2024’s New Horror Books

Welcome back, kind readers and weird little freaks! Once again I’m obsessively cataloguing all the year’s new horror fiction, for my benefit and yours. I really enjoy building and maintaining this list every year. It gives me an incredible birds’ eye view of the landscape of horror publishing, and I’m delighted it’s proven useful to so many of you as well.

I like my horror inclusive, not exclusive–I take a broad view of what counts as horror fiction. Alongside traditional horror, here you’ll find all things gothic, dark, weird, and thrilling–and, hopefully, your next favorite scary book. I’ll be discussing some of my most anticipated 2024 releases on the ARC Party podcast in early January – keep an eye out!

Looking for previous years’ lists? 2023 is here, and earlier years are at the Nightfire site: 2020, 2021, 2022. Would you rather look at these lists broken down by month? Right this way. Did I miss something? Let me know here.

Without further ado, here are all the new horror books coming in 2024, featuring an array of slashers, ghosts, vampires, cults, monsters both human and otherwise, and all manner of nebulous eldritch terrors.

Please note that publication dates are subject to change – I’ll be updating the release dates below and adding new books as I hear of any changes, but publisher and retailer websites will always have the most up-to-date info.

Many titles publishing later in the year don’t have concrete release dates yet – I’ve listed those at the very bottom under “Date TBD” – and if the publisher or Bookshop don’t have a dedicated page for a book yet, I’ve linked to Goodreads or to the book announcement elsewhere. Descriptions below are adapted from the publisher’s synopsis. Books publishing in a given month that don’t have a specific date assigned yet are at the bottom of that month’s list.

January

The Curse of Eelgrass Bog, Mary Averling (Jan 2, Razorbill): Dark secrets and unnatural magic abound when a twelve-year-old girl ventures into a bog full of monsters to break a mysterious curse.
Eye of a Little God, A. J. Steiger (Jan 2, Severn House): After losing his delivery job – the last thing binding him to an empty life – Eddie Luther, veteran and drifter, drives into the snowy woods with a bottle of sleeping pills. But instead of eternal silence, Eddie hears a whisper inside his damaged ear: Help me. He follows the call and finds a cryptic journal filled with loneliness and longing, a journal whose words seem written for him alone. Guided by the clues in its pages, he embarks on a journey into a shadowy world beneath the small town of Devil’s Fork, Nebraska – a world where girls become cats, televisions whisper prophecies, and only those cast out of society can see and use magic . . . Or maybe Eddie’s sanity is slipping. All he knows for sure is that he’s falling in love with someone he’s never seen, someone who may be more than human – and who will change everything he thinks he knows about the world and his place in it.
Rabbit Hole, Kate Brody (Jan 2, Soho Crime): A twisty, sexy debut exploring the dark side of true crime fandom and the blurry lines of female friendship, perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, My Favorite Murder, and Fleabag.
Cold, Drew Hayden Taylor (Jan 9, McClelland & Stewart): A tragic plane crash that leaves two women stranded and fighting for their lives kicks off this sweeping and hilarious novel from award-winning writer Drew Hayden Taylor that blends thriller, murder mystery, and horror with humor and spectacle.
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years, Shubnum Khan (Jan 9, Viking): Rebecca meets Fatima Farheen Mirza in this sweeping, gorgeously atmospheric novel about a ruined mansion by the sea, the djinn that haunts it, and a curious girl who unearths the tragedy that happened there a hundred years prior. Sublime, heart-wrenching, and lyrically stunning, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a haunting, a love story, and a mystery, all twined beautifully into one young girl’s search for belonging.
Star Shapes, Ivy Grimes (Jan 9, Spooky House Press): Kidnapped from downtown Birmingham, Alabama, and taken to the country, our protagonist is pretty irked. Rather than ask for a ransom, her captors make her feed animals and read dusty books. She is unnerved by the growing realization that something weirder is afoot, and it all ties back to a book of strange constellations known simply as Star Shapes. People look to the stars to read the future, but sometimes the stars conceal stories from the past.
Stone Gods, Adam Golaski (Jan 9, NO Press): This new collection of strange stories marks Adam’s long-awaited return to horror, following the now cult-classic Worse Than Myself (Raw Dog Screaming, 2008). Stone Gods features 15 stories of lives and places set askew.
12 Hours, L. Marie Wood (Jan 11, Raw Dog Screaming): The cabbie only remembers taking a break, pulling over in an alley to catch both his breath and the sunrise. His windshield shatters, and two people dash away. He tries to scream, to move, but his neck won’t turn. He can only stare at the cab’s dirty ceiling. Finally, a deliveryman calls the cops. Surely, they’ll arrive soon, but we’re pinned in place right along with him as he tries to puzzle it all out. In this second installment of the CSAP novella series, award-winning author L. Marie Wood uses her descriptive powers to bring us fully into one incident in a person’s life, and hold us there, transfixed, until we see it all, crystal clear.
Master of Rods and Strings, Jason Marc Harris (Jan 12, Crystal Lake): Jealous of the attention lavished upon the puppetry talents of his dear sister—and tormented by visions of her torture at the hands of the mysterious Uncle Pavan who recruited her for his arcane school—Elias is determined to learn the true nature of occult puppetry, no matter the hideous costs, in order to exact vengeance.
Ambrosia, Hamelin Bird (Jan 16, Piper House): When Travis Barnes returns home following the unexpected death of his mother, leaving his career with the Seventh Naval Fleet, he hopes to begin a new chapter in life. Unbeknownst to him, a series of impossible coincidences soon draws the attention of the Bureau, a fringe government agency formed from the rubble of Projects Monarch and Stargate. But when Lola Agnew, the Bureau’s genetically-altered ringleader-along with her erudite headhunter, Drexl Samson-confront him with a clandestine force with powers beyond this world, Travis must face a forgotten secret from his past. His partner Tara Fitzgerald, meanwhile, has secrets of her own, and when the couple are pushed to their limits, they must join together to overcome the darkness… In the tradition of the classic speculative fiction of Richard Matheson, Ira Levin, and Ray Bradbury, Hamelin Bird’s Ambrosia is a genre-defying deep dive into the mysterious and uncanny.
The Best Horror of the Year Volume 15, ed. Ellen Datlow (Jan 16, Nightshade): From Ellen Datlow—“the venerable queen of horror anthologies” per the New York Times—comes a new entry in the series that has brought you thrilling stories from Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, the best horror stories available.
A Drop of Venom, Sajni Patel (Jan 16, Rick Riordan Presents): Circe goes YA in this unapologetically feminist retelling of the Medusa myth steeped in Indian mythology, a YA epic fantasy addition to the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.
Greyhowler, Sarah Day (Jan 16, Underland Press): Rhia is a Courier, a transient messenger who freely travels the land without calling any town or port home. The job suits her, for in a land ruled by the Temple, it is difficult to find your own way, especially when you have a Talent. Rhia’s is water, and when she arrives in distant Cerretour to deliver a message, she finds a village wracked with suffering. The well is dry. It hasn’t rained. The only person who can save these villagers is missing. At night, a strange creature prowls the prairie. The villagers have a name for it: greyhowler.
A Place for Vanishing, Ann Fraistat (Jan 16, Delacorte): A teen girl and her family return to her mother’s childhood home, only to discover that the house’s strange beauty may disguise a sinister past, in this contemporary gothic horror from the author of What We Harvest.
This Wretched Valley, Jenny Kiefer (Jan 16, Quirk): This trip is going to be Dylan’s big break. Her geologist friend Clay has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan’s boyfriend Luke, Dylan is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing. Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed. But Dylan is still missing—and no trace of her, dead or alive, has been discovered. Were the climbers murdered? Did they succumb to cannibalism? Or are their impossible bodies the work of an even more sinister force? This dread-inducing debut builds to a bloodcurdling climax, and will leave you shocked by the final twist.
Unbound, Christy Healy (Jan 16, Blackstone): For fans of Hannah Whitten and Rebecca Ross, Unbound is a gender-bent reimagining of the classic tale of a monstrous beast and the beauty determined to tame it, set against the lush backdrop of Irish mythology and folklore.
Where You End, Abbott Kahler (Jan 16, Henry Holt): From bestselling nonfiction author Abbott Kahler comes a spellbinding fiction debut inspired by true events: an unusual form of amnesia upends the lives of identical twins, forcing them to face the indelible, dangerous shadow of the past.
An Affinity for Formaldehyde, Chloe Spencer (Jan 19, Grindhouse Press): Lou, a queer woman, returns to her hometown to stop her grandmother from marrying Lou’s childhood best friend. She hasn’t visited in several years, and she and her best friend have yet to make peace with the death of his sister. When Lou discovers her grandmother’s obsession with taxidermy, she attempts to leave, but her grandmother has a sinister plan in store for Lou. She won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Flesh Communion and Other Stories, Holly Rae Garcia (Jan 19, Easton Falls Publishing): In these stories, a cult’s demise reveals previously hidden atrocities; nightmares have someone questioning their reality; a woman clings to memories when her partner has dementia; a deadly virus renders all animals off limits for human consumption; an alien abduction brings pain to some and sadism to others; three wise men follow a star, hoping to end an apocalypse; a portrait photographer reaches her breaking point; a rougarou attacks two girls in a swamp; a werewolf defies the odds and finds love until the inevitable happens; an innocent tea party turns sinister; and more…
Grasshands, Kyle Winkler (Jan 19, JournalStone): Everything wrong with the world is wrong with books. When overworked assistant Sylvia Hix finds a strange moss smothering the library books, there’s little to worry about. But when patrons start eating it, gaining direct knowledge of the books, then losing their minds—Sylvia has deep problems. Sylvia is haunted by the moss, because it’s somehow connected to a horrific creature from her childhood. A creature she once named Grasshands and has since forgotten. Stopping Grasshands from decaying the town’s mind, the library’s books, and the slow rot of time is the only job now available to her, whether she wants it or not. A novel of biblio-horror, body horror, and melancholic friendship, Grasshands is ready for check-out. Get your library card ready.
One Must Go, Alex Reid (Jan 19, Wicked House): Every year a new group is chosen. Every year there must be a sacrifice. A laughing, drunken god picks three middle school children for his deadly ritual. Two may live as long as they pick one in their group to be given to the dead. Sam an angry child who feels abandoned, along with his best friend Benjamin who fears Sam more than anything else, meet Maggie who is no stranger to death. Sam sees an opportunity in the horror to get back at those who have wronged him, he grows cruel and violent. Someone must be picked. Whether it is through bargaining, treachery, or bloodshed. One must go.
The Last Immortal, Natalie Gibson (Jan 23, BHC Press): Lady Ramillia Winmoore has suffered gaps in her memory her entire life. This darkness has proven to be a blessing until the day she awakens strapped to an examination table at the West Freeman Asylum for Lunatics. Imprisoned for the gruesome murder of her parents, she is forced to endure years of torture until salvation arrives in the form of a benefactor named Sir Julian Lawrence. Betrothed to her through an arranged marriage, Julian helps her gain freedom. In this chilling gaslight-era Gothic horror novel where paranormal powers are bred and collected, friends and foes are not always what they seem when immortality is at stake.
Scissor Sisters, ed. April Yates & Rae Knowles (Jan 23, Brigids Gate Press): 21 tales of sapphic villains. Featuring the work of Hatteras Mange, Anastasia Dziekan, Ariel Marken Jack, Maerwynn Blackwood, Avra Margariti, Grace R. Reynolds, Evelyn Freeling, Hailey Piper, T.O. King, M.S. Dean, Chloe Spencer, Mae Murray, L. R. Stuart, Alex Luceli Jiménez, Cheyanne Brabo, Luc Diamant, Alyssa Lennander, Anya Leigh Josephs, Lindz McLeod, Caitlin Marceau, and Shelly Lavigne.
Womb City, Tlotlo Tsamaase (Jan 23, Erewhon): This genre-bending Africanfuturist horror novel blends The Handmaid’s Tale with Get Out in an adrenaline-packed, cyberpunk body-hopping ghost story exploring motherhood, memory, and a woman’s right to her own body.
Cryptopolis & Other Stories, Robert Guffey (Jan 24, Lethe Press): Last week, did you tell your best friend why the King of Cryptopolis has gone insane and why he ordered his guards to behead him? Do you know the secret of the black magician Aleister Crowley—how he wrote of the moonchild, an ethereal spirit to be placed in a barren womb? Have you ever heard of Arson Hoover and the Worldwide Church of Appliantology? If you answered no to any of these, you’re clearly misinformed about the newest collection of dark and fantastical stories by Robert Guffey. How would you even survive Casual Day at work? When the tattoos begin to pile up on your flesh like unlucky cars drawn to an accident on the freeway, don’t come crying to me—I am just the back cover of a book, after all—but look for the answers inside me, inside Guffey’s head, which I have chopped off and bound in paper.
Hunted Highways (Dark Tide #12), Rowland Bercy Jr., Carver Pike, & Lewis Mangum (Jan 26, Crystal Lake): Embark on a journey into terror, where every mile is marked by suspense and horror. These three horror novellas transform travel into a treacherous adventure where the next stop could be your last.
The World He Once Knew, Micah Castle (Jan 26, Fedowar Press): Jay has been uploaded into a new body to investigate why the transporter ship Candlemass went dark fourteen days ago. After the ship’s owner gives him the rundown of the assignment, he’s quickly ushered on board. In the halls of the derelict vessel, Jay discovers black sludge coating the inner hull, leading him to a container in the Cargo Bay. If only he could have stopped there. As Jay digs further, he’s thrown into a psychological maelstrom of the ship’s and, more importantly, his own history and what led him to be uploaded in the first place.
The Visitor: A Horror Short, Rebecca Henely-Weiss (Jan 27): Like many who live in the woods, recent widow and new mother Mrs. Grob prepares a meal, waiting for a visitor that she hopes never comes. Then she hears a knock at the door…
Bone Pendant Girls, Terry S. Friedman (Jan 30, CamCat): Andi Wyndham has been able to communicate with spirits since she was a kid. When a bone pendant carved into the likeness of a girl’s face calls to her at a gem show in Pennsylvania, she can’t resist buying it and a sister piece. When she discovers the girls are missing runaways and the pendants made of human bone, Andi is drawn into a mystery that will force her to confront her gifts, her guilt, and the ghosts haunting her.
The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories, Joanne Anderton (Jan 30, Brain Jar Press): In The Bone Chime Song & Other Stories, Joanne Anderton explores the darkness and the beauty of humans caught on the fringes and pushed to the very edge of the abyss. Enter worlds where terrible secrets are hidden in a wind chime’s song, where crippled witches forge magic from scrap, and the beautiful dead dance for eternity. With deities built from circuits and wires, sacrificial drought-ridden towns, and artists who dabble in bone and decay, every story plots a course from the gothic to the fantastic and winds its way back again.
The Book of Denial, Ricardo Chávez Castañeda & Alejandro Magallanes, trans. Lawrence Schimel (Jan 30, Enchanted Lion): From award-winning Mexican author Ricardo Chávez Castañeda and the visionary Mexican designer Alejandro Magallanes comes a horror story and ghost story that is both daringly and beautifully told in word and image. There are stories so terrible that we tremble to hear even a whisper of them. Even more terrible, some of them are true. This is one such story, a story of our deepest inhumanity—one that confronts the history of violence against children, and through its young narrator attempts to find a way out. A horror story and ghost story told as much through art as through text, The Book of Denial is an antidote to our collective silence. By uplifting storytelling as a means of understanding the past and shaping the future, it is also—improbably—a beacon of hope.
The Doomsday Archives: The Wandering Hour, Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos (Jan 30, Zando): The first in a spine-tingling middle-grade adventure series that’s Goosebumps meets Stranger Things following three friends who discover that the eerie urban legends they’ve been obsessively collecting may not be just make-believe . . .
The House of Last Resort, Christopher Golden (Jan 30, St. Martin’s Press): When American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi buy a home in the nearly-abandoned Italian town of Becchina, it feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn’t know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they’re certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years… and how many people died in the strange chapel inside. While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina… something stirs.
Midnight on Beacon Street, Emily Ruth Verona (Jan 30, Harper Perennial): A suspenseful and entertaining debut thriller—and love letter to vintage horror movies—in which a teenager must overcome her own anxiety to protect the two children she’s babysitting when strangers come knocking at the door.
What Hides in the Cupboards, Cassondra Windwalker (Jan 30, Unnerving Books): Following a traumatic accident, ceramic artist Hesper Dunn trades life in Chicago for the enchanted deserts of New Mexico. But not all is quaint, and it’s far from what it seems. There’s a mystery buried deep in the heart of her new home. Love, guilt, and grief demand that Hesper remain within the haunted pueblo. To free herself, she must free the trapped spirits…but the creatures lurking in the shadows are not what they appear. Hesper dares to wade through the murky fog of tragedy to uncover the truth. A truth that will be harder to handle than she ever dared imagine.

