This month’s new horror books include a particularly disgusting, especially feminine take on the postapocalypse, a nonfiction history of horror films by and about Black people, a Texas hill country haunted house story with a twist, an 80s folk magic coming-of-age tale, several hotly anticipated sequels, a Vietnamese haunting, and much more.
These monthly lists are derived from my annual masterlist, but I’ve gotten a good amount of feedback saying the smaller lists are helpful reminders and easier to digest–they can all be found here. And as always, you can view the full 2023 list right here.
February 2023’s new horror books:
- Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger, KC Grifant (Feb 2, Brigids Gate Press): In an Old West overrun by monsters, a stoic gunslinger must embark on a dangerous quest to save her friends and stop a supernatural war.
- Gothic, Philip Fracassi (Feb 3, Cemetery Dance): On his 59th birthday, Tyson Parks—a famous, but struggling, horror writer—receives an antique desk from his partner, Sarah, in the hopes it will rekindle his creative juices. Meanwhile, as Tyson begins to use his new desk, he begins acting… strange. Violent. His writing more disturbing than anything he’s done before. But publishers are paying top dollar, convinced his new work will be a hit, and Tyson will do whatever it takes to protect his newfound success. Even if it means the destruction of the ones he loves. Even if it means his own sanity.
- Brave New Weird: The Best New Weird Horror of 2022, ed. Alex Woodroe (Feb 6, Tenebrous Press): Meet the Weirdest talent lurking on the cusp of greatness! Discover some new favorite authors! Second guess our decisions! Curse our hubris! We await your anger!
- Black Dove, Colin McAdam (Feb 7, Soho Press): A deeply imaginative and thrilling novel about grief, single parenting, and the terrifying power of a child’s imagination, dancing on an edge between magical realism and horror, perfect for fans of Stranger Things.
- The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar, Robin R. Means Coleman and Mark H. Harris (Feb 7, Gallery/Saga Press): A definitive and surprising exploration of the history of Black horror films, after the rising success of Get Out, Candyman, and Lovecraft Country from creators behind the acclaimed documentary, Horror Noire.
- Don’t Fear the Reaper, Stephen Graham Jones (Feb 7, Gallery/Saga Press): December 12th, 2019, Jade returns to the rural lake town of Proofrock the same day as convicted Indigenous serial killer Dark Mill South escapes into town to complete his revenge killings, in this riveting sequel to My Heart Is a Chainsaw from New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones.
- Killer, Peter Tonkin (Feb 7, Valancourt Books): A Paperbacks From Hell reissue of the 1979 classic. Five men and one beautiful woman. Marooned on a floating island of arctic ice. Together they had the equipment and skills to fight the freezing cold, the violently savage storms. Then suddenly from the angry seas the jaws of horror opened wide as nature’s deadliest creature rose from the depths — a huge killer whale of enormous intelligence, incredible power, indestructible endurance, ravenous for human prey….
- The Night Begins, Abigail Taylor (Feb 7, Luna Press): A story of family rituals, southern folklore, and magic set in rural Texas.
- Our Share of Night, Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell (Feb 7, Hogarth): A woman’s mysterious death puts her husband and son on a collision course with her demonic family in the “monumental” (The New York Times) debut novel from the International Booker Prize–shortlisted author of The Dangers of Smoking in Bed—“the most exciting discovery I’ve made in fiction for some time” (Kazuo Ishiguro)
- The Path Home, A.J. Pellegrino (Feb 7, Read Furiously): A queer reimagining of the classic Persephone and Hades myth filled with nature, magic, and true love. Bryony has just graduated college, and instead of moving to Brooklyn to start her summer fellowship, she has found herself drawn back to her rural hometown in the Adirondacks. A town where she left behind her feelings for her childhood love, Iris. Upon her return home, Bryony notices that the nature surrounding her hometown is dying and no one will talk about Iris.
- The Spite House, Johnny Compton (Feb 7, Nightfire): A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father’s love, Johnny Compton’s The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making—The Babadook meets A Head Full of Ghosts in Texas Hill Country.
- Such Pretty Flowers, K. L. Cerra (Feb 7, Bantam): A woman investigating her brother’s apparent suicide finds herself falling for her prime suspect—his darkly mysterious girlfriend—in this Southern gothic thriller that Karen Dionne calls “creepy, compelling, and utterly original.”
- VenCo, Cherie Dimaline (Feb 7, William Morrow): An incredibly inventive, highly anticipated second adult novel—with witches, magic, and a road trip through America—from Cherie Dimaline, the critically acclaimed author of Empire of Wild.
