More like Grim Shadows
anchored on:historical fantasynorth americaearly 20th centuryparanormalghost storiesromance+4 more
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- Alchemy of Secrets
series1 book2025
similar bymagical artifactsmysteriousnorth americabig city
Alchemy of Secrets follows Holland St. James, a young woman convinced that magic is real, who tracks down a local urban legend called the Watch Man and is told she will die at midnight the next day unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart. Pulled into a hidden magical Los Angeles alongside a stranger who claims her missing sister sent him to protect her, Holland has to work out who is lying to her before the clock runs out. Stephanie Garber wrote it as a standalone 2025 novel rather than the start of a numbered series.
- The Master Key: An Electrical Fairy Tale
L. Frank Baumstandalone novel1901
similar bymagical artifactsearly 20th centurynorth america
Rob Joslyn is an amateur electrical tinkerer, wiring up batteries and motors with more enthusiasm than skill, when one bungled experiment does something no wiring diagram predicted: it summons the Demon of Electricity. Impressed rather than angry, the Demon offers Rob an extraordinary deal -- three gifts a week for three weeks, devices harnessing electrical power beyond anything on Earth -- and leaves the boy to decide what to do with power most adults could never be trusted with. What follows tests Rob's judgment as much as his ingenuity, gift by increasingly dangerous gift. L. Frank Baum's venture into science fiction, published between Oz books.
- The Diviners
series4 books2012
similar byearly 20th centuryeerienorth americahistorical fantasybig city+1 more
- Many Dimensions
Charles Williamsstandalone novel1931
similar bymagical artifactseeriemysterious
Many Dimensions is the second of the novels of the supernatural by Charles Williams. The original publisher was Victor Gollancz Ltd in 1931. Following Williams' death it was republished by Faber & Faber in 1947 in the UK and in 1949 by Pellegrini & Cudahy in the US. In 1952 it was issued in the Penguin Books green-covered Mystery & Crime series.
- Claimed
Francis Stevensstandalone novel1966
similar bymagical artifactsearly 20th centuryeerie
From the flaps of the Avalon edition: "It was in the first decade of the twentieth century that the British merchant sailing ship, Portsmouth Belle, was thrown off her course by undersea volcanic convulsions, and entered an area of floating scoria and ashes. For three days the vessel plowed through this area, her best speed being three knots despite a fair breeze, with all canvas set; and on the second day, an island was sighted. The Portsmouth Belle's instruments had been affected in some way by the seismic disturbances; it was not possible to estimate her location by other than dead reckoning. If this was correct, there should be no island here. And all the appearances, as the ship approached, were of an area of land thrown up recently by volcanic action. It was, in fact, a mass of dark, chocolate-colored rock, striated with metallic red, all coated with ashes. Some of the ash had been washed away by rain since the upheaval, and the rock, in the distance, gave the appearance of ruins. Indeed, the captain of the Portsmouth Belle thought, these might be the remains of some ancient city. They were too far away to investigate under the circumstances. A landing indicated many hot, ill-smelling fissures, from which poisonous vapors might be coming. Captain Charles Jessamy and Seaman James Blair were the only ones to set foot, briefly, on the island; and Blair asked the skipper's permission to carry away a keepsake. Scattered about the surface were many irregular blocks and ball-shaped masses of greenish-black lava. One of the smaller blocks had a very regular rectangular shape; the lava was deep-green in color, flecked with brilliant scales of matallic scarlet. Jessamy gave Seaman Blair permission to take it away and keep it. The Portsmouth Belle was lost before returning to port, but Blair and the others aboard were saved. By that time, in attempting to saw the block open, Blair discovered a great casket inside. He concealed it from the others. And the events which followed were such that, in terror, he sold the casket to a curio-shop dealer. Thus it passed into the hands of the fabulously wealthy Jesse Robinson, whose creed was, "What I want, I get - and what I get, I keep." And with Robinson's keeping of the box, despite Blair's attempt to warn him and urge him to sell it back, the terror passed to the Robinson household, to his niece, Leilah, and to young John Vanaman, M.D., whom Leilah summoned to look after her uncle. For some being, some thing, claimed this box; and whatever the being was, it had tremendous powers of illusion. Night after night, sitting beside old Robinson, Dr. Vanaman heard the surge of the sea, saw the waves emerge under closed doors and flood the room, and soon found that this was only the beginning of the manifestation. What was the secret of the box, of a substance which no one could identify? What was the writing on the box, the symbols which seemed to be on whatever side one turned it, then to sink down into the middle of the box? Why did the owner of the curio ship, who had had the box for a short time, suddenly disappear with a large sum of money, then reappear, obviously insane, leading a blooded white horse, which he had purchased for several thousand dollars? What did he mean by his ravings about the "archangel"?"
