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The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
"When a writer trips over something ancient in the woods, a sleepy Maine town wakes to a bright, terrible inspiration—gadgets that build themselves, minds that won’t rest, and a hunger that spreads like radio static. Alien awe meets creeping dread in The Tommyknockers."
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In The Tommyknockers, did you enjoy ...
... alien artifacts whose impossible effects feel like magic and corrupt the people who exploit them?
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
If the buried ship in Haven and Bobbi Anderson’s eerie, genius "inventions" grabbed you, you’ll love the Strugatskys’ Roadside Picnic. In the forbidden Zone, scavengers ("stalkers") pull out items—empty seeming trinkets—that warp physics and people alike, much like Haven’s townsfolk "becoming" under the ship’s influence. The lethal anomalies (the "meat grinder," the seductive "golden sphere") echo the way the ship empowers and destroys, making tech feel indistinguishable from sorcery.
... a whole town’s fate refracted through many lives as an uncanny force tightens its grip?
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
If you enjoyed how The Tommyknockers ranges across Haven—from Bobbi Anderson and Jim Gardener to townspeople slowly changing—Straub’s Ghost Story brings a similar mosaic dread. The Chowder Society’s old secrets, the return of Eva Galli, and the way Milburn’s residents get picked off piece by piece give that same community-wide unease you felt as Haven "became" something not quite human.
... relentless, body-horror–tinged escalation where an unseen infection turns people monstrous?
The Troop by Nick Cutter
If the grotesque transformations in Haven—the bleeding, the tinkered contraptions, the townsfolk "becoming"—stuck with you, The Troop delivers that same merciless slide into bodily horror. A scoutmaster and five boys face a bioengineered parasite on a remote island; as the infection spreads, the group dynamic fractures in ways that recall how Haven’s neighbors turned on one another under the ship’s influence.
... an intimate, harrowing portrait of addiction colliding with the supernatural?
The Shining by Stephen King
If Jim Gardener’s alcoholism, blackouts, and desperate attempts to save Bobbi from the ship’s pull resonated, The Shining hits the same nerve. Jack Torrance’s drinking history and fragile self-control are weaponized by the Overlook’s presence, much as Haven’s alien ship exploits Gard’s weaknesses and his one strange protection. The psychic pressure, the corrosive guilt, and the clash between love and destructive compulsion feel hauntingly familiar.
... a dogged investigation that peels back a mundane mystery to reveal an occult nightmare?
Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg
If you liked how Gard digs into Bobbi’s secret—following clues, trespassing into that shed, and finally confronting what lies beneath the woods—Falling Angel offers a noir hunt that spirals into the supernatural. Private investigator Harry Angel’s missing-person case leads through jazz clubs and backrooms to a revelation as chilling, in its way, as the buried ship waiting under Haven.
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