere to run. When author Daisy Dawkins hits a wall of writer’s block, she seeks out a retreat at the infamous Coyote Island, home of the reclusive publishing guru Greg Bregoli. Upon her arrival at Bregoli Estate, strange...
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Blackbirds
The first book in the Miriam Black series: “A sassy, hard-boiled thriller with a paranormal slant” (The Guardian) about a young woman who can see the darkest corners of the future. Miriam Black knows how you’re going to die. This makes her daily...
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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,...
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The Corpse Whisperer
Welcome to the world of Allie Nighthawk, corpse whisperer and bad ass zombie hunter. “If you raise deadheads, you’d better be able to put ‘em down. Nobody said it was pretty. But in this day, when vampires aren’t just for breakfast anymore,...
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Blood on the Chesapeake
★★★★★ "A book that I could not put down. I read the last 250 pages in a single day. It grabs your attention right away and doesn't let go..." -- an Amazon Reviewer A dangerous love, the hope of never being discovered. A new...
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The Science of Stephen King
Uncover the theories behind the Master of Horror's macabre tales: It, The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, Pet Semetary, and so much more! Gothic media moguls Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence, authors of The Science of Monsters and The Science of Women in...
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Slouch Witch
Hard Work Will Pay Off Later. Laziness Pays Off Now. Let's get one thing straight - Ivy Wilde is not a heroine. In fact, she's probably the last witch in the world who you'd call if you needed a magical helping hand. If it were down to Ivy, she'd spend all day every...
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Fear Justice
Her power will make her the ultimate weapon. His power means they can never touch.Seventeen-year-old Rena Mason counts the days until she can leave for college. Every night her father drinks himself to sleep, leaving her to care for her younger brother. When her...
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The Witch
She’s out there. She has the children. And she won’t stop until they’re dead. When tragedy strikes during a visit with their grandmother, Ryan Campbell and his sister Emily find themselves preparing for a trip to the hospital with their mother...
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No Fear and The Codex (2 Complete Series: 10 Books)
Alien conspiracies. Double agents. And femme fatales. All this and more combined in this action-packed urban fantasy thriller. Get two complete Oriceran Universe series with this combination boxed set. The Daniel Codex: Everyone has their limits. Will Daniel survive...
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The Haunted House from Hell
When Catherine Porter murders her only son and takes her own life, no one can understand why. Vilified for her crimes, she becomes synonymous with everything evil and wicked amongst the locals, and parents begin using her name to scare their errant children into...
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Last Strand
Every bloody thread has been leading to this . . . I’ve battled a lot of bad guys in my time, both as Gin Blanco and as the notorious assassin the Spider. But I’ve never faced off against anyone quite as powerful and deadly as the dastardly leader of the...
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To Hell in a Handbasket
From the Queen of Scream comes a novel that will raise the hair on the back of your neck.To the neighbors, they're sweet old ladies. To Tim Robertson, they're his worst nightmareNot every grandmotherly type bakes cookies.What's more frightening than finding out that...
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The Enchantment Emporium
The bestselling author of the Blood Books delivers a masterful new urban fantasy. Alysha Gale is a member of a family capable of changing the world with the charms they cast. Then she receives word that she's inherited her grandmother's junk shop in Calgary, only to...
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The Devourers
For readers of Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, China Miéville, and David Mitchell comes a striking debut novel by a storyteller of keen insight and captivating imagination. LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER ? NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST On...
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The Enchanted Crossroads
A Vengeful God. An army of evil warlocks. An inexperienced witch, the world's only hope... Kaira's life was going according to plan until the death of her mother revealed a world-shattering secret. She was a witch. To save the world, she's going to have to find the...
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The Municipality of Lost Souls
Vengeful souls don’t stay deadThey taunt the minds of the living until they throw themselves from clifftops.Yet death turns a profit when you drive ships onto rocks to plunder riches.Agatha knows one thing for sure: respect the dead.Especially those who did not...
