Categories
The Fright Stuff

Long Live the Novella

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

Hey folks. How are you doing? Anyone else look at the calendar and feel surprised that it’s suddenly the middle of April? While at the same time feeling like this year has already been a decade long?

I’m tired, y’all.

Tired enough that sometimes even reading, as much as I love books, feels like too much stimulation/effort for my poor, stressed out brain. Which is too bad, because I could really use the catharsis of some good horror fiction right about now. That’s probably why I’ve been gravitating away from the longer titles on my TBR and more towards the novellas waiting to be read. What’s not to love about novellas? They’re exciting, bite-sized doses of freedom from reality, whether through fantasy, terror, or both. So this week I thought we would celebrate the novella, in all its glory, with some titles that are high on my must-read list.

Before we get started with this week’s picks, however: if you are looking for more book related content for your inbox, like fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading, Book Riot’s new subscription-based newsletter, The Deep Dive, is a way to get exclusive content delivered to you. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com.

Bookish Goods

ban the fascists save the books t-shirt by rosebloomclothing

Ban The Fascists Save The Books Shirt by RoseBloomClothing

Let me start by saying: if this design isn’t your particular preference, but you too want to proudly wear and share your defiance of our current nightmare timeline, definitely give Etsy a quick search because there are SO many excellent variations on this theme. (Including the delightfully alliterative alternative: Ban Bigots Not Books.) I like the bold, colorful approach of this design, and the fact that you can opt for a number of styles, sizes, and colors.

$12

New Releases

cover of the haunting of alejandra by v. castro

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

I’m in love with V. Castro’s new book, and I’m so excited that you all get to read it starting tomorrow! It’s a fantastic, dark, yet hopeful story of grief, anger, and generational trauma, that’s told through the history of a family cursed by a monstrous creature who feeds on their pain and suffering. But Alejandra doesn’t know about the monster or the curse, all she knows is that she feels haunted, both by the life she lives but no longer wants, and by a spectral figure in white who encourages her darkest, saddest thoughts. As she struggles to learn more about herself and her history in order to try and heal, Alejandra finds a legacy of sorrow and loss. A line of women who suffered tragedy, oppression, and cruelty, leading back and back into the past. But alongside their grief, Alejandra also finds their strength, and the means to fight back against the monster before it can consume her and everyone she loves.

cover of even the worm will turn by hailey piper

Even the Worm Will Turn by Hailey Piper

The Worm returns! All hail the Worm! Yes it is finally (almost) that long awaited time: the sequel to The Worm and His Kings will be out on the 22nd, and I am so ready for Hailey Piper to take me on another strange, surreal cosmic horror adventure. Four years after the events of the first book, Donna Ashton is just trying to live her life. You might remember Donna. She went “missing” at the start of book one, and ended up neck deep in a cult. As one does. When she’s suddenly abducted one night, it appears her dangerous past has finally caught up with her. Because the people who took her have done the unthinkable: they’ve created a hole in space and time itself, exposing the darkness beyond the known universe. And in that darkness resides the Worm, and all the terrors of that night four years ago that Donna has tried so hard to forget.

Y’all, I need this book like I need air.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

Cover of And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed

And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed

I’ve had Premee Mohamed’s novella on my reading list ever since I first laid heart eyes on that gorgeous cover. Neon Hemlock really hits it out of the park with the books they publish, and And What Can We Offer You Tonight is no exception. Also, how could I possibly say no to a dark, dystopian story of murder, resurrection, and revenge? Jewel is a courtesan whose friend is violently murdered by a client. But when, by some mysterious circumstance, her friend doesn’t stay dead, the two set out to extract some much deserved vengeance on a cruel and unjust future. But revenge is a blade that cuts both ways, and both friends will find themselves questioning just how far they’re willing to go.

cover of transmuted by eve harms

Transmuted by Eve Harms

Did someone say “enthusiastically gross (complementary) trans body horror that will make you gag?” Part of the retro horror-inspired Rewind-or-Die novella series, Eve Harms’ Transmuted is about Isa, a minor celebrity whose fans helped to fundraise her gender affirming facial reconstruction. But Isa sacrificed her surgery funds to try and save her dying father. Now, sans funds and trapped between her followers’ expectations and her crushing gender dysphoria, she risks it all on an extremely suspect ad offering a free, experimental feminization treatment to willing volunteers. What ensues is a tale of transformation, both desired and monstrous, as, in the hands of the gruesome Dr. Skurm, Isa goes from satisfied patient to mutant. Isa is becoming less human by the minute, and if she can’t find out why it’s happening, and what Skurm has done to her, she may be stuck that way forever.

cover of the house of little bones by beverley lee

The House of Little Bones by Beverley Lee

Talk about classic, “haunted” house horror. Just reading the synopsis makes me positively giddy, so I really need to pop this creepy, queer horror novella to the top of my reading list. In The House of Little Bones, horror author Davis Lansdown has…well basically David has an awful, really bad, not good time, from what I can tell. He’s exiled himself to a remote house on the moors to write and to escape a scandal involving a liaison with his publisher’s son. But things are not as peaceful (if desolate) as they seem at Bone Hollow. Something restless and hungry moves beneath the ground, and it’s set its sights on David. Add to that fraught mix David’s castoff lover Luca, who soon becomes obsessed with Bone Hollow’s dark and tragic history, and you’ve got yourself a story of secrets and curses that may itself end in tragedy. Only one way to find out!

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

Once Upon A Terrifying Time

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

This week we’re diving into another of my favorite horror vibes: horror books that are adapting, or that are styled like, fairy tales. And, obviously, I’m talking about those best of fairy tales that are full of horror, nightmares, and terrible ends for bad people. It’s no surprise that classic fairy tales have always proven such rich soil for the modern horror genre, and hands down, of all the possible adaptations or retellings that horror books can undertake, fairy tale-inspired horror will always go straight to the top of my must-read list.

Before we jump into this week’s tales of the frightening and fantastical: if you are looking for more book related content for your inbox, like fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading, Book Riot’s new subscription-based newsletter, The Deep Dive, is a way to get exclusive content delivered straight to you. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com.