February

Almost Surely Dead, Amina Akhtar (Feb 1, Mindy’s Book Studio): A psychological thriller with a twist, Almost Surely Dead is a chilling account of how one woman’s life spins out of control after a terrifying–and seemingly random–attempt on her life.
We Ate the Dark, Mallory Pearson (Feb 1, 47North): Four women investigating the haunting murder of their friend discover more than they ever imagined in a terrifying novel about good and evil, love and death, and the spaces between.
Below, Stuart Lee (Feb 2, Austin Macauley): Drawing inspiration from a chilling, real-life enigma of an airline crash in the Gulf of Mexico, this thriller plunges deep into the heart of the southern U.S. What dark secrets did the passenger on the ill-fated flight harbor, and what unspeakable terror was he transporting? Dive into a tale where every twist beckons a haunting question, pulling you deeper into the mystery.
A Cut Below: A Celebration of B Horror Movies, 1950s-1980s, Scott Drebit (Feb 2, McFarland & Company): Horror films have been around for more than 100 years, and they continue to make a large impact on popular culture as they reflect their contemporary zeitgeist. Between the mid-1950s and mid-1980s, drive-in theaters were at their peak of popularity, and each decade brought forward new challenges and themes. This book explores 60 B horror films, divided into 12 fun and uniquely-themed categories. Chapters discuss how the Atomic Age, the Vietnam War, the women’s liberation movement and other current events and social issues affected these films. Films covered include Willard, The Fly, Santa Sangre and many more.
Very Dark Thoughts, Kyle Harrison (Feb 2, Velox Books): Step into the shadowy corridors of NoSleep sensation Kyle Harrison’s Very Dark Thoughts. A scientist analyzes audio from Mars that reveals mysterious screams. A young man takes a haunted plane flight. An unsettling life-sized doll hides a sinister secret. A man races against time to solve a series of twisted puzzles in a sadistic escape room. An arctic excavation unleashes an attack from an alternate dimension. A man seeks a supernatural wandering campfire in the woods. The tales in this collection serve as grim reminders that often the most terrifying horrors aren’t waiting in the shadows but lurking within our own minds.
Turn Up the Sun, Tyler Jones (Feb 5, Dark Room Press): Three brand new novellas from Tyler Jones, author of Midas, Heavy Oceans, Almost Ruth, Criterium, and Burn the Plans (one of Esquire’s “Best Horror Books of 2022”). In Turn Up the Sun, Hazard, the eccentric drug dealer from Criterium, is horrified to discover he has a doppelganger who appears at the scene of a grisly murder. In Stridor, a pediatrician is not only haunted by her mistakes, but stalked by them. In Sidewinder, a young musician receives a custom, otherworldly guitar pedal.
Dinner on Monster Island, Tania De Rozario (Feb 6, Harper Perennial): In this unusual, engaging, and intimate collection of personal essays, Lambda Literary Award finalist Tania De Rozario recalls growing up as a queer, brown, fat girl in Singapore, blending memoir with elements of history, pop culture, horror films, and current events to explore the nature of monsters and what it means to be different.
The Holy Terrors, Simon R. Green (Feb 6, Severn House): Six people locked in a haunted hall. Cameras watching their every move. And then someone dies . . . This first in a spine-tingling new paranormal mystery series from New York Times bestselling British fantasy author Simon R. Green will make you doubt your judgement – and believe in ghosts!
Mantis, Erica Summers (Feb 6, Rusty Ogre): From the demented author of Vanity Kills & Bad God’s Tower comes a profane, blood-soaked, laugh-out-loud novel full of guts, gore, and good times. A religious, comedic-horror blend of Dogma and From Dusk Til Dawn recommended for fans of Chuck Wendig and Christopher Moore.
Nightwatching, Tracy Sierra (Feb 6, Pamela Dorman Books): A razor-sharp thriller about a mother forced to the breaking point when her life and the lives of her children are threatened by an intruder.
Out of Body, Nia Davenport (Feb 6, Balzer & Bray): A high-stakes, propulsive YA thriller with a body-swap twist thoughtfully exploring themes of friendship and identity, perfect for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson.
The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster, John O’Connor (Feb 6, SourceBooks): From the shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest to off-the-wall cryptozoological conventions, one man searches high and low for the answer to the question: real or not, why do we want to believe? Perfect for readers of Bill Bryson and Douglas Preston and with sharp wit and an adventurous spirit, this heartfelt exploration of a cornerstone of American folklore unpacks why we believe in the things that we do, and what that says about us.
Your Shadow Half Remains, Sunny Moraine (Feb 6, Nightfire): The Last of Us meets Bird Box in Sunny Moraine’s Your Shadow Half Remains, a post-apocalyptic tale where eye contact causes people to spiral into a deadly, violent rage. Riley has not seen a single human face in longer than she can reckon. No faces, no eyes. Not if you want to survive. But when a new neighbor moves in down the road, Riley’s overwhelming need for human contact makes her throw caution to the wind. Somehow, in this world where other people can mean a gruesome, bloody death, Ellis makes her feel safe. As they grow closer, Riley’s grip on reality begins to slip and she can no longer fight her deepest desires. All Riley wants to do is look.
Cymbals Eat Guitars, Josh Hanson (Feb 10, Black Hare Press): Three friends take their punk trio into a remote mountain town for an unplanned stop on their Farewell Tour. When the show is interrupted by a catastrophic train derailment, the little resort town is transformed into a landscape of terror, and the three friends must fight for survival against a populace turned suddenly monstrous. But there is more than the infected to worry about, as one of the three carries a dark secret that will test the group’s love, loyalty… and very survival.
Widow of the Blood, Rebecca Henely-Weiss (Feb 11): Aster, once one of nine brides of a master vampire, now finds herself aimless and destitute after his death. Through an app for vampires and their willing prey, Aster agrees to meet a cool, mysterious woman at her childhood mall for a date, but they both may have more than blood (and sex) on their minds…
Records of the Hightower Massacre, L. Andrew Cooper & Maeva Wunn (Feb 12): HC3, the Hightower Course Correction Center, “recruits” LGBTQ+ people to participate in a program that will help them get the jobs they need to survive in the dystopic conditions of AMCONS City, center of a post-American territory run by a fascistic military. All they have to do is adopt cisgender, heterosexual identities. Ash, who is black, non-binary, and asexual, meets Aubrey, a white, trans, gay man, at a job fair where they face rejection after rejection… until they get recruited. They wind up in a converted slaughterhouse where the people in charge use brutal conditioning methods as well as the ghastliest forms of torture and murder imaginable to “help” newly recruited prisoners. While the terrors are intense, characters propel the story: Ash and Aubrey form a core of friends within the program who resist and, eventually, learn to fight back.
Among the Living, Tim Lebbon (Feb 13, Titan): From the New York Times bestseller and author of Netflix’s The Silence comes a terrifying horror novel set in a melting Arctic landscape. Something deadly has lain dormant for thousands of years, but now the permafrost is giving up its secrets…
The Bedmakers, Chad Lutzke & John Boden (Feb 13, Crystal Lake): After two elderly men tire of their homelessness in downtown Chicago 1979, they hop a train in search of work out west. But before their last stop, a traumatic event in an empty train car steers their once-hopeful journey into a path of chaos filled with deceit, murder, grave robbing, and dormant secrets.
The Book of Love, Kelly Link (Feb 13, Random House): In the long-awaited debut novel from bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link, three teenagers become pawns in a supernatural power struggle.
The Briar Book of the Dead, A.G. Slatter (Feb 13, Titan): Set in the same universe as the acclaimed All the Murmuring Bones and The Path of Thorns (one of Oprah Daily’s Top 25 Fantasy Novels of 2022), this beautifully told Gothic fairy tale of ghosts, witches, deadly secrets and past sins, will be perfect for fans of Hannah Whitten and Ava Reid.
Deprivation, Roy Freirich (Feb 13, Meerkat Press): On a razor’s edge between speculation and reality, Freirich’s psychological horror Deprivation tracks the spread of the next epidemic–insomnia. Over a week, as sleeplessness engulfs a New England summer resort island, the hapless Chief of Police struggles to keep order, a blurry doctor searches for the cause and the cure, and a teenage girl competes with her friends in an online game: who can stay awake the longest? Impaired judgment spirals into delusions, the island is cut-off, and hysteria descends into mob rule and murder.
An Education in Malice, S. T. Gibson (Feb 13, Orbit): Sumptuous and addictive, An Education in Malice is a dark academia tale of blood, secrets and insatiable hungers from S.T. Gibson, author of the cult hit A Dowry of Blood.
Here Comes the Sun, Justin M. Woodward (Feb 13, Death’s Head Press): There had been talk of monsters around the small, quiet town of Fort Whipple for some time before the evening of the brutal massacre. First it was the livestock. Dead, shriveled bodies lined the fields, drained of their blood. But when human bodies begin falling from the sky, a dark protector of sorts is dispatched to minimize the casualties.
The Hollow Dead, Darcy Coates (Feb 13, Poisoned Pen Press): When Keira first woke alone in a strange forest, she remembered only two things: that she could speak with the dead, helping them move on from the mortal world, and that sinister mask-wearing men were hunting her. She had no idea what she’d done to earn their hatred or what dangerous secrets she may have uncovered. Until now. Peeling back layer upon layer of the mystery surrounding her origins, Keira has finally learned that the strange masked men work for Artec, an organization profiting off spectral energy produced by hundreds of chained, tormented souls. Their goal is to spread their macabre cemeteries across the world, using the agony of the dead to extend their power and reach-and only Keira and her loyal group of friends can stop them. But there are still mysteries to uncover in Keira’s foggy memories, and as she prepares to fight for the souls of the tormented dead, what she doesn’t know about her own past may come back to haunt her.
I Can See Your Lies, Izzy Lee (Feb 13, Dark Hart Books): Fin’s reality is crumbling. Her husband has abandoned her, she’s now a single mom to a nine-year-old daughter, her Los Angeles home is sweltering, and she’s being haunted by disturbing hallucinations that make life a waking nightmare. Are the visions a product of stress, trauma, psychosis, or something else? The answers to those questions become more clear when Fin starts digging up dark secrets connected to her mother’s cold-case disappearance, a once-rising actress who mysteriously vanished in 1979. Will Fin slowly unravel the truth? Or will it remain hidden forever beneath the glitz and glamour of illusion?
No Transfer, Stephen Walton (Feb 13, Valancourt): At the ultra-prestigious Modern University, only the cream of the crop are accepted, and those who graduate are virtually guaranteed powerful and high-paid positions. Drinking and sex are allowed, and even encouraged, and everything students need — from classrooms to restaurants to shopping and bars — is self-contained inside the university’s 50-story high-rise tower. But there’s a catch. Once you start, you can’t drop out or transfer to another school. And behind its glossy exterior, the university has a terrible secret, a macabre and horrible way of ensuring its students perform to the best of their ability. When one young student, Gary Fort, witnesses the unspeakable truth of the school’s “Self-Discipline Plan,” he decides to fight back, and the suspense builds until the book’s chilling conclusion . . .
Projections, S.E. Porter (Feb 13, Tor): Love may last a lifetime, but in this dark historical fantasy, the bitterness of rejection endures for centuries.As a young woman seeks vengeance on the obsessed sorcerer who murdered her because he could not have her, her murderer sends projections of himself out into the world to seek out and seduce women who will return the love she denied–or suffer mortal consequence. A lush, gothic journey across worlds full of strange characters and even stranger magic.Sarah Porter’s adult debut explores misogyny and the soul-corrupting power of unrequited love through an enchanted lens of violence and revenge.
Those Who Dwell in Mordenhyrst Hall, Catherine Cavendish (Feb 13, Flame Tree): When Grace first sets eyes on the imposing Gothic Mordenhyrst Hall, she is struck with an overwhelming sense that something doesn’t want her there. Her fiancé’s sister heads a coterie of Bright Young Things whose frivolous lives hide a sinister intent. Simon, Grace’s fiancé, is not the man she fell in love with, and the local villagers eye her with suspicion that borders on malevolence. Her friend, Coralie, possesses the ability to communicate with powerful spirits. She convinces Grace of her own paranormal gifts – gifts Grace will need to draw deeply on as the secrets of Mordenhyrst Hall begin to unravel.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Katherine Arden (Feb 13, Del Rey): During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise, in this hauntingly beautiful historical novel with a speculative twist, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.
What Feasts at Night, T. Kingfisher (Feb 13, Nightfire): Retired soldier Alex Easton returns in a horrifying new adventure in this follow-up to Kingfisher’s bestselling novella What Moves the Dead.
In the Valley of the Headless Men, L.P. Hernandez (Feb 14, Cemetery Gates): Nahanni National Park is one of last truly wild places on earth. Accessible only by plane, and only when the weather cooperates, it’s the perfect place for estranged brothers Joseph and Oscar to have an adventure following the death of their mother. Gillian, Joseph’s first love, invites herself along in the spirit of friendship. The park is much more than beautiful. It’s mysterious, with legends of giants and hidden, prehistoric animals. And among its few visitors, an outsized number of violent deaths inspire its second, more seductive name. While dreaming of the future, the group finds themselves confronted by the past. Far from home and far from help. In the Valley of the Headless Men.
Next of Kin, Elton Skelter (Feb 14, Lethe Press): Even the worst of us need someone to come home to. And Jacob Mallory is the worst of all. Jake, a thrill-seeking psychopathic serial killer, has lived under the radar for years, operating within the city of New York, making kill after kill and emboldened by his lack of capture. But Jake has one big surprise coming his way. When he gets a call from the hospital to pick up a vulnerable patient, one who claims that Jake is his emergency contact, he feels like he’s won the lottery. But is there more to Nathan McGuire than meets the eye? And will this supposedly vulnerable young man make or break the city’s most notorious uncaught killer?
Pyramidia, Stephanie Sanders-Jacob (Feb 15, Slashic Horror Press): Harriet hates pyramid schemes—they’re predatory and destroy relationships. So she’s horrified when she moves to a town overrun with them. It doesn’t help that her rental is haunted, her friend has gone missing, and she’s gotten wrapped up in a multi-level marketing scam that may be run by literal vampires. With the help of an oafish gym teacher and the woman she loves, Harriet is forced to scale the pyramid, wooden stake in hand.
These Things Linger, Dan Franklin (Feb 15, Cemetery Dance): From the author of the acclaimed The Eater of Gods, These Things Linger is a twisting and unforgiving novel of desperation, depression, heritage, and of other hungry, vicious things.
Question Not My Salt, Amanda M. Blake (Feb 16, Crystal Lake): Sierra’s first American Thanksgiving promises to be unforgettable when her college roommate, Zoe, invites her to the Samuels family feast. But as the ten-hour banquet unfolds, it becomes clear this is no ordinary holiday gathering. With everyone bound by a chilling rule—eat and drink exactly as served, and enjoy it, or face dire consequences—the traditional celebration quickly takes a dark and macabre turn. Will Sierra survive the Samuels’ sinister hospitality or become part of a feast far more horrifying than she could have ever imagined?
The Bad Ones, Melissa Albert (Feb 20, Flatiron): New York Times bestselling author Melissa Albert returns with a supernatural horror novel about four mysterious disappearances in a town haunted by a sinister magical history. An arresting, crossover horror fantasy threaded with dark magic, The Bad Ones is a poison-pen love letter to semi-toxic best friendship, the occult power of childhood play and artistic creation, and the razor-thin line between make-believe and belief.
Escalators to Hell: Shopping Mall Horrors (Feb 20, From Beyond Press): Your favorite suburban hangout has transformed into a site of unimaginable terror in Escalators to Hell: Shopping Mall Horrors. Killer escalators, murderous mall-walkers, suburban cannibals, and more inhabit this new collection of horror and dark sci-fi stories about one-stop shopping gone wrong. Featuring stories by Connor Boyle, Liam Burke, Pines Callahan, Anjum N. Choudhury, Wendy Dalrymple, Cassandra Daucus, Jude Deluca, Coyote Dembicki, Derek Des Anges, Cyrus Amelia Fisher, Lor Gislason, Eirik Gumeny, Ria Hill, Rick Hollon, Somto Ihezue, Wan Phing Lim, Angela Liu, Avra Margariti, J.A.W. McCarthy, Bram Stoker Award winner Christi Nogle, Jennifer Lee Rossman, and J.R. Santos.
Island Witch, Amanda Jayatissa (Feb 20, Berkley): Inspired by Sri Lankan folklore, award-winning author Amanda Jayatissa turns her feverish, Gothic-tinged talents to late nineteenth-century Sri Lanka where the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.
Lies That Bind, April Yates & Rae Knowles (Feb 20, Brigids Gate): Lorelei Keyes and Adele Hughes are content, if not entirely happy, running a sham seance business in the English tourist town of Matlock Bath. Lorelei’s business savvy and Adele’s gift for mimicry provide for their needs, but the customers are not the only ones deceived. When a mysterious newcomer, Viola, uncovers a secret, .the couple finds their quiet life upended. Viola pulls them onto a transatlantic crossing bound for Adele’s homeland of New York, and the turbulent seas without are nothing compared to the treachery within. Lorelei and Adele face the end of their romance for certain, and may stand to lose much more than that if they cannot discern Viola’s true intentions and rediscover what drew them to one another in the first place.
My Throat an Open Grave, Tori Bovalino (Feb 20, Page Street): Labyrinth meets folk horror in this darkly romantic tale of a girl who wishes her baby brother away to the Lord of the Wood.
Webster, Amanda Desiree (Feb 20, InkShares): In the summer of 1974, in a derelict Rhode Island mansion called Trevor Hall, a team of scientists taught American Sign Language to a chimpanzee. They affectionately christened their subject “Smithy.” His official name was Webster. The Smithy Project ended in tragedy, some believing that a dark presence inside Trevor Hall had been disturbed. Webster was acquired by CSAM, a research lab in California run by the iron-fisted Manfried Teague. CSAM had a reputation for sullen staff, gloomy conditions, and cruel experiments. Despite this, two of Webster’s original researchers, Jeff Dalton and Ruby Cardini, followed him west, determined to look after their friend. But another entity followed the chimp as well, and in the waning years of the 1970s, “Webster” became synonymous with a menagerie of inexplicable events, strange social movements, curious legal cases, and chilling courtroom testimonies. All were haunted by the question left unanswered at Trevor Hall: Had Webster not only bridged the gap between man and animal, but between this world and the next?
Eynhallow, Tim McGregor (Feb 22, Raw Dog Screaming Press): ORKNEY ISLANDS, 1797 – Agnes Tulloch feels a little cheated. This windswept place is not the island paradise her husband promised it to be when they wed. Now with four young children, she struggles to provide for her family while her husband grows increasingly distant. When a stranger comes ashore to rent an abandoned cottage, Agnes and the other islanders are abuzz with curiosity. Who is this wealthy foreigner and why on earth would he come to Eynhallow? Her curiosity is soon replaced with vexation when her husband hires her out as cook and washerwoman, leaving Agnes with no say in the matter. Agnes begrudgingly befriends this aristocrat-in-exile; a mercurial scientist who toils night and day on some secret pursuit. Despite herself, she’s drawn to his dark, brooding charm. And who is this Byronic stranger sweeping Agnes off her feet? His name is Frankenstein and he’s come to this remote isle to fulfill a monstrous obligation.
Bored Gay Werewolf, Tony Santorella (Feb 27, Atlantic): Juno Dawson’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven meets a Jim Jarmusch movie. A directionless college-dropout deals with sexuality, minimum-wage jobs, lunar cycles, toxic masculinity and the everyday perils of life as a modern werewolf.
The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed (Feb 27, Tordotcom): At the northern edge of a land ruled by a merciless, foreign tyrant lies a wild, forbidden forest ruled by powerful magic. Veris Thorn—the only one to ever enter the forest and survive—is forced to go back inside to retrieve the missing children of the Tyrant. Inside await traps and trickery, ancient monsters, and hauntings of a painful past. One day is all Veris is afforded. One misstep will cost everything.
Ghost Island, Max Seeck (Feb 27, Berkley): On a secluded island, homicide detective Jessica Niemi must investigate a drowning that is tied to a frightening ghostly legend in this riveting new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Hunter.
A Haunting in the Arctic, C.J. Cooke (Feb 27, Berkley): A deserted shipwreck off the coast of Iceland holds terrors and dark secrets in this chilling horror novel from the author of The Lighthouse Witches.
King Nyx, Kirsten Bakis (Feb 27, Liveright): Set in November 1918 on the opulent, castle-like island estate of an eccentric millionaire, Claude Arkel, this atmospheric, compellingly readable novel reimagines the life of Anna Filing Fort–whose husband, Charles Hoy Fort, was the most famous “anomalist” of the early twentieth century. Settling in as guests on Prosper Island, the young couple find themselves quarantined in a shabby outpost far from Mr. Arkel’s mansion–from which, they learn, three girls have gone missing. After she encounters a figure in the woods that may be the ghost of her long-lost friend Mary, Anna resolves to find out who Mr. Arkel really is, and what has become of the missing girls. A contemporary feminist tale with the mood and mystery of a classic gothic novel, King Nyx reintroduces readers, twenty-five years after her acclaimed debut, to one of our most astonishingly imaginative storytellers.
Mewing, Chloe Spencer (Feb 27, Shortwave Publishing): Vixen would sell her soul to get into the Bleach Babes and, if she isn’t careful, she might just get what she wants. One of the most exclusive influencer co-ops in LA, the Bleach Babes live and work together in one big house where they have it all: popularity, talent, and beauty. Their leader? Supermodel Margo, a woman as sinister as she is sexy. After Margo agrees to take Vix under her wing—and into her bed—Vixen moves in and begins hustling. Success comes hard and fast, but the glitz and glamor comes with a price that may cost her her sanity… and her life.
Moon of the Turning Leaves, Waubgeshig Rice (Feb 27, William Morrow): In this gripping sequel to the award-winning post-apocalyptic novel Moon of the Crusted Snow, a brave scouting party of hunters and harvesters led by Evan Whitesky must venture into unknown and dangerous territory to find a new home for their close-knit but slowly starving Northern Ontario Indigenous community more than a decade after a world-ending blackout.
My Name Was Eden, Eleanor Barker-White (Feb 27, William Morrow): In this edge-of-your-seat psychological debut, a mother’s experience with Vanishing Twin Syndrome triggers disturbing changes in her teenage daughter, perfect for fans of The Push and The Undoing.
Tender Beasts, Liselle Sambury (Feb 27, Margaret K. McElderry): After her private school is rocked by a gruesome murder, a teen tries to find the real killer and clear her brother’s name in this psychological thriller perfect for fans of The Taking of Jake Livingston and Ace of Spades.
Tomorrow’s Children, Daniel Polansky (Feb 27, Angry Robot): Tomorrow, the funk descends on Manhattan, a noxious cloud which separates the island from the rest of the world and mutates the population. Some generations on, the surviving population exists amid the rubble of modernity, wearing our cast-off clothing, worshipping celebrities as dim gods and using emojis in place or written language. The Island exists in a state of uneasy peace, with each neighborhood an independent fiefdom, protecting itself with scrap metal spears and Molotov cocktails. But something new has come to the Island, the first tourist in centuries, and this uneasy equilibrium is about to shatter…
Violent Faculties, Charlene Elsby (Feb 27, CLASH): A philosophy professor tests the limits of the soul and body by performing dehumanizing experiments on unwilling subjects, after the department is closed due to budget cuts.
Writhe, Erica Summers and H. M. Wohl (Feb 27, Rusty Ogre): Writhe is a hyper-violent, extreme horror novella and is not intended for the faint of heart. This gory splatterpunk tale is brought to you by the twisted real-life sisters behind Vanity Kills, Bad God’s Tower, and The Illuminator Saga.
Bruises on a Butterfly, Chad Lutzke (Feb, Cemetery Dance): A young boy runs away from his abusive home to live in the fort he’s built in the middle of a Michigan cornfield. But when a cosmic discovery late one night warps reality into a mutating nightmare, it’s up to loyal friends to fix what they can… and bury what they can’t. A dark coming-of-age tale that melds Color Out of Space with Stand by Me.
The Winslow Sisters, Michael Aronovitz (Feb, Cemetery Dance): Serial killer Michael Leonard Robinson murdered thirteen college coeds in early 2018, impaling them on flagpoles and leaving them on highway construction jobsites for the purpose of “haunting the dawn rush hour.” Police called him “The Scarecrow Killer,” until he revealed in an otherwise cryptic note left for police on March 13th, 2018, that he thought of his “dolls” more as “sculptures.”

