Coming to a Shelf Near You: 2023 Horror Books by Black Authors

Does it get better than a queer retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? I honestly don’t think it does. I am so excited for My Dear Henry to finally hit shelves. Everything Kalynn Bayron writes is a win, as far as I’m concerned, and I’m sure this is going to be no exception. Gabriel Utterson knows that something is wrong with his friend Henry Jekyll. Having finally returned to London after scandal imploded his and Henry’s lives two years ago, Gabriel is desperate to find out what has become of his friend and why Henry stopped writing to him. What he finds instead, is Hyde, the strange and charismatic young man who claims to be Henry’s new friend.

Also worth noting, My Dear Henry is actually part of a series of classic story retellings, the Remixed Classics series, which frequently features authors of color and queer retellings.

Raise your hand if you’re also super excited for a new Victor LaValle book! And a historical horror novel to boot! Set in the American West of the early 20th century, LaValle’s newest novel, Lone Women, is about a woman fleeing her past by taking up the government’s offer of free land in Montana to any homesteader to can settle and keep it. And Adelaide isn’t the only one. There are other “lone women” taking their chances on the Montana frontier, but not all of them have Adelaide’s secrets, like the massive steamer trunk that travels with her but which always remains locked. It was Adelaide’s secret that destroyed her family and drove her out of her hometown, but out in the wilds of Montana, it may well be her secret that will help her survive the hardships to come.

Where are my space horror fans? Because wow do I have a must-read book for you. Nightfire has blessed us once again with nightmares from the depths of space! Ness Brown’s novella, The Scourge Between Stars, is a bit of a flip on the sci-fi narrative of colonists going forth to seek the stars (and often finding horrors instead) in that it’s actually about what happens after the long dreamed-of colony has failed. Jacklyn Albright is the acting captain of the Calypso, a starship containing all that remains of humanity. The Calypso is making its way back to Earth after the catastrophic failure of the colony that was supposed to set humanity’s future among the stars. And if the lack of food and the dangers of the crushing void of space around them weren’t bad enough, Jacklyn has reason to suspect that there is something alive onboard her ship that shouldn’t be there — an intruder that might kill them all before they ever make it home.

After how much I loved Tirado’s Burn Down, Rise Up last year, any new books of theirs are always going straight onto my to-buy list, and that definitely includes We Don’t Swim Here. In Hillwoods, nobody goes in the water. Not in pools, not in lakes. No swimming period. Which is unfortunate, because Bronwyn is stuck in the tiny rural town for a year while her father gets her grandmother’s affairs in order, and there’s not much else to do. Everyone is so weird and secretive, all they’ll tell her is “don’t go in the water” but no one will tell her why. Anais, meanwhile, just wants Bronwyn to stop asking why when it comes to Hillwoods. It’s the only way to guarantee that the new girl will be safe from the town’s notice. Anais grew up in Hillwoods, and she has her own means of protecting herself from the town’s secrets. But Anais won’t be able to protect Bronwyn if she can’t keep her from trying to discover the truth about Hillwood’s painful history.