Bookish Goods

frosted glass can the reader skeleton by dreaminginevergreen

Floral Skeleton The Reader Tarot Frosted Glass Can by DreaminginEvergreen

I love skeletons. They’re one of the main decorative themes in my apartment! Just skulls everywhere. I’ve even started a Halloween season tradition of acquiring a new skull every year, because why not? Get that serotonin. And speaking of serotonin, I’m in love with this skeletal “The Reader” frosted glass tumbler from DreaminginEvergreen. Their entire collection is pretty darn neat, actually, so if skelly bones isn’t doing to for you, make sure you check out the rest of their shop!

$28

New Releases

cover of harvest house by cynthia leitich smith

Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith

If you’re a fan of Cynthia Leitich Smith and you’ve been waiting for the sequel to Hearts Unbroken, tomorrow’s the day! A rural Halloween attraction, the titular Harvest House, proves to be more haunted than the flyers promised in Smith’s new novel. When Hughie Wolfe volunteered to help out at Harvest House, he was disappointed to find that the show’s main attraction was a tale from local legends about an “Indian maiden.” Now, on top of trying to decide how best to protest the show’s bigoted storyline, it seems that the area around Harvest House might actually be haunted, and not by any racist stereotype. There’s a man stalking Indigenous women, local animals are acting up, and if Hughie and his friends want to protect their community, they’ll have to get to the bottom of the strange and frightening happenings around Harvest House before All Hallow’s Eve runs its course.

cover of one or several deserts by carter st hogan

One or Several Deserts by Carter St. Hogan

Our second release this week is an exciting debut collection of trans horror stories from Carter St. Hogan. Comprised of eight strange tales, One or Several Deserts is going to be a must-read for readers who love to see bodies explored, made, and unmade by horror fiction. From the now to the future, from rebirth to plague, from the violent to the strange to the forbidden, One or Several Deserts is one of those short fiction collections that will challenge you to keep reading even as it pushes against all your boundaries.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

the monster of elendhaven

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

In the dying city of Elendhaven, on the edge of the sea, a monster stalks the shadows and does his master’s bidding. A creature in the shape of a man but who cannot die like one, twisted by magic and shaped by his master’s cruel cunning. Together they will have their revenge on Elendhaven, no matter the cost. This novella, y’all. It’s just so dark and strange and magical, like all the best fairy tales should be. I loved the relationship between the two leads, and the tense, disturbing feeling of their salt-coated city by the sea. If you’ve never read The Monster of Elendhaven, but you love fairy tale-esque books that mix horror and fantasy, magic and monsters, be sure to add this to your TBR

cover of children of chicago by cynthia pelayo

Children of Chicago by Cynthia Pelayo

When it comes to fairy tales that are far darker on consideration than they may first appear, nothing says “yikes” like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. And apparently Cina Pelayo agrees, because her novel Children of Chicago puts a horror genre twist on an already horrifying tale of child abduction and murder (I mean, the children of hamelin were never seen again, so I guess that’s not technically murder…but he did something with them and that something might have been murder. Or cannibalism. LOTS of cannibalism in fairy tales.) Pelayo’s retelling is set in Chicago, where Detective Lauren Medina is on the trail of a brutal serial killer known as the Pied Piper, who targets children. When a murdered teenager is found floating in the same lagoon where Medina’s sister’s body was once found, she has no doubt that the killer is the Piper, and he’s come back for what he’s owed. What Lauren owes him.

cover of now she is a witch by kirsty logan

Now She is Witch by Kirsty Logan

Now She is Witch has only been published in the UK thus far, so to partake in Kirsty Logan’s new book, you will have to import yourself a copy. But hey, Blackwell’s (linked above) ships internationally for free, and I have a feeling this book will be more than worth the international shipping times if you happen to live outside the UK, as I do. Now She is Witch isn’t inspired by a specific story, but the storytelling is the heart of this novel, told in Logan’s haunting fairy tale-esque style. It’s about two characters: Lux, who has lost everything to the cruelties and suspicions of the world and has been cast out, and Else, who finds Lux alone in the woods after her life has been burnt to ashes. But Else didn’t stumble upon Lux by chance. She’s on the trail of a man who needs killing for what he did to her, and Lux has a particular affinity for poisons. Together, they hunt him northward, surrounded on all sides by danger and dark secrets.

cover of The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw; illustration of a plague doctor and a long-haired skeleton holding a skull over a pile of skulls

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (May 2)

Did I decide on this week’s topic just so I could expound (again) on the perfection that is The Salt Grows Heavy. No. I mean, mostly no. But there’s no denying that, when it comes to fairy tale horror, this grim and gruesome yet oddly hopeful Little Mermaid-inspired novella from Cassandra Khaw sets a whole new bar. Think Little Mermaid but if the Prince was an asshole, Ariel was a prisoner, and as revenge, she gave birth to a couple of kids who literally ate the entire kingdom. As one does. And instead of sticking around to join in the buffet, she sets out on the road with a strange but charming Plague Doctor. The two stumble upon a super creepy village, deep in the forest, with a bunch of kids who make Children of the Corn look friendly, and they’re being governed by three ghastly Surgeons. When the Plague Doctor reveals that the Surgeons have a dark, violent secret that is a part of the Doctor’s own past, the two travelers find themselves attempting to unravel the Surgeons’ powers and put an end to their terrible work.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

All Vampires Are Queer

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

I think my love of vampire horror is pretty well established on this newsletter by now, as is my love of queer horror fiction. Lucky for me, the two tend to overlap pretty frequently! But then, why wouldn’t they? After all, if you’re going to live for hundreds or maybe thousands of years, chances are that any mortal conceptions of sexuality and gender you may have aren’t going to last beyond the first century of your new undead existence. I mean, come on! The world is wide, diverse, and wonderful, and you are now immortal! You have all the time in the world, and no time for something as banal as heteronormativity or socially prescribed gender roles.

Besides, Harvey Guillén from What We Do in the Shadows said all vampires are queer, and I don’t argue with Guillermo.

So in this week’s Fright Stuff, we’re celebrating queer vampire horror with three titles that I haven’t had the pleasure of featuring in this newsletter yet! But before we saunter off into the wild, queer eternal yonder, a brief message from our sponsors! If you are looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading, Book Riot’s new subscription-based newsletter, The Deep Dive, is a way to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com.

Bookish Goods

notre damn'd bookmark by enthralledyet

Notre Damn’d Bookmark by Enthralledyet

Every good vampire book needs an equally good (and Gothic) bookmark to go along with. I love the design of this bookmark, with its intricate glass windows illuminated by the glow of a blood red moon and the little bats in silhouette. It’s perfect for your latest fang-filled read. Plus, everyone loves a tassel. What else are you going to fidget with while you read?