March

The Canopy Keepers, Veronica G. Henry (Mar 1, 47north): What happens when nature will no longer stand by and accept its destruction? A female fire chief discovers an ancient world rooted with secrets that can save–or destroy–in the newest fantasy by Veronica G. Henry, author of Bacchanal.
You’re Going to Die Here, Y.M. Miller (Mar 1): When an invitation to The Emerald Resort lands on the floor of five unsuspecting competition winners, they can all barely believe their luck. Five different people. Five different backgrounds. Five people needing escape. When the group of five are thrown into a despicable realm of torture at the hands of The Stranger, what will it take to survive when they’re tested beyond anything they’ve ever experienced before.
Chicano Frankenstein, Daniel A. Olivas (Mar 5, Forest Avenue Press): An unnamed paralegal, brought back to life through a controversial process, maneuvers through a near-future world that both needs and resents him. As the United States president spouts anti-reanimation rhetoric and giant pharmaceutical companies rake in profits, the man falls in love with lawyer Faustina Godínez. His world expands as he meets her network of family and friends, setting him on a course to discover his first-life history, which the reanimation process erased. With elements of science fiction, horror, political satire and romance, Chicano Frankenstein confronts our nation’s bigotries and the question of what it truly means to be human.
The Devil and Mrs. Davenport, Paulette Kennedy (Mar 5, Lake Union): The bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil mines the subtle horrors of 1950s America in a gripping novel about a woman under pressure–from the living and the dead.
Free Burn, Drew Huff (Mar 5, Dark Matter INK): Follow Triple-Six, an institutionalized, lovestruck outcast, as he fights to save the only girlfriend he’s ever had from the reanimated clutches of her undead mother–the infamous pyromaniac serial killer he accidentally freed from Hell. Certain to please fans of Katherine Dunn and Jason Pargin, FREE BURN is a darkly comic and surprisingly emotional horror story like nothing you’ve read before.
The Haunting of Velkwood, Gwendolyn Kiste (Mar 5, Saga/S&S): From Bram Stoker Award–winning author Gwendolyn Kiste comes a chilling novel about three childhood friends who miraculously survive the night everyone in their suburban hometown turned into ghosts—perfect for fans of Yellowjackets.
Headless, Scott Cole (Mar 5, Grindhouse): In the midst of a heat wave punctuated by frequent rainstorms, people are losing their heads. Literally. Not only that, but their bodies are still walking, and attacking others. And to make matters worse, tiny, translucent, maggot-sized worms are falling from the skies like hail. As uncanny violence threatens to take over the city, Linzy, Carter, and Joanna become fast friends and leave for points unknown, hoping to stay alive, hoping to outrun the Headless.
The Hiding, Alethea Lyons (Mar 5, Brigids Gate): Arcane archivist Harper has always been plagued by dreams of grotesque creatures and bloody deaths. When she bumps into a ghostwalker in the Shambles and has a visceral experience of his execution, she knows it’s a foretelling. Yet fear of the Queen’s Guard stops her speaking out. When her vision indeed comes true, the unusual markings on the ghostwalker’s corpse, combined with his neatly excised vocal cords, send a ripple of terror through York.
The Invisible Hotel, Yeji Ham (Mar 5, Bond Street): A quietly menacing and profoundly moving exploration of generational trauma, global violence and ancestral memory set in the aftermath of the Korean war, by a virtuosic new voice in fiction. Yewon dreams of a hotel. In the hotel, there are infinite keys to infinite rooms—and a quiet terror she is desperate to escape.
Island Rule, Katie M. Flynn (Mar 5, Gallery/Scout Press): An angry mother turns into a literal monster. A company in San Francisco can scrub your entire reputation and create a new one… for a price. A failed actor on a reality show turns into an unlikely world savior. And much more. Through each of these twelve interconnected stories, Katie Flynn masterfully blends people, places, and even realities. From a powerful and “radiant” (Kassandra Montag, author of After the Flood) new literary voice to be reckoned with, this collection will stay with you after turn the final page.
Murder Road, Simone St. James (Mar 5, Berkley): A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.
Pour One for the Devil, Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. (Mar 5, Lanternfish): When Dr. Van Vierlans receives an invitation from Mrs. Elizabeth Van der Horst to give a lecture at her island mansion off the coast of South Carolina, he doesn’t think twice. However, no other historians appear, nor does an audience. Just when his suspicions become difficult to ignore, Mrs. Van der Horst plies him with a sumptuous feast that distracts him from her true motives-which may prove more sinister than anything he’s prepared to imagine.
Recreational Panic: Stories, Sonora Taylor (Mar 5, Cemetery Gates): Recreational Panic is the fifth short story collection from award-winning author Sonora Taylor. It features both new and previously published works.
Thirst, Marina Yuszczuk, trans. Heather Cleary (Mar 5, Dutton): Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic.
What Grows in the Dark, Jaq Evans (Mar 5, Mira): A contemporary horror from debut author Jaq Evans, perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay and pitched as The Babadook meets The Blair Witch Project. When phony spiritualist Brigit Weylan returns to her hometown to assist in a case that eerily mirrors her sister’s death sixteen years prior, she must finally face her long-suppressed trauma and the secrets she’s been running from — because something has waited a very long time for Brigit to come home.
Mecha-Jesus and Other Stories, Derwin Mak (Mar 8, Brain Lag): From distant stars to a Cocoa Beach Hooters, Derwin Mak’s short fiction takes readers through tales of mystery, wonder, and horror. Ethnic traditions meld with fantastic visions in these twelve stories about memory fabric, eldritch gods during the Salem witch trials, and of course, Mecha-Jesus, Japan’s very own android kami.
Empire of the Damned, Jay Kristoff (Mar 12, St. Martin’s): From the New York Times bestselling author of the Nevernight Chronicle, Jay Kristoff, comes the much-anticipated sequel to the #1 international bestselling sensation Empire of the Vampire.
One Eye Opened in That Other Place, Christi Nogle (Mar 12, Flame Tree): One Eye Opened in That Other Place collects Christi Nogle’s best weird and fantastical stories. The collection focuses on liminal spaces and the borders between places and states of mind. Though you might not find a traditional portal fantasy here, you will travel across thresholds and arrive at other places and times that are by turns disquieting, terrifying, and wonderful. Get up close with the local flora and fauna, peruse the weird art exhibits and special shows, and consider taking a dip in the mossy, snail-filled tank of water. Make sure to bring your special glasses.
Tender, Beth Hetland (Mar 12, Fantagraphics): A psychological thriller about a woman obsessed with her vision for a picture-perfect, curated life. Chicago cartoonist and educator Beth Hetland’s graphic novel debut is a brilliant psychological thriller that tears down the wall of a genre — body horror — so often identified with male creators. Heady and visceral, Tender uses horrific tropes to confront women’s societal expectations of self-sacrifice despite those traditional roles often coming at the expense of female sexuality and empowerment.
Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror Stories (Mar 12, Two Lines Press): A boy explores the abandoned house of a dead fascist. A leaked sex tape pushes a woman to the brink. A sex worker discovers a dark secret among the nuns of the pampas. The mountain fog is not what it seems. Kermit the Frog dreams of murder. In ten chilling stories from an ensemble cast of contemporary Latin American writers, including Mariana Enriquez (tr. Megan McDowell), Camila Sosa Villlada (tr. Kit Maude), Claudia Martinez (tr. by Julia Sanches and Johanna Warren) and Mónica Ojeda (tr. Sarah Booker and Noelle de la Paz), horror infiltrates the unexpected, taboo regions of the present-day psyche.
The Werewolf at Dusk: And Other Stories, David Small (Mar 12, Liveright): The Werewolf at Dusk is Small’s homage to aging–gracefully or otherwise. The three stories in this collection are linked, Small writes, “by the dread of things internal.” In the title story, an adaptation of Lincoln Michel’s much-loved short, the dread is that of a man who has reached old age with something repellant–even bestial–in his nature. The specter of old age also haunts the semi-autobiographical story “A Walk in the Old City,” with its looming spiders and cascading brainmatter–a dreamscape that gives way to the ominous environs of 1930s Berlin in the final story, a reinterpretation of Jean Ferry’s “The Tiger in Vogue.” As fluid as manga and rife with unsettling imagery, The Werewolf at Dusk affirms Small’s place as a modern master of graphic fiction.
Asylum, Sarah Hans (Mar 14, Raw Dog Screaming): Ashleigh and her little family of misfits are on the run, searching for a new home where they can rest and finally get clean. The police hot on their heels, they flee to the abandoned asylum at the top of the mountain, thinking it’s the perfect starting point for their long road to recovery. They’re ready for this. They long for their new life. The asylum is in disrepair with no running water or electricity. It does provide shelter, but maybe they are not alone in seeking it. If only they’d considered that the darkness they had run to might be even more shadowed than the one they were running from.
Droplets, Paul Lubaczewski (Mar 14, St. Rooster Books): A new collection of short stories from award-winning author Paul Lubaczewski. The forgotten early tries of God to make sentient beings, zombies, cannibals, down-on-their-luck glam rockers, all of them are hiding inside the pages of this collection, waiting to waylay the unprepared. From ghouls to cults to the source of our madness, it’s all in there. Includes “Blackout,” a never-before-published tale of curses and bloody murder. All of our sadness, all of our madness, it all falls in droplets.
Blackout, Carlos E. Rivera (Mar 15, Slashic Horror): Thirty years ago, Freddie Parham did the unthinkable. In the depths of the infamous Vanek House, he sacrificed six lives to unknown dark forces. Now an inmate at a mental health facility, Freddie has become the servant of Martha Lange, the leader of a dark, local cult. Bringing to life the monstrosities Freddie paints on his canvas, he sets out to perform the Ritual of the Four Nights, which will awaken the entity sleeping beneath the town of White Harbor. Elsewhere in town, Peter Lange and his friends are gathered at a local bar, when a mysterious figure from their past puts the group in mortal danger. They must uncover where the key to it all lies. Is it in their experiences inside the Vanek House? In the “safe place” where two of the group began a secret love affair? In the crawlspace beneath Peter’s home, where his greatest fears still live? An inexplicable blackout devours White Harbor. The blue moon rises. The First Night has begun.
The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times, Rob Costello (Mar 15, Lethe Press): A lost boy under the spell of a seductive killer suffers the cut of betrayal while on the hunt for blood. The dead son of an abusive horror novelist returns from the grave to tell his father what really happened the night he died. A headstrong girl determined to seduce her ex-boyfriend discovers what being trapped in the closet really means. An ex-child star desperate for a comeback meets a sinister stranger who reveals the terrible price of attaining his heart’s desire. These stories will snatch the reader by the wrist, pull them close, and whisper bitter truths into the ear.
In Excess of Dark, Red Lagoe (Mar 15, Darklit Press): What if every terrible thing imagined came true? Every fleeting, nightmarish thought a reality? For grief-stricken Karina, her newfound ability to turn her worst daydreams into palpable truths has sent her into a downward spiral of depression and guilt. Coupled with the appearance of an enigmatic shadow figure and visions of her dead family, she grapples to maintain her sanity while desperately attempting to harness her abilities and reunite with her loved ones.
Mouth, Joshua Hull (Mar 15, Tenebrous Press): After a stranger leaves him a secluded property, Rusty suddenly finds himself the sole caretaker of a strange mouth in the ground. Like, an actual monstrous mouth filled to the brim with teeth. His bizarre situation is further complicated by the nosey Abigail, a quirky, nineteen year old wannabe filmmaker. Together, the odd pair set out to discover the origins of the mouth and the hidden history of its former owner, setting in motion an outlandish scheme that could endanger them all. Mouth is Harold and Maude by way of Guillermo del Toro… with a splash of James Gunn and Roger Corman.
Price Slashers, Chisto Healy, Michael R. Collins, & Erica Summers (Mar 15, Slashic Horror): Three novellas, each answering the same prompt: Melissa comes running out of a grocery store covered in blood… The Survivor: A detective meets his match in this extreme body horror novella when body parts start appearing on the streets of New York. A serial killer is on the loose, can the detective reveal their identity before more lives are lost? Nothing is Hidden, Only Unseen: The staff at Price Slashers face otherworldly creatures in this extreme cosmic novella, where nothing is as it seems. Exploring a deadly dimension, the staff are faced with their own fears. Are their fears really what’s killing them, though, or is something far more sinister at play? Those Baby Blues: In this extreme psychological novella, a new mother suffers from a recently-diagnosed mental illness, convinced her newborn is evil. As she and her sister shop for groceries, she uncovers hidden messages around the store. Is it all in her mind, or must she put an end to things once and for all?
A Botanical Daughter, Noah Medlock (Mar 19, Titan): Mexican Gothic meets The Lie Tree by way of Oscar Wilde and Mary Shelley in this delightfully witty horror debut.
Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror, ed. Sofia Ajram (Mar 19, Ghoulish): A manifestation of ecstasy, heartache, horror and suffering rendered in feverish lyrical prose. Inside are sixteen new stories by some of the genre’s most visionary queer writers. Young lovers find themselves deliriously lost in an expanding garden labyrinth. The porter of a sentient hotel is haunted within a liminal time loop. A soldier and his abusive commanding officer escape a war in the trenches but discover themselves in an even greater nightmare. Parasites chase each other across time-space in hungry desperation to never be apart. A graduate student with violent tendencies falls into step with a seemingly walking corpse.
Fervor, Toby Lloyd (Mar 19, Avid Reader): A chilling and unforgettable story of a close-knit Jewish family in London pushed to the brink when they suspect their daughter is a witch.
Forgotten Sisters, Cynthia Pelayo (Mar 19, Thomas & Mercer): A city’s haunted history and fairy-tale horrors converge for two women in an addictive novel of psychological suspense by a multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated author.
Rainbow Black, Maggie Thrash (Mar 19, Harper Perennial): For readers of Donna Tartt and Ottessa Moshfegh comes a brilliant, deliriously entertaining novel from the acclaimed author of Honor Girl. Rainbow Black is part murder mystery, part gay international fugitive love story—set against the ’90s Satanic Panic and spanning 20 years in the life of a young woman pulled into its undertow.
Shadow of the Hidden, Kev Harrison (Mar 19, Brigids Gate Press): It’s Seb’s last day working in Turkey, but his friend Oz has been cursed. Superstition turns to terror as the effects of the ancient malediction spill over and the lives of Oz and his family hang in the balance. Can Seb find the answers to remove the hex before it’s too late? From Kev Harrison, author of The Balance and Below, journey with Seb, Oz and Deniz across ancient North African cities as they seek to banish the Shadow of the Hidden.
A Voice Calling, Christopher Barzak (Mar 19, Psychopomp): From Shirley Jackson award winning author Christopher Barzak comes an obsessive tale of a family haunted by a very terrible house.
The Woods All Black, Lee Mandelo (Mar 19, Tordotcom): The Woods All Black is equal parts historical horror, trans romance, and blood-soaked revenge, all set in 1920s Appalachia. Mandelo’s novella explores reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, the terrors of small-town religiosity, and the necessity of fighting tooth and claw to live as who you truly are.
The Pressure, Bryan Wayne Dull (Mar 22, Anthropolis Publishing): Something happens to Trevor when the weather changes. He’s not himself for those few hours that could lead to several days. He becomes angry and violent, but this time it’s different The weather today will be the fiercest winter storm in Ohio since 1978. While people prepare to survive the storm, the Wendts prepare to survive their son’s pain and rage, but it will be worse than they could ever imagine.
The Angel of Indian Lake, Stephen Graham Jones (Mar 26, Saga/S&S): The final installment in the most lauded trilogy in the history of horror novels picks up four years after Don’t Fear the Reaper as Jade returns to Proofrock, Idaho, to build a life after the years of sacrifice—only to find the Lake Witch is waiting for her in New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones’s finale.
Dead Girls Walking, Sami Ellis (Mar 26, Amulet): A shocking, spine-chilling YA horror slasher about a girl searching for her dead mother’s body at the summer camp that was once her serial killer father’s home–perfect for fans of Friday the 13th and White Smoke.
Diavola, Jennifer Thorne (Mar 26, Nightfire): Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.
Lost Man’s Lane, Scott Carson (Mar 26, Emily Bestler Books): A teenager explores the darkness hidden within his hometown in this spellbinding supernatural thriller from bestselling author Scott Carson that proves why its author has been hailed as “a master” by Stephen King and one who consistently offers “eerie, gripping storytelling” by Dean Koontz.
Monsters We Have Made, Lindsay Starck (Mar 26, Vintage): A poignant and evocative novel that explores the bounds of familial love, the high stakes of parenthood, and the tenuous divide between fiction and reality. Both literary and suspenseful, Monsters We Have Made confronts the terrors of parenthood and examines the boundaries of love. Most importantly, it reminds us of the power of stories to shape our lives.
The Skinless Man Counts to Five and Other Tales of the Macabre, Paul Jessup (Mar 26, Underland): In Jessup’s latest collection, there are ghosts and butterflies, serial killers and dying stars, mermaids and monsters. You will find death cults, sewer elves, the apocalypse of youthful fervor, card games that require blood sacrifices, and self-immolation as an expression of devotion. Paul Jessup’s fiction eviscerates, shatters, and slurps the marrow from the bones of the world.
Stitches, Junji Ito & Hirokatsu Kihara (Mar 26, VIZ): A tumor shaped like a man’s face slowly moves across a woman’s body. The sea shoots glowing balls into the sky, much to the distress of beachgoers. And a girl dressed up for a holiday has no eyes, no nose, nothing–her face is a total blank. Hirokatsu Kihara pens true stories of unsolved mysteries, stitched together with page after page of Junji Ito’s original illustrations in this collection of nine eerie tales and a bonus manga story.
Against Fearful Lies, Vivian Moira Valentine (March, Blue Fortune Enterprises): The sequel to Beneath Strange Lights.
Hollow Girls, Jessica Drake-Thomas (Mar, Cemetery Dance): Twenty-four years ago, two girls went into the woods. Only Olive returned, with no memory of what happened. Something lives in the woods, in the caves beneath them. Something old, and hungry. Now, they’re awake again. They have taken Olive’s father.

