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 Doll-Master: And Other Tales of Terror
This Bram Stoker Award–winning collection is “certain to stick in your mind long after you’ve turned the last page” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Includes “Big Momma,” a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Short Story Here are six of Joyce...
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A Faint Whisper
How well do you really know your neighbors?The house across the street from the Cullens is vacant and soon put up for sale. When a family from out of town moves in, they have no idea that their new life in a new home won't be anything even remotely close to what they...
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The Sister Witches (Boxed Set 1)
The Sister Witches Urban Fantasy Box Set #1 includes 4 books: Once Blessed Thrice Cursed, Demon Lines, The Scarab Eater’s Daughter, and Beguiled, Bewitched, & Broken!The youngest Brodeur sister, Clementine, must untangle her dead mother’s legacy before the clock runs...
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The Vines
2014 Bram Stoker Awards finalist for Superior Achievement in a Novel The dark history of Spring House, a beautifully restored plantation mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans, has long been forgotten. But something sinister lurks beneath the soil of the old...
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Hex
The English language debut of the bestselling Dutch novel, Hex, from Thomas Olde Heuvelt--a Hugo and World Fantasy award nominated talent to watchWhoever is born here, is doomed to stay 'til death. Whoever settles, never leaves. Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly...
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The Hour Before Dark
Home is where the haunt is. "Fans of Stephen King and Dean Koontz will appreciate this atmospheric gem." ????? "Kept me on the edge of my seat!"????? A children's game played in the dark brings on a terrifying rampage in this gothic horror page-turner by the NY Times...
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The Mere Wife
New York Times bestselling author Maria Dahvana Headley presents a modern retelling of the literary classic Beowulf, set in American suburbia as two mothers—a housewife and a battle-hardened veteran—fight to protect those they love in The Mere Wife. From the...
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The Daughters of Despair
When Princess Ruby of Spinal is kidnapped, rumors about her abduction spread like wildfire around the kingdom. As an investigation mounts, eyewitness accounts from a variety of sources and points of view, including Princess Ruby's, soon reveal there are far more...
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His Hideous Heart
Thirteen of YA's most celebrated names reimagine Edgar Allan Poe's most surprising, unsettling, and popular tales for a new generation.Edgar Allan Poe may be a hundred and fifty years beyond this world, but the themes of his beloved works have much in common with...
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The Midwives
A killer on the loose. A writer on the run. A town plagued by an ancient evil.On tour with his latest book, true crime writer Martin Savage discovers one of his most-dangerous subjects has escaped. The so-called "Witch Hunter," a delusional murderer of women and their...
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Pretty When She Dies
Amaliya wakes under the forest floor, disoriented, famished and confused. She digs out of the shallow grave and realizes she is hungry...... in a new, horrific, unimaginable way...Sating her great hunger, she discovers that she is now a vampire, the bloodthirsty...
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Edge of Magic
Tara's involvement with the Fae mafia has taken a deadly turn. To save her own life, she must steal a magical skull from the mafia's biggest rival.Professional thief and part-Fae Tara Knightley’s talent for sensing magical objects is the skill she’s been banking on...
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The Change
Death, Life, or Love—Unbounded Always Play for KeepsThere are only two ways to kill Unbounded, and fire isn’t one of them—as law school dropout Erin Radkey learns the hard way. By fluke of a recessive gene, she has become Unbounded, a nearly immortal being with...
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Colony of the Lost
A Silver Falchion Award Finalist for Best Horror (2016)A horror novel reminiscent of old-school Stephen KingA DEMON'S REVENGE... AN ADDICT'S STRUGGLE... THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF A TOWNWhen the children of Glenwood begin vanishing one by one, baffling local and...
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Aftermath of an Industrial Accident
Look for more 99¢ Halloween horror deals at http://bit.ly/MDBHalloween INCLUDES BONUS STORIES AND EXCERPTS“From heartbreaking character studies to exercises in Grand Guignol excess, from scalpel-sharp poetry to sledgehammers of blood-soaked prose, Mike Allen displays...
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The Boy Who Drew Monsters
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Child comes a hypnotic literary horror novel about a young boy trapped inside his own world, whose drawings blur the lines between fantasy and reality.Ever since he nearly drowned in the ocean three years...
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Obsidian Son
To do list: Cow-tip the Minotaur. Cure a reptile dysfunction.My name is Nate Temple, and I’m secretly a wizard. I ride a foul-mouthed unicorn, I drink with Achilles, and I’m pals with the Four Horsemen. I’ve even cow-tipped the Minotaur. I understand the theory of...
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The Ballad of Black Tom
One of NPR's Best Books of 2016, winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, the British Fantasy Award, the This is Horror Award for Novella of the Year, and a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Bram Stoker AwardsPeople move to New York looking for...