- War in Heaven
Charles Williamsstandalone novel1930
similar bymagical artifactsearly 20th century+1 more
War in Heaven is a 1930 novel written by Charles Williams. It is the first of his supernatural novels that C. S. Lewis styled "spiritual shockers" and T. S. Eliot called "supernatural thrillers".
- The Lady of the Shroud
Bram Stokerstandalone novel1909
similar byearly 20th centuryeeriemysteriousromance
Rupert Sent Leger inherits his eccentric uncle's fortune on one condition: he must spend a year living in the family's castle in the Blue Mountains, a small, embattled corner of the Balkan coast under threat from Turkish forces. Determined to earn the trust of his new neighbors, Rupert arms the local mountain people for their own defense, and soon finds his castle visited at night by a beautiful woman in a wet burial shroud, who claims sanctuary from the cold and offers no explanation of who, or what, she might be. Bram Stoker's follow-up to Dracula trades outright horror for Ruritanian romance and adventure, blending gothic atmosphere with political intrigue.
- The Unseen
Zilpha Keatley Snyderstandalone novel2004
similar bymagical artifactseeriemysterious
Xandra Hobson has always been fascinated by magic. So when she rescues a beautiful wounded bird, she is convinced that the glowing white feather it leaves behind must be magical. When she brings the feather to school, she is surprised to find that Belinda is interested in it, too. Belinda is a weird girl whom everybody makes fun of. Xandra doesn't want to be seen with her, but Belinda seems to know something about the feather--so Xandra decides to befriend her. Belinda calls the feather a key.But a key to what? And how does it work? When Xandra tries to use the key, she becomes aware of an unseen world, full of phantoms. Some are soft and cuddly, like the young animals she has rescued. But others are terrifying monsters. Could the key's magic be evil? Xandra needs Belinda to help her explore the unseen, but she also needs to learn to help herself if the key is to become a gift and not a nightmare.From the Hardcover edition.
- New York Circulating Material Repository
series3 books2010
similar bymagical artifactsnorth americabig city+3 more
- The Enchanted Castle
E. Nesbitstandalone novel1907
similar bymagical artifactsearly 20th century
On a dull school holiday, siblings Jerry and Jimmy and their friend Kathleen stumble across a grand, hidden estate in the countryside, with a lake, marble statues, and a maze at its heart. Inside the maze they find what looks like a sleeping princess, who claims the castle is enchanted and shows them a ring that grants invisibility -- until it works, and the panicked 'princess' turns out to be Mabel, the housekeeper's niece, playing a game gone further than intended. The ring's magic turns out to be entirely real, answering the children's own careless, half-formed wishes. One of E. Nesbit's best-loved fantasies for children.