April

Changes in the Land, Matthew Cheney (Apr 1, Lethe): A vast park in a remote corner of New England founded by a 19th-century robber baron has still been maintained by the two families living there for generations—a strange place, a wild place, where dignitaries such as Theodore Roosevelt once hunted big game. Adams Park has remained unchanged for a century. It is a place that inspires the curiosity of others if they even know its existence. But the families have secrets, and nothing remains unchanged forever. In this thrilling novella by acclaimed author Matthew Cheney, the land has desires of its own.
All the Fiends of Hell, Adam Nevill (Apr 2, Ritual Limited): All The Fiends of Hell is a novel of alien horror from the four times winner of the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel.
The Black Girl Survives in This One, ed. Desiree S. Evans & Saraciea J. Fennell (Apr 2, Flatiron): A YA anthology of horror stories centering Black girls who battle monsters, both human and supernatural, and who survive to the end. Celebrating a new generation of bestselling and acclaimed Black writers, The Black Girl Survives in This One makes space for Black girls in horror. Fifteen chilling and thought-provoking stories place Black girls front and center as heroes and survivors who slay monsters, battle spirits, and face down death. Prepare to be terrified and left breathless by the pieces in this anthology.
Cataclysm, Tiffany Meuret (Apr 2, Spaceboy): When the United States collapses into post-apocalyptic ruin, The Woman flees her suburban home. Chronicling her life from the first shock to building and ruling a dieselpunk fiefdom, her mind deteriorates, and she obtains a nuclear weapon. One hundred years later, a boy feeds her journals to an AI to answer lingering questions about his heritage. When the AI becomes sentient, weaving its own stories about The Woman and what her final moments might have been, the boy must confront a deranged power just like the person it was created to emulate. Told through journal entries, Cataclysm is a story of how unrepentant rage permeates generations.
Cranberry Cove, Hailey Piper (Apr 2, Bad Hand): Bram Stoker Award-winning author Hailey Piper joins Bad Hand Books with a supernatural crime novella. What’s been happening at Cranberry Cove? It’s unspeakable. It’s unspoken. Emberly Hale is about to take a dark journey inside the derelict hotel—and inside her own past—to find out the horrible truth.
Phantom Limbs: Dissecting Horror’s Lost Sequels and Remakes, Jason Jenkins (Apr 2, Encyclopocalypse): Based on the popular Bloody Disgusting web column of the same name, Phantom Limbs takes a look at intended yet unproduced horror sequels and remakes – extensions to genre films we love, appendages to horror franchises that we adore – that were sadly lopped off before making it beyond the planning stages. Here, writer Jason Jenkins chats with the creators of these unmade extremities to gain their unique insights into these follow-ups that never were, with the discussions standing as hopefully illuminating but undoubtedly painful reminders of what might have been.
The Psychographist, Carson Winter (Apr 2, Apocalypse Party): The Hoyers are an American family. Two parents, two kids, a house they can’t afford, and a deep desire for more. When the black-clad, seemingly omniscient Mr. Cormorant comes to town, it seems that they might finally be able to cash in on their American Dream. You see, Mr. Cormorant is a psychographist-an expert in consumer personas. And Mr. Cormorant is testing a Product. And Mr. Cormorant has selected the Hoyers for a simple task-test the Product. Live with it. Breathe it in. Abide by its demands. In return? Riches. The cost? Immeasurable. The Psychographist is a disturbing novel of consumption, advertising, focus groups, and the decisions that define us.
Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell (Apr 2, DAW): Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance—from the perspective of the monster—by Nebula Award-winning debut author John Wiswell.
This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances, Eric LaRocca (Apr 2, Titan): A brand-new collection of four intense, claustrophobic and terrifying horror tales from the Bram Stoker Award®-nominated and Splatterpunk Award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke.
No One is Safe!, Philip Fracassi (Apr 5, Lethe Press): Fourteen stories of macabre, pulpy terror; a book filled with futuristic noir mysteries, science fiction thrillers, alien invasions, and old-school horror tales that will keep you up late into the night. Inside these covers, you’ll discover haunted dream journals and evil houses, birthday wishes gone wrong, a neighborhood cat that cures any disease, a flesh-eating beach, and mysterious skeletons on a hidden moon base. You’ll meet wise-cracking detectives, suburban vampires, murdered movie stars, and monsters of the deep. And remember—don’t get too attached to the characters you’ll meet on these pages because there’s no holding back in this book. Anything can happen, and no one is safe. Featuring an introduction by Ronald Malfi.
Trailer Park, C.D. Kester (Apr 5): Sometimes blood isn’t family, and family isn’t blood. The boys at Los Hermanos Trailer Park are no strangers to a good urban legend. The legends and reality collide when they begin to notice strange activity with Val Rosen in the trailer down the street. As times grow harder Richie, Jose, Frankie, and Roberto are getting sucked into some things that they probably shouldn’t. Sometimes that’s the way that it goes when you’re passing the time with your brothers in the trailer park.
A Better World, Sarah Langan (Apr 9, Atria): The author of Good Neighbors, “one of the creepiest, most unnerving deconstructions of American suburbia I’ve ever read” (NPR), returns with a cunning, out-of-the-box satirical thriller about a family’s odyssey into an exclusive enclave for the wealthy that might not be as ideal as it seems.
Bless Your Heart, Lindy Ryan (Apr 9, Minotaur): A crackling mystery-horror novel with big-hearted characters and Southern charm with a bite, Bless Your Heart is a gasp-worthy delight from start to finish. It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi—the original vampire—are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town.
The Garden, Clare Beams (Apr 9, Doubleday): The discovery of a secret garden with unknown powers fuels this page-turning and psychologically thrilling tale of women yearning to become mothers and the ways the female body has always been policed and manipulated, from the award-winning author of The Illness Lesson.
The Gathering, C.J. Tudor (Apr 9, Ballantine): A detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town in this riveting novel from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man.
Ghost Station, S.A. Barnes (Apr 9, Nightfire): A crew must try to survive on an ancient, abandoned planet in the latest space horror novel from S.A. Barnes, acclaimed author of Dead Silence.
Grey Dog, Elliott Gish (Apr 9, ECW Press): A subversive literary horror novel that disrupts the tropes of women’s historical fiction with delusions, wild beasts, and the uncontainable power of female rage.
The Last Phi Hunter, Salinee Goldenberg (Apr 9, Angry Robot): Ambitious Phi Hunter and perpetual lone wolf, Ex, finds his road to glory interrupted when a heavily pregnant runaway enlists his help to escape through the ghost-infested forest… The Last Phi Hunter is a mythic dark fantasy, equal parts smart, exhilarating, and delightfully fun.
The Murmurs, Michael J. Malone (Apr 9, Orenda Books): A young woman starts experiencing terrifying premonitions of people dying, as it becomes clear that a family curse known only as The Murmurs has begun, and a long-forgotten crime is about to be unearthed…
Myrrh, Polly Hall (Apr 9, Titan): A woman searching for her birth-parents unlocks the secrets of her horrific past, as she tries to stop the goblin within in this kaleidoscopic dark psychological horror about identity and belonging, with a dread-inducing climax you will never forget. Perfect for fans of Eric LaRocca, Daphne du Maurier and Catriona Ward.
The Underhistory, Kaaron Warren (Apr 11, Profile): People come to visit my home and I love to show them around. It’s not the original house of course. That was destroyed the day my entire family died. But I don’t think their ghosts know the difference. Sinister and lyrical, The Underhistory is a haunting tale of loss, self-preservation and the darkness beneath.
Ink Vine, Elizabeth Broadbent (Apr 12, Psychotoxin): Lower Congaree calls Emmy a whore. It doesn’t help that she’s a stripper. Worst of all, she likes girls better than guys, and in a town like Lower Congaree, bi girls are smart enough to keep their mouths shut. Emmy’s mother tells her to stay out of the swamp. People disappear back there, she says, and the ones who come back are never the same again. But Emmy doesn’t listen. In the woods, no one calls her names or expects her to have sex for money. When she meets a pretty girl back there—one who kisses her, who listens, who sees her for who she is—Emmy quickly becomes entangled. But there’s something strange about the beautiful Zara. Maybe even something dangerous
The Count, David-Jack Fletcher (Apr 15, Slashic Horror): When Sam’s ex, Danny, winds up gutted beyond recognition, Sam has no memory of where he was at the time. He can only remember the strange comfort of his new house. The endless ticking of a clock he can’t find. The bloody knife he woke up holding the morning Danny was killed. He begins to feel the ticking inside him, feeding a darkness he’s long ignored. It compels him to take what he wants, regardless of the price. When he begins to act on his bloodlust, the ticking leads him to the death of a loved one. The clock begins to point to more of Sam’s friends and family, begging for their blood. Fuelled by a deep desire to feed, and compelled by the power of the ticking clock, how far will Sam go to get what he wants?
Eye of the Ourobouros, Megan Bontrager (Apr 15, Quill & Crow): When guilt-stricken park ranger Theodora Buchanan gets too close to the truth of her sister Flora’s strange disappearance, the Federal Bureau of Reality intervenes to ensure that the otherworldly answers she finds never see the light of day…
Skin That Screams, Thomas Stewart (Apr 15, Unveiling Nightmares): You ever wonder why it can be so uncomfortable to be in your own skin? You think maybe it has something to do with how you look in the mirror? Could it be that you’ve eaten too much? Maybe you’ve even gotten yourself in quite the predicament, letting yourself get hurt… Whatever the case, though, one thing is certain, all flesh has a story, and it’s screaming it!
Bad Dreams in the Night, Adam Ellis (Apr 16, Andrews McMeel): Like a graphic novel version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this collection of original horror tales is packed with urban legends, terrifying twists, and delightfully haunted stories by one of the biggest stars in webcomics. Each story will make you scream for more!
The Harrowing, Kristen Kiesling, illustrated by Rye Hickman (Apr 16, Abrams): In award-winning author Kristen Kiesling and illustrator Rye Hickman’s YA graphic novel The Harrowing, a psychic teen hunts potential killers until she discovers the boy she loves is her next target.
The House at the End of Lacelean Street, Catherine McCarthy (Apr 16, Dark Matter Ink): Claudia Dance boards a bus at midnight, destination Lacelean Street. No luggage, not even a coat, despite the icy rain that penetrates her clothing. Like her fellow passengers, she has no clue as to why she is leaving. In fact, she remembers nothing about her past. The answers she seeks can only be found in the red-brick house at the end of the road, but the price she must pay for those answers is substantial.
Immortal Pleasures, V. Castro (Apr 16, Del Rey): An ancient Aztec vampire roams the modern world in search of vengeance and love in this seductive dark fantasy from the author of The Haunting of Alejandra.
Indian Burial Ground, Nick Medina (Apr 16, Berkley): A man lunges in front of a car. An elderly woman silently drowns herself. A corpse sits up in its coffin and speaks. On this reservation, not all is what it seems, in this new spine-chilling mythological horror from the author of Sisters of the Lost Nation.
Lord of the Feast, Tim Waggoner (Apr 16, Flame Tree): Twenty years ago, a cult attempted to create their own god: The Lord of the Feast. The god was a horrible, misbegotten thing, however, and the cultists killed the creature before it could come into its full power. The cultists trapped the pieces of their god inside mystic nightstones then went their separate ways. Now Kate, one of the cultists’ children, seeks out her long-lost relatives, hoping to learn the truth of what really happened on that fateful night. Unknown to Kate, her cousin Ethan is following her, hoping she’ll lead him to the nightstones so that he might resurrect the Lord of the Feast – and this time, Ethan plans to do the job right.
Sanctuary, Valentina Cano Repetto (Apr 16, CamCat Books): Sibilla Fenoglio wants nothing more than to live with her husband in this run-down, derelict watermill. Uninhabited since the Renaissance after a mysterious disaster befell the previous owners, the mill requires extensive repairs. But there is something frightening about the mill. Repairs are violently undone, half-seen figures begin stalking Sibilla through the grounds, and haunting echoes of the previous owners’ lives infiltrate the present. As the disturbances grow more vicious and her husband more secretive, she realizes that she and her child are in danger.
Weird Black Girls: Stories, Elwin Cotman (Apr 16, Scribner): From Philip K. Dick Award finalist Elwin Cotman, an irresistibly unnerving collection of stories that explore the anxieties of living while Black–a high-wire act of literary-fantastical hybrid fiction.
Withered, A. G. A. Wilmot (Apr 16, ECW Press): After the tragic death of their father and surviving a life-threatening eating disorder, 18-year-old Ellis moves with their mother to the small town of Black Stone, seeking a simpler life and some space to recover. But Black Stone feels off; it’s a disquieting place, one that’s surrounded by towns with some of the highest death rates in the country. It doesn’t help that everyone says Ellis’s new house is haunted. And Ellis has started to believe them: they see pulsing veins in the walls of their bedroom and specters in dark corners of the cellar. They soon discover Black Stone, and their house in particular, is the battleground in a decades-long spectral war, one that will claim their family — and the town — if it’s allowed to continue.
Living in Cemeteries, Corey Farrenkopf (Apr 19, JournalStone): A young cemetery worker in Cape Cod must visit his family’s ghosts to learn about his own fate before he’s able to fully live his life.
The Demon of Devil’s Cavern, Brennan Lafaro (Apr 20, Darklit Press): Six months after the death of Noose Holcomb, Buzzard’s Edge rests in an uneasy quiet, but can a town that resonates with such hatred remain peaceful for long? Dark forces conspire to chase Rory Daggett and his mute adopted daughter, Alice, into exile, framed for a crime they didn’t commit. With a new sheriff and a notorious killer for hire tracking their every move, the two must choose between starting a new life and saving the soul of the town that betrayed them.
All Things Seen and Unseen, RJ McDaniel (Apr 23, ECW Press): All Things Seen and Unseen follows Alex Nguyen, an isolated, chronically ill university student in her early 20s. After a suicide attempt and subsequent lengthy hospitalization, she finds herself without a job, kicked out of campus housing, unable to afford school, and still struggling in the aftermath of a relationship’s dissolution. Hope comes in the form of a rich high school friend who offers Alex a job housesitting at her family’s empty summer mansion on a gulf island. Surrounded by dense forest and ocean, in the increasingly oppressive heat of a 2010s summer, Alex must try to survive as an outsider in a remote, insular community; to navigate the awkward, unexpected beginnings of a possible new romance; and to live through the trauma she has repressed to survive, even as the memories — and a series of increasingly unnerving events — threaten to pull her back under the surface.
The Day of the Door, Laurel Hightower (Apr 23, Ghoulish): Three grieving siblings confront their manipulative mother after learning of her participation in a popular paranormal television show designed to dramatize the most traumatic day of their childhood, pitched as The Haunting of Hill House meets A Head Full of Ghosts.
First Light, Liz Kerin (Apr 23, Nightfire): First Light, the riveting sequel to Liz Kerin’s Night’s Edge, is about seizing a brighter future by confronting the shadows of our past. It’s been nine months since the catastrophe in Tucson sent Mia fleeing from her home. But she’s not running away from the darkness—she’s running toward it, obsessively pursuing the man who gave her mother a thirst for blood and destroyed their lives. But when Mia finds the monsters she’s been hunting and infiltrates a secret network of fugitives, she discovers she might have been their prey all along. To escape their clutches, she’ll have to reckon with her mother’s harrowing past and confront a painful truth: that they might be more alike than she ever imagined.
The Obscene Bird of Night, José Donoso, trans. Megan McDowell (Apr 23, New Directions): Narrated in voices that shift and multiply, The Obscene Bird of Night frets the seams between master and slave, rich and poor, reality and nightmares, man and woman, self and other in a maniacal inquiry into the horrifying transformations that power can wreak on identity. Now, star translator Megan McDowell has revised and updated the classic translation, restoring nearly twenty pages of previously untranslated text that was mysteriously cut from the 1972 edition. Newly complete, with missing motifs restored, plots deepened, and characters more richly shaded, Donoso’s pajarito (little bird), as he called it, returns to print to celebrate the centennial of its author’s birth in full plumage, as brilliant as it is bizarre.
The Redemption of Morgan Bright, Chris Panatier (Apr 23, Angry Robot): A woman checks herself into an insane asylum to solve the mystery of her sister’s murder, only to lose her memory and maybe her mind. From the subversive voice behind The Phlebotomist comes a story that combines the uncanny atmosphere of Don’t Worry Darling with the narrative twists of The Last House on Needless Street.
Oracle, Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Apr 30, Nightfire): From international bestseller Thomas Olde Heuvelt comes Oracle, a supernatural thriller where an omen from our past threatens the return of ancient forces that will change the world forever.
Meet Me in the Middle of the Air, Eric Schaller (Apr, Lethe Press): Dark Miracles. Black Comedies. In an astonishing debut collection of short stories, Eric Schaller invites you to unlock the gates of horn, ascend the bridge of sighs, and meet him in the middle of the air. There you’ll encounter Edgar Allan Poe cavorting with Marilyn Monroe; intimate insects and blood-red roses; apes and automata; and urban witches, parasites, and zombies. Explore the secret nightlife of the Oscar Wildes. Join the Sparrow Mumbler onstage. March in the menagerie of madness and mayhem. Just don’t look down because all that’s holding you aloft is… air.

