Goodbye Halloween, Hello New Releases!

Oh my sweet decaying jack-’o-lanterns, this is going to be the perfect post Halloween read. I could not be more excited. As opposed to the other anthologies on this list which are short and fiction based, A Conjuring for All Seasons is a collection of novelettes from five practicing witches and talented horror authors. Hailey Piper leads the way with “Magic Loves the Hungry” about a woman being haunted by an unknown entity that seems to feed on her anxieties and her hunger to belong. Stephanie M. Wytovich’s “Drawing Down the Sun” is about Anne, the first Clement daughter in over 200 years, who sets out to discover the truth behind the curse that was placed on her family. “Milk Kin” by K.P. Kulski is about a young woman called Ruby who is haunted by the memory of her mother’s abduction by a long-fingered woman from the forest, who returns every year to pierce Ruby’s heel with a long silver needle. Donyae Cole’s “The House of the Heart” is a story about the living practice of hoodoo, family, and knowing when things have gotten too out of hand and it’s time to call in the ancestors. And last but certainly not least, “Longest Night” by Gaby Triana is about two witches “recently out of the broom closet” who decided to throw a Yuletide party that takes an unexpected and deadly turn when it’s crashed by some uninvited guests.

Oh look, Jessica is talking about eco-horror again. But in my defense, this forthcoming anthology from Ghost Orchid Press looks like it’s going to be absolutely amazing. There are a few horror authors that I recognize, like Nico Bell and Sonora Taylor (and Stephanie M. Wytovich, making her second appearance on this list), but there are a lot of new to me authors as well, which is exciting! Chlorophobia explores the many ways in which the earth can turn against us in its attempt to destroy us or drive us off the planet. Everything from killer plants, to dangerous viruses and obliterating fogs!

My only complaint about the Chlorophobia anthology is that the TOC is very white. A lot of horror anthologies have this problem, so I’m not picking on just this one, but lack of diversity in horror anthologies is an ongoing issue, genre wide, and it should be kept in the spotlight. However, to give credit where credit is due, Chlorophobia features a number of queer horror authors!

Shadow Atlas is more heavily dark fiction inclined than strictly horror, but take a look at the list of contributors and you’ll find a lot of familiar horror names! It includes fiction and poetry by, among others, Kay Chronister, Gwendolyn Kiste, Owl Goingback, Josh Malerman, Lee Murray, Christina Sng, Betty Rocksteady, and E. Lily Yu! The premise for the anthology is that a secret organization call the Umbra Arca Society was created to discover the truths the ancients knew about the haunted places of the world that have long since been relegated to myth and superstition. A private league of explorers, the Society dedicated itself to the secret mysteries of the Americas, and each story in the collection represents the work of one of these intrepid adventurers as they set out to explore the dark and dangerous landscapes long forgotten by the modern world.

Just as a note, since I pointed out a similar problem with Chlorophobia, Shadow Atlas does feature work by several authors of color, which I’m really excited about, but we’re still talking about maybe 20% of the total authors featured in the collection. Of course, editors work with both time constraints and, in the case of an indie publisher like Hex Publishers or Ghost Orchid Press, somewhat limited resources, so again I’m definitely not assigning blame to a single anthology. And every TOC that includes authors of color, as Shadow Atlas’ does, helps to promote their work and increase the likelihood that future anthologies will become even more diverse!