$5

New Releases

cover of the scourge between stars by ness brown

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

I flippin’ love space horror. The sheer joy that I get from people being horribly imperiled in the uncaring depths of space, let me tell you. Which is why I’ve been excited about The Scourge Between Stars since it was announced and oh, gosh, did it give me everything I was hoping for and more. The starship Calypso is in danger. They’ve been trying to make the journey back to Earth ever since their colony failed centuries ago, but at the speed they’re traveling, it seems unlikely that the ex-colonists will ever make it home. Especially when a series of brutal murders on board reveal a dangerous stowaway lurking somewhere within the massive hulk of the Calypso. Jacklyn Albright is acting captain, responsible for the Calypso’s survival in her father’s absence, and if the colonists are ever going to have a chance to see Earth again, she and her team will have to hunt the intruder down one deck at a time before it can murder everyone on board. Get ready to be STRESSED, because this novella had me on my toes.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

Carmilla The First Vampire cover

Carmilla: The First Vampire by Amy Chu, Illustrated by Soo Lee

I read the original Carmilla for the first time last year and absolutely loved it, so obviously I was over the moon when I found Amy Chu and Soo Lee’s new graphic novel inspired by Le Fanu’s novella. Chu and Lee’s adaptation is set in New York in the ’90’s during the Lunar New Year, and blends elements of Le Fanu’s Carmilla with Chinese folklore to tell a story of murder, infatuation, and deadly secrets. Athena is a social worker on the trail of a murderer who’s been killing homeless LGBTQ+ women in the city. The murderer’s trail leads her to a nightclub called Camilla’s in her own neighborhood with a mysterious reputation, and Athena soon finds herself falling for a beautiful young woman named Violet who may just be the killer’s next victim.

cover of the fell of dark by caleb roehrig

The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig

Gosh, the synopsis of The Fell of Dark is giving me nostalgic, Buffy-esque feels, and I love it — vampires, a hellmouth nexus of mystical energy, a little bit of apocalypse flair for flavor. Ah, memories. But something tells me I’m having more fun with this than August, who hated living in a vampire town even before some random undead guy rolled up with a cryptic warning about the end of the world. And yeah, the guy’s hot. And mysterious, which arguably makes him even more hot. But he’s just dropped Auggie into the middle of a nightmarish scenario where some old and deadly power is threatening to destroy the world unless Auggie can find some way to stop it. And he may be the only one who can.

Book cover of Dead Collections: A Novel by Isaac Fellman

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman

Okay, so this is where I have to pull my “if it’s vampire, it’s technically horror” get out of jail free card and give it a wave, because Dead Collections is not horror in the frightening sense. It is, in fact, more of a fantasy novel with a central love story and an undead/paranormal twist. But I’m including it anyway! If you want to argue about it, you can find me on Twitter, as long as Twitter still exists by the time this newsletter reaches you. Or you could take my word for it when I say that this novel about a trans archivist vampire named Sol falling in love with a widow named Elsie is a beautiful story about navigating grief, hate, and stigma to find love and joy in a world that seems fundamentally opposed to letting you have either. And yes, it’s a different kind of vampire story than the other two on this list, but an extremely important one given current events.

Also, there’s ghosts.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

Medical Horror Books That Will Put a Chill in Your Bones

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

Hello from the sick room, horror friends. I’m a bit under the weather as I pen this week’s Fright Stuff, so in the interest of keeping things thematic, our topic today is medical horror! It’s a classic category of horror fiction, going all the way back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Medical horror, like a lot of categories in the genre, is mutable, and blends easily with everything from body horror to sci-fi horror. Personally, medical horror gives me the willies! That’s probably why I like it so much.

So while I down hot tea and cold meds like they’re going out of stock, let’s have some fun.

Before we jump into this week’s picks: Book Riot has a new subscription service for you to check out! If you are looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading, Book Riot’s newest newsletter, The Deep Dive, is a way to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com.

Bookish Goods

frankenstein is not the monster tshirt by theumlauteddenver

Frankenstein Is Not the Monster T-Shirt by TheUmlautedDenver

I’m sorry, but this t-shirt made me laugh so hard that I had to pick it for this week’s Bookish Good. So to all my Victor Frankenstein apologists out there, this one’s for you. I’ve always been of two minds when it comes to Frankenstein Jr. On the one hand: What the actual hell, Victor?! That is not how we treat people, or dead bodies, or people that we made out of dead bodies. On the other hand, well, this is why you don’t leave undergrads unsupervised in the lab.

$27+

New Releases

Lone Women Book Cover

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

After months of waiting (im)patiently, Lone Women is out this week! If you’ve been missing some historical/western horror in your life, make sure you pick up a copy when it hits shelves tomorrow. Set in the American West of the early 20th century, LaValle’s newest novel is about a women fleeing her past by taking up the government’s offer of free land in Montana to any homesteader who can settle and keep it. And Adelaide isn’t the only one. There are a number of these “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 there in the wilds of Montana, it may be her secret that will help her survive.

a house with good bones book cover

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher is back with another house full of horrors in her newest novel A House With Good Bones. When Sam Montgomery arrives at her mother’s house in North Carolina, she’s expecting a quiet, extended stay, bonding with her mother over their shared love of murder mystery shows. But what she finds is a house that’s vastly different than the last time she visited, stripped of all the warmth and comfort she remembered. And her mother, paranoid, jumping at shadows. The strangeness only multiplies when she stumbles across, of all things, a jar of teeth buried in the garden out back. It’s clear that something has happened in the house, to her mother, and if Sam wants to find the truth, she’ll have to risk unearthing even darker secrets than a jar full of someone’s teeth.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

cover of leech by hiron ennes

Leech by Hiron Ennes

Yes, I’m talking about Leech again. No, I’m not apologizing because I love this book so much and I want everyone to read it. Leech is a queer medical Gothic horror novel set in a fictional Northern town locked in the depths of a terrible winter that keeps the residents trapped in their homes out of fear of the deadly cold. In the estate that overlooks the town, the house doctor has died violently by his own hand, and it’s up to the newly arrived Doctor, a member of the Institute just like the deceased, to discover the cause. In fact, all of the bodies of the Interprovincial Medical Institute are doctors, because for centuries the Institute has been systematically replacing all the unreliable human doctors with its superior bodies, whose mind(s) can overcome any challenge or puzzle the Institute might encounter. Until they can’t. Because the parasitic creature that our Doctor discovers lurking in the cold might finally be a problem beyond the Institute’s ability to solve.

