May is bringing us a very respectable amount of bad news in book form.
We've got haunted places, human experimentation, sinister spirits, strange festivals, monstrous transformations, twisted fairy tales, gothic nightmares, and enough questionable life choices to keep the horror shelves stocked.
Here are some of the horror books I'm most excited about coming out this month.
If you want to see everything coming in 2026, check out my This Year in Horror 2026 release calendar.
May is bringing us a very respectable amount of bad news in book form.
We've got haunted places, human experimentation, sinister spirits, strange festivals, monstrous transformations, twisted fairy tales, gothic nightmares, and enough questionable life choices to keep the horror shelves stocked.
Here are some of the horror books I'm most excited about coming out this month.
If you want to see everything coming in 2026, check out my This Year in Horror 2026 release calendar.
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May 5
She Waits Where Shadows Gather by Michelle Tang
Some places feel wrong before you can explain why. She Waits Where Shadows Gather promises the kind of unsettling horror where the shadows themselves may be the least of your problems.
If atmospheric, creeping dread is your thing, this one belongs on the May TBR.
Some places feel wrong before you can explain why. She Waits Where Shadows Gather promises the kind of unsettling horror where the shadows themselves may be the least of your problems.
If atmospheric, creeping dread is your thing, this one belongs on the May TBR.
I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy
Nat Cassidy is taking us on a road trip and he's not stopping by the World's Biggest Ball of Twine.
This collection brings together Rest Stop and a dozen other dark detours, sending readers through suspicious rest stops, creepy offices, haunted kitchens, bizarre apartments, and other places where you shouldn't be alone after dark.
Nat Cassidy is taking us on a road trip and he's not stopping by the World's Biggest Ball of Twine.
This collection brings together Rest Stop and a dozen other dark detours, sending readers through suspicious rest stops, creepy offices, haunted kitchens, bizarre apartments, and other places where you shouldn't be alone after dark.
Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka
Tennessee Cherish thought moving into her dream house would be a fresh start. Cute house, new town, happy family.
The kids start acting weird. Her husband is never home. And the house has a few quirks, including a faucet that runs on its own, a creepy doll that keeps appearing in different rooms, and, a human tooth in the floorboards.
Then things get really weird. The family starts repeating everyday actions over and over, with each loop becoming more dangerous than the last.
Tenn needs to figure out what the hell is happening in her new home before the house finishes what it started.
Tennessee Cherish thought moving into her dream house would be a fresh start. Cute house, new town, happy family.
The kids start acting weird. Her husband is never home. And the house has a few quirks, including a faucet that runs on its own, a creepy doll that keeps appearing in different rooms, and, a human tooth in the floorboards.
Then things get really weird. The family starts repeating everyday actions over and over, with each loop becoming more dangerous than the last.
Tenn needs to figure out what the hell is happening in her new home before the house finishes what it started.
May 8
The Blood Year Daughter by G.G. Silverman
The Blood Year Daughter is a collection of fairytale horror stories filled with murderous brides, strange transformations, ghosts, witches, snakes, revenge, and women who are absolutely done playing by the rules.
Silverman's debut collection mixes horror, magical realism, and twisted fairy tales into something that sounds like it crawled out of a very dark corner of the Brothers Grimm.
The Blood Year Daughter is a collection of fairytale horror stories filled with murderous brides, strange transformations, ghosts, witches, snakes, revenge, and women who are absolutely done playing by the rules.
Silverman's debut collection mixes horror, magical realism, and twisted fairy tales into something that sounds like it crawled out of a very dark corner of the Brothers Grimm.
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May 12
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Muntu by Eugen Bacon
Eugen Bacon brings her particular brand of unsettling speculative fiction to Muntu, a book that promises to be strange, atmospheric, and decidedly not interested in making you comfortable.
This is one for readers who like their horror with a literary edge and plenty of things lurking beneath the surface.
Eugen Bacon brings her particular brand of unsettling speculative fiction to Muntu, a book that promises to be strange, atmospheric, and decidedly not interested in making you comfortable.
This is one for readers who like their horror with a literary edge and plenty of things lurking beneath the surface.
