Imagine standing on a desolate cliff, overlooking the vast expanse of the stormy sea. The winds, howling and untamed, tug at your clothes and whip through your hair. The sky, once a serene blue, has transformed into a brooding canvas of dark gray, pregnant with the weight of impending rain.
As the first drops fall, their impact on the earth below produces an intoxicating symphony of sound—a rhythmic drumming that echoes through the air. The rain grows stronger and bolder, gradually intensifying into a torrential downpour. Each droplet splatters against the ground with a purpose, creating a symphony of percussion that reverberates through the depths of your soul.
Within this tempest, the chill in the air becomes palpable. It seeps into your bones, sending shivers coursing through your body. The once comforting warmth that surrounded you seems to have dissipated, swallowed by the biting coldness that has taken hold.
Lost in the midst of this raw and untamed display of nature’s power, you begin to feel a sense of isolation. It’s as if the storm itself is a living entity, surrounding you with its electric intensity. Yet, in the midst of this apparent solitude, a faint presence lingers just beyond the periphery of your awareness.
A rustle of leaves, a whisper carried by the wind, or perhaps just a feeling in your gut—it stirs a profound sense that you are not completely alone. The storm, with its relentless energy, seems to mirror your emotions, amplifying the solitude you thought you felt. But as you tune in more closely, you begin to perceive a subtle connection between yourself and the forces of nature that envelope you.
In this moment of vulnerability, where the elements converge in their magnificent display, you find solace and even a flicker of awe. The storm, though fierce, holds a certain beauty that captivates your senses. It reminds you of your place in the grand tapestry of existence, a mere speck in the vastness of the universe.
And so, you stand there, embracing the tumultuous symphony of rain, wind, and solitude, allowing it to wash over you. For even in the darkest moments, there is a certain raw and undeniable power that can be harnessed, offering a profound connection to the world around you.
This is one of my favorite writing styles and book genres. I love books set in remote or isolated locations, with harrowing descriptive text, where what is happening isn’t revealed until the shocking twist at the end. With that being said it’s time to settle in, light a candle, lock the door and cozy up with these creepy books set in isolated & remote locations. Oh, and if you get a knock at the door, you may not want to answer it.
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Never Lie
by Freida McFadden
My Rating:
Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams.
But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate… with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.
In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance.
Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.
And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.
The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth.
One by One
by Ruth Ware
Getting snowed in at a beautiful, rustic mountain chalet doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world, especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a cozy fire, and company to keep you warm. But what happens when that company is eight of your coworkers…and you can’t trust any of them?
When an off-site company retreat meant to promote mindfulness and collaboration goes utterly wrong when an avalanche hits, the corporate food chain becomes irrelevant and survival trumps togetherness. Come Monday morning, how many members short will the team be?
Rock Paper Scissors
by Alice Feeney
My Rating:
Think you know the person you married? Think again…
Things have been wrong with Mr. and Mrs. Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.
Shiver
by Allie Reynolds
They don’t know what I did. And I intend to keep it that way.
How far would you go to win? Hyper-competitive people, mind games and a dangerous natural environment combine to make the must-read thriller of the year. Fans of Lucy Foley and Lisa Jewell will be gripped by spectacular debut novel Shiver.
When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can’t seem to let go.
The five friends haven’t seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realize they don’t know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth.
In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
by Lisa Unger
Three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway to die for in this chilling locked-room thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger.
What could be more restful, more restorative, than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, complete with spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s loving and generous tech-mogul brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It’s his birthday gift to Hannah and includes their spouses and another couple. The six friends need this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R, far from the chatter and pressures of modern life.
But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare. A deadly storm is brewing. The rental host seems just a little too present. The personal chef reveals that their beautiful house has a spine-tingling history. And the friends have their own complicated past, with secrets that run blood deep. How well does Hannah know her brother, her own husband? Can she trust her best friend? And who is the new boyfriend, crashing their party? Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?
An Unwanted Guest
by Shari Lapena
A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting away
It’s winter in the Catskills and Mitchell’s Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing–maybe even romantic–weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery.
So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity–and all contact with the outside world–the guests settle in and try to make the best of it.
Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead–it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic.
Within the snowed-in paradise, something–or someone–is picking off the guests one by one. And there’s nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm–and one another.
Shutter Island
by Dennis Lehane
My Rating:
The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this remote and barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane relentlessly bears down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades—with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal countermoves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is what it seems. But then neither is Teddy Daniels.
The Unforgiven
by Patricia MacDonald
My Rating:
She swore she was innocent.
Maggie Fraser has tried to forget.
The body of the man she loved.
The blood seeping into the snow.
The scandalous murder trial.
The twelve agonizing years in prison for a crime she did not commit. But now Maggie is free — and ready to start a new life. Alone. Unknown. On a quiet island off the coast of New England, she accepts a job with the local newspaper. And slowly, she tries to put the past behind her, opening her heart to the paper’s ruggedly handsome editor, Jess Herlie. Then the nightmare begins…again.
Now she must pay.
Someone is watching Maggie’s every move — and waiting for revenge.
Someone who refuses to forgive and forget.
