5 Creepy Books to Read Once You’ve Finished Bingeing You

Kathleen Barber
March 13 2020
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Today we welcome author Kathleen Barber to the Get Lit blog! We’ve been dying to hear her recommendations on what books You fans should be reading since she knows a thing or two about the creepy book terrain. Her new thriller Follow Me features a chilling blend of mysterious neighbors, rabid online Instagram followers, and an ominous broken door lock. Thanks, Kathleen, for giving us the scoop on these intriguing, though completely terrifying, reads!

If you’re anything like me, you’ve devoured Caroline Kepnes’s You and Hidden Bodies, you’ve binged the Netflix series based on them, and you are now eagerly awaiting her next installment. Her protagonist, Joe Goldberg, might be a sociopath, but he’s a charming one, and he seduces readers as easily as he does the objects of his affection. Here are five books with dark, unhinged romances to tide us over until we get our next You fix:

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

Georgina Shaw’s world crumbles when the remains of her long-missing best friend Angela are discovered in the woods near Geo’s childhood home. It doesn’t take long to realize that Angela fell victim to serial killer Calvin James—who just happened to be Geo’s first love. 

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American Fire by Monica Hesse

In this work of narrative nonfiction, reporter Monica Hesse travels to rural Virginia to investigate a string of arsons. She finds that the man who has pled guilty didn’t act alone: he set the fires with his then-girlfriend … and he set them out of love.

Perfect Days by Raphael Montes

Lonely medical student Teo Avelar is obsessed with Clarice. He is determined to have her, and he won’t let anything stop him—not even her rejection. Desperate to show Clarice he’s her perfect match, Teo abducts her and embarks on a dark and disturbing road trip through Brazil.

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My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

To all outward appearances, Millicent and her husband are a totally normal—even bland—pair of old marrieds. They’re juggling all the usual things: kids, jobs … and a shared interest in murder.

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Hunting Annabelle by Wendy Heard

Recently released from psychiatric prison, Sean Suh is determined to avoid the temptations that landed him there. But then he falls for Annabelle—and she disappears. The police are certain Sean is involved … and he’s not sure they’re wrong.

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This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

Follow Me
by Kathleen Barber

Here are a few more top recommendations for You fans from all of us at Get Lit!

From the author of Truth Be Told (formerly titled Are You Sleeping)—now an Apple TV series of the same name—comes a cautionary tale of oversharing in the social media age.

Everyone wants new followers…until they follow you home.

Audrey Miller has an enviable new job at the Smithsonian, a body by reformer Pilates, an apartment door with a broken lock, and hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to bear witness to it all. Having just moved to Washington, DC, Audrey busies herself impressing her new boss, interacting with her online fan base, and staving off a creepy upstairs neighbor with the help of the only two people she knows in town: an ex-boyfriend she can’t stay away from and a sorority sister with a high-powered job and a mysterious past.

But Audrey’s faulty door may be the least of her security concerns. Unbeknownst to her, her move has brought her within striking distance of someone who’s obsessively followed her social media presence for years—from her first WordPress blog to her most recent Instagram Story. No longer content to simply follow her carefully curated life from a distance, he consults the dark web for advice on how to make Audrey his and his alone. In his quest to win her heart, nothing is off-limits—and nothing is private.

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Follow Me
Kathleen Barber

From the author of Truth Be Told (formerly titled Are You Sleeping)—now an Apple TV series of the same name—comes a cautionary tale of oversharing in the social media age for fans of Jessica Knoll and Caroline Kepnes’s You.

Everyone wants new followers…until they follow you home.

Audrey Miller has an enviable new job at the Smithsonian, a body by reformer Pilates, an apartment door with a broken lock, and hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to bear witness to it all. Having just moved to Washington, DC, Audrey busies herself impressing her new boss, interacting with her online fan base, and staving off a creepy upstairs neighbor with the help of the only two people she knows in town: an ex-boyfriend she can’t stay away from and a sorority sister with a high-powered job and a mysterious past.

But Audrey’s faulty door may be the least of her security concerns. Unbeknownst to her, her move has brought her within striking distance of someone who’s obsessively followed her social media presence for years—from her first WordPress blog to her most recent Instagram Story. No longer content to simply follow her carefully curated life from a distance, he consults the dark web for advice on how to make Audrey his and his alone. In his quest to win her heart, nothing is off-limits—and nothing is private.

With “compelling, suspenseful” (Liz Nugent) prose, Kathleen Barber’s electrifying new thriller will have you scrambling to cover your webcam and digital footprints.

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You
by Caroline Kepnes

A NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

“Hypnotic and scary.” —Stephen King

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.

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You
Caroline Kepnes

NOW A HIT NETFLIX SERIES
A NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

“Hypnotic and scary.” —Stephen King

“I am riveted, aghast, aroused, you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious.” —Lena Dunham

From debut author Caroline Kepnes comes You, one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year, and a brilliant and terrifying novel for the social media age.

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo iTunes logo Kobo logo Kindle logo Bookshop logo Libro.fm logo

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Hidden Bodies
by Caroline Kepnes

In the compulsively readable sequel to her widely acclaimed debut novel, You, Caroline Kepnes weaves a tale that Booklist calls “the love child of Holden Caulfield and Patrick Bateman.”

In Hidden Bodies, the basis for season two of the hit Netflix series, You, Joe Goldberg returns.

Joe is no stranger to hiding bodies. In the past ten years, this thirty-something has buried four of them, collateral damage in his quest for love. Now he’s heading west to Los Angeles, the city of second chances, determined to put his past behind him.

In Hollywood, Joe blends in effortlessly with the other young upstarts. He eats guac, works in a bookstore, and flirts with a journalist neighbor. But while others seem fixated on their own reflections, Joe can’t stop looking over his shoulder. The problem with hidden bodies is that they don’t always stay that way. They reemerge, like dark thoughts, multiplying and threatening to destroy what Joe wants most: true love. And when he finds it in a darkened room in Soho House, he’s more desperate than ever to keep his secrets buried. He doesn’t want to hurt his new girlfriend—he wants to be with her forever. But if she ever finds out what he’s done, he may not have a choice…

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Hidden Bodies
Caroline Kepnes

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MENTIONED IN:

5 Creepy Books to Read Once You’ve Finished Bingeing You

By Kathleen Barber | March 13, 2020

5 Amazing Novels New in Paperback This December

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 16, 2019

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