lakewood by megan giddings

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

Inspired by the story of Henrietta Lacks and a long and terrible history of medical experimentation on Black bodies, Lakewood begins with death and debt. Lena drops out of college after her grandmother dies in a bid to help support her family as they navigate the debts revealed by her grandmother’s passing. When a high paying job opens up in the little, isolated town of Lakewood, Michigan, promising not only a place to live but also full coverage of medical expenses, the offer is too good to refuse. The only catch? Lena can never tell anyone, friend or family, about the strange experiments she’s being paid to undergo. She’s been told that the work being done at Lakewood could have massive, positive impacts on the world. But the longer the testing goes on, and the risks of participation increase, Lena will have to make a choice between her family’s financial security and her own life.

Cover of Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

Dana Schwartz’s Anatomy is a YA historical medical horror novel with a Frankenstein twist. A bit of gothic romance, a whole heap of body horror, and piles of dead bodies. What’s not to love? Hazel Sinnett’s only desire in life is to be a surgeon, healing bodies and maybe even finding a cure for the terrible Roman Plague that claimed her older brother’s life. She will do whatever it takes to overcome the barriers in her way, even dressing as a boy in order to attend classes on anatomy. When her ruse is discovered, however, Hazel finds herself thrown out of the classroom, leaving her no choice but to continue her studies of the human body in private. By any means necessary.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

Bloody Bloody Backlist: It Came From 2017

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

The sound I made, friends, when I realized that we’ve finally reached the blacklist year of one of my first, and to this day still favorite, horror collections. Joy. As you may have realized (as I have sadly realized) we are a only a few years away from running out of backlist years, but fear not! I am brainstorming some ideas for this newsletter, because A) I love plumbing the backlist for delights and B) backlist books deserve love too!

But in the meantime, while I ruminate on some ideas for the 2023 calendar, let’s explore some of the excellent horror titles of 2017!

Before we jump in to this week’s picks: Book Riot has a new subscription service for you to check out! If you are looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading, Book Riot’s newest newsletter, The Deep Dive, is a way to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com.

Bookish Goods

you had me at horror books tshirt by inkandstoriesshop

“You Had Me at Horror Books” T-Shirt by InkandStoriesShop

Truly a love story for the ages. Just a reader, standing in front of that pile of horror books they definitely intend to read, asking not to be judged as they add a few more books they just bought. (If that feels like an attack, please be assured it was, in fact, a self-own.) Profess your love for the horror genre and show potential friends or partners the way to your heart with this unisex t-shirt from InkandStories!

$25

New Releases

cover of the shoemaker's magician by cynthia pelayo

The Shoemaker’s Magician by Cynthia Pelayo

If you missed the first book in Pelayo’s Chicago Saga, Children of Chicago, now is an excellent time to get caught up, because the second book in the series is out this week! The Shoemaker’s Magician is about a series of grisly murders tied to a lost silent film with a tragic legacy, and a legendary horror host known as the Grand Vespertilio, who may be a far more sinister figure than he first appears. Paloma has been watching Grand’s show for her entire life, and when bodies start dropping in locations related to the lost film, she knows that only Grand can help her find the killer. But there’s something sinister lurking behind Grand’s TV facade, and the more Paloma learns about him, the greater the danger around her grows.

cover of muckross abbey by sabina murray

Muckross Abbey and Other Stories by Sabina Murray

If you are a fan of short fiction collections — and you know I am — I’ve got the perfect new release for you. Sabina Murray’s new collection, Muckross Abbey and Other Stories, has drawn comparisons to Wharton, James, Stoker, and Shelley, and will certainly appeal to lovers of all things Gothic and macabre. The 10 stories in the collection span the globe, from Australia to Cape Cod, and Murray fills her varied settings with a multitude of fantastical and frightening figures.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

cover of the grip of it by jac jemc

The Grip of It by Jac Jemc

Haunted House books come in an array of “flavors,” from the chillingly Gothic, to the gruesome and gory, to outright skin crawling terror. And when it comes to creepy and generally upsetting (complimentary), The Grip of It really delivers. With short chapters that drive up the tension, and a dual narrative split between our two leads, this book will leave you wishing you’d turned on an extra light before you started reading. In The Grip of It, Julie and James, who flee city life in an attempt to save their dysfunctional marriage, end up settling in a house in the country. But what was supposed to be a fresh start for the troubled couple soon turns into a nightmare. As the house seems to warp and decay before their eyes, Julie and James rush to discover its sinister history before they become trapped within its walls forever.

cover of The Changeling by Victor LaValle

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

Victor LaValle’s The Changeling — which is actually being adapted into a series by Apple TV+! — is already pretty well known to most of the horror community, I know. But it’s an excellent, eerie book, and always worth revisiting. It’s about a couple, Apollo and Emma, who have recently become parents. Apollo is settling into his role as a father, determined to be a better parent to his child than his own father was to him. Emma, on the other hand, has stopped showing any interest in their baby at all, and what first appeared to be post-partum depression soon devolves into something far more concerning. When Emma does something terrible, then disappears, Apollo has no choice but to follow, beginning a journey in a strange and frightening world of secrets and living legends.

her body and other parties

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado

And last, but most certainly not least, on this week’s list is one of my absolute, hands down favorite short story collections of all time. Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties is made up of dark, beautiful, and fantastical stories that you won’t soon forget. So if you haven’t read it, yet I highly recommend adding it to your reading list. While some of the stories in the collection are more instantly recognizable as horror — like the infamous “The Husband Stitch” — others are more sad or sentimental, underlaid by the knowledge that something has gone terribly wrong. And they’re all fantastic. My personal favorite is still the soft sorrow of “Inventory,” in which the narrator makes an inventory of their lovers as the world around them collapses in the midst of a plague-driven apocalypse.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

Adulting May Be Hard, But Growing Up Can Be a Nightmare

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

This week we’re talking about coming-of-age stories! Obviously this is a narrative type that most most horror readers are familiar with, given its prevalence in the genre (I see you and your giant brick of a book, Stephen King. I see you). And it’s one that I’ve always really enjoyed, particularly in horror. Because I think there is something horrific about growing up, no matter how good your childhood is. Growing up can be the scariest thing we do as kids simply because the process of coming to understand the world around you is fraught with different kinds of peril. Any change, however small it may seem, can crack open your worldview and cause a paradigm shift that forces you to reevaluate everything you thought was true.