May

The Ghostlands of Natalie Glasgow, Hailey Piper (May 1, Rooster Republic): Ever since the death of Natalie’s father, her family has found themselves caught in a series of bizarre experiences of their own. Unexplainable, irrational, and yet all too real. Has a demon latched onto Natalie’s soul? Or are her family’s circumstances bound up in the aftermath of her dead father? The Ghostlands of Natalie Glasgow collects the original 2018 Natalie Glasgow novella along with six all-new interconnected stories following Margaret, Natalie, her family, and their entanglements in their haunted pasts and ghostly futures.
Undead Folk, Katherine Silva (May 1, Strange Wilds): Beyond the smoke-choked skies of an apocalyptic United States, a woman travels the desolate railroad tracks of a small town in search of revenge and a quiet place to settle. Her only companion is an undead fox: animated with backwoods herbal magic and the soul of a middle-aged father who died before the world fell into darkness. Undead Folk is a short, harrowing tale of sacrifice, loss, and damnation.
Whispers of Apple Blossoms, Brett Mitchell Kent (May 1, Lethe): An elderly widow who believes her late husband is haunting her houseplant must confront the reality that something much worse may be at play… and has been for longer than she could ever have expected in this literary horror debut from Brett Mitchell Kent.
The Ill-Fitting Skin, Shannon Robinson (May 3, Press 53): The Ill-Fitting Skin is layered with surreal story telling but remains an extraordinarily realistic read, in the sense that even the most solid realities of life-and death-tend to blur and shimmer at their raw edges. The talkative bird that nests in a woman’s womb is as real as the “previous tenant.” The love of a mother for her uncontrollable son is as real as the wildness that is in her too. The women of The Ill-Fitting Skin are real women-who work and grieve and create and destroy, who love and do not love, whether at the roll of the dice or because “the pages are paths, and you will have to choose among them.”
Marked for Sorrow, Y.M. Miller (May 3, D&T): More info to come
The Harvest, Diego Rauda (May 6, RIZE): After a nightmare about a disembodied, skinless head calling him from under the bed, Daniel woke with a jolt, but managed to fall asleep again with little effort. He was used to these hellish visions– while asleep. Now the visions have started to cross over to his waking life, and it’s game over. As he tries to bury the feeling that he’s being stalked by an unseen force, one of his closest friends takes their own life in front of Daniel, but only after blaming him and ” the dragon he carries.” While he races to elucidate a mystery that recedes before him, the people closest to Daniel continue to die in perverse circumstances. Against his better judgment, Daniel follows the thread which connects these deaths in order to discover the truth.
Ghostroots, ‘Pemi Aguda (May 7, Norton): Set in Lagos, Nigeria, Aguda’s stories unfold against a spectral cityscape where the everyday business of living–the birth of a baby, a market visit, a conversation between mothers and daughters–is charged with an air of supernatural menace. In “Breastmilk” a new mother’s inability to lactate takes on preternatural overtones. In “24, Alhaji Williams Street” a mysterious disease wreaks havoc with frightening precision. In “The Hollow,” an architect stumbles on a vengeful house.
Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror, ed. Lindy Ryan (May 7, Black Spot Books): New and exclusive short stories and poems inspired by bad mothers from some of today’s fiercest women in horror. Featuring Rachel Harrison, Gwendolyn Kiste, Kristi DeMeester, and Kelsea Yu, edited by Lindy Ryan with a foreword by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann.
Perfect Little Monsters, Cindy R. X. He (May 7, Sourcebooks Fire): Someone has murdered the queen bee of Sierton High School. All the dead girl’s friends are suspects. And each one has a reason for wanting her to die.
Supplication, Nour Abi-Nakhoul (May 7, Strange Light): A hallucinatory literary horror novel set deeply in the consciousness of a woman exploring a changed and frightening world.
When the Devil, Emma E. Murray (May 7, Shortwave): In When the Devil, Libby finds salvation in a new sapphic partner, homebrewed poison, and facing a God she no longer believes in.
The Z Word, Lindsay King-Miller (May 7, Quirk): Packed with action, humor, sex, and big gay feelings, The Z Word is the queer Zombieland you didn’t know you needed. A propulsive, funny, emotional horror debut about a found family coming together to fight corporate greed, political corruption, gay drama, and zombies.
41: An Autobiography, J.D. Buffington (May 12, Anuci Press): J.D. Buffington’s 41: An Autobiography tells the story of growing up at the end of the 20th century in the United States and becoming an adult in the 21st. Here are his thoughts on life, his mother’s, how those shaped him into an author of horror and science fiction, and how it led him to his family, all amidst a firestorm of politics and pandemics.
Cinderwich, Cherie Priest (May 14, Apex Book Co): Who put Ellen in the blackgum tree? Decades after trespassing children spotted the desiccated corpse wedged in the treetop, no one knows the answer. Kate Thrush and her former college professor, Dr. Judith Kane, travel to Cinderwich, Tennessee in hopes that maybe it was their Ellen: Katie’s lost aunt, Judith’s long-gone lover. But they’re not the only ones to have come here looking for closure. The people of Cinderwich, a town hardly more than a skeleton itself, are staunchly resistant to the outsiders’ questions about Ellen and her killer. And the deeper the two women dig, the more rot they unearth … the closer they come to exhuming the evil that lies, hungering, at the roots of Cinderwich.
The House That Horror Built, Christina Henry (May 14, Berkley): A single mother working in the gothic mansion of a reclusive horror director stumbles upon terrifying secrets in the captivating new novel from the national bestselling author of Good Girls Don’t Die and Horseman.
Howls from the Scene of the Crime: An Anthology of Crime Horror, ed. Jessica Peter & Timaeus Bloom (May 14, HOWL Society): An illustrated collection of 22 new short stories of transgressions and lawlessness laced in blood, secrets, and occult compulsions. Co-edited by HOWLS members Jessica Peter and Timaeus Bloom, with a foreword written by Bram Stoker Award® winning crime horror author, Cynthia Pelayo.
My Darling Dreadful Thing, Johanna van Veen (May 14, Sourcebooks): If the dead can wake and walk among us, how can we know what is truly real? Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the light of Roos’ life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos’ backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection. Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable. Then, someone is murdered. Poor, alone, and with a history of ‘hysterics’, Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she’ll have to prove who—or what—is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.
The Red Grove, Tessa Fontaine (May 14, FSG): The Red Grove is a special place, protected. Some say a spell was cast by the community’s founder, Tamsen Nightingale. Some say the mountain lions who stalk the nearby hills guard its mysteries and its people. Some say the mighty redwoods keep them safe. The debut novel by the acclaimed author of The Electric Woman, Tessa Fontaine’s The Red Grove is an exploration of the legacies of violence, the price of safety, and the choices we make to protect what we love.
The Witches of Bellinas, J. Nicole Jones (May 14, Catapult): A dreamy California Gothic about a woman who moves to the mysterious town of Bellinas to save her marriage, only to be swept up in a hedonistic cult that isn’t what it seems.
Woodworm, Layla Martinez, trans. Sophie Hughes & Annie McDermott (May 14, Two Lines Press): For fans of Mariana Enriquez and Fernanda Melchor, Layla Martinez’s debut novel with its grisly, mystical vision of justice for an unjust world, announces a terrifying new voice in international horror. In this lush translation by Sophie Hughes and Annie McDermott, Layla Martinez’s eerie debut novel is class-conscious horror that drags generations of monsters into the sun. Described by Mariana Enriquez as “a house of shadows and women made of vengeance and poetry,” this vision of a broken family in our unjust world places power in the hands of the eccentric, the radical, and the desperate.
Kosa, John Durgin (May 17, Darklit Press): In a secluded mansion hidden away from the outside world, young Kosa lives under the strict and overpowering rule of her enigmatic mother. For Kosa, the rules set by Mother are the guiding principles of her life, shaping her beliefs and actions. She has been sheltered from the truth about the world beyond the confines of their home, conditioned to fear the darkness and malevolence that supposedly lurks outside. In this dark and captivating tale, Kosa’s journey unravels the intricacies of control, the strength of one’s convictions, and the true nature of the world beyond the shadows. The choices she makes will not only determine her fate but also influence the fate of those around her.
The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls, Angela Sylvaine (May 21, Dark Matter INK): The Dead Spot. A corner drenched in shadow. An earthquake’s epicenter. The part of a roller coaster ride where the car rounds the final curve and all force dissipates, leaving those trapped beneath the safety bar feeling sick and hollow. The Dead Spot is a heart-wrenching collection of seventeen stories where lost girls and women live and die, where they laugh, cry, and disappear from view around that final curve. This is the debut short story collection from the author of Frost Bite and Chopping Spree.
The Lamplighter, Crystal J. Bell (May 21, Flux): The nineteenth-century whaling village of Warbler is famous for its lucky ship figureheads–and infamous for people disappearing into the nightly fog. In this murky locale, the lamplighter is synonymous with safety and protection, and it’s a position Temperance assumes when her father is found hanging from one of the lampposts. Though Tempe proves competent, the town is still hesitant to let a woman handle this responsibility. When a girl disappears after two lamps go out, Tempe’s ability to provide for her mother and younger sister hangs in the balance. She scrambles for answers, hindered at every turn by the village authorities’ call for her removal. As more villagers vanish under her watch, Tempe discovers unsettling truths about the famous Warbler figureheads and her own beloved father. But her warnings of a monster are ignored, even by her own family. Now she must follow the light out of her own fog of despair, as she faces the choice to look the other way or risk speaking out and possibly dooming herself and her sister to be among the lost.
Mazi, Koji A. Dae (May 21, Ghost Orchid): When Silvena and her boyfriend take a vacation at an isolated mountain villa in Bulgaria, she gets the unsettling sense she is being watched by the knots in the house’s wooden walls. Her boyfriend tries to distract her with their usual BDSM games, but Silvena’s hallucinations only worsen when she encounters a local woodcutter who takes an unusual interest in her. Could his presence be somehow linked to her delusions? The debut novella from Koji A. Dae, author of Scars that Never Bled, Mazi is a seductive erotic horror tale inspired by the author’s experiences using kink to deal with mental health issues and the bitter, sometimes isolating winter of the Balkan Mountains.
We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures, ed. Rob Costello (May 21, Running Press Kids): An empowering cross-genre YA anthology that explores what it means to be a monster, exclusively highlighting trans and queer authors who offer new tales and perspectives on classic monster stories and tropes.
You Like It Darker, Stephen King (May 21, Scribner): From legendary storyteller and master of short fiction Stephen King comes an extraordinary new collection of twelve short stories, many never-before-published, and some of his best EVER. “You like it darker? Fine, so do I,” writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King writes to feel “the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind,” and in You Like It Darker, readers will feel that exhilaration too, again and again.
Find Him and Kill Him, Cody J. Thompson (May 23, Black Rose Writing): Filled with revenge, murder, twists and turns, Find Him and Kill Him mixes horrifying elements into a sick and twisted coming-of-age tale. A road-trip novel dripping with suspense, tragedy, familial bonding and of course, lots of blood.
Cursed Shards: Tales of Dark Folklore, ed. Leanbh Pearson (May 27, IFWG Publishing): We’ve all heard childhood fairy tales and hearthside stories passed from generation to generation warning us of unseen dangers lurking in the dark forest, the glimpse of a future in watery reflections and to be wary of objects and people offering impossible gifts. The Fae are ageless beings dwelling between light and shadow, stalking the moonlit nights and wielding powerful gifts and curses. Welcome to Cursed Shards, a collection of dark fantasy stories inspired by folklore, legends, fairy tales and mythology. Ten authors spin ten different tales ranging from deserts, icy mountains and dark forests to legendary warriors to the mythical Fae.
Flawless Girls, Anna-Marie McLemore (May 28, Feiwel & Friends): Tautly written, tense, and evocative, this is a stunning YA novel by award-winning and critically acclaimed author Anna-Marie McLemore.
Necrotek, Jonathan Maberry (May 28, Blackstone): From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, NecroTek is a gripping sci fi thriller full of ghosts, Gods, and a battle for the soul of humanity.
The Rictus Grin and Other Tales of Insanity, Erica Summers (May 28, Rusty Ogre): A collection of eleven terrifying horror stories by extreme horror author Erica Summers.
Shadows in the Stacks: A Horror Anthology, ed. Vincent V. Cava, James Sabata, & Jared Sage (May 28, Shortwave): Shadows in the Stacks is a new horror anthology, published in cooperation with Spirited Giving to benefit the Library Foundation SD. 50% of proceeds from pre-orders will go to pay authors, while the other 50% will go to the Library Foundation SD, after release day, 100% of proceeds from sales go to the Library Foundation SD.
Feral, Bryan Alaspa (May 29, Unveiling Nightmares): For Garland, the move to California is just what his family needs to finally find comfort and success. After years of failed businesses, this may be their last chance. However, making the journey across the dangerous Sierra Nevadas is potentially deadly business in the 1800s. Little does Garland know that his son is having ominous dreams about their trip and that something lurks deep within the woods. The long trek becomes harder and more difficult, taking longer than promised. Soon, the entire train of wagons, horses, and people is trapped in the mountains. Then, the snow comes and buries them. As a small party sets off for rescue, no one knows that the thing within the woods that has been calling to the children is ready. Beneath the snow, as the travelers fight off starvation, a true nightmare starts—an ancient nightmare with sharp teeth that affects the children. Now, the screaming starts, and the true horror begins.
From the Belly, Emmett Nahil (May 30, Tenebrous): A prophetic sailor extracts a still-living man from the belly of a whale aboard his near-mutinous whaling vessel, and as their relationship deepens, horrifying accidents begin to plage the ship and its crew.
Blood Covenant, Alan Baxter (May, Cemetery Dance): What should have been an easy bank heist for James Glenn and his crew goes violently wrong, forcing them to flee, blood-stained and angry. Luckily, they stumble onto a remote lodge that doesn’t open for another month. A perfect place to lie low until the heat’s off. Except it’s occupied. The Moore family, just arrived to prepare for the season, are taken hostage by the criminals, but not without bloodshed. And when blood gets spilled, something ancient notices. Something malevolent. Something ravenous.
Lost in the Garden, Adam S. Leslie (May, Dead Ink): Heather, Rachel and Antonia are going to Almanby. Heather needs to find her boyfriend who, like so many, went and never came back. Rachel has a mysterious package to deliver, and her life depends on it. And Antonia — poor, lovestruck Antonia just wants the chance to spend the day with Heather. So off they set through the idyllic yet perilous English countryside, in which nature thrives in abundance and summer lasts forever. And as they travel through ever-shifting geography and encounter strange voices in the fizz of shortwave radio, the harder it becomes to tell friend from foe. Creepy, dreamlike, unsettling and unforgettable – you are about to join the privileged few who come to understand exactly why we don’t go to Almanby.
Revelations in Black, Carl Jacobi (May, Valancourt): Though sometimes overshadowed by his contemporaries like H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard, Carl Jacobi (1908-1997) was one of the finest American writers of pulp horror tales of the first half of the 20th century. Revelations in Black, originally published by the legendary Arkham House as a limited edition in 1947 and long out of print, contains 21 of his best stories, originally published in pulp magazines like Weird Tales. As a bonus, this new edition features an additional seldom-seen Jacobi tale, “Rails of the Yellow Skull”, and a new introduction by Luigi Musolino.

June

Song of the Tyrant Worm, Hailey Piper (Jun 1, Off Limits): Time breaks and starlight dies beneath uncompromising gods in this reality-shattering conclusion to The Worm and His Kings saga.
Grim Root, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Jun 3, Dark Matter INK): A darkly humorous gothic horror novel pitched as The Bachelor meets The Haunting of Hill House, in which a group of women on a reality TV dating show must compete for the hand of an eligible bachelor by spending a week in a haunted house, but after the bachelor suddenly dies to the shock of everyone on set, the remaining contestants find themselves trapped in a dark and twisted new game only one of them still wants to play.
Small Hearts, Bryan Wayne Dull (Jun 3, Anthropolis): Haunted by the tragic loss of her third-grade students in a school shooting, Emily Sinclair, a secluded teacher, grapples with the ghosts of her past. As she battles the anxiety of stepping outside and confronting the judgmental eyes of her town, she discovers a chilling presence lurking in the shadows–an eerie manifestation of her deceased students and ghostly apparitions she dubs “the pales,” drawing closer with every hesitant step. Questioning her own sanity, Emily turns to psychiatrist Paul Cusick, unraveling her story as an educator facing the seemingly unteachable. Yet, in the unraveling, the line between reality and perception blurs, revealing a twisted truth beyond imagination.
The Boy from Two Worlds, Jason Offutt (Jun 4, CamCat): The sequel to Jason Offutt’s award-winning novel, The Girl in the Corn, which critics have raved is “an outstanding blend of horror, speculative fiction, and apocalyptic fantasy topped with madness” (HorrorDNA) and “a haunting, unsettling, gripping novel” (Richard Thomas, a Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson nominee).
Brat, Gabriel Smith (Jun 4, Penguin Press): From a provocative new literary talent, a hilarious and haunted novel featuring an unlikable protagonist grappling with grief, inheritance, and the ghosts of his past. Part ghost story, part grief story, flirting with the autofictional mode while sitting squarely in the tradition of the gothic, Brat crackles with deadpan humor and delightfully taut prose.
I’m Sorry If I Scared You, Mae Murray (Jun 4): The debut novel by award-winning writer and editor Mae Murray.
Lockjaw, Matteo L. Cerilli (Jun 4, Tundra Books): Death is neither the beginning nor the end for the children of Bridlington in this debut trans YA horror book for fans of Rory Power and Danielle Vega.
No Gods, Only Chaos, L. P. Hernandez (Jun 4, DarkLit): L.P. Hernandez weaves a tapestry of darkness, plunging the reader into worlds steeped in the macabre and eerie. Within these tales are human monsters searching for purpose, realities on the brink, and an old god waiting for a bargain. The book lures readers into the depths of human fear and the unknown, promising a journey along pathways as haunting as they are unforgettable. This collection is a chilling exploration of the darkness of the human psyche, created for those who find solace in the night’s deepest shadows.
Small Town Horror, Ronald Malfi (Jun 4, Titan): Five childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me.
Take All of Us, Natalie Leif (Jun 4, Holiday House): A YA unbury-your-gays horror in which an undead teen must find the boy he loves before he loses his mind and body.
Voracious, Belicia Rhea (Jun 4, Dark Matter INK): A pregnant teenage girl with an eating disorder works to reconcile her visions of a doomsday of insect plagues, and her unique role in what she fears is the impending bug-filled apocalypse.
youthjuice, E.K. Sathue (Jun 4, Soho Press): American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada: outrageous body horror for the goop generation. A bloodthirsty copywriter realizes that beauty is possible—at a terrible cost—in this surreal, satirical send-up of NYC It-girl culture.
A Dark and Endless Sea, Blaine Daigle (Jun 7, Wicked House): Whitt Rogers has been dreaming. Horrible dreams. Dreams that stretch the very fabric of the real and the unreal as he is pulled by a voice across the country to a small crab fishing ship set to depart into the Bering Sea. At sea, the memories piece themselves together in cracked fragments. But there is something out there. Something speaking to Whitt in his dreams. A voice from a long-forgotten memory that promises peace at the cost of madness. A voice that leads to a place unimaginable and inescapable.
Crimson Cobblestones, Marie Lestrange (Jun 11, Crimson Cult): In this chilling tale, a young woman’s defiant quest to uncover the truth pits her against powerful forces of deception. Can she expose the secrets behind the deaths before she’s silenced forever? Vividly conjuring the macabre underbelly of colonial America, this spine-tingling gothic thriller will keep you guessing until its shocking finale!
Cuckoo, Gretchen Felker-Martin (Jun 11, Nightfire): A vicious new novel from acclaimed Manhunt author Gretchen Felker-Martin, where a group of kidnapped kids must stay true to themselves in a conversion camp from hell.
Horror Movie, Paul Tremblay (Jun 11, William Morrow): A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and The Cabin at the End of the World. Horror Movie is obsessive, psychologically chilling, and breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.
Mouth, Puloma Ghosh (Jun 11, Astra House): In this debut collection, Puloma Ghosh uses the speculative as a catalyst to push her stories and characters beyond what reality allows. Exploring grief, intimacy, sexuality, and bodily autonomy, Mouth leans into the bizarre and absurd while reaching for the truth.
One of Our Kind, Nicola Yoon (Jun 11, Knopf): Get Out meets The Stepford Wives in #1 New York Times best-selling author Nicola Yoon’s first adult novel – a terrifying and thought-provoking look at what it means to be truly free in America as a woman uncovers a secret about her new home in a planned Black utopian community.
When the Night Falls, Glenn Rolfe (Jun 11, Flame Tree): Rocky Zukas lives with the ghosts of what happens when you fall in love with a monster. Lucky to be alive, Rocky roams his beachside hometown living on autopilot, waiting for life to start again. November Riley has never been far from the boy that stole her heart. She watches from the shadows, knowing she can never make things right between them, but never giving up on the chance they could try one more time. A new documentary is bringing Gabriel Riley, the Beach Night Killer, back to national consciousness. The dead serial killer has a trio of new fans that are ready to make Old Orchard Beach, Maine their home for the end of the summer season. When the new strangers in town discover Rocky’s relationship to the past of one of their own, he becomes their number one target. Can November protect him, or will these other vampires prove too strong? When the night falls, blood will spill, and death will reign.
Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil, Ananda Lima (Jun 18, Tor): An intoxicating and surreal fiction debut by award-winning author Ananda Lima. At a Halloween party in 1999, a writer slept with the devil. She sees him again and again throughout her life and she writes stories for him about things that are both impossible and true. Lima lures readers into surreal pockets of the United States and Brazil where they’ll find bite-size Americans in vending machines and the ghosts of people who are not dead. With humor, an exquisite imagination, and a voice praised as “singular and wise and fresh” (Cathy Park Hong), Lima joins the literary lineage of Bulgakov and Lispector and the company of writers today like Ted Chiang, Carmen Maria Machado, and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive, Craig DiLouie (Jun 18, Redhook): From Bram Stoker Award‑nominated author Craig DiLouie comes a darkly humorous horror novel that sees a famous 80s slasher director set out to shoot the most terrifying horror movie ever made using an occult camera that might be (and probably is) demonic.
Middle of the Night, Riley Sager (Jun 18, Dutton): In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend–and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.
The Monologist, Aquino Loayza (Jun 18, Third Estate Books): What’s life without risk? At least that’s what Patrick Gallagher tells himself as he arrives in Las Vegas at the peak of the Cold War with a dream that can’t be bought in gold or jewels: To become a standup comedian, a monologist. But nobody can run away from their past, no matter how bright their future may seem. The world isn’t as clear as it appears. Will Patrick succeed? Or will he discover that everything has its price and some costs can’t be quantified in a dollar bill?
We Used to Live Here, Marcus Kliewer (Jun 18, Atria/Emily Bestler): The Turn of the Key meets Parasite in this eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit—soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit.
When I Look to the Sky, All I See Are Stars, Steve Stred (Jun 24, Darklit Press): A visceral, edge-of-your-seat novella, When I Look to the Sky, All I See Are Stars is everything you’d expect from 2X Splatterpunk-nominated author Steve Stred. Frantic pacing, hooves and horns and the growing dread that what lies beyond this plane is a land filled with ash and a place we never want to visit.
A Drop of Night, Stefan Bachmann (Jun 25, Greenwillow): Seventeen-year-old Anouk has finally caught the break she’s been looking for—she’s been chosen to participate in an exclusive program that includes an all-expenses-paid trip to France and a chance to explore the hidden underground Palais du Papillon, or Palace of the Butterfly. Along with four other gifted teenagers, Anouk will be one of the first people to set foot in the palace in more than two hundred years. But the expedition is not all it seems. The students’ supposed benefactors are trying to kill them. And so is the palace itself, which is filled with deadly traps and invisible monsters. Can Anouk and the others figure out how to work together and escape?
The Eyes Are The Best Part, Monika Kim (Jun 25, Erewhon): A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, Monika Kim’s The Eyes Are the Best Part is a story of a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other, marking a bold new voice in horror that will leave readers mesmerized and craving more.
Foul Days, Genoveva Dimova (Jun 25, Tor): The Witcher meets Naomi Novik in this fast-paced fantasy rooted in Slavic folklore, from an assured new voice in genre.
Incidents Around the House, Josh Malerman (Jun 25, Del Rey): A chilling horror novel about a haunting, told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,” from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box.
Invaginies, Joe Koch (Jun 25, CLASH): The Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author returns with a new collection of literary horror and weird fiction that glitters with startling prose and tortured souls.
Midwestern Gothic, Scott Thomas (Jun 25, InkShares): Close your eyes. Picture open plains, wheat stalks swaying gently in the wind. Picture the quaint Main Street of a one-stoplight town. Picture endless summers on sunny, tranquil lakes. With four provocative novellas, Kill Creek author and Kansas native Scott Thomas takes a hatchet to the idyllic tropes of the American heartland.
Six of Sorrow, Amanda Linsmeier (Jun 25, Random House Children’s): Sixteen years ago, six girls were born on the same day—and now, on their birthday, one of them is missing. From the author of Starlings comes a story about small-towns, friendships, and the terrifying things your parents don’t tell you, that’s perfect for fans of Yellowjackets.
Teleportasm, Joshua Millican (Jun 25, Shortwave): Four friends unearth a unique VHS tape that, when viewed, causes short-distance teleportation with euphoric after-effects, inadvertently launching a perilous trend. As copies of the original tape are made, the results become less predictable and ultimately gruesome due to analog generational decay. Despite the danger, some will risk everything for just one more trip.
The Tyranny of Flies, Elaine Vilar Madruga, trans. Kevin Dunn (Jun 25, HarperVia): In this provocative, darkly funny, and unique novel—a mix of Lord of the Flies and The Royal Tenenbaums—a dictator’s former right-hand man becomes housebound and a family power struggle erupts.
We Shall Be Monsters, Tara Sim (Jun 25, Nancy Paulsen Books): Frankenstein meets Indian mythology in this twisty, darkly atmospheric fantasy where the horror is not the monsters you face but the ones you create.
The Haunting of Harry Peck, David-Jack Fletcher (June, Lethe): When Harry Peck kills a chicken, he never expects the scratching under the floorboards. Or the awful clucking coming from the darkness. As the haunting gets worse, it becomes clear what the chicken wants. It wants Harry dead. It wants his soul. Can the mysterious Vegan Shaman save Harry? Or will his soul be devoured like… well, chicken? Inspired by classic horror, this book explores the totally true history of animal hauntings and will make you think twice about eating meat… and then make you hungry for it.
Hollow Tongue, Eden Royce (June, Raw Dog Screaming): After a major accident leaves her in a dire financial situation, Maxine Forrest returns to live in her childhood home. The empty husk holds only the memories of her father’s abuse and her mother’s reticence to leave him: her parents are nowhere to be found. The cocoon of her past remains unchanged, yet wrapped in the ghostly remnants of her mother’s whispered insistence that things could change. Escaping the sins of her parents should be easy enough for Max, but those sins are intrinsic to her genetic make-up, so escape is impossible—succumbing, and metamorphosis, are inevitable.
The Legacy, Jere Cunningham (June, Valancourt): Somewhere in the darkness it is watching and waiting — for you! Chester Rawlings is the first victim – he blows his brains out to escape a living death. Then old Sam is discovered lying beside his friend’s grave, dead of an unnatural heart attack – two corpse-like fingers clutched in his hand. Now a child watches as her parents struggle in the grip of an unspeakable horror: only the child knows the awful truth – it is already too late to save them. This special new edition of Jere Cunningham’s slow-burn occult chiller features the original cover art and a new introduction by Will Errickson.
Pippin’s Journal, Rohan O’Grady (June, Valancourt): A spellbinding Gothic page-turner, Rohan O’Grady’s Pippin’s Journal (1962) received rave reviews on its initial publication and returns to print at last to enchant and terrify a new generation of readers.
The Vampire of Vourla and Other Greek Vampire Tales, ed. Álvaro García Marín (June, Valancourt): In this new collection, editor Álvaro García Marín has uncovered the earliest appearances of vampires in English literature, revealing their surprising origin in Greece. This volume includes two seminal classic texts, Lord Byron’s “Fragment of a Novel” and John William Polidori’s “The Vampyre”, together with five other rare and never-before-reprinted vampire tales from the early 19th century, including the important and inexplicably neglected “The Vampire of Vourla”. Also featured is a scholarly introduction by Prof. Marín, delving into this forgotten field of vampire literary history and situating it within the larger Romantic era and 19th-century English attitudes toward Greece.
What Darkness Waits, Chris DiLeo (June, D&T): Daniel Warden’s 64-year old father was dead for ten minutes, but he’s rapidly recovering from his stroke—and he’s getting younger. What at first seems like a miracle becomes a nightmare as Dan’s most outlandish fear—his suddenly young and hale father might seduce his wife—appears to be coming true.

