Fans know that Aaron Mahnke's Lore podcast is the place to go for creepy urban legends and so-scary-it's-true tales, but the two-week wait between episodes can seem agonizingly long. To keep you in the mood for more Mahnke, I've got a list of 11 books like Lore for people who can't get enough of the creepy podcast, because everyone could use a little more spookiness in their life.
Lore quickly rose to iTunes prominence from its 2015 launch. The podcast has now spawned an Amazon TV series and a book trilogy from creator Mahnke, both of which feature episodes of the original Lore, adapted for screen and print. Amazon renewed its Lore TV series in February 2018, and although no official release date has been mentioned as yet, it's likely the show will return this fall, just in time to be your go-to Halloween watch.
If you aren't listening to Lore already, you should definitely add it to your podcast rotation. Trust me, it will fit right into your schedule, somewhere between My Favorite Murder and Welcome to Night Vale and Dear John.
Check out my suggestions for the 11 books like Lore you should read between episodes:
'The Bloody Chamber' by Angela Carter
Angela Carter tackles the grisliest fairy tales in this collectioin, retelling them all with a feminist bent. The title story is Carter's version of the Bluebeard legend, and you should probably brace yourself before reading it.
'Bury What We Cannot Take' by Kirstin Chen
After a 12-year-old boy reports his grandmother for defacing a portrait of Chairman Mao, his family attempts to flee for Hong Kong. Authorities will only offer visas for one of the family's two children, however, and the boy's younger sister, nine-year-old San San, is left behind to find passage to safety alone.
'Freshwater' by Akwaeke Emezi
Born in Nigeria to a family in crisis, Ada is a vessel for the spirits, who frequently inhabit her body. After Ada moves to the U.S. for college, the spirits take control, and two of her alternate identities, Asụghara and Saint Vincent, begin to run her life.
'Hex' by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Located in the Hudson Valley, Black Spring is the kind of small town that no one ever moves into or out of. The town's leaders have sealed it off from the outside world in an attempt to contain its dreadful secret: the ghost of Katherine van Wyler, a woman tortured and executed as a witch during the 17th-century, who haunts the people of Black Spring.
'Apart in the Dark' by Ania Ahlborn
The two novellas contained in Ania Ahlborn's Apart in the Dark take readers on twisted journeys to the past. In "The Pretty Ones," when loner Nell's new friend is murdered, and the public blames Son of Sam for her death, only Nell knows the truth about what really happened. In "I Call Upon Thee," a famiy tragedy brings Maggie back to her childhood home, where she discovers the darkness that she told herself wasn't real is very much alive.
'The Merry Spinster' by Daniel Mallory Ortberg
From Texts from Jane Eyre author Daniel Mallory Ortberg comes this collection of "Children's Stories Made Horrific," which includes scary retellings of "The Velveteen Rabbit" and "The Little Mermaid."
'Shiver' by Junji Ito
Junji Ito shines in this collection. If you haven't read anything by Ito, one of Japan's foremost horror-manga artists, Shiver will offer you an excellent introduction to the scope of his chilling work.
'The Chalk Man' by C.J. Tudor
Back in 1986, Eddie and his friends located the body of a missing child with help from Mr. Halloran, A.K.A. "the Chalk Man." Now, 30 years later, the Chalk Man is back, and one of Eddie's old friends believes he's uncovered the truth about who murdered the girl in the woods.
'Little Heaven' by Nick Cutter
Fifteen years after they were hired to rescue someone from Little Heaven, a cultlike commune in the backwoods of New Mexico, three mercenaries find themselves pulled back into that twisted world when one of their children is kidnapped.
'What Should Be Wild' by Julia Fine
As the result of a long family curse, Maisie Cothay can kill with a touch. She has lived in the manor on the edge of the forest for her entire life, shielded from the outside world. But when her father disappears into the woods, Maisie must leave her home to find him.
'The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals' by Aaron Mahnke
The second entry in Mahnke's podcast-connected trilogy, The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals contains stories on the most interesting serial killers history has to offer.