And horror has the ability to take this largely internal process and externalize it by dropping our protagonist into a harrowing situation where outside threats mirror the character’s struggle to balance their prior view of the world as (often) a safe place (or at least one that they could map the boundaries of) with the new and perilous world they find themselves inhabiting. A world that often challenges all their perceptions and assumptions about their lives, the place they live, and the people living there with them.

Before we jump in to this week’s coming-of-age horror picks, Book Riot has a new subscription service for you to check out! If you are looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading, Book Riot’s newest newsletter, The Deep Dive, is a way to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com.

Alright! Let’s get existential.

Bookish Goods

glow in the dark "finishing my tbr" vinyl ghost sticker by fantasyfawndesigns

“Finishing My TBR” Glow in the Dark Ghost Sticker by FantasyFawnDesigns

I don’t know about you, but “adorable ghost tackling its TBR” is the energy I want to channel going into 2023. If you’re also chasing the elusive goal of reducing your TBR this year, this little water-resistant vinyl ghost buddy is a good reminder to keep around! Stick it to your book cart, your TBR shelf, or decorate your e-reader case. Stick this little buddy wherever you need a reminder to read the books you own instead of buying new books…she said, guiltily.

$4

New Releases

cover of feed them silence by lee mandelo

Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo

I just finished this book last week and Lee Mandelo has raised the bar for 2023 new releases. Though not the kind of frightening that will keep you checking the shadowy corners every time you enter a room, Mandelo’s dark, sci-fi novella Feed Them Silence nevertheless has an unsettling air of wrongness that pervades the story and leaves you wondering what choices you, the reader, would have made in Sean’s place, and if you would have acted any differently. Dr. Sean Kell-Luddon has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be the human subject in an experiment that will fulfill a childhood dream. Thanks to an advanced new neurological interface, she will have the ability to join her mind with that of one of the last wild wolves, and observe first hand the behaviors and struggles of this dying species. But as Sean sinks deeper into the mind of her wolf, and her personal life unravels around her in the real world, the barrier between animal and human begins to blur to a frightening degree.

cover of midnight strikes by zeba shahnaz

Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz

I’m fudging genre lines a bit to include Midnight Strikes as a new release for this week, but the premise was so delightfully dark and emotionally fraught that how could I not? So, friends, if you also love dark fiction and have a particular affinity for time loop stories, this recommendation is for you. Anaïs is trapped in a deadly time loop that only resets itself at the moment of her own death. What was supposed to be a simple, if unwanted, night at the kingdom’s anniversary ball, descends into fiery, bloody chaos when the clock tolls midnight there’s an explosion that kills everyone in the vicinity, Anaïs included. And then suddenly she’s awake, on her own bed in her own room, and none of it has even happened yet. Until it happens again. And again. And if Anaïs wants the dying to stop — hers and everyone else’s — she’ll have to submerge herself in the court’s rotten, discontented underbelly and discover all its treacherous secrets. All before the clock strikes midnight once again.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

cover of wasps in the ice cream by tim mcgregor

Wasps in the Ice Cream by Tim McGregor

Tim McGregor’s Wasps in the Ice Cream is about as classic coming-of-age horror as you can get. It’s the summer of 1987, and Mark Prewit’s summer job at an ice cream stand may not be glamorous, but at least it keeps him out of the house and away from his dad’s new wife. But in a small town with nothing to do and nowhere to go, Mark and his friends find themselves bored, with too much time on their hands. Which is how Mark ends up pressured into participating in a malicious prank his friends play on the Farrow sisters. Guilty that he gave in to the immature impulses of friends he’s begun to outgrow, Mark tries to make it up to the sisters and ends up finding a new friend in middle sister George. Unfortunately, small town minds breed suspicion, and when Mark’s old friends find out that he’s been spending time with the witchy Farrows, they set out to punish the sisters for daring to try to rise above their outcast status..

Cover of The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

One of my favorite kinds of coming-of-age stories is when the protagonist is raised in seclusion, where the outside world is concealed from them, if not outright lied about by the adults in their life. Finding out the truth is always inevitably painful, but there’s something so satisfying — as a reader — about watching a character finally realize what you’ve been cursed to know since page one: people are lying to them, and not for their own good. That’s definitely the case with Immanuelle and her childhood in Bethel. Among the pious, obedient people of the lands of Bethel, where the word of their Prophet is law, Immanuel is an outcast, viewed as an aberration despite her best attempts to submit and conform. When a mishap lands her in the terrifying Darkwood that surrounds Bethel — a place of witches, spirits, and evil — Immanuelle uncovers unexpected answers about her mother, and about the dark truth behind the Church of Bethel.

the dead and the dark book cover

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

Growing up in a small town, it’s easy to get sucked into the idea that it’s an idyllic sanctuary where nothing bad ever happens, mostly because the bad things that happen there never happen to you. Logan Ortiz-Woodley lets herself be dragged to the remote, small town of Snakebite, Oregon, by her fathers Brandon and Alejo, but only reluctantly because the last thing she wants is to get caught up in one of their ghost hunts. What she doesn’t realize until after they arrive is that both men are originally from Snakebite, and have nearly as many secrets as the town itself. Secrets that might have something to do with the teens that have started disappearing. Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to disappear, and as tensions in the town mount, igniting old prejudices, and suspicion begins to fall on Logan’s fathers, the two girls join forces to find answers.

the cover of Mongrels, featuring an illustration with a red-tinged silhouette of a wolf in the foreground and a standing person in front of power lines and a car against a yellow background

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

Mongrels is a coming-of-age story told through the figure of the werewolf — or rather through the figure of a boy who does not yet know for sure that he will even become a werewolf, or what being one will mean about where he belongs. Being on the run, constantly dodging the law, living with nothing — that’s the only life the boy has ever known, following his Aunt and Uncle hither and yon across the South. But the older he gets, the more he begins to wonder if that’s the life he’s really meant to live, or if there’s a better future for him somewhere else. If you’re looking for a coming-of-age story that’s full of heart, and focused on the protagonist’s journey to answer the two biggest questions that face us as we grow “Who am I? And where do I belong?” look no further.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

Too Many Legs, Far Too Many Eyes

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

Welcome to March, my beloved horror people! It’s not looking much like spring here in Maine unfortunately, but I hold out hope that warmer weather is right around the corner. Even if that means the return of that many legged (or winged, or eyed) plague from which winter offers only a short reprieve: The Bugs. If you’ve ever been in Maine in the spring, you know that when the sun comes back so do the biting insects, and if you’ve never been here during black fly season I can assure you that it is a thing of horror the likes of which not even Stephen King can replicate. 

