8 Of The Best Books Like Between Two Fires By Christopher Buehlman

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“Well, I do what I say. Which is why I don’t say much.”

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If you loved Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, you’re probably craving more dark, immersive stories that blend historical environments with supernatural horror. Buehlman’s masterful mix of historical detail, gripping suspense, and morally complex characters makes Between Two Fires a standout for fans of historical horror and dark fantasy. But what other books capture that same chilling atmosphere and rich storytelling? Today at What We Reading, we’re curating our favourite books like Between Two Fires, perfect for readers looking for novels with a similar mix of historical intrigue, supernatural elements, and edge-of-your-seat tensions. Whether you’re looking for historical novels set in the past, dark fantasy with complex characters or supernatural historical fiction that lingers long after the last page, these recommendations are sure to keep you enthralled. So, keep scrolling for books similar to Christopher Buehlman that will satisfy your craving for history, horror, and the supernatural. 

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Between Two Fires Summary

The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm – that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict. She convinces Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avingnon. 

There, she tells Thomas she will fulfil her mission to confront the evil that has devastated the Earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility he long abandoned. As hell unleashes its wrath and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man. 

The Lesser Dead – Christopher Buehlman

Kicking off our list of books like Between Two Fires with another one of Christopher Buehlman’s best novels, The Lesser Dead. New York City in 1978 was a dirty, dangerous place to live. And die. Joey Peacock knows this as well as anybody – he has spent the last four decades as an adolescent vampire, perfecting the routine he now enjoys: womanising in punk clubs, feeding by night, and sleeping by day with others of his kind in the macabre labyrinth underneath the city’s sidewalks. 

The subways are his playground and his highway, shuttling him throughout Manhattan. It’s almost too easy. Until one night, he sees them hunting on his beloved subway. The children with the merry eyes. Vampires like him. Or not like him. Whatever they are, whatever their appearance means, the undead in the tunnels of Manhattan are not as safe as they once were. And neither are the rest of us. 

A Congregation Of Jackals – S. Craig Zahler

One of Oswell’s old bank-robbing gang is getting married out in Montana Territory, and the rest of the boys are all invited. But someone else will be there too. He was a member of the gang once, but betrayal turned an ally into a bitter enemy, one who will stop at nothing to get his revenge. 

He and his gunmen will be at the wedding out for blood and to avenge the betrayal in a final showdown. Oswell knows there’s no way out of it. You can’t outrun your past forever. All you can do is face it – and hope to survive. S. Craig Zahler’s A Congregation of Jackals is a dark, brutal Western horror that is sure to be a hit with anyone who loved Buehlman’s work.

The Hunger – Alma Katsu

Tamsen Donner must be a witch. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone – or something – is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the decision to follow the disastrous route West, or just plain bad luck, the ninety men, women, and children of the Donner Party are on the brink of the most deadly Western adventure in American history. 

While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions, evil begins to grow around them and from within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves: “What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased… and very hungry?” 

Red Rabbit – Alex Grecian

Sadie Grace is wanted for witchcraft. And every hired gun in Kansas is out to collect the bounty on her head, including bona fide witch hunter Old Tom and his mysterious, mute ward, Rabbit. On the road to Burden County, they’re joined by two vagabond cowboys with a strong sense of adventure – but no sense of purpose – and a recently widowed school teacher with nothing left to lose. As their posse grows, so too does the danger. 

Racing along the drought-stricken plains in a stolen red stagecoach, they encounter monsters more wicked than witches lurking along the dusty trail. But the crew is determined to get that bounty, or die trying. Written with the same devilish cadence similar to Between Two Fires, Red Rabbit is a supernatural adventure of luck and misfortune. 

Hollow – Brian Catling

Sheltering beneath Das Kagel, the cloud-scraping structure rumoured to be the Tower of Babel, the sacred Monastery of the Eastern Gate descends into bedlam. Their ancient oracle, Quite Testiyont, has died, leaving the monks vulnerable to the war being waged between the living and the dead. Tasked by the church to find a new oracle, Barry Follett and his group of hired mercenaries are forced to confront wicked giants and dangerous sirens on their mission, keeping the divine creature alive by feeding it marrow and confessing their darkest sins. 

But as Follett and his men carve their way through the treacherous landscape, the world around them spirals deeper into chaos. Dominic, a young monk who has mysteriously lost his voice, makes a pilgrimage to see surreal paintings, believing them to reveal the empire’s fate. Hollow ushers readers through a world of ruin where holy secrets are unearthed, art mirrors life, and death looms over everything. 

Lapvona – Ottessa Moshfegh

In a medieval village battered by famine and natural disasters known as Lapvona, Marek, the motherless and abused son of the village shepherd, becomes an unlikely cog in a brutal struggle for power. Raised by the blind village midwife, Ina, who has a strange affinity with the natural world, Marek experiences a rare bond and access to knowledge that most in the village wouldn’t be able to dream of.

The village is dominated by the cruel and corrupt lord Villiam, and his sycophantic priest, Father Barnabas, whose manipulations exploit the people’s desperate faith. As the year of drought and famine worsen, Marek’s ties to the lord’s family pull him into a web of violence and occult forces that threaten to upend the old order. Similar to Between Two Fires, Ottessa Moshfegh’s Lapvona is a medieval tale that weaves together survival, power, and the often frightening ways in which the natural and spiritual worlds intertwine.

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Check Out The Best Books Like Lapvona

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Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror – Mitchell Lüthi

Set in twelfth-century Jerusalem, Mitchell Lüthi’s Pilgrim follows the treacherous journey of a German knight and his companions as they return home after seven arduous years battling for God in the Holy Land. Within this sprawling tale lies an epic tapestry of medieval horror, intertwining history and folklore, encompassing both a metaphysical and literal odyssey. 

Undoubtedly one of the best books like Between Two Fires, Pilgrim is inspired by a rich blend of Arabic, Christian, and pre-Islamic traditions, delivering a pulse-pounding story of action, adventure, and bone-chilling horror. 

The Terror – Dan Simmons

The men on board the HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels to ever search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold with diminishing rations, they fight to survive. But the real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the darkness: an unseen predator stalking the ship. 

When the expedition’s leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads a final attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival, or the harbinger of death. Yet as another winter approaches, and the terror on the ice stalks them, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape in this gripping historical horror novel similar to Between Two Fires. 

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