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The Ministry of Curiosities Boxed Set
"C.J. Archer has expertly weaved fantasy, mystery and a dash of romance together to make the perfect story and I will be reading more by her in the future!" ★★★★★ Cosying Up With Books "Simply put: This book is pretty...
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Robinson Crusoe 2244
This thrilling sci-fi twist on the Daniel Defoe classic has been remastered and re-edited since its original publication! Two centuries after mankind drove itself to the brink of extinction, a new civilization rises from the ashes of what was once Great Britain. But...
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Halfway There
A Paranormal Women's Fiction novel for anyone who thought adventure and magic stopped at forty. Guess again, it’s just the beginning. I never expected I’d be one of those people who had a midlife crisis. Sure, I’m over forty, and married, but my...
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Haunting of the Briar Rose
Jules is recovering from a recent failure when her mysterious uncle makes her an offer she can’t refuse: restore his bed and breakfast the Briar Rose. When Jules inherits the Briar Rose bed and breakfast from her strange and mysterious uncle, she thinks it will...
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My Life as a White Trash Zombie
Horror meets humorous urban fantasy in first book of the White Trash Zombie series ? Winner of the 2012 Best Urban Fantasy Protagonist by the RT Awards Angel Crawford is a Loser. Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she's a high...
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Catherine House
“[A] delicious literary Gothic debut.” –THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, EDITORS' CHOICE“Moody and evocative as a fever dream, Catherine House is the sort of book that wraps itself around your brain, drawing you closer with each...
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The Darkest Thread
This week only, July 5 through 11, get the first book in the Flint K-9 series FREE and get books 2 and 3 of the series -- INSIDE THE ECHO and THE REDEMPTION GAME -- at a discount! For fans of John Connolly, Nevada Barr, and dogs of all shape and size, the first novel...
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Abandon
On Christmas Day in 1893, every man, woman, and child in a remote gold-mining town disappeared, belongings forsaken, meals left to freeze in vacant cabins -- and not a single bone was ever found. One hundred sixteen years later, two backcountry guides are hired by a...
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Speaks the Nightbird
Murder sparks witchcraft hysteria in this "thoughtful" and "entertaining" seventeenth-century historical mystery from a New York Times-bestselling author (Stephen King). It's 1699 in the coastal settlement of Fount Royal in the Carolinas when Rachel Howarth is...
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The Horror of Briarwych Church
Seventy years ago, Briarwych Church was sealed for the second time. The great wooden door has remained shut and locked ever since. But now, in the present day, evil is stirring once more. Sent to live with new foster parents in Briarwych, Kerry and Mark soon set about...
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Dead Before Dying
Sidelined by an on the job injury, veteran paranormal investigator Maureen Keslyn reluctantly accepts an assignment at Shadow Valley Manor, an upscale retirement facility where someone—or something—is picking off residents and staff at a grisly clip....
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Half a Soul
It's difficult to find a husband in Regency England when you're a young lady with only half a soul. Ever since a faerie cursed her, Theodora Ettings has had no sense of fear, embarrassment, or even happiness -- a condition which makes her sadly prone to accidental...
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The Only Good Indians
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From USA TODAY bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones comes a “masterpiece” (Locus Magazine) of a novel about revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition. Labeled “one of 2020’s buzziest...
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The Bird
Another nail-biting horror novella from the Queen of ScreamEveryone's nightmareWhen five-year-old Winnie finds a little bird that is hurt, she wants to take it in and take care of it. Her mother is reluctant. She is terrified of birds. As she rightfully should be......
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Ghosted
The paranormal investigators at Gulf Coast Paranormal thought they knew what they were doing. Midas, Sierra, Sara, Josh and Peter had over twenty combined years of experience investigating supernatural activity on the Gulf Coast. But when they meet Cassidy, a young...
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The Last American Vampire
Vampire Henry Sturges returns in the highly anticipated sequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter-a sweeping, alternate history of twentieth-century America by New York Times bestselling author Seth Grahame-Smith. The Last American Vampire In Reconstruction-era...
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