But at least we’ll finally be warm. 

So to will the spring to come and save those of us in New England from our current snowbound conditions, I thought I’d make this week’s Fright Stuff extra creepy and crawly. That’s right, folks! It’s bug week.

But before we jump in: Book Riot has a new subscription service for you to check out! If you are looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading, Book Riot’s newest newsletter, The Deep Dive, is a way to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com.

Now let’s talk bugs!

Bookish Goods

one more chapter skeleton pennant by fun4alldesigns

One More Chapter Skeleton Pennant by Fun4AllDesigns

One more chapter. Just one more chapter. Just one more — and then it’s 2 Am. Am I right? I know it’s not just me, you fiendish host of late night bookworms. One of my missions for 2023 (other than trying to wrest control of my sleep schedule away from my TBR pile) is to finally decorate the vast empty wasteland that is the walls of my apartment. And I think this little pennant is an excellent place to start! ($38)

New Releases

my dear henry book cover

My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron

Oh no, I just love this book so much. It’s such a gorgeous, gothic, made-me-cry, rage-inducing homage to Stevenson’s original story while, like all good adaptations, having so much to say on its own about racism and homophobia in Victorian England. When Gabriel Utterson was sent to London by his father to study medicine, he fell head over heels in love with fellow medical student Henry Jekyll. But it’s hard to hide a love that burns that bright, and before long rumors and whispers begin to follow Henry and Gabriel, forcing them to separate. When Gabriel returns to London after a long summer away, it becomes instantly clear that something has changed. Something is wrong with Henry, and Gabriel is certain that it has to do the with the strange young man, Hyde, who has been seen coming and going from the Jekyll household. If Gabriel cannot discover the truth about what has happened to Henry, he may be at risk of losing the boy he loves forever.

the-trees-grew-because-i-bled-there-by-eric-larocca-cover

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca

There’s just nothing that Eric LaRocca writes that I won’t read, if I’m being honest. Strange, unnerving, and macabre, LaRocca’s books have become must-have additions to my home library and I look forward to each new publication with hungry anticipation. This latest collection of short stories, The Trees Grew Because I Bled There, is no exception to that rule, which is why I am so excited that it will finally hit shelves this week for you all to enjoy. These eight stories of darkness, grieving, love, and violence are all stellar, and I can’t recommend them highly enough! I loved the soft grief of “You Follow Wherever They Go”, though personally I think it’s “I’ll Be Gone By Then” that’s going to haunt me. Pick up a copy at your favorite bookstore and let me know which story ends up being your favorite!

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

THE QUEEN OF THE CICADAS cover

The Queen of the Cicadas by V Castro

As if Cicadas weren’t creepy enough all on their own! V. Castro’s The Queen of the Cicadas made my skin crawl with all its gory, “bugs in places they shouldn’t be” goodness. In 2018, Belinda Alvarez returns to south Texas to attend her best friends wedding at a picturesque farm that happens to the the site of an eerie urban legend: La Reina de Las Chicharras. The Queen of the Cicadas. A murdered farmworker in the 1950s made a deal with an Aztec goddess of death to live again and take her vengeance on those who hurt her and those who forgot her. Now, as the legend unfolds, Belinda finds that her life — and that of the farmhouse owner, Hector — is entwined with that of the murdered woman, Milagros. As the two become immersed in the past it becomes clear that Milagros’ fate may be theirs as well.

plain bad heroines by emily a danforth cover

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily A. Danforth

So I had, HAD to include this book on my list of bug-related horror, because Danforth included several horrifying yellow jacket-related scenes in her novel but there was one that absolute carved its own little spot in spot in my brain and just…it lives there now. I’ll never unknow the fear that I’ve secretly been chewing on dead yellow jackets. (Oh no, so crunchy.) Set in 1902, Plain Bad Heroines tells the linked stories of two sets of girls whose live are entwined in the history of a mysterious New England boarding school. There’s Flo and Clara, who were students at the school and died tragically, and over a century later, there’s Harper and Audrey, who are playing Flo and Clara in a horror film about their gruesome deaths and the supposedly haunted and cursed Gilded-Age school. When past and present get tangled up during filming, what is real and what is fiction becomes increasingly uncertain.

cover of this world belongs to us an anthology of bug horror

This World Belongs to Us: An Anthology of Horror Stories about Bugs (May 2023)

I’ve got an exciting forthcoming title for you to end our list of the squirmy, creepy, crawly horror titles: a whole anthology of bug horror! From Beyond Press is a new publisher and they are hitting the ground running with an anthology sure to fill your nightmares with skittering legs and far, far too many eyes. And if the allure of a whole anthology of bug-filled horror were is not enough to entice you to hit that pre-order button, the stories of This World Belongs to Us are written by some of the most exciting and talented voices in the horror community, including Cynthia Pelayo, V. Castro, Paula D. Ashe, Laurel Hightower, Bitter Karella, and many more! So grab a can of bug killer, just in case, and get ready to feel your skin crawl.

Fresh From the Skeleton’s Mouth

Have you heard the news?! Ryan La Sala’s novel The Honeys — which all your socials have probably been buzzing about (bad dum tish) since its publication last summer — will be coming to theaters near you!

The final ballot for the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards is out! The ballot makes a great reading list if you’re trying to get caught up on new releases from last year.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

Everything’s Haunted, Evil, or Clowns, and I love It: More 2023 Horror Books by Black Authors

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

This week is the second part of my list of must-read 2023 horror books by Black authors, and wow do I have some exciting books for you to add to your TBRs! We round out our selection with murderous clowns, monsters, truly frightful forests, and a forthcoming Black horror anthology that you won’t want to miss.