Someone who would do anything, even destroy innocent lives, to teach the guilty that there is no sanctuary, no escape, for…
The Blackhouse
by Carole Johnstone
A richly atmospheric thriller set on an isolated Scottish island where nothing is as it seems and shocking twists lie around every corner.
A remote village. A deadly secret. An outsider who knows the truth.
Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides in the 1990s, driven by hope, craving safety and community, and hiding a terrible secret. But despite his best efforts to fit in, Robert is always seen as an outsider. And as the legendary and violent Hebridean storms rage around him, he begins to unravel, believing his fate on the remote island of Kilmeray cannot be escaped.
For her entire life, Maggie MacKay has sensed something was wrong with her. When Maggie was five years old, she announced that a man on Kilmeray—a place she’d never visited—had been murdered. Her unfounded claim drew media attention and turned the locals against each other, creating rifts that never mended.
Nearly twenty years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened, and what the islanders are hiding. But when she begins to receive ominous threats, Maggie is forced to consider how much she is willing to risk to discover the horrifying truth.
Unnerving, enthralling, and filled with gothic suspense, The Blackhouse is a spectacularly sinister tale readers won’t soon forget.
The Caretakers
by Eliza Maxwell
Filmmaker Tessa Shepherd helped free a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned for murder. When he kills again, Tessa’s life is upended.
She’s reeling with guilt, her reputation destroyed. Worse, Tessa’s mother has unexpectedly passed away, and her sister, Margot, turns on her after tensions from their past escalate. Hounded by a bullying press, Tessa needs an escape. That’s when she learns of a strange inheritance bequeathed by her mother: a derelict and isolated estate known as Fallbrook. It seems like the perfect refuge.
A crumbling monument to a gruesome history, the mansion has been abandoned by all but two elderly sisters retained as caretakers. They are also guardians of all its mysteries. As the house starts revealing its dark secrets, Tessa must face her fears and right the wrongs of her past to save herself and her relationship with Margot. But nothing and no one at Fallbrook are what they seem.
Daisy Darker
by Alice Feeney
My Rating:
After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.
The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…
Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.
With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.
The Island House
by Amanda Brittany
Once you’re on the island you’ll never want to leave… until you can’t
A DARK FAMILY SECRET
When Alice’s father dies after a tragic hit and run, his death stirs up unanswered questions about her childhood. Who was her mother, why did her father never speak of the past, and why can’t she remember anything before the age of seven?
AN ISLAND CUT OFF
But when she receives an anonymous letter containing a photograph of a refurbished gothic guesthouse surrounded by water, and an invitation to stay, old memories fight to resurface.
Alice has visited before. She is certain of it.
WHO WILL SURVIVE?
Convinced the clues to her past lie at the hotel, she checks in. But once on the island, a wild storm rages, waves crash violently into the rocks, and the house is cut off by the roaring sea.
Then two guests are found dead. And the hotel owner is missing. Will Alice ever uncover her secret past?
And will anyone leave the island alive?
The Last House On The Cliff
by Anne Wyn Clark
A secluded island. A missing child. A home built on lies.
On the death of her aunt Gwyn, Lowri returns once more to Gwyn’s home on the remote island of Anglesey, Wales, with young daughter Ruby in tow. Lowri hadn’t seen her aunt in years, but this beautiful island offers a fresh start.
Yet right away, strange things begin to happen. Ruby insists an old woman is visiting her when no one else is watching, and a tattered old doll keeps being left for Ruby to find.
Then Ruby goes missing. Desperately seeking answers no one seems to have, Lowri looks to her dark family past for clues. But the secrets she uncovers suggest that Ruby is not the only one in danger, and time is running out – for both of them…
Don’t Leave Me Alone
by Kyla Sharp
Leah’s husband has secrets. But so does she.
Leah and her husband Ben move to a gorgeous timber cottage in the hills, convinced a change of scenery can fix their marriage. She’ll finally get pregnant. He’ll remain faithful.
But Ben is called back to the city for work.
Leah is devastated, and all alone in a big, old cabin in the middle of nowhere. Then she starts hearing things at night.
Her fears are founded when she finds a threatening note, convinced it’s targeted at her. But she needs to prove to Ben that she’s grounded enough to be a mother, so she keeps her fears a secret.
Leah must figure out who’s taunting her. Alone.
Does it have to do with the chilling history of her house?
Is her husband keeping tabs on her from afar?
What about her creepy hillbilly neighbor? Or the handsome one who owns a winery?
Leah discovers her husband had more secrets than she thought. But also that she can’t keep her own secrets hidden forever, either.
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You Shouldn’t Have Come Here
by Jeneva Rose
Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker looking for a total escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives, she’s pleasantly surprised to find that the owner is a handsome man by the name of Calvin Wells. But there are things Grace discovers that she’s not too pleased about: A lack of cell phone service. A missing woman. And a feeling that something isn’t right with the town.
Despite her uneasiness and misgivings from Calvin’s friends and family, the two grow close and start to fall for one another. However, as her departure date nears, things between them start to change for the worse. Grace grows wary of Calvin as his infatuation for her seems to turn into obsession. Calvin fears that Grace is hiding something from him.