10 Best Urban Legend Style Horror Books Straight Out of a Nightmare!
Oh, come on, you love being scared, admit it. Remember those childhood summers when you used to gather with friends and exchange ghost stories under the starlit sky? Ever miss that adrenaline pumping through your veins, sending chills down your spine? Good, because I've got you covered. I've pulled together a freakishly delightful list of 10 of the best Urban Legend Style Horror Novels that will have you sleeping with the lights on.
These haunting masterpieces are the macabre retelling of tales whispered in the dark alleys, legends from the underbelly of our cities that act as nightmares for the brave and the foolhardy. The authors weave words into a nightmarish tableau, making the familiar uncomfortably alien. These books dive deep into the shadowy recesses of your city's folklore you never even knew existed, and yes, they delight in dredging up your darkest fears.
So, if you're a thrill-seeking daredevil or a seasoned horror enthusiast with an insatiable appetite for the uncanny, these books are just for you. Now, just gather around the bonfire, or maybe turn the lights low and prepare for a thrill ride that you asked for. Remember, sleep is for the weak and the nightmare begins now...
『Never Have I Ever』
"Explore a world where the supernatural is an accepted element of everyday life and the horror is mined from the realities of existing." — New York Public Library Best Books of the Year World Fantasy Award finalist British Fantasy Award finalist Ladies of Horror Fiction Award winner Crawford Award shortlist “Am I dead?” Mebuyen sighs. She was hoping the girl would not ask. Spells and stories, urban legends and immigrant tales: the magic in Isabel Yap’s debut collection jumps right off the page, from the friendship and fear building in “A Canticle for Lost Girls” to the joy in “A Spell for Foolish Hearts” to the terrifying tension of the urban legend “Have You Heard the One About Anamaria Marquez.”
Author | Isabel Yap |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | Small Beer Press |
Release Date | Feb 23, 2021 |
Source | Google Books |
『Rules for Vanishing』
In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister--at all costs. Once a year, a road appears in the forest. And at the end of it, the ghost of Lucy Gallows beckons. Lucy's game isn't for the faint of heart. If you win, you escape with your life. But if you lose.... Sara's sister disappeared one year ago--and only Sara knows where she is. Becca went to find the ghost of Lucy Gallows and is trapped on the road that leads to her. In the sleepy town of Briar Glen, Lucy's road is nothing more than local lore. But Sara knows it's real, and she's going to find it. When Sara and her skeptical friends meet in the forest to search for Becca, the mysterious road unfurls before them. All they have to do is walk down it. But the path to Lucy is not of this world, and it has its own rules. Every mistake summons new horrors. Vengeful spirits and broken, angry creatures are waiting for them to slip, and no one is guaranteed safe passage. The only certainty is this: the road has a toll and it will be paid. Sara knows that if she steps onto the road, she might not come back. But Becca needs her. And Lucy is waiting.
Author | Kate Alice Marshall |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Penguin |
Release Date | Feb 16, 2021 |
Source | Google Books |
『Slender Man』
One man’s search for the truth about one of the most intriguing urban legends ever—the modern bogeyman, Slender Man—leads him down a dark, dangerous path in this creepy supernatural fantasy that will make you question where the line between dark myth and terrifying reality begins. Lauren Bailey has disappeared. As friends at her exclusive school speculate on what happened and the police search for answers, Matt Barker dreams of trees and a black sky . . . and something drawing closer. Through fragments of journals, news stories, and online conversations, a figure begins to emerge—a tall, slender figure—and all divisions between fiction and delusion, between nightmare and reality, begin to fall. Chilling, eerie, and addictively readable, Slender Man is a unique spine-tingling story and a brilliant and frightening look at one of the most fascinating—and diabolical—mythical figures in modern times.
Author | Anonymous |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Release Date | Oct 23, 2018 |
Source | Google Books |
『Dreams Underfoot』
Newford's citizens--fey folk, magicians, hustlers, painters, fiddlers, and ordinary people--stumble headfirst into enchanting adventures.
Author | Charles de Lint |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Macmillan |
Release Date | Aug 02, 2003 |
Source | Google Books |
『Ember Burning』
Author Jennifer Alsever delivers a page-turning story ideal for fans of The Uglies, We Were Liars and Before I Fall about a teen grieving over her parents' tragic death who becomes entangled with a mysterious forest teeming with urban legends of strange disappearances and witchcraft. Ember Trouve used to be alive, driven to become a musician and on a path to college. That was before her parents died. One day, after venturing into the fabled Trinity Forest, she goes missing. Now, Ember must confront the truth behind her parents' death -- or lose herself to the forest forever. In this fresh and compelling novel, Jennifer Alsever creates a paranormal world of loss, mystery, love and survival as Ember searches for escape-- and a path back to herself. Ember Burning is the first installment of the three-book Trinity Forest series.
Author | Jennifer Alsever |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Independently Published |
Release Date | May 06, 2017 |
Source | Google Books |
『Intruders』
Orphan sisters chase monsters of urban legend in Bloemfontein. At a busy taxi rank, a woman kills a man with her shoe. A genomicist is accused of playing God when she creates a fatherless child. Intruders is a collection that explores how it feels not to belong. These are stories of unremarkable people thrust into extraordinary situations by events beyond their control. With a unique and memorable touch, Mohale Mashigo explores the everyday ills we live with and wrestle constantly, all the while allowing hidden energies to emerge and play out their unforeseen consequences. Intruders is speculative fiction at its best.