Bookish Goods

DNF sticker from mysecretcopy

Did Not Finish Headstone Sticker by MySecretCopy

So I actually have a number of MySecretCopy’s stickers and magnets all over my TBR carts, including this delightful reminder that if a book is not working for you then there’s no shame in throwing it in the DNF graveyard. Life is too short, and there are so many books waiting to be read, so bury those unfinished books with the bodies of your enemies and go find something new to read! (And be sure to check out the rest of MySecretCopy’s shop for other sticky or magnetic goodies!)

$4

New Releases

delicious monsters book cover

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

Set in an isolated mansion in northern Ontario, Delicious Monsters is about two girls whose lives, though lived a decade apart, follow frightening similar paths. Daisy can see the dead, and in her home city of Toronto, the dead are everywhere. Which is why she’s eager to escape for the summer when her mother suddenly inherits the mansion where she used to spend her own summers. But big old houses are often full of big old secrets, and the secrets in this house may be more than Daisy bargained for. Ten years later, Brittney is inseparably tied to the same house by her mother’s experiences there. Experiences that Brittney is sure were fabricated — nothing but lies that she can finally expose. But as she sets out to unravel the house’s secrets, she finds herself investigating the story of a girl very like herself. It’s a story that ended badly, and one that may be leading Brittney towards an equally tragic fate.

cover of She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran; illustration of an Asian woman with flowers growing out of the corners of her mouth and a tear running down her cheek

She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

Apparently the theme of this week’s new releases is: big houses are full of secrets and will eat you if they can. Because in Tran’s She is a Haunting, Jade also finds herself trapped within a strange old house full of ghosts and nightmares. When she agreed to return to Vietnam to visit with her estranged father, Jade thought the hardest part of her trip would be pretending to enjoy herself, while simultaneously doing her best to convince her father that she deserves the college funds he promised her. Just five weeks inside the French colonial house he’s restoring and she’ll walk away with her education funded. But there’s something undeniably wrong with the house — the strange noises, the alarming number of creepy bugs that seem to be everywhere, the beautiful ghost that keeps trying to warn Jade not to eat — even if her father and her sister don’t seem to see it. If Jade wants to keep the house from devouring her family, she’ll have to dig into the house’s dark foundations and bring all its secrets to light.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

cover of there's no way i'd die first by lisa springer

There’s No Way I’d Die First by Lisa Springer (September 5)

I have such a love/hate relationship when it comes to killer clowns. On the one hand, they’re a classic! On the other: big yikes. When Noelle Layne uses her horror movie expertise to throw the biggest, most exclusive Halloween bash for her senior class, she expects the night to go down in history as one of the best parties of her high school career. Not one of the most deadly. That is, until the knock-off creepy clown that she hired puts an axe in one of her guests, and a serious wrinkle in her party plans. As the night descends into terror, Noelle will have to rely on everything she’s learned from a lifetime of watching horror movies if she want’s to be the Final Girl in her own personal slasher film.

cover of monstrous by jessica lewis

Monstrous by Jessica Lewis (September 12)

Nothing says small town secrets like being the new girl who gets sacrificed to the ancient monster that lives in the woods. Ah. Summer memories. Though maybe not the kind that Latavia thought she was going to be making when she was forced to spend the summer in Sanctum, Alabama with her aunt. This creepy little town is full of mysteries and suspicious locals who treat Latavia with a weird hostility reserved for outsiders, and the rules that Latavia’s aunt gave her the minute she arrived in Sanctum are even weirder. But when Latavia is suddenly dragged out of her bed and into the Red Wood one night, to be sacrificed to the beast that resides there, it quickly becomes clear why her aunt was so afraid. Faced with a choice — be eaten or risk becoming a monster herself — Latavia will do what it takes to survive, no matter how terrible the cost.

The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson (October 3)

Another accidental theme for this week is “well, that forest is spectacularly fucked up,” apparently, because there’s something really old and really hungry living in the forest outside Regent Academy. It’s a creature with a 400 year old blood debt that it intends to call due, and if the citizens of Winslow, Vermont don’t pay up, they’ll suffer the consequences. All of which Douglas stumbles upon by accident, while investigating the death of a fellow student at Regent Academy. No one even seems to remember that the murdered student existed or was ever one of their peers except for Douglas and one other boy. Determined to understand what’s happening inside Regent, Douglas begins to dig into Winslow’s dark history and uncovers centuries of dangerous secrets.

cover of all these sunken souls black horror anthology

All These Sunken Souls: A Black Horror Anthology ed. by Circe Moskowitz (October 17)

By now you all know how much I love anthologies, so obviously I’m beyond excited for the publication of All These Sunken Souls this october. Several of the contributors’ names will look familiar from past Fright Stuff newsletters and even from this two-part list that we’re concluding today, including Kalynn Bayron, Donyae Coles, Dyan Douglass, and Liselle Sambury among other talented authors. The stories in All These Sunken Souls explore a range of horrific tropes and subjects, from haunted houses to monsters to zombies and more, promising nightmares a plenty for its readers.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

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

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

Week three of February already! How time files when you’re having frightfully good fun. We’re celebrating horror by Black authors again this week, and there are so many amazing forthcoming titles I want to talk about that I actually had to split this list in two! So this week will feature new Black horror books coming out through May, and next week part two will feature new books coming out in the second half of the year.

Get your wishlists and your preorder buttons ready!

Bookish Goods

ufo abduction metal bookends by knobcreekmetalarts

UFO Abduction Bookends by KnobCreekMetalArts

I don’t know, I just think this bookend set feels…thematically appropriate for recent events. Regardless of whether or not our alien overlords really have come to collect us, however, the fact is that you can never have too many bookends! And KnobCreekMetalArts actually makes a number of really interesting bookend sets. If alien abduction isn’t your theme of choice, be sure to check out the rest of their collection.

