Schrader's Chord - by Scott Leeds

Book Synopsis

Heart-Shaped Box meets The Haunting of Hill House in Schrader's Chord, Scott Leeds's chilling debut about cursed vinyl records that open a gateway to the land of the dead.

I told you they were real.

After his estranged father's mysterious death, Charlie Remick returns to Seattle to help with the funeral. There, he discovers his father left him two parting gifts: the keys to the family record store and a strange black case containing four antique records that, according to legend, can open a gate to the land of the dead.

When Charlie, his sister, and their two friends play the records, they unwittingly open a floodgate of unspeakable horror. As the darkness descends, they are stalked by a relentless, malevolent force and see the dead everywhere they turn.

With time running out, the only person who can help them is Charlie's resurrected father, who knows firsthand the awesome power the records have unleashed. But can they close the gate and silence Schrader's Chord before it's too late?

Review Quotes

One of USA Today's "Best horror books to read this spooky season"

"You'll be looking over your shoulder as the pages fly in this hauntingly riveting debut. With gorgeous prose and chilling twists, the terrifying but heartfelt core of this family-centered ghost story seals Leeds as a powerful new voice in horror. Don't miss it." --E.G. Scott, internationally bestselling author of The Woman Inside

"Scott Leeds truly has an ear for fear. Any reader who cracks this cursed book open is doomed to devour it in one sitting like I did. Now I hear ghosts wherever I go." --Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters

"Scott Leeds knows music. He writes it true, and he writes it with grit. Then he somehow mixes all that knowledge and passion with a riveting, scary story and makes it sing. Schrader's Chord isn't just a compulsive read: it's horror rock'n'roll." --Wendy N. Wagner, author of The Deer Kings and The Secret Skin

"A powerful debut, simultaneously scary, haunting and emotional. Schrader's Chord proves that Scott Leeds has a promising future as a horror writer." --Grimdark Magazine

"Schrader's Chord builds with more twists and turns than your favorite prog rock epic, before reaching a phantasmagoric, surprisingly heart-tugging climax. But perhaps what's most remarkable about Leeds' debut is, for all its ghosts and corpses, how thoroughly it thrums with life." --Nat Cassidy, author of Mary: An Awakening of Terror and Nestlings

"Take High Fidelity down the Highway to Hell and you may find yourself trapped in the twisted grooves of Schrader's Chord. Leeds orchestrates a pitch-perfect debut that will spin you right 'round into its haunted depths before cranking the horror up to eleven." --Brian McAuley, author of Curse of the Reaper

"The ghosts and other spectral evocations are gruesomely imaginative, making for a rousing rock 'n' roll grand guignol." --The Toronto Star

"Recommended for fans of the show True Detective and Lovecraftian fiction." --Booklist

"Schrader's Chord delights in the ghoulish and the bizarre. A dark and demonic debut." --Leopoldo Gout, author of Piñata