- Weaveworld
Clive Barkerstandalone novel1987
similar bymagical artifactseerie
Weaveworld is a 1987 dark fantasy novel by English writer Clive Barker. It is about a magical world, known as the Fugue, which has been hidden inside a carpet to safeguard it from both inquisitive humans and hostile supernatural foes. Two humans become embroiled in the fate of the Fugue, attempting to save it from those who seek to destroy it. The book was nominated in 1988 for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
- The Peculiarities
David Lissstandalone novel2021
similar byearly 20th centuryeeriemysterioushistorical fantasybig city
All of his life, Thomas Thresher has been free of obligation and responsibility, but that is over now. He is a twenty-three-year-old man whose best days are behind him. Thomas's older brother Walter has trapped him in a tedious clerical job at the family bank in London, and Thomas is expected to wed a wealthy young woman in whom he has no interest. But Thomas has more serious problems than those of a disaffected young man. There are irregularities at the bank he cannot explain. His childhood friend has mysteriously turned up dead. Worse, a verdant skin malady has infected him: leaves have begun sprouting on his skin. Thomas must conclude that it is due to the long-rumored Peculiarities. London's famous grey fog has been concealing a rash of unnatural afflictions--and worse, the murderous Elegants. As Thomas grows leafier, the conspiracies surrounding him become more apparent. He cannot determine whom to trust: his own family; his banking co-workers and superiors; the beautiful widow of his companion; the woman he is to marry. Or perhaps a lycanthropic medium; the members of a secret occult society...or even Aleister Crowley.
- The Lost Trumpet
J. Leslie Mitchellstandalone novel1932
similar bymagical artifactsearly 20th centurymysterious
In modern day (1932) Cairo two American archeologists mount an expedition to find the great horn, which blown by Joshua, crumbled the walls of Jericho.
- The Lost Stradivarius
J. Meade Falknerstandalone novel1895
similar bymagical artifactseerieghost stories
The Lost Stradivarius (1895), by J. Meade Falkner, is a short horror novel about ghosts and the evil that can be invested in an object, in this case an extremely fine Stradivarius violin. It has been described as "one of Falkner's three celebrated novels" and as a "psychic romance".
- Hidden Treasure
Jessie Burtonstandalone novel2025
similar bymagical artifactsearly 20th centurymysterious
"For the people who live on the banks of the Thames, the river is a living, breathing thing. It can take your treasures. It can hide your treasures. And, sometimes, it can give them back. Bo and Billy are two children who have never met. Billy is an orphan. Bo's dad died when she was small and now her brother is off to war. Both children are poor, but they have each found half of a priceless treasure, given up by the river. A treasure which - when the pieces are reunited - holds the power to give back to one of them the most precious thing they have ever lost. But should the treasure be put back together again? And why has the river given it up now?" (Amazon UK)
- The Arcanum
Thomas Wheelerstandalone novel2004
similar byearly 20th centuryeeriemysteriousnorth americahistorical fantasy
The Arcanum is a 2005 novel by Thomas Wheeler. Set in 1919 it concerns the last case of occult-busters Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, H. P. Lovecraft, and voodoo queen Marie Laveau.
- The Chalice
Phil Rickmanstandalone novel1996
similar bymagical artifactseeriemysterious
Glastonbury, legendary resting place of the Holy Grail, is a mysterious and haunting town. But when plump, dizzy Diane Flitch returns home, it's with a sense of deep unease — and not only about her aristocratic family's reaction to her broken engagement and her New Age companions. Plans for a new motorway have intensified the old bitterness between the local people and the 'pilgrims', so already the sacred air is soured. And, as the town becomes increasingly split by violence and death, Diane, local bookseller Juanita Carey and the writer Joe Powys must now face up to the worst of all possibilities: the existence of an anti-Grail — the dark chalice.
- Glass Town
Steven Savilestandalone novel2017
similar byearly 20th centuryeeriemysterioushistorical fantasybig city
"In 1924, two brothers both loved Eleanor Raines, a promising young actress from the East End of London. She disappeared during the filming of Alfred Hitchcock's debut, Number 13, which itself is now lost. It was the crime of the age, capturing the imagination of the city: the beautiful actress never seen again, and the gangster who disappeared the same day. Generations have passed. Everyone involved is long dead. But even now their dark, twisted secret threatens to tear the city apart. Joshua Raines is about to enter a world of macabre beauty, of glittering celluloid and the silver screen, of illusion and deception, of impossibly old gangsters and the fiendish creatures they command, and most frighteningly of all, of genuine magic." --