$60

New Releases

where darkness blooms book cover

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah

When the gorgeous, creepy cover for Where Darkness Blooms was released, I was so ready to get my hands on this book. You had me at queer horror with scary sunflowers. Delilah, Whitney, Jude, and Bo all live in a big house together in Bishop, an isolated rural town separated from the world by miles and miles of sunflowers. But this tiny town is far from idyllic. Bishop is plagued by dangerous windstorms that seem determined to tear the whole thing down, and its history is marred by violence. Year after year women die or go missing — too many women for such a small town. Delilah, Whitney, Jude, and Bo’s moms disappeared the same way. One day they were just gone. Now it’s up to the four girls to find out the truth, not just about their own mothers, but about Bishop’s dark and bloody history, before they themselves are numbered among the missing.

cover of loteria by cina pelayo

Lotería by Cynthia Pelayo

I am overjoyed that Cina Pelayo’s Lotería is getting a reprint this year, and with such a smashingly gorgeous new cover! (Though I’ll always have a soft spot for the old cover by Abigail Larson. So pretty.) I actually read this collection of short stories a couple of years ago and just loved it, and now that it’s being reprinted, a whole host of new readers will get to experience Pelayo’s fantastic storytelling! There are 54 cards in Lotería, and Cina Pelayo has spun up 54 dark little tales based on Latin American folklore and full of creatures, monsters, and murderers, each based on a card. If you haven’t read any of Pelayo’s work yet, I highly recommend starting with this collection.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

my dear henry book cover

My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron (Mar 7)

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.

lone women book cover

Lone Women by Victor LaValle (March 28)

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.

cover of the scourge between stars by ness brown

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown (April 4)

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.

cover of we don't swim here by vincent tirado

We Don’t Swim Here by Vincent Tirado (May 2)

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.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

Love Can Be a Beautiful, Horrifying Thing

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

Things are all warm and fuzzy in this week’s Valentine’s Day edition of the Fright Stuff! If, that is, your idea of warm and fuzzy includes masked killers, haunted mountains, blood-thirsty vampires, and vagina teeth. Mine certainly does. Don’t get me wrong, I like hearts for Valentine’s Day just as much as the next person! I just prefer them bloody and anatomically correct. Or made of candy.

Or anatomically correct AND made of candy!

You know, you’d think it would be easier to find heart candies that are actually shaped like human hearts, but alas.

Bookish Goods

embossed leather skeleton bookmark

Customizable Embossed Leather Skeleton Bookmark by ForestNine

You can never have enough bookmarks! I particularly like leather bookmarks because they’re less likely to break than wood, but they can take more of a beating than my usual paper fair. If you’ve got a reader in your life who feels the same, this delightful customizable option might make an excellent gift. You can choose to have both the skeletons and up to four letters embossed on your order, just the skeletons, just the letters, or nothing at all.

$14+

New Releases

the lsat tale of the flower bride book cover

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

Valentine’s Day this year brings us a bounty of delightful new horror reads, among which is Roshani Chokshi’s new gothic fantasy, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, which I am particularly excited about! When Indigo married her husband, she made him promise her one thing: he would never ask about her past. With her fortune, and their love, they would live happily ever after, and nothing about who Indigo was or where she came from mattered in the face of their beautiful future. Until word of a dying family member forces them to return to Indigo’s childhood home. In the House of Dreams, the past that Indigo tried to leave behind surrounds the newlyweds, and how can her bridegroom not ask questions when so many of the house’s secrets seem to be Indigo’s as well.

cover of the pledge by caleb dietrich

The Pledge by Cale Dietrich

Ready for a new must-have slasher for your TBR? A masked murderer is picking off the frat boys of Monroe University in this college-set horror novel by Cale Deitrich. Sam already survived one murderous masked killer on a spree, in fact, he was the survivor of a long night of terror that left his friends dead and Sam’s life in ruins. College was supposed to be his chance to start over. He can have a new life and, thanks to his fraternity, a new group of friends. A brand-new beginning. Until, that is, one of his frat brothers is found dead. It’s the first death in a violent spree that, to Sam’s horror, seems to have been inspired by the one that haunts him. If Sam wants to protect his new life, and the lives of his new friends, he’ll have to work fast to identify the killer before his bloody history repeats itself.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

Narrowing down this week’s list was SUCH a pain. I would love nothing more than to write up all the horror books with a love story that made my heart go pitter-pat and tell you exactly how much, and why, I adore each and every one of them. But we only have so many words to work with here and so little time.

So, I will restrain myself. Reluctantly.

Cover of Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper

Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper

I just couldn’t, in good conscience, make a list about romance in horror without including the absolute gem of a vagina monster book that is Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper. I actually wasn’t aware that there was a bit of a love story at the heart of Queen of Teeth, so I was delightfully surprised the first time I read it. I’d even go so far to argue — subjectively — that it has a happy ending! (It all depends on how you look at it.) Queen of Teeth is about Yaya Betancourt, who discovers that she has spouted teeth in her vagina. Yaya assumes it’s a side effect of a pharmaceutically induced genetic condition that she and thousands of others developed in the womb with a little help from AlphaBeta Pharmaceutical. Whoops. But when she realizes that ABP is determined to hunt her down because of her mutation, Yaya has to consider the possibility that there may be another, darker motive behind the company’s pursuit.

cover of Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

The love story in Echo is one of my favorites, to be honest, even though it breaks my heart. If you’re looking for an “all’s well that ends well” bit of romance in your horror this Valentine’s Day, maybe save this one for later. But even when it hurts, this book is so good. I desperately need more queer horror love stories like this in my life. Echo is about Nick Grever surviving a terrible mountaineering accident that left him horribly scarred, killed his climbing buddy, Augustin, and left him figuratively and literally haunted by the mysterious mountain, Maudit. But Echo is also about Nick’s boyfriend Sam. It’s about their relationship, their past, and their horrifying present as Sam tries desperately to save Nick from the mountain intent on possessing him.

House of Hunger book cover

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

What’s a list of romance plots in horror without at least one ill-fated Gothic love story? And they don’t get much more ill-fated than thinking that you’re going to live happily ever after with a blood-drinking countess. But in Marion’s defense, even I was in love with Lisavet by the time things got… messy. Looking for a way out of the city and out of the poverty she was born into, Marion Shaw answers a newspaper listing to be a bloodmaid in the House of Hunger. The House of Hunger is perhaps the most infamous of the noble houses in the North, presided over by the seductive and beautiful Countess Lisavet, and if Marion does her job well, she’ll be set for life. Bloodmaids who have aged out retire in luxury, everyone knows that. So, when the beautiful but fearsome Lisavet fixes her eye on Marion, it certainly seems that Marion’s fortunes are on the rise. But a string of disappearing bloodmaids throws her new life into chaos and if Marion can’t discover the truth, she may soon find herself numbered among the missing.

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.