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The Homing

John Saul

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Combine common axes

Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for The Homing. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: small-town horror, homecoming danger, family under threat, insect infestation, evil hidden in countryside

Setting labels used: small town, California, rural countryside, farm setting, community setting

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their premise + setting embeddings are close.

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Phantoms

Dean Koontz · 1998

Two sisters return to an emptied mountain town and uncover a terrifying force behind the mass disappearance.

Why this is here

Premise labels: mass disappearance · deserted town · ancient evil · small-town terror · mysterious deaths · survival threat · monster mystery · good vs evil

Setting labels: small mountain town · rural town · California · ski resort town · isolated town · remote community · fictionalized contemporary setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1932

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Catchers

Ben Rock, Bob DeRosa · 2022

A retiring dog catcher and his new trainee face a vicious creature attack on a rural Colorado farm.

Why this is here

Premise labels: small-town terror · animal attack · creature feature · dog catcher · retirement day · workplace clash · survival night · unknown creatures · mystery threat

Setting labels: small town · rural Colorado · farm · woods · family farm · remote location · modern day · isolated setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2177

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Midnight

Dean R. Koontz · 1989

In a fogbound California town, outsiders and locals uncover a tech experiment turning people into something inhuman.

Why this is here

Premise labels: small town under threat · mad scientist · secret experiment · human transformation · emotion removal · body horror · tech paranoia · survival against evil · investigation of deaths · missing sister

Setting labels: small town · coastal town · northern California · nighttime · foggy atmosphere · 1980s setting · near-present fictional reality · isolated community

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2209

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The Deading

Nicholas Belardes · 2024

A quarantined seaside town unravels after an ocean-borne contagion triggers eerie deaths, returns, and escalating chaos.

Why this is here

Premise labels: small town outbreak · ocean-borne contagion · quarantine · infection spreads through wildlife · survival under isolation · body transformation · death-and-return infection · social collapse · cult formation

Setting labels: small coastal town · fishing town · seaside town · California coast · oyster farm · birding community · quarantined town · isolated community · oceanic setting · dystopian setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2309

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The Santaroga Barrier

Frank Herbert · 2002

An outsider psychologist investigates a closed California valley where consumer goods fail and a strange substance binds everyone together.

Why this is here

Premise labels: insular community · market investigation · outsider enters town · hidden town secret · mind-altering substance · psychological mystery · collective consciousness · anti-commercialism

Setting labels: California valley · small town · farm community · present day · 1960s America · isolated community · closed community · contemporary America

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2388

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What We Harvest

Ann Fraistat · 2022

A teen in a picture-perfect farming town races to stop a blight that turns crops, animals, and people into monsters.

Why this is here

Premise labels: small-town secret · blight outbreak · infected crops · infection mystery · save the farm · race against time · family legacy · ancestral debt · last survivors · old secrets

Setting labels: small town · rural setting · farming community · quarantined town · idyllic surface · hidden rot · American town · woods · founding families · quicksilver blight · generational town

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2406

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Lost Boys

Orson Scott Card · 1994

A Mormon family’s move to North Carolina brings everyday tensions, eerie friendships, and a slow-building threat to their young son.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing children · family crisis · imaginary friends · child endangerment · small-town mystery · secret evil · parental fear

Setting labels: 1980s · early 1980s · North Carolina · small Southern town · suburban neighborhood · workplace setting · church community · household setting · real-world setting · contemporary setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2416

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Le Signal

Maxim Chattam · 2018

A family’s move to a quiet New England town turns into a nightmare of supernatural violence, secrets, and fear.

Why this is here

Premise labels: new-town move · small-town secrets · supernatural threat · haunted house · family under siege · missing persons · serial violence · investigation · occult rumor · evil in the woods

Setting labels: small town · New England · near Salem · forest · farmhouse · isolated community · modern day · rural America · old house · town under threat

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2425

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Bethany's Sin

Robert McCammon · 1980

A Vietnam vet’s new start in a perfect small town turns sinister when he uncovers a secret women’s cult tied to ancient evil.

Why this is here

Premise labels: small-town secrets · new-in-town family · haunted town · ancient evil · gendered horror · psychic warnings · night terror · cult infiltration · hidden community · women-led menace

Setting labels: small Pennsylvania town · rural village · 1960s backstory · 1980 setting · small town America · suburbia · ancient ruins · Turkey · Black Sea · nighttime setting · isolated community

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2456

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Bent Heavens

Daniel Kraus · 2020

A grieving teen reopens her father’s alien hunt and finds the truth is far stranger—and darker—than anyone believed.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing parent · alien abduction · small-town mystery · teen investigation · secret trap · captured alien · government conspiracy · family grief · revenge

Setting labels: small-town Iowa · rural Iowa · high school setting · woods · contemporary setting · school environment · present day

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2475

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Under the Dome

Stephen King · 2009

A Maine town is trapped under an invisible barrier, and isolation turns neighbors into rivals in a fight for control.

Why this is here

Premise labels: sealed town · isolation crisis · social breakdown · power grab · survival under pressure · siege narrative · small-town collapse · human nature test

Setting labels: small town · Maine · rural town · isolated community · contemporary world · contained setting · pressure-cooker setting · dystopian setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2548

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We Are Definitely Human

X. Fang · 2024

Three mysterious visitors crash near a farmer’s home, and everyone’s response turns a strange encounter into a celebration of kindness.

Why this is here

Premise labels: alien visitors · strangers in need · kindness to outsiders · hospitality · identity disguise · first contact

Setting labels: farmhouse · rural setting · small town · nighttime · earth · space · countryside

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2562

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