- Wasps in the Ice Cream, Tim McGregor (Feb 7, Raw Dog Screaming Press): Summer 1987: Mark Prewitt’s only priority is to avoid his dad’s new wife and waste time with his friends, but idle nights are the devil’s handiwork. When his friends decide to pull a cruel prank on the reclusive and strange Farrow sisters, Mark regrets caving in to peer pressure. Wanting to make amends, Mark is drawn into the mysterious world of the Farrow girls, finding a kindred spirit in the middle sister, George. She is unlike anyone he’s ever known; a practicing witch who uses folk magic to protect her family. They bond over books, loneliness, and homemade spells. She even invites Mark to join a séance to contact her dead sister, who died under mysterious circumstances. Keeping their relationship secret, Mark learns that living a double life in a town this small is impossible. When the secret is exposed, and his friends plot to punish the witch sisters for stealing one of their own, Mark is forced to choose between these two worlds.
- The Grief Nurse, Angie Spoto (Feb 9, Sandstone Press): Lynx is a Grief Nurse. Kept by the Asters, a wealthy, influential family, to ensure they’re never troubled by negative emotions, she knows no other life. When news arrives that the Asters’ eldest son is dead, Lynx does what she can to alleviate their Sorrow. As guests flock to the Asters’ private island for the wake, bringing their own secrets, lies and grief, tensions rise. Then the bodies start to pile up.
- The Whispering Muse, Laura Purcell (Feb 9, Raven Books): At The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End, rumors are circulating of a curse. It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage. Suspicious of Lilith, the jealous wife of the theatre owner sends dresser Jenny to spy on her, and desperate for the money to help her family, Jenny agrees. But when strange events begin to take place around the theatre, Jenny wonders if the rumors are true, and fears that when the Muse comes calling for payment, the cost will be too high.
- The Cage of Dark Hours, Marina Lostetter (Feb 14, Tor Books): The second novel in the epic fantasy trilogy from acclaimed author Marina Lostetter, where the defeat of a serial killer back from the dead has pulled the mask off the myths and magics of a fantastical city.
- The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, Roshani Chokshi (Feb 14, William Morrow): A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
- Like Real, Shelly Lyons (Feb 14, Ghoulish Books): In Shelly Lyons’s debut novel, Like Real, Vic Moss—kenjutsu hobbyist and clueless Lothario—lets vanity dictate his decision to acquire an experimental new-tech prosthesis that promises to evolve into a seamless, realistic looking hand. Instead, it tears from his body, transforms into his clone, and pursues a relationship with the same woman Vic has in his crosshairs—forcing Vic to kill or be replaced. This mind-bending body horror rom-com is a rollicking Cronenbergian gene splice of Idle Hands and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It’s freaky. It’s fun. It’s LIKE REAL.
- Monstersona, Chloe Spencer (Feb 14, Tiny Ghost Press): Thelma and Louise meet Godzilla in this queer sci-fi adventure, that will appeal to fans of Erik. J Brown’s All That’s Left In The World and Charlotte Nicole Davies’ The Good Luck Girls.
- A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Dawidziak (Feb 14, St. Martin’s): A Mystery of Mysteries is a brilliant biography of Edgar Allan Poe that examines the renowned author’s life through the prism of his mysterious death and its many possible causes.
- The Pledge, Cale Dietrich (Feb 14, Feiwel & Friends): Scream meets Clown in a Cornfield in this young adult horror novel by bestselling author Cale Dietrich featuring a masked killer who targets frat boys.
- Sing, Nightingale, Marie Hélène Poitras, trans. Rhonda Mullins (Feb 14, Coach House Books): When the curtain rises on Malmaison, it reveals a once-enchanting estate, quietly falling into darkness and ruin, and at the heart of it, a father, one of a long line of fathers who have flourished at the expense of those around them. The silence seems peaceful, but lurking under it is a deep malevolence, scores of ugly and violent secrets kept by cast-off mistresses and abandoned daughters.
- Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, ed. Lee Murray & Angela Yuriko Smith (Feb 14, Black Spot Books): From hungry ghosts, vampiric babies, and shapeshifting fox spirits to the avenging White Lady of urban legend, for generations, Asian women’s roles have been shaped and defined through myth and story. In Unquiet Spirits, Asian writers of horror reflect on the impact of superstition, spirits, and the supernatural in this unique collection of 21 personal essays exploring themes of otherness, identity, expectation, duty, and loss, and leading, ultimately, to understanding and empowerment.
- Bad Omens, Jessica Drake-Thomas (Feb 17, Querencia Press): Bad Omens is a collection of occult and gothic horror poems.