July

A Gathering of Weapons, Tracy Cross (Jul 2, Dark Matter INK): Book two in the Conjure series.
Midnight Rooms, Donyae Coles (Jul 2, Amistad): Set in a foreboding Gothic mansion and infused with the heightened paranoia and creeping horror of novels like Catherine House and Crimson Peak, a spine-chilling debut historical thriller from a fresh voice in the genre that will leave you questioning who, or what, you can trust . . . including your own sanity.
A Misfortune of Lake Monsters, Nicole M. Wolverton (Jul 2, CamCat): Lemon Ziegler wants to escape the rural town of Devil’s Elbow and go to college—but that’s impossible now that she’s expected to impersonate a lake monster for the rest of her life. Her family has been secretly keeping the tradition of Old Lucy, the famed monster of Lake Lokakoma, alive for generations by staging sightings to keep tourists coming. Lemon can’t disappoint her grandparents . . . or tell her secret to her friends, including Troy Ramirez, who has been secretly in love with Lemon for years, afraid to tell her lest he ruin their friendship. When a real lake monster starts eating people, Lemon spills the secret to her best friends, and they must figure out how to stop the monster before it kills half the town.
The Ones Who Come Back Hungry, Amelinda Bérubé (Jul 2, SourceBooks Fire): From the author of Here There Are Monsters comes a chilling supernatural YA horror that is part terrifying vampire legend and part modern exploration of toxic relationships wrapped up in a novel about hunger, yearning, and loss.
Pink Slime, Fernanda Trías, trans. Heather Cleary (Jul 2, Scribner): In a city ravaged by a mysterious plague, a woman tries to understand why her world is falling apart. An algae bloom has poisoned the previously pristine air that blows in from the sea. Inland, a secretive corporation churns out the only food anyone can afford—a revolting pink paste, made of an unknown substance. In the short, desperate breaks between deadly windstorms, our narrator stubbornly tends to her few remaining relationships: with her difficult but vulnerable mother; with the ex-husband for whom she still harbors feelings; with the boy she nannies, whose parents sent him away even as terrible threats loomed. Yet as conditions outside deteriorate further, her commitment to remaining in place only grows—even if staying means being left behind.
Wilderness Reform, Matt Query and Harrison Query (Jul 2, Atria/Emily Bestler): The authors of the “impossible to put down” (The Guardian) thriller Old Country return with a terrifying novel about a wilderness camp for troubled teens that is plagued by mysterious events and disappearances, taking survival and discipline to a frightening extreme.
Bury Your Gays, Chuck Tingle (Jul 9, Nightfire): From Chuck Tingle, author of the USA Today bestselling Camp Damascus, comes a new heart-pounding story about what it takes to succeed in a world that wants you dead. Misha is a jaded scriptwriter who has been working in Hollywood for decades, and has just been nominated for his first Oscar. But when he’s pressured by his producers to kill off a gay character in the upcoming season finale–“for the algorithm“–Misha discovers that it’s not that simple. As he is haunted by his past, and past mistakes, Misha must risk everything to find a way to do what’s right–before it’s too late.
Confessions of the Dead, James Patterson & J. D. Barker (Jul 9, Grand Central): The dead tell no tales… unless they swam in Cemetery Lake. Hollows Bend, New Hampshire, is a picture-perfect New England town where weekend tourists flock to see fall leaves and eat breakfast at the Stairway Diner. The crime rate—zero–is a point of pride for Sheriff Ellie Pritchett. The day the stranger shows up is when the trouble starts. The sheriff and her deputy investigate the mysterious teenage girl. None of the locals can place her. She can’t—or won’t—answer any questions. She won’t even tell them her name. While the girl is in protective custody, the officers are called to multiple crime scenes leading them closer and closer to a lake outside of town that doesn’t appear on any map…
The Haunted States of America (Jul 9, Godwin): Fifty two different stories. Fifty two different Authors. Endless fright for all ages. From the Jersey Devil to La Llorona, each story included introduces a new chill inducing, stomach churning monster, spectre, or poltergeist certain to keep you up at night. A broad ranging collection of authors, including seasoned veterans and some first timers making a fright-tastic debut, have all united to unearth the scariest lore from each state in the US, as well as D.C. and Puerto Rico. Make sure to strap in for this spooky cross country tour, but be extra careful not to let any of these terrors follow you home.
The Nightmare Box and Other Stories, Cynthia Gómez (Jul 9, Cursed Morsels): A young queer man finds love at a magical clothing shop—and the courage to stand up to the homophobic cops. A witch who makes custom nightmares wonders why all her victims are connected to the Black Panthers—and who she’s really working for. A soon-to-be father encounters a mysterious hitchhiker who tries pulling him back to the days of his violent past. A brand-new vampire, freshly hired at the blood bank, delights in her heightened sexual desire and superhuman strength. Cynthia Gómez’s debut collection is a magic-soaked love story to Oakland, brimming with feminist rage. Its twelve stories center ordinary people – Latine, queer, working class – as they wield supernatural powers against oppression, loneliness, and dread.
Hell Pig, Anthony Engebretson (Jul 14, Off Limits): Something is ripping its way across the Sandhills of Nebraska, and one small town will never be the same.
The Atropine Tree, Sarah Read (Jul 16, Bad Hand): Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets. When Alrick Aldane returns to his family’s house, he expects to simply inherit his father’s land and title. Instead, he discovers that he is also heir to the property’s disturbing history–one full of witchcraft–and a ghostly mystery that could condemn him to a fate worse than death.
The Building That Wasn’t, Abigail Miles (Jul 16, CamCat): When Everly Tertium encounters a strange man in the park claiming to be her grandfather, she is invited to visit a mysterious apartment building. There, she finds herself in a constant state of déjà vu, impossibly certain that she’s already lived through these moments, already been introduced to these people, and already visited all of these rooms and floors. So why does she have no idea what’s happening to her? The longer she stays in the building, the more Everly becomes convinced there is more going on than meets the eye. Something is off, time seems to pass differently, and the people living there seem trapped. Slowly, Everly begins to wonder if she is trapped too. But would she even want to leave, if she could?
Don’t Eat the Pie, Monique Asher (Jul 16, Rising Action Publishing Collective): When her mother-in-law falls ill, Sam dutifully moves her family to Edenic Camillia Island to care for her. The island residents, namely the older women, welcome Sam and her daughter Emma with open arms, endless cocktails, and plenty of superstition. It seems perfect until it’s not. The house next to her mother-in-law’s is creepy—not only that, it’s where Ben’s first wife died. Sam’s teen daughter Emma isn’t interested in spending the summer in Camilia. It gets even worse when Emma starts to see things—knowing that there are ghosts trying to warn her of something, but what? Despite Emma’s pleas, Sam doesn’t want to rock the boat with her new family. Emma won’t pretend nothing is happening, especially as the messages become more grim and frequent. What secrets are buried on Camilia Island? And why are all the residents keen on keeping them quiet?
I Was A Teenage Slasher, Stephan Graham Jones (Jul 16, Saga): From New York Times bestselling horror writer Stephen Graham Jones comes a classic slasher story with a twist—perfect for fans of Riley Sager and Grady Hendrix. 1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton—and a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge. Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.
Portrait of a Shadow, Meriam Metoui (Jul 16, Henry Holt): A missing sister. A mysterious boy. And a painting that holds the truth beneath its peeling edge… From the author of A Guide to the Dark comes another tender horror story about the lengths we are willing to go for the truth and the ones we love.
Slow Burn, Mike Allen (Jul 16, Mythic Delirium): 14 horror stories and 13 supernaturally inflected poems exploring all things twisted and terrifying.
Smothermoss, Alisa Alering (Jul 16, Tin House): Unsettling, propulsive, and chillingly atmospheric, Alisa Alering’s Smothermoss opens a hidden door into a world caught between rural gothic and fairytale, inviting the reader to renegotiate what is seen and unseen, what is real and what is haunted.
That Which Stands Outside, Mark Morris (Jul 16, Flame Tree Press): That Which Stands Outside is a horror novel inspired by Nordic folklore. After Todd Kingston rescues Yrsa Helgerson from muggers one rainy London night, their resulting friendship quickly develops into a romance. When Yrsa’s mother dies, Todd accompanies her back to her childhood home, an isolated Nordic island. The reception they receive there is one of suspicion and hostility. The islanders believe Yrsa to be a child of a mythic race called the Jötnar, a claim which Yrsa dismisses as superstitious nonsense. But as the island is rocked by a series of devastating events, Todd finds himself caught up in a terrifying battle, one which possibly threatens the future of the world itself.
Trespass Against Us, Leon Kemp (Jul 16, HarperTeen): Perfect for fans of Ace of Spades and The Taking of Jake Livingston, this young adult horror debut is told in dual timelines, following a group of teens as they visit an abandoned school for troubled youth and then return two years later to confront the supernatural evil they awoke there.
The West Passage, Jared Pechaček (Jul 16, Tordotcom): A palace the size of a city, ruled by giant Ladies of unknowable, eldritch origin. A land left to slow decay, drowning in the debris of generations. All this and more awaits you within The West Passage, a delightfully mysterious and intriguingly weird medieval fantasy unlike anything you’ve read before.
Wings of Sorrow, Yolanda Sfetsos (Jul 19, DarkLit): When Thera inherits a house on the cliff from her estranged aunt, her husband suggests they spend a week on the coast to sort through her family’s belongings. But Hector has ulterior motives and hopes she’ll fall in love with this gothic location. Instead, these newlyweds find themselves trapped inside a house concealing an ancient family secret that might tear them apart before they get the chance to start their lives together.
Alley, Junji Ito (Jul 23, Viz): Legendary horror author Junji Ito presents ten bloodcurdling short stories. Every night, a young man hears children playing outside his boarding house—but the alley below his window is fenced off from the world. Then, when a young woman’s family starts acting strangely at the same time she begins having bizarre dreams, she decides to stay with her aunt, but the town she heads for has neither addresses nor roads… Also, an all-you-can-eat ice cream bus that’s more sinister than sweet!
The Body Harvest, Michael J. Seidlinger (Jul 23, CLASH): J.G. Ballard’s Crash meets Albert Camus’s The Plague in a transgressive horror novel for the TikTok generation.
The Deading, Nicholas Belardes (Jul 23, Erewhon): Stephen King’s Under the Dome meets The Last of Us in this harrowing dystopian novel about the downward spiral of a seaside town that becomes infected by a mysterious ocean-borne contagion.
The Dissonance, Shaun Hamill (Jul 23, Pantheon): From the acclaimed author of A Cosmology of Monsters (“I loved it” – Stephen King) comes an epic contemporary fantasy, a mixture of The Magicians and It a story of dark magic, terrible mistakes, and second chances.
The Drowning House, Cherie Priest (Jul 23, Poisoned Pen): A violent storm washes a mysterious house onto a rural Pacific Northwest beach, stopping the heart of the only woman who knows what it means. Her grandson, Simon Culpepper, vanishes in the aftermath, leaving two of his childhood friends to comb the small, isolated island for answers–but decades have passed since Melissa and Leo were close, if they were ever close at all. Now they’ll have to put aside old rivalries and grudges if they want to find or save the man who brought them together in the first place–and on the way they’ll learn a great deal about the sinister house on the beach, the man who built it, and the evil he’s bringing back to Marrowstone Island. From award-winning author Cherie Priest comes a deeply haunting and atmospheric horror-thriller that explores the lengths we’ll go to protect those we love.
In the Lonely Hours, Shannon Morgan (Jul 23, Kensington): In a bewitchingly melancholy, thrillingly modern ghost story for readers of Eve Chase, Megan Shepherd, and Lisa Jewell, the new inhabitants of a centuries-old castle perched on a remote island in northwest Scotland must confront its tragic and terrifying history…
No Road Home, John Fram (Jul 23, Atria): A young father must clear his name and protect his queer son when his wealthy new wife’s televangelist grandfather is found murdered in this unputdownable locked-room thriller from the acclaimed author of The Bright Lands–perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, Paul Tremblay, and Alex North.
So Witches We Became, Jill Baguchinsky (Jul 23, Little, Brown): Evoking Stephen King’s The Mist and perfect for fans of Rory Power and Courtney Summers, this queer, feminist horror follows a girl who finds her voice and steps into her witchy power.
The Blonde Dies First, Joelle Wellington (Jul 30, Simon & Schuster BYR): A group of friends fight to choose their own fates in this trope-savvy, self-referential YA thriller from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games, about a demonic force that acts according to horror movie rules in the spirit of the Scream movies.
The Creepening of Dogwood House, Eden Royce (Jul 30, Walden Pond Press): The Walter Award Honor-winning author of Root Magic returns with a terrifying story in the Southern Gothic tradition, inspired by the hoodoo practice of hair burning.
Ghost Camera, Darcy Coates (Jul 30, Poisoned Pen Press): When Jenine finds an abandoned polaroid camera, she playfully snaps a photo without a second thought. But there’s something wrong with the image: a ghostly figure stands in the background, watching her. Fixated on her. Moving one step closer with every picture she takes. Desperate, Jenine shares her secret with her best friend, Bree. Together they realize the camera captures unsettling impressions of the dead. But now the ghosts seem to be following the two friends. And with each new photo taken, a terrible danger grows ever clearer…
Heads Will Roll, Josh Winning (Jul 30, Putnam): Willow’s worst nightmare was being cancelled. But the shadows in the woods of Camp Castaway might destroy more than her reputation.
It Came from the Trees, Ally Russell (Jul 30, Delacorte): The legend of Bigfoot gets a bone-chilling update in this scary story about a young girl and her scout troop who are willing to brave the woods to find her missing friend when no one else will. Perfect for fans of Daka Hermon and Claribel A. Ortega!
Our Wicked Histories, Amy Goldsmith (Jul 30, Delacorte): A teen girl’s attempt to make amends with her former friend group takes a sinister turn during a weekend getaway at an ancestral Irish estate in this atmospheric, literary horror from the author of Those We Drown.
Stay on the Line, Clay McLeod Chapman (Jul 30, Shortwave): After a small coastal town is devastated by a hurricane, survivors gravitate toward a long out-of-service payphone in hopes of talking out their grief and saying goodbye to loved ones, only for it to begin ringing on its own. But as more townspeople answer the call, friends and family believed to have been lost to the storm begin searching for a way back home. This novelette features several new illustrations by Trevor Henderson.
The Extravaganza Eternia, Kristin Osani (Jul, Ghost Orchid): In this darkly fantastical mystery, a relationship-phobic circus performer must fake friendship with fellow troupers to find the killer of their supernatural star, or risk losing her contract with the powerful ringmaster—and protection from her curse along with it.
Mister Howl, T.W. Burgess (Jul): A book containing old photos of film footage and notes is unearthed in a private lockup, forgotten for over twenty years. As the reader turns the pages, a story soon becomes apparent. A young boy, confined to his bedroom, bearing witness to a horrific haunting in an adjacent city block. The boy’s only means of recording the supernatural occurrences, his camcorder and photographs. But the medium is far too basic to record the incidents clearly. The horror lying almost concealed between the shadows and the scanlines. Now, after 20 years you’re invited to bear witness to these cursed frames too.
Poe and I, Matthew Mercier (Jul, Crystal Lake): Jonah Peabody takes a job as caretaker and head docent for a historical house in The Bronx that once served as the last home for Edgar Allan Poe, a job that requires him to live on the premises so he can give tours on the weekend. To be more precise, he must live in the basement of Poe’s home—Poe’s Basement—much like Jonah’s creator, Matthew Mercier, did himself, many and many a year ago. The author truly did work at Poe’s house for 5 years, and so he’d like you to believe he’s an expert on all things Edgar, but he’s as unreliable as his unbalanced anti-hero, and since this is a novel and not a memoir, it is, in all honesty, a pack of stinking lies. However, it’s also wild, funny, irreverent, terrifying, and soaked in melancholy, a tale of family darkness, sickness, revenge, and weird museums of unholy treasures.
SPLIT SCREAM Volume Five, ed. Alex Ebenstein (Jul, Tenebrous): The fifth volume of editor Alex Ebenstein’s acclaimed twin novelette series, in the spirit of classic horror double features! Grab some popcorn, turn the lights low, and don’t be afraid to scream. Authors to be announced.