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Haunted Castles
Part of a new six-volume series of the best in classic horror, selected by Academy Award-winning director of The Shape of Water Guillermo del ToroFilmmaker and longtime horror literature fan Guillermo del Toro serves as the curator for the Penguin Horror series, a new...
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Unpleasantness (Ghost Stories for the Depressed)
UNPLEASANTNESS: GHOST STORIES FOR THE DEPRESSED challenges the notion of the ghost story itself. Two deceased workers haunt an office until turnover and management decisions erase all memory of them. A woman is driven into a life she never wanted by a vision of her...
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Perchance to Dream
With Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone reboot arriving, read the stories that inspired some of the show's greatest episodes, including "The Howling Man"!The profoundly original and wildly entertaining short stories of a legendary Twilight Zone writer, with a foreword by...
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Lock Every Door
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROne of . . . Parade’s “Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2019" • PureWow’s “The Best Beach Reads of Summer 2019” • BookBub’s “Books That Will Make the Perfect Addition to Your Beach Bag This Summer”The next heart-pounding thriller...
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The Shadow of Jasper County
He has haunted this cemetery since the moment he first kicked out the nameplate at the end of the crypt in his mausoleum His name is Shepherd. He is the Shadow of Jasper county. By day the shadow sleeps with the bones in his mausoleum. At night he floats among the...
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The Haunting of Winchester Mansion
In the small town of Black Bay, a vacant, forgotten house sits atop an overlooking bluff. When Bailey and Bodhi Taylor move in and begin renovations, the house seems perfect. But things move on their own, screams echo from the basement, and Bailey sees a shadowy...
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Lilith
Lilith is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald. Mr. Vane, the main protagonist, owns a library that seems to be haunted by the former librarian, who looks much like a raven from the brief glimpses he catches of the wraith. After finally encountering the...
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Desecration
A killer with a fetish for body parts stalks London.As Detective Sergeant Jamie Brooke copes with the daily pain of watching her daughter suffer through her last days, she is assigned to a macabre murder case. The mutilated body of a young heiress is found within the...
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Seed
With nothing but the clothes on his back—and something horrific snapping at his heels—Jack Winter fled his rural Georgia home when he was still just a boy. Watching the world he knew vanish in a trucker’s rearview mirror, he thought he was leaving an unspeakable...
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Gateway to Fourline
Years before, a gateway opened between their world and ours. Sending one young woman through may be the key to survival for the kingdom of Fourline.Strapped for cash, college student Natalie Barns agrees to take a job at a costume shop. Sure, Estos—her classmate who...
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Hellbounce
A damned fine tale." - David Farland, New York Times Bestselling AuthorPrison psychologist Eva Ross has dealt with her share of sinners. The corrupt, the insane; their minds were hers to unlock. But when those around her start to show the same characteristics, she is...
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The Source
Book Two of the Witching Savannah seriesGraceful trees and historic buildings fill Savannah, Georgia, but beneath the city's Southern splendor, its supernatural roots run deep. The members of local witch families grace the society pages...when they're not secretly...
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The Exorcist’s Apprentice
For centuries the Roman Catholic Church has employed a select few to investigate the most extreme cases of demonic possession, haunted places, and paranormal activity. Often, the calling of an Investigator is passed down from father to son.After surviving a tragic...
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Thirsty
Meet Justice, a half-black, half-Filipino goddess whose appetite for a quick dollar is insatiable. Having moved from Chi-town to Charlotte, North Carolina, at an early age, Justice and her younger brother, Monk, decides to take the streets of the Queen City by...
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The Shuddering
Ryan Adler and his twin sister, Jane, spent their happiest childhood days at their parents’ mountain Colorado cabin—until divorce tore their family apart. Now, with the house about to be sold, the Adler twins gather with their closest friends for one last...
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Burying the Honeysuckle Girls
Althea Bell is still heartbroken by her mother’s tragic, premature death—and tormented by the last, frantic words she whispered into young Althea’s ear: Wait for her. For the honeysuckle girl. She’ll find you, I think, but if she doesn’t, you find her.Adrift ever...
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Run
****WINNER of the 2012 PEI BOOK AWARDS for FICTION****Sixteen-year-old Reid thinks life is back to normal. His sister Lucy pulls herself together and cuts him free from a year of foster care. She promises to take care of him, that her new boss and her new life are...
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The Demon Dealer
The demons aren’t the scariest things in town. Would you like to own your own demon: a demon that is loyal not only to you but also to those you love? In La Puerta, you can. Wanting a demon of his own, Ted returns home to the gorgeous and despicable town of La Puerta,...
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