Each year, our social media feeds are filled with news of the latest books in horror, true crime, and paranormal.
So many chilling new books come out each year—and our TBRs are often stacked with delectable spooky books by the latest emerging authors. We truly are in a golden age of horror fiction.
But sometimes we're in the mood for something older—books that have stood the test of time.
These are the classics that are the most disturbing. They’re strange and unnerving in uncanny ways—often calling us back to something old and ancient and unsettling.
Every month, we’re bringing you a selection of free ebooks to read that are perfect for lovers of all things spooky, mysterious, gruesome, strange, and macabre.
The Willows
Midway through a peaceful canoe trip down the Danube, two friends find their journey overtaken by the sinister personality of the river itself, as the sun, wind, and landscape turn menacing.
The most ominous presence is a vast, dense array of willows, which seem supernaturally alive, projecting an acute sense of horror directly into the protagonists’ minds.
In this foundational tale of weird fiction, Algernon Blackwood crafts a chilling descent into psychological terror where the very environment becomes a malign entity bent on claiming the travelers.
The Country of the Blind
After a mountaineer named Nuñez accidentally falls into a hidden valley, he discovers a thriving, isolated civilization where every resident has been blind for generations.
Nuñez arrives armed with the proverb, "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," believing his sight will make him a ruler, only to realize his "gift" is seen by the natives as a debilitating illness.
As his apparent advantage becomes a dangerous liability, Nuñez must fight a society perfectly adapted to darkness, forcing him to question the true meaning of superiority and survival.
Benighted
When a torrential storm washes out the road in the Welsh mountains, three travelers are forced to seek shelter in a crumbling mansion inhabited by the strange, sinister Femm family and their brutish servant.
As the apocalyptic storm rages outside, rising tensions reveal that the true terror lies within the house, centered on two locked doors concealing the unseen master and an unspeakable horror.
Forced to drink and play games to survive the night, the trapped guests must discover which is more deadly—the elements outside, or the madness and dark secrets awaiting them in the shadows of the old dark house.