Author | Mohale Mashigo |
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Price | $6.95 |
Publisher | Pan Macmillan South africa |
Release Date | Sep 01, 2018 |
Source | Google Books |
『Trese』
Author | Tan Budjette |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | |
Release Date | Jan 01, 2023 |
Source | Google Books |
『Mr. Nightmare 2』
Ten years after her first encounter with Mr. Nightmare, Anna is home from college. Living at home again brings up painful memories of the past. To help deal with those difficult reminders, Anna turns to her friends-the remaining members of The Nightmare Club. While things aren't what they used to be, it is good to have friends around. But Anna and the others begin to see signs that make them realize the past is not just a memory. Mr. Nightmare is back and is ready to get revenge on the group that banished him from their world ten years prior. And this time he's not alone. Older now, Anna and her friends must take on Mr. Nightmare a second time. Unlike before, this clash takes place where Mr. Nightmare has even more power. This time, they must defeat Mr. Nightmare inside The Nightmare Realm.
Author | Wicked House Publishing/Joe Scipione |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Wicked House Publishing |
Release Date | Jul 14, 2023 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Creepypasta Collection』
A terrifying, thrilling collection of must-read horror stories chock-full of nightmarish supernatural beings and the murderously disturbed that are sure to keep you up all night long. “If you place this book back on the shelf now, you'll save yourself!” —MrCreepyPasta There are stories that scare you. And then there are the dark and disturbing creepypasta stories that will leave you seriously freaked out. The Creepypasta Collection is an unsettling anthology of terror, full of nightmares and dangerous creatures—from unearthly supernatural beings to the murderously disturbed. So, lock the doors, check under the bed, turn up the lights, and get ready for an unforgettable, up-all-night journey into the heart of darkness.
Author | MrCreepyPasta |
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Price | $12.99 |
Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Release Date | Sep 02, 2016 |
Source | Google Books |
『Newford Stories』
"The Crow Girls and their kind, once seen, are impossible to forget. Wild, but curiously childlike; wise and yet playful; existing outside the confines of conventional morality, and yet bringing hope and clarity to everyone whose lives they touch." -Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat, from her introduction to this book. Charles de Lint's readers have been asking him to put together story collections featuring their favourite Newford characters. The crow girls are among his best-loved characters, so de Lint obliged by gathering their stories all under one roof, so to speak. Some other members of the Newford repertory company show up here, but at the forefront of each story are these two little wild girls with their big personalities. This book features an introduction by Joanne Harris and an afterword by the de Lint. Cover art by Tara Larsen Chang (www.taralarsenchang.com). These stories have all been published before. "Crow Girls" is also available in The Very Best of Charles de Lint and in Moonlight and Vines; "Twa Corbies" in Moonlight and Vines; "The Buffalo Man" in Tapping the Dream Tree; and "A Crow Girls' Christmas" in Muse and Reverie. "Make a Joyful Noise," published in a limited edition by Subterranean Press, has not appeared in any of his previous collections. "Nobody does urban fantasy better than Charles de Lint. He has a gift for creating engaging, fully realized characters, totally believable dialogue, and a feeling that magic is just around the corner ... He can make you believe 'as many as six impossible things before breakfast.' " -Amazon.com Editorial Review "De Lint's elegant prose and effective storytelling continue to transform the mundane into the magical at every turn. Highly recommended." -Library Journal, Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. "In many hands, the urban fantasy plot involving strange beings just around the corner fails dismally. It does not in the hands of the reliable, the inimitable de Lint ... -Booklist " de Lint...clearly has no equal as an urban fantasist and very few equals among fantasists as a folklorist." -Booklist Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend-all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better. - Alice Hoffman Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best. - Holly Black Unlike most fantasy writers who deal with battles between ultimate good and evil, de Lint concentrates on smaller, very personal conflicts. Perhaps this is what makes him accessible to the non-fantasy audience as well as the hard-core fans. Perhaps it's just damned fine writing. -Quill & Quire
Author | Charles de Lint |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Triskell Press |
Release Date | Apr 21, 2015 |
Source | Google Books |
Well, there you have it, folks! Ten downright terrifying tales, all woven together with the hushed whispers of urban legends that haunt our blackest nights. This is a collection for the brave, the bold, and those unafraid of flipping the page to see what horrors await! These books are not for the faint-hearted - they're tales that keep you up all night, eyes wide open, waiting for dawn like a lifeline. Each one brings a new nightmare to life, mixing our modern, everyday fears with the timeless chill of a well-crafted ghost story. Whether it's a vengeful spirit lurking in the corner of your bedroom mirror, or a monstrous creature stalking the eerie silence of forgotten city streets, these tales imitate life, but with a sinister twist that's sure to send chills down your spine. The urban legend-style horror truly brings the scare factor to your doorstep, reminding you that sometimes, the most frightening stories are the ones playing out in our own backyard. So, dare to discover these tales and remember to keep the lights on. You never know what may be lurking in the shadows. Sweet dreams!
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