![\"studying\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Winter-Kills-Header.jpg\")
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The holidays have passed (finally), the days of binge eating and over indulgence have necessarily waned.<\/b> We’ve moved inexorably into the dull days of winter, the short, dissipating days of rain or snow, or just watery, cold sunlight, drifting up out of the mist of morning and disappearing with no fanfare over a too early horizon. These early days of a new year have already seen the loss of some of our greatest heroes: the shape changing, ever tantalizing and always trend setting David Bowie<\/a><\/b>; the baritoned, subtlety of Alan Rickman<\/a><\/b>; the campfire classic strum of Glenn Frey<\/a><\/b>. The darkness of these deaths, marked jabs at the architecture of popular culture, brings to mind our own mortality and the fragility of life in general. We reach for comfort, for distraction from those who might entertain us still. Yet we continue to slide into the dark, inevitably choosing to terrorize ourselves with mystery and horror, with the fantastic and the thrillingly sublime. Perhaps we just want to remind ourselves we still live–the racing pulse and sweaty palms of fear a palpable proof of life. What novels of suspense and anguish would you choose as an accompaniment to the depths of a dark season? Here are some of our suggestions<\/b>:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The classic tale of suspense and dread set in the perfect dreary landscape: the English countryside!<\/p>\n From the author of arguably the darkest of classic novels, Heart of Darkness<\/a>, this lesser known but equally exquisite exploration of the damage of guilt on the psyche is sure to draw the four walls of your room a little closer.<\/p>\n Deft, concise, tense–the Southern worlds of Daniel Woodrell are peeled back and laid bare in this carefully etched demonstration of the depravity of human desire.<\/p>\n Everyone loves the movie<\/a> for Jodi Foster’s bravery and Anthony Hopkins’ lip-smacking creepiness, but the book explores deeper levels of darkness still, providing a sustained chill even after you’ve thrown another log on the fire.<\/p>\n Just to bring it back around to Bowie, who made this lovely novel famous in the movie version<\/a> in 1983, drown your depression in this scintillating tale of one woman’s thirst for immortality.<\/p>\n Lawrence Block’s guilt-ridden, alcoholic ex-cop Matthew Scudder defines the genre of gritty suspense and the fragility and often futility of life. Try When The Sacred Ginmill Closes<\/a>, the point in Scudder’s long trajectory when his haunted past is no longer suppressed with bourbon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Any of the long list of Vachss novels will take the reader down a path with no reasonable return. The way, upon turning to flee, may appear the same at first, but the trees encroach, casting a shadow even the brightest torch light will never illumine.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Turn-of-the-Screw.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Turn of the Screw<\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n![\"\"](\"\/\/www.alibris.com\/lord-jim-joseph-conrad\/isbn\/9781450506755_l.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLord Jim<\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n![\"\"](\"\/\/www.alibris.com\/winters-bone\/isbn\/9780316131612_l.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWinter’s Bone<\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n![\"\"](\"\/\/www.alibris.com\/the-silence-of-the-lambs\/isbn\/9781250048097_l.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSilence of the Lambs<\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-Hunger.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Hunger<\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Lawrence-Block.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMatt Scudder novels<\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Andrew-Vachss.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAnything from Andrew Vachss<\/a><\/h3>\n