- Churn the Soil, Steve Stred (Feb 17, Black Void): Two hundred miles north of the town of Basco sits The Border. It’s a quiet, off-the-grid settlement, where the residents have developed a tentative agreement with those that live on the other side of the clearing. But things are about to change forever. As night falls, a teenage girl is brutally murdered as she flees across the clearing. Now, it’s up to Basco PD officers Brown and Reynolds to find her killer. But the truth is far worse than they could possibly imagine, and the more the officers uncover, the bolder the things beyond the clearing grow.
- Ancient Images, Ramsey Campbell (Feb 21, Flame Tree Press): Tower of Fear is a lost horror film starring Karloff and Lugosi. A film historian who locates a copy dies while fleeing something that terrified him. His friend Sandy Allan vows to prove he found the film. She learns how haunted the production was and the survivors of it still are. It contains a secret about Redfield, a titled family that owns a favorite British food, Staff o’ Life. The Redfield land has uncanny guardians, and one follows Sandy home. To maintain its fertility Redfield demands a sacrifice, and a band of new age travellers is about to set up camp there…
- The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future, Christi Nogle (Feb 21, Flame Tree Press): The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future collects Christi Nogle’s finest psychological and supernatural horror stories. Their rural and small-town characters confront difficult pasts and look toward promising but often terrifying futures. The pieces range in genre from psychological horror through science fiction and ghost stories, but they all share fundamental qualities: feminist themes, an emphasis on voice, a focus on characters’ psychologies and a sense of the gothic in contemporary life.
- Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country, Matt Ruff (Feb 21, Harper): In this thrilling adventure, a blend of enthralling historical fiction and fantastical horror, Matt Ruff returns to the world of Lovecraft Country and explores the meaning of death, the hold of the past on the present, and the power of hope in the face of uncertainty.
- Loteria, Cynthia Pelayo (Feb 21, Agora Books): Award-winning author Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo’s acclaimed short story collection Lotería, now with added illustrations and new bonus stories.
- Sister, Maiden, Monster, Lucy A. Snyder (Feb 21, Nightfire): Sister, Maiden, Monster is a visceral story set in the aftermath of our planet’s disastrous transformation and told through the eyes of three women trying to survive the nightmare, from Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lucy A. Snyder.
- Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality, Lindsay Wong (Feb 21, Penguin Canada): From the bestselling, Canada Reads-shortlisted author of The Woo-Woo comes a wild, darkly hilarious, and poignant collection of immigrant horror stories. They’ll haunt and consume you in strange and unsettling ways.
- Where Darkness Blooms, Andrea Hannah (Feb 21, Wednesday Books): Andrea Hannah’s Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunflowers whisper secrets and the land hungers for blood.
- The Writing Retreat, Julia Bartz (Feb 21, Atria/Emily Bestler Books): The Plot meets Please Join Us in this psychological suspense debut about a young author at an exclusive writer’s retreat that descends into a nightmare.
- The Year of the Storm, John Mantooth (Feb 24, Cemetery Dance): In this haunting, suspenseful novel, John Mantooth takes readers to a town in rural Alabama where secrets are buried deep, reality is relative, and salvation requires a desperate act of faith.
- Delicious Monsters, Liselle Sambury (Feb 28, Margaret K. McElderry Books): The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.
- The Secrets of Hartwood Hall, Katie Lumsden (Feb 28, Dutton): A gripping and atmospheric debut that is at once a chilling gothic mystery and a love letter to Victorian fiction.
- She is a Haunting, Trang Thanh Tran (Feb 28, Bloomsbury YA): A House with a terrifying appetite haunts a broken family in this atmospheric horror, perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic.
- The Thing in Yellow, D.T. Neal (Feb 28, Nosetouch Press): When The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers was first published in 1895, the collection of short stories went on to become an inspirational classic of the macabre, particularly the stories of supernatural horror tied to the fictional play of the same name, said to drive anyone who reads it to madness and ruination. Nosetouch Press is proud to offer The Thing in Yellow, a stunning collection of thirteen occult short stories inspired by and honoring the ongoing legacy of the weird fictional universe of The King in Yellow. In this collection, fans of this mythos will find supernatural stories of decadent artists, arcane astronomers, occult assassins, debauched revelers, dazzling automatons, secretive cults, and more, all captive to the corrupting, enigmatic, and seductive machinations of the sinister Yellow King.
- The Disappearance of Tom Nero, TJ Price (Feb, Spooky House Press): A meta-textual horror novelette that blurs the lines between reality and the written word.
Jump Scares 