August

Blood Like Mine, Stuart Neville (Aug 6, Soho Crime): Stay on the move. Stay out of sight. In LA Times Book Prizewinner Stuart Neville’s daring foray into horror fiction, a mother takes desperate measures to protect her daughter in a sinister, blood-chilling highway pursuit across the American West.
Eye of the Beholder, Emma Bamford (Aug 6, Gallery): Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller Vertigo, the author of the “subtle and ominous” (Lee Child) debut Deep Water returns with a wholly original and sinister novel about the beauty industry, a ghostwriter, and the reappearance of the lover she thought was dead.
Ghost Mother, Kelly Dwyer (Aug 6, Union Square): Ghost Mother is a mesmerizing psychological ghost story that blurs the thin line between reality and delusion. Perfect for fans of classic, gothic horror fiction, like Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw and Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, as well as contemporary suspense and horror fiction by everyone from Stephen King to Ruth Ware.
House of Bone and Rain, Gabino Iglesias (Aug 6, Mulholland): In the latest from Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Devil Takes You Home, a group of five teenage boys in Puerto Rico seek vengeance after one of their mothers is murdered; a Latinx Stand By Me with a haunted, obsidianly dark heart.
Hum, Helen Phillips (Aug 6, Marysue Rucci Books): From the National Book Award-longlisted author of The Need comes an extraordinary novel about a wife and mother who–after losing her job to AI–undergoes a procedure that renders her undetectable to surveillance…but at what cost?
A Mask of Flies, Matthew Lyons (Aug 6, Nightfire): A crime horror novel which blends It Follows and The Outsider, with a pinch of The Evil Dead, in which a criminal and the cop she’s taken hostage must find their way to safety – pursued by threats both human and supernatural – after a failed bank robbery. A Mask of Flies is a gritty, heartfelt meditation on death, family, and the ever-changing, monstrous nature of grief.
Mystery Lights, Lena Valencia (Aug 6, Tin House): Set primarily in deserts throughout the American Southwest, Lena Valencia’s Mystery Lights is a debut collection of stories about women and girls at the crossroads of mundane daily life and existential dread. From the all-too-real horror of a sexual predator on a college campus to a lost sister transformed by cave-dwelling creatures, Mystery Lights grapples with terrors both familiar and fantastic, introducing an electrifying new voice in contemporary fiction while bringing to light the many faces of the forces that haunt us.
Rule of Three, Sam Ripley (Aug 6, Atria/Emily Bestler Books): The Whisper Man meets the paranoia of The Blair Witch Project in this terrifying suspense thriller about an urban legend coming true.
The Unmothers, Leslie J. Anderson (Aug 6, Quirk): In this raw, lyrical novel of folk horror, a journalist sent to a small town begins to unravel a dark secret that the women of the town have been keeping for generations. This atmospheric tale of female rage, bodily autonomy, and generational trauma will haunt readers long after they’ve turned the last page.
The Witch’s Secret, Stacie Murphy (Aug 6, Pegasus Crime): Alone and in a new, unfamiliar place, a young witch discovers a murderous plot to turn the tide of the Civil War–which also might be the key to getting her powers and place in society back, if it doesn’t kill her first.
Dear Hanna, Zoje Stage (Aug 13, Thomas & Mercer): A sequel/companion to Baby Teeth, in which a grown-up Hanna is dealing with her stepdaughter’s bad decisions and the inevitable–and possibly fatal–repercussions.
Read at Your Own Risk, Remy Lai (Aug 13, Henry Holt): Read at Your Own Risk is the illustrated sketch diary of a girl who is being haunted after a game goes terribly wrong and an evil spirit starts conversing with her on the page–perfect for fans of R.L. Stine and Steven Seagle’s Camp Midnight.
Through the Midnight Door, Katrina Monroe (Aug 13, Poisoned Pen): As emotional as it is haunting, Through the Midnight Door explores the sometimes-fragile bonds of sisterhood and the way deeply rooted trauma can pass from generation to generation.
Blackheart Man, Nalo Hopkinson (Aug 20, Saga): The magical island of Cynchin is facing conquerors from abroad and something sinister from within in this entrancing dark fantasy from the Grand Master Award–winning author Nalo Hopkinson.
Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo, Adam Cesare (Aug 20, Harper): Quinn has just survived yet another bloody run-in with the murderous clown Frendo, but somehow still she knows this won’t be the last. Tired of being hunted and seeing innocent people hurt, Quinn believes the only way to beat the horror is to take justice into her own hands–and stop the Frendo followers herself. Little does she know that this path will take her across cornfields and state lines, to where she will have to face the most dangerous and bloody menace yet: True believers. It’s an all-new tale in this terrifying series about the villains inside us all, from the master of slashers and suspense, award-winning author Adam Cesare.
Helga, Catherine Yu (Aug 20, Page Street): Helga is not the obedient science experiment her father intended. And though she has only just awoken, he leaves her in the care of his lab assistant Penny to go on a business trip. Bursting with curiosity, Helga quickly escapes from the well-meaning Penny and heads into Amaris City. There Helga finds she is as untamable as the invasive blackberry vines overtaking the island. And because of the misdeeds of her father’s scientific community, the natural world grows more volatile. Helga soon discovers the night market, rowdy clubs, delicious food, and cute boys. Enamored with city life, she’ll do anything to find love–but she has only two weeks until her father gets back, and besides there are ominous rumblings from the volcanic island that could put her dating schemes, and even her own life, in grave peril.
Sacrificial Animals, Kailee Pedersen (Aug 20, St. Martin’s Press): Inspired by Kailee Pedersen’s own journey being adopted from Nanning, China in 1996 and growing up on a farm in Nebraska, this rich and atmospheric supernatural horror debut explores an ancient Chinese mythology.
We Love the Nightlife, Rachel Koller Croft (Aug 20, Berkley): Locked in a toxic female friendship, two vampires careen toward catastrophe in this dark and dazzling page-turner, set amidst London’s glittering disco scene.
When You Leave I Disappear, David Niall Wilson (Aug 20, Shortwave): USA Today bestselling author David Niall Wilson’s When You Leave I Disappear is a literary horror novella in which a bestselling author’s imposter syndrome draws her into a darker and darker world from which she may never escape.
Crypt of the Moon Spider, Nathan Ballingrud (Aug 27, Tor Nightfire): A dark and dreamy fantasy about greed, corruption, and selfhood. Together, they weave the stickiest of webs. Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe. It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas. But trouble lurks in many a mind at this facility and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.
The Madness, Dawn Kurtagich (Aug 27, Graydon House): With one unexpected email from her estranged best friend, Lucy, Mina Murray’s carefully curated life is turned upside down. Leaving behind her psychiatric practice in London, she returns to the windswept shores of Wales. She soon discovers that Lucy’s symptoms mirror those of her mysterious patient with amnesia hundreds of miles away. With nothing but an untreatable sickness connecting the two women, and with Lucy’s life on the line, Mina finds herself asking questions and being drawn ever-deeper into a web of secrets, missing girls, and the powerful, nameless force at its center–one that has been haunting her for years.
The Queen, Nick Cutter (Aug 27, Gallery): The national bestselling author of #HorrorBookTok sensation The Troop returns with a heart-pounding novel of terror about a young woman searching for her missing friend and uncovering a shocking truth.
The Howling Between Worlds, E.M. Otero (Aug 29, Unveiling Nightmares): A mecha horror book that’s equal parts Gundam and Call of Cthulhu.
Sarafina, Philip Fracassi (Aug, Earthling): Sarafina is a Civil War-era horror novel coming fall 2024, in a limited edition, from Earthling Publications.
TRVE CVLT, Michael Bettendorf (Aug, Tenebrous): An interactive new weird horror gamebook novel in which the readers themselves will be responsible for achieving trve black metal infamy or plunging the world into an apocalyptic occult wasteland.
Whatever Happened to Jo Rose?, Chris DiLeo (Aug, Grindhouse): Haley Fields is forced to confront her past traumas when her best friend, Emma, and an aging actress, Jo Rose, entangle her in a cult that exacts vengeance on men.

September

American Ghoul, Michelle McGill-Vargas (Sept 3, Blackstone): A wildly entertaining debut from Michelle McGill-Vargas, American Ghoul deftly combines horror and social commentary–with a dash of a buddy comedy–in an innovative twist on the vampire genre.
Compound Fracture, Andrew Joseph White (Sept 3, Peachtree Teen): Bestselling and award-winning author Andrew Joseph White returns with a queer Appalachian thriller, that pulls no punches, for teens who see the failures in our world and are pushing for radical change. A gut-wrenching story following a trans autistic teen who survives an attempted murder, only to be drawn into the generational struggle between the rural poor and those who exploit them.
Discontinue If Death Ensues, ed. Carol Gyzander and Anna Taborska (Sept 3, Flame Tree): Fifteen horror stories and five poems about women, written by five women, facing down the grim tipping point of humanity and offering a glimpse of the hope to come.
Frankenstein’s Monster, J.S. Barnes (Sept 3, Titan): A bold, unique sequel to Mary Shelley’s classic work of literature from the author of Dracula’s Child and The City of Dr Moreau.
Haunt Sweet Home, Sarah Pinsker (Sept 3, Tordotcom): On the set of a kitschy reality TV show, staged scares transform into unnerving reality in this spooky ghost novella from multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Sarah Pinsker.
The Haunting of Moscow House, Olesya Salnikova Gilmore (Sept 3, Berkley): In this elegant gothic horror tale set in post-revolutionary Russia, two once aristocratic sisters race to uncover their family’s long-buried secrets in a house haunted by a past dangerous—and deadly—to remember.
Horror For Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch, Emily C. Hughes (hey, that’s me!) (Sept 3, Quirk): A smart, funny crash course in the horror movie canon, from Psycho to Hereditary, for people who love getting the reference but hate being scared. You don’t have to miss out just because you don’t like to be frightened! Stop trying to read nonsensical Wikipedia plot summaries (we know you’re doing it), and let an expert tell you everything you need to know about the most influential horror films of the past 60 years—without a single jump scare or a drop of gore. With a rundown of the history and significance of horror cinema, explanations of common tropes, and detailed entries on 25 important movies ranging from Night of the Living Dead to The Blair Witch Project to Get Out, Horror for Weenies will turn even the scarediest of cats into a confident connoisseur.
Immortal Dark, Tigest Girma (Sept 3, Little Brown): The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia YA debut, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.
The Night Guest, Hildur Knutsdottir; trans. Mary Robinette Kowal (Sept 3, Nightfire): An eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík that’s sure to keep you awake at night. Iðunn knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something’s not right, but doctors dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven’t revealed any cause. When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same — have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps. Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night…
Out of the Drowning Deep, A.C. Wise (Sept 3, Berkley): In the distant future, when mortals mingle with the gods in deep space, an out-of-date automaton, a recovering addict, and an angel race to solve the Pope’s murder in an abandoned corner of the galaxy.
Pay the Piper, George A. Romero & Daniel Kraus (Sept 3, Union Square): A terrifying tale of supernatural horror set in a cursed Louisiana bayou, from the minds of legendary director George Romero and bestselling author Daniel Kraus. Alligator Point, Louisiana, population 141: Young Renée Pontiac has heard stories of “the Piper”–a murderous swamp entity haunting the bayou–her entire life. But now the legend feels horrifically real: children are being taken and gruesomely slain. To resist, Pontiac and the town’s desperate denizens will need to acknowledge the sins of their ancestors–the infamous slave traders, the Pirates Lafitte. If they don’t… it’s time to pay the piper.
We Came to Welcome You, Vincent Tirado (Sept 3, William Morrow): The Other Black Girl meets Midsommar in this spine-chilling, propulsive psychological adult debut from highly acclaimed author Vincent Tirado, in which a married couple moves into a gated “community” that slowly creeps into a pervasive dread akin to the social horror of Jordan Peele and Lovecraft County—We Came to Welcome You cleverly uses the uncanny to illuminate the cultish, shocking nature of systemic racism.
Bound in Blood: Stories of Cursed Books, Damned Libraries and Unearthly Authors, ed. Johnny Mains (Sept 10, Titan): A terrifying and chilling anthology of over 20 original stories by award-winning writers exploring cursed and haunted books; featuring malevolent second-hand books, cursed novelizations, unsettling journals and the end of the world. Perfect for fans of When Things Get Dark.
The Devil By Name, Keith Rosson (Sept 10, Random House): No one expected the apocalypse would be broadcast via phone call. But in this chilling sequel to Fever House, anyone who managed to survive that doomsday call has a harrowing answer to the question, “Where were you when the Message came through?”
Good Night, Sleep Tight, Brian Evenson (Sept 10, Coffee House): From the “master of literary horror” (GQ) comes a collection of new stories tracing the limits and consequences of artificial intelligence and “post-human” relationships. Populated by twins stepping into worlds of absence, bears who lick their cubs into creation, and artificial beings haunted by their less-than-human nature, each page sketches a world where our all-too-real feelings of isolation and ecological dread take on an otherworldly tinge. In Good Night, Sleep Tight, Brian Evenson deftly weaves ethical dilemmas, maternal warmth, and echoes of apocalypse into his most tender, disquieting book yet.
Guillotine, Delilah S. Dawson (Sept 10, Titan): The Menu meets Ready or Not in this dark tale of opulent luxury and shocking violence from the New York Times bestselling author of Bloom.
Monster Movie!, Chuck Wendig (Sept 10, Little, Brown Children’s): A boy must face his many fears to save his friends from a cursed videotape in this new middle grade book from Wendig.
Nightmare of a Trip, Maureen Kilmer (Sept 10, Putnam): A horror-tinged National Lampoon’s Vacation: This is one family getaway they’ll never forget. Leigh Somerset wants to spend some quality time with her kids before they grow up, and her husband has always fancied himself sort of a Clark Griswold figure. So the Somersets will be spending their family vacation on the road, driving from suburban Milwaukee to Orlando, Florida. Already off to a rocky start, when they stumble upon an abandoned, half-burned farmhouse in Indiana, the Somersets inadvertently unleash an eerie past that will follow them the rest of their trip. From creepy indoor waterparks to paranormal-activity plagued Cracker Barrels, it’s one thing after another in the pursuit of the great American summer road trip. Will the Somersets be able to shake these bad vibes and get on with family bonding, or will the road less traveled become the highway to hell?
Not a Speck of Light, Laird Barron (Sept 10, Bad Hand Books): Bram Stoker Award-winning author Laird Barron returns to the dark and dreadful with his fifth horror collection, which weaves sixteen weird tales into a mosaic of the bloody and the macabre.
So Thirsty, Rachel Harrison (Sept 10, Berkley): A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes in this juicy, thrilling novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep.
This World is Not Yours, Kemi Ashing-Giwa (Sept 10, Nightfire): A sci-fi horror novella about a toxic polycule on a sentient planet.
William, Mason Coile (Sept 10, Putnam): Psychological horror meets cyber noir in this delicious, one-sitting read—a haunted house story in which the haunting is by AI.
An Academy for Liars, Alexis Henderson (Sept 17, Ace): A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger.
Bitter is the Heart, Mina Hardy (Sept 17, Crooked Lane): Haunted by childhood abuse, a woman is forced to care for her cruel elderly mother in this electrifying horror novel exploring generational trauma, perfect for fans of Cassandra Khaw and T. Kingfisher.
Dearest, Jacquie Walters (Sept 17, Mulholland): A new mom in need of help opens her door to her long-estranged mother only to realize she’s invited something much darker into her home in this debut novel perfect for fans of Grady Hendrix, Rachel Harrison, and Ashley Audrain.
Evil in Me, Brom (Sept 17, Nightfire): Evil in Me is bestselling author Brom’s newest novel of possession, damnation and rock-n-roll, where one woman must get the whole world singing in order to save her immortal soul.
Hampton Heights: One Harrowing Night in the Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dan Kois (Sept 17, Harper Perennial): From the author of the Washington Post notable novel Vintage Contemporaries, something completely unexpected: a hair-raising and rollicking adventure set on one night in 1987, when six paperboys must confront a slew of monsters as well as their own personal demons in a haunted Midwestern neighborhood.
Night Owls, A.R. Vishny (Sept 17, Harper): In this thrilling paranormal YA romance debut steeped in folklore, two estries—owl-shifting female vampires from Jewish tradition—face New York’s monstrous underworld to save the girl one of them loves with help from the boy one of them fears before they are, all of them, lost forever.
Such Lovely Skin, Tatiana Schlote-Bonne (Sept 17, Page Street YA): When Vivian, a 17-year-old Twitch streamer, confesses to an “NPC” in a videogame that she killed her baby sister, she welcomes a demonic mimic into her life. This mimic is so accurate it can fool anyone, even her parents. It has ruined countless lives before Vivian’s—other streamers and people spanning back centuries. To stop it, or even just survive it, she will have to follow its chain of victims back and embark on a journey to meet its only remaining survivor before it destroys her life and the lives of everyone she loves. Vivian’s slashed her way through plenty of bad guys and boss battles online but killing a demon IRL is a bit harder—especially when the more misery the demon causes her, the stronger it becomes.
A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories, Mariana Enriquez, trans. Megan McDowell (Sept 17, Hogarth): A diabolical collection of stories featuring achingly human characters whose lives intertwine with ghosts, the occult, and the macabre by “one of Latin America’s most exciting authors” (Silvia Moreno-Garcia)
Cicada, Tanya Pell (Sept 24, Shortwave): Ash is stranded at a rural horror film festival about a giant killer cicada and can’t decide what’s worse, the movie or her idiot boyfriend, until she realizes she’s starring in the bloody sequel when people start dying and the locals won’t let them leave.
The Darkest Night, ed. Lindy Ryan (Sept 24, Crooked Lane): From some of the biggest names in horror comes an Advent calendar of short stories perfect for the darkest nights of the year. Edited by award-winning author and anthologist Lindy Ryan, this horrific anthology will chill you to the bone.
Devils Kill Devils, Johnny Compton (Sept 24, Nightfire): Devils Kill Devils is perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Certain Dark Things and Southern gothic horror. Johnny Compton brings his trademark terror and dread that readers fell in love with in The Spite House to a new roster of monsters—angels, devils, vampires—and a heart-pounding race to save the world.
Final Cut, Charles Burns (Sept 24, Pantheon): The beloved and award-winning author of BLACK HOLE’s haunting and visually arresting story of an artist’s obsessions, and the value and cost of pushing the boundaries of creativity.
The Hitchcock Hotel, Stephanie Wrobel (Sept 24, Berkley): A Hitchcock fanatic with an agenda invites old friends for a weekend stay at his secluded themed hotel in this fiendishly clever, suspenseful new novel from the international bestselling author of Darling Rose Gold.
I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, Jason Pargin (Sept 24, St. Martin’s): A standalone darkly humorous thriller set in modern America’s age of anxiety, by New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin.
Necrology, Meg Ripley (Sept 24, Creature): In a fantastical aftermath of the Salem witch trials, magical women known as the Dirty have signed a contract swearing off their innate magic in exchange for freedom from violence by non-magical Freemen. Two hundred years later, in a Catskills orphanage, headmistress Whitetail has sprouted antlers—proof of a violated contract. When her wealthy benefactor visits, proposing marriage, her appearance sparks abuse. Rushing to her teacher’s defense, eight-year-old Rabbit curses the Beard dead, and Whitetail’s arrested on trumped-up charges. As Whitetail awaits her trial and execution, Rabbit is groomed as the Freemen’s star witness and learns of the terrifying reality to which they aspire. With her magic at stake and a loose tooth in her mouth, Rabbit has little left to lose. And a revolution to gain.
Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror, edited & translated by Xueting C. Ni (Sept 24, Solaris): An anthology of chilling tales from contemporary China, translated into English for the very first time.
Sleep Tight, J.H. Markert (Sept 24, Crooked Lane): The sole survivor of a serial killer might hold the key to stopping a new spree of murders in this propulsive thriller in the vein of The Black Phone and The Whisper Man. Dark and twisting at every turn, fans of Catriona Ward will love this chilling new tale from the deviously inventive horror author that Peter Farris calls the “clear heir to Stephen King.”
Tiny Threads, Lilliam Rivera (Sept 24, Del Rey): A young woman gets her dream job working for a famous designer—and discovers the dark side of the glamorous world of fashion—in this gorgeously sinister novel of supernatural suspense.
Where I End, Sophie White (Sept 24, Kensington): Winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. A modern gothic horror where a young woman falls into a dark obsession after a new artist and her baby arrive on her small Irish island.
Errant Roots, Sonora Taylor (Sept 26, Raw Dog Screaming): Deirdre’s family tree was never something she thought much about. For 24 years it’s just been her and her mother. But when she accidentally gets pregnant her mother insists they go back to their family roots. Now Deirdre is about to discover just what kind of sinister soil her family has sprouted from.
Familiar, Jeremy C. Shipp (Sept, Ghoulish): Two sisters hunt down killers and collect body parts, all the while complicating their lives with volatile magics, bizarre visions, and a mysterious mouth in the wall that may or may not be altogether trustworthy.
Ghost Apparent, Jelena Dunato (Sept, Ghost Orchid): Betrayed, deposed and presumed dead. When her father is killed in a bloody coup and her uncle seizes the city, Orsiana pleads for help with the only power still willing to listen, unaware that the gods will use her as a pawn in their own game. As the fires of revolt spread shaking the usurper’s power, the gods raise the stakes, sending an ally who wants Orsiana’s last treasure: her heart. A story of revenge and recovery, Ghost Apparent blends the history and folklore of the Eastern Adriatic with the bloody treachery of the Renaissance courts and is a perfect read for fans of dark political fantasy.
Kill Your Darling, Clay McLeod Chapman (Sept, Bad Hand): The body of Glenn Partridge’s 15-year-old son was discovered in a vacant lot nearly forty years ago. The police are still no closer to finding the murderer decades later. Glenn refuses to let the memory of his son fade—or let anyone else within this small working-class community forget. His long-suffering wife signs him up for an amateur fiction-writing workshop at the local library, just to get him out of the house and out of his own head. Rule number one: Write what you know—so Glenn decides to share his son’s story. The class offers him a chance to make sense of a senseless crime and find the fictional closure life never provided. But as Glenn’s story takes on a life of its own, someone from the past is compelled to come out of hiding before he reaches… The End.

October

The Bog Wife, Kay Chronister (Oct 1, Counterpoint): A gripping and claustrophobic rural gothic horror novel about an isolated family who worship the bog that surrounds them, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher and Stephen Graham Jones.
Coup De Grâce, Sofia Ajram (Oct 1, Titan): A mindbending and visceral experimental horror about a young man trapped in an infinite Montreal subway station, perfect for readers of Mark Z. Danielewski and Susanna Clarke.
The Dark Becomes Her, Judy I. Lin (Oct 1, Rick Riordan Presents): Chinese and Taiwanese mythology get the Junji Ito treatment in this bone-chilling, propulsive YA story that takes the horrors of the Asian diaspora experience to a whole new level.
I’ll Be Waiting, Kelley Armstrong (Oct 1, St. Martin’s): From New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood…
Model Home, Rivers Solomon (Oct 1, MCD): Rivers Solomon turns the haunted-house story on its head, unearthing the dark legacies of segregation and racism in the suburban American South. Unbridled, raw, and daring, Model Home is the story of secret histories uncovered, and of a queer family battling for their right to live, grieve, and heal amid the terrors of contemporary American life.
Northern Nights, ed. Michael Kelly (Oct 1, Undertow): Northern Nights is an anthology of strange stories, featuring the dark dreams and feverish imaginations of Canada’s finest speculative authors. Steel yourself for a journey through these northern nights.
Buoygeist, Tom Rimer (Oct 3, Shadow Spark): An old school supernatural-slasher set on the beaches of Cape Cod in the 1980s.
The Black Hunger, Nicholas Pullen (Oct 8, Redhook): A spine-tingling, queer gothic horror debut where two men are drawn into an otherworldly spiral, and a journey that will only end when they reach the darkest part of the human soul.
The Book of Witching, C.J. Cooke (Oct 8, Berkley): A mother must fight for her daughter’s life in this fierce and haunting tale of witchcraft and revenge from the author of A Haunting in the Arctic.
A Christmas Ghost Story, Kim Newman (Oct 8, Titan): From the acclaimed author of Anno Dracula, the perfect gift for those who love the dark fantastic imaginations of Neil Gaiman and T. Kingfisher, this is a nightmarish tale of a haunted Christmas set deep in the British countryside not too long ago. Cosy traditions are made twisted and terrifying as a mother and son grapple with their painful past.
The Crows, C. M. Rosens (Oct 8, Canelo): Carrie Rickard, leaving an abusive relationship back in London, tries to escape her past by throwing herself into her restoration project: Fairwood House, known to locals of Pagham-on-Sea in Sussex as the Crows. Unable to resist as it whispers to her, Carrie’s obsession only grows when she discovers it was the site of a gruesome unsolved murder. As she digs deeper into the mystery, she awakens dark and dangerous forces. Enter her foul-mouthed neighbor, Ricky Porter, who is as obsessed with the Crows as Carrie is, and who has several secrets of his own… not least of which are what’s really under the hood he wears and what he’s got in the cellar.
Elemental Forces, ed. Mark Morris (Oct 8, Flame Tree): A powerful fifth book in the horror anthology series which Booklist called “Highly recommended for longstanding horror fans and those readers who may not think horror is for them. There is something for everyone in this one.”
The Narrows, Ronald Malfi (Oct 8, Titan): A creepy and atmospheric slice of small town horror from the Bram Stoker award finalist and bestselling author of Come With Me. Perfect for readers of Christopher Golden and fans of Mike Flanagan.
October, Gregory Bastianelli (Oct 8, Flame Tree): In 1970, four boys on the cusp of becoming teenagers notice strange events occurring in Maplewood, NH, timed with the late-night arrival of an old magician who has taken up residence in a boarding house in their neighborhood where one of the tenants is a reclusive pulp horror writer. The writer’s fears have kept him from venturing outside in over forty years, fears linked to the magician’s previous visit. As children go missing in town, the four boys try to piece together seemingly unrelated phenomena and realize dark forces are at work, but no one will believe them.
Red in Tooth and Claw, Lish McBride (Oct 8, Putnam): This edge-of-your-seat YA horror flips Western archetypes for a gritty, edgy, and wholly original read.
This Cursed House, Del Sandeen (Oct 8, Berkley): In this Southern gothic horror debut, a young Black woman abandons her life in 1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans, only to discover the dark truth: They’re under a curse, and they think she can break it.
All the Hearts You Eat, Hailey Piper (Oct 15, Titan): A visceral and heartbreaking work of gothic horror about small town mysteries, local folklore and the things we leave behind when we’re gone, from the Bram Stoker Award winning author of Queen of Teeth.
American Rapture, C.J. Leede (Oct 15, Nightfire): From CJ Leede, the deviant mind behind Maeve Fly, comes a new novel that asks: what would you do if your sexual desires turned you into a monster? American Gods meets Manhunt in this epic and sweeping apocalyptic novel about the unraveling of the world as we know it.
Cold Snap, Lindy Ryan (Oct 15, Titan): A grieving mother and son hope to survive Christmas in a remote mountain cabin in Pennsylvania, in this chilling novella of dread, isolation and sinister spirits lurking in the frozen woods. Perfect for fans of The Only Good Indians, The Shining, and The Babadook.
Curdle Creek, Yvonne Battle-Felton (Oct 15, Henry Holt): For fans of “The Lottery” and The Hunger Games, this novel set in a small town with a sinister tradition is chilling in the best possible way. Curdle Creek is a unique novel exploring themes of home, belonging, motherhood, and what we inherit from society in a highly inventive way. This American gothic offers a mash-up of the surreal and literary horror that will appeal to fans of Ring Shout, The Underground Railroad and Lovecraft Country. Battle-Felton’s fever-dream of a tale is strange and layered and quite unlike anything else.
If I Stopped Haunting You, Colby Wilkens (Oct 15, St. Martin’s Press): An enemies to lovers romance with a spooky twist where two feuding writers end up on a writers retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland.
Rest Stop, Nat Cassidy (Oct 15, Shortwave): A young musician finds himself locked inside a gas station bathroom in the middle of the night by an unseen assailant, caught between the horrors on the other side of the door and the horrors rapidly skittering down the walls inside.
The Unfinished, Cheryl Isaacs (Oct 15, Heartdrum): In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk) pulls the reader into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged. An unmissable horror novel for readers who devoured Trang Thanh Tran’s She Is a Haunting or Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls!
Memorials, Richard Chizmar (Oct 22, Gallery): A group of students encounter a supernatural terror while on a road trip through Appalachia in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the “unforgettable and scary” (Harlan Coben) Chasing the Boogeyman.
The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator’s Search for the Unexplained, Stanley Milford, Jr. (Oct 22, William Morrow): A Navajo Ranger’s chilling and clear-eyed memoir of his investigations into bizarre cases of the paranormal and unexplained over the course of his illustrious career serving the Navajo Nation.
Where the Dead Brides Gather, Nuzo Onoh (Oct 22, Titan): A powerful Nigeria-set horror tale of possession, malevolent ghosts, family tensions, secrets and murder from the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement and ‘Queen of African Horror’. For readers of Tananarive Due, Chikodili Emelumadu and Paul Tremblay.
Don’t Let the Forest In, C.G. Drews (Oct 29, Feiwel & Friends): As alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews’ debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.
Haven, Mia Dalia (Oct 29, CamCat): You can’t choose your family or your destiny or your legacy. But once upon a time, a woman named Ava St. James had tried to build happiness upon the remains of her broken heart. For better or worse. Decades later, the Bakers are headed for a perfect family vacation. A full month at a house by the lake; the house passed down from a mysterious aunt no one ever talks about. Love and good intentions aside, what begins like a relaxing vacation turns into a nightmare as each of the Bakers’ nerves slowly but steadily begin to wear away at the edges. Is it their fraught family dynamics or is something more sinister at work? The house has welcomed them, but will it ever let them leave?
Hiding Lies, Stephanie Rose (Oct 29, Mad Axe): Lydia Walker is a forensic photographer, trudging through life in the shadow of her traumatic past, when she is assigned a case centered around the gruesome murder of a camping couple. Her personal life begins to improve after a chance encounter that makes her feel like she’s finally connected with someone, a fellow tortured soul named Adam. As more victims are unearthed she discovers she has a personal connection to the case, her commitment to the case grows deeper, but her motives remain opaque to her colleagues. Will she sacrifice her reputation and her morality to explore her darker urges? Or will she uphold the justice system that failed her, and never held space for her.
The Exodontists, Drew Huff (Oct, Dark Matter INK): An offbeat horror comedy in which a monstrous but loving family sate their need for teeth by living in and operating an unlicensed dental practice in an abandoned warehouse. When a halloween store moves into their beloved warehouse, a comedy of errors leads to a night of violent ends.
Necrology, Meg Ripley (Oct, Creature Publishing): A feminist folk horror set in a fantastical alternate Upstate New York during the aftermath of the Salem witch trials, in which women have signed a contract to swear off their innate magic in return for freedom from the violence of non-magical men, and it’s up to an eight-year-old orphaned girl to unleash the bloody revolution that will restore the women’s right to wield their power.
Northern Nights, ed. Michael Kelly (Oct, Undertow): Northern Nights is an anthology of dark fiction featuring original fiction from some of Canada’s darkest dreamers, including Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Camilla Grudova, Premee Mohamed, Simon Strantzas, A.C. Wise, and more.
A Spectre is Haunting Greentree, Carson Winter (Oct, Tenebrous): In the wake of a series of panic attacks and personal trauma, Carina flees cross-country to the idyllic town of Greentree, Oregon. Greentree is small, insular, and remote—exactly what she needs. But it’s also oddly wealthy, eccentric, and filled with leering scarecrows. As Carina sheds her past and embraces a new future, she learns the horrible secret history of Greentree, and the freshly planted seeds of a bloody revolution that is sprouting up rapidly around her.

November

Dandelion Roots, Alex Armoredes (Nov 1, Third Estate): Isabella lives in Ioron, a fictional island off the coast of Canada. While the city is steeped in Christmas festivities, she comes home one day to find that her mother has adopted two rabbits. As they integrate into Isabella and her mother’s lives, Isabella becomes increasingly convinced that something is not quite right with them. But will she be too late to find someone that believes her?
The Swarm, Andy Marino (Nov 5, Redhook): From the bizarre and audacious imagination of horror author Andy Marino comes a harrowing tale of the insect that will herald the apocalypse… This panoramic novel of insect apocalypse reaches back into the darkest recesses of the twentieth century and unleashes its horrors on our modern, interconnected world.
Dead Girls Don’t Dream, Nino Cipri (Nov 12, Henry Holt): Riley knows better than to stray from the trail in the woods behind her uncle Toby’s house. But her little sister Sam breaks the rules in pursuit of a local legend, so Riley chases after her and discovers a masked, knife-wielding figure and a waiting grave. Madelyn lives deep in the forest. Subject to her mother’s strict rules, she’s forbidden from leaving home or using her magic–but one night, she risks everything to help a stranger who’s lost in the woods. When Riley is murdered in a strange ritual, Madelyn uses her magic to resurrect her, and their lives are immediately entwined in the gnarled history of Voynich Woods. Riley, who feels trapped in her small town but too afraid to leave, was never a believer, but now the evidence is taking root under her skin. Madelyn has the scars to prove how terrible magic can be, and longs for a life beyond her mother’s grasp. Together, with the ghost of long-dead Jane, they’re forced to uncover the truth about Voynich Woods and the legends within.
The Keeper of the Key, Nicole Willson (Nov 12, Parliament House): From the author of the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Tidepool comes a chilling new gothic horror novel that will sink into your bones. There are a thousand things sixteen-year-old Rachel would rather do than upend her life to move into Morgan House, an old, run-down mansion owned by her mom’s boyfriend, Geoff. St. Mary is a remote, lonely place, and the best thing about it is Nick, a guy she knows is worth keeping when he takes her to a cemetery on their first date. Rachel struggles to get along with Geoff and his mile-long list of annoying house rules—in particular, his bizarre insistence that she stay out of the basement. But something in Morgan House plays by its own rules. At night, an unknown force pulls Rachel down to that forbidden cellar, showing her harrowing visions of a strangely familiar man lurking in the shadows. When a sudden tragedy strikes her family, those visions become more frequent—and more violent. The dead issue urgent warnings, and if Rachel doesn’t heed them, she’ll become part of Morgan House forever.
All That Mankind Fails To Bear, C.S. Humble (Nov, Cemetery Dance): The third book in Humble’s Black Wells trilogy, in print for the first time following the rerelease of the first two books. William Daniels is a professional spiritual intercessor and neither he nor his friend Karl Bishop, truly understood the consequences they would face after combating a blood cult in the depths of the Black Wells sewers. One year after those choices they find themselves beset on all sides by the schemes of both the cult and the demonic forces wholly set against William. Carol Michele, a police detective whose marriage shatters after the death of her son, investigates a brutal occult murder that draws her into the secret labyrinth that so easily hides under Black Wells’ pristine façade. Clues discovered at the crime scene twist Carole’s investigation into William’s strange life when she links the murder victim to the intercessor. William becomes a person of interest to Carol. Likely a suspect. And perhaps, the catalyst for the murders themselves.
A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters, Eric J. Guignard (Nov, Cemetery Dance): The second collection from Guignard.
The Map of Lost Places: A Horror Anthology, ed. Sheree Renée Thomas & Lesley Conner (Nov, Apex Book Co): The Map of Lost Places is a travel guide to hauntings and the haunted, to lands with their own power, and to the communities that spring from these strange realms. Come along as editors Sheree Renée Thomas and Lesley Conner take readers on a tour of places where weird things happen. Places that have strange histories, traditions, and customs. Whether based on real folklore or imagined locations that haunt our authors’ minds, these tales will leave you shaken and uncertain. Should you go down that dark road, follow the hand beckoning you through a doorway? Probably not, but you will when you read The Map of Lost Places.
SPLIT SCREAM Volume Six, ed. Alex Ebenstein (Nov, Tenebrous): The sixth volume of editor Alex Ebenstein’s acclaimed twin novelette series, in the spirit of classic horror double features! Grab some popcorn, turn the lights low, and don’t be afraid to scream. Authors to be announced.

December

Private Rites, Julia Armfield (Dec 3, Flatiron): From the award-winning author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a speculative reimagining of King Lear, centering three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world
The Vengeance, Emma Newman (Dec 3, Solaris): A swashbuckling adventure set in a version of Alexandre Dumas’s world haunted by vampires…

Date TBD

The Abyss, Jere Cunningham (spring, Valancourt): It is the deepest coal mine ever created. But when the miners dig too far, they violate the earth’s most ancient and closely guarded secret. Now blood flows from faucets, and huge thorns tear the ground apart. Now grotesque, half-seen creatures terrorize the town, as the stench of sulfur fills the air. Now the legions of Hell itself raise their unspeakable dominion over heaven and earth from… The Abyss.
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Zachary Rosenberg (spring, DarkLit): More info TK
Lovely Creatures, KT Bryski (spring, Psychopomp): Eugie Award and Aurora Award finalist, playwright, and Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021 contributor KT Bryski’s Lovely Creatures, a novella that transforms classic fairy tales into a traveling circus led by the sinister Mr. Once-Upon-A-Time, through a land beset by dust and drought.
From These Dark Abodes, Lyndsie Manusos (spring, Psychopomp): Book Riot senior contributor, Pushcart nominee, bookseller, and reviewer Lyndsie Manusos’s From These Dark Abodes, a gothic fantasy novella where immortals unzip from their skins and dance in their skeletons, a woman with no memory of her past must choose to either find a way to escape from the madness…or join the immortals in their revelry.
The Truest Sense, Laura Keating (spring, Cemetery Gates Media): A debut short story collection, serving up doomed geologists, monstrous secrets on Atlantic rocky shores, backwoods witches, basement demons, and the dark twins that lurk inside all of us.
Afterlives: The Year’s Best Death Fiction, ed. Vajra Chandrasekera (summer, Psychopomp): A new yearly anthology of the best death-focused fiction published each year.
Failure to Comply, Sarah Cavar (summer, Featherproof Books): More info TK
One Message Remains, Premee Mohamed (summer, Psychopomp): Nebula, Aurora, and World Fantasy award-winning author Premee Mohamed’s One Message Remains, a novella about one man’s mission to recover the remains and souls of enemy soldiers after the latest round of a seemingly neverending war.
The Unquiet Grave, Zachary Rosenberg (June/July, Brigids Gate Press): A newly married Jewish countess learns of the dark secrets in her husband’s family castle and the vampiric creature haunting it–who may be her salvation
Abducted, Patrick Barb (fall, Dark Matter INK): More info TK
Gorse, Sam K. Horton (fall, Solaris): Poldark meets The Bear and the Nightingale in a tale of the battle between folk belief and religion in 18th century Cornwall. Pelagius Hunt – a Keeper responsible for mediating between the worlds of men and fey – and his one-time friend Revered Cleaver battle for the village of Mirecoombe’s soul as death stalks the moor. Only Pel’s ward, changeling Nancy Bligh, can unroot the darkness threatening to swallow them all.
Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse, and Bad Manners, ed. Doug Murano & Michael Bailey (fall, Bad Hand): A new anthology with stories from Clay McLeod Chapman, Chuck Palahniuk, and others.
Night of the Long Knives, Tyler Jones (fall, Earthling): A paranormal investigator is hired by a wealthy man who collects objects owned by killers to find an ancient artifact that may be responsible for many of the most horrific events throughout history.
Sunbathers, Lindz McLeod (winter, Hedone): A queer woman on the run from a horde of cannibalistic sun-vampires sacrifices everything she’s ever loved to become one of them, before realising her new life as a perfect, straight immortal leaves no space for the her true desires.
Around Eldritch Corners, Christine Morgan (tbd, Word Horde): A collection of Morgan’s Lovecraftian horror tales, in which she explores all things weird, unknowable, and tentacled.
The Everywhere House, Mary SanGiovanni (tbd, Thunderstorm Books): A new cosmic horror novel from SanGiovanni.

Did I miss something? Do you or someone you love (or hate, I don’t know your life) have a book coming out in 2024?

Let me know

2 thoughts on “2024’s New Horror Books”

Heather C Alexander says:

January 2, 2024 at 2:28 pm

I’ve been following your lists for years, thank you for making your obsession my obsession!

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Janina says:

December 12, 2023 at 8:44 am

Amazing list! Thank you so much for sharing!

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