Abyss by Nicholas Binge
Joe always had potential. He just doesn't expect much from himself, so when he lands a low-key admin assistant job at a company he's never heard of, he's hoping it won't expect much from him either.
Then he walks into the offices of Ponos.
Turns out, potential is exactly what they're looking for.
Joe always had potential. He just doesn't expect much from himself, so when he lands a low-key admin assistant job at a company he's never heard of, he's hoping it won't expect much from him either.
Then he walks into the offices of Ponos.
Turns out, potential is exactly what they're looking for.
Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun by Mónica Ojeda
Two friends head into the Andes for an eight-day music festival at the foot of a volcano. There's mysticism, underground music, altered states, an ancient landscape, and a girl who starts speaking in a voice that isn't her own.
Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun blends psychological horror, supernatural elements, psychedelic imagery, and Indigenous Andean traditions into something wonderfully strange.
Two friends head into the Andes for an eight-day music festival at the foot of a volcano. There's mysticism, underground music, altered states, an ancient landscape, and a girl who starts speaking in a voice that isn't her own.
Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun blends psychological horror, supernatural elements, psychedelic imagery, and Indigenous Andean traditions into something wonderfully strange.
Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey
Celia is lonely, grieving, and desperate to belong, so she heads to the mysterious Kindred Cove for its annual Salt Festival. The community promises healing, transformation, and a life without grief.
Sarah Gailey's latest sounds like the perfect combination of creepy island community, questionable self-improvement, and the horrifying realization that maybe becoming a better version of yourself has a price.
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Celia is lonely, grieving, and desperate to belong, so she heads to the mysterious Kindred Cove for its annual Salt Festival. The community promises healing, transformation, and a life without grief.
Sarah Gailey's latest sounds like the perfect combination of creepy island community, questionable self-improvement, and the horrifying realization that maybe becoming a better version of yourself has a price.
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Femme Feral by Sam Beckbessinger
Is it menopause or lycanthropy?
Femme Feral promises a wild, vicious take on womanhood, transformation, and the things lurking just beneath the surface.
Is it menopause or lycanthropy?
Femme Feral promises a wild, vicious take on womanhood, transformation, and the things lurking just beneath the surface.
May 19
The Dorians by Nick Cutter
Five people are invited to a remote island in the Canadian wilderness with an offer that sounds almost too good to be true: stop aging. Maybe even reverse it.
The secret to restoring their youth comes from an ancient biological agent with one very simple goal: survive.
What could possibly go wrong?
I hope their aren't any turtles. IYKYK.
Five people are invited to a remote island in the Canadian wilderness with an offer that sounds almost too good to be true: stop aging. Maybe even reverse it.
The secret to restoring their youth comes from an ancient biological agent with one very simple goal: survive.
What could possibly go wrong?
I hope their aren't any turtles. IYKYK.
Decomposition Book by Sara van Os
Savannah retreats to her parents' empty lake house after a disastrous falling-out with her best friend. She's drinking, overthinking, and generally spiraling when she wakes up in the woods beside a dead body. Turns out she's the best friend Savannah could ask for.
Savannah retreats to her parents' empty lake house after a disastrous falling-out with her best friend. She's drinking, overthinking, and generally spiraling when she wakes up in the woods beside a dead body. Turns out she's the best friend Savannah could ask for.
The Temptation of Charlotte North by Camilla Bruce
In 1910, Charlotte North lives on a remote island where an ancient tower has been standing guard over something that really should have stayed imprisoned.
Then the tower collapses.
The Temptation of Charlotte North combines gothic horror, dark fantasy, an isolated island, a sinister spirit, and a woman discovering just how dangerous getting what you want can be.
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In 1910, Charlotte North lives on a remote island where an ancient tower has been standing guard over something that really should have stayed imprisoned.
Then the tower collapses.
The Temptation of Charlotte North combines gothic horror, dark fantasy, an isolated island, a sinister spirit, and a woman discovering just how dangerous getting what you want can be.
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Salomé by Leslie Baird
A dark, strange take on an old story? Yes, please.
Salomé puts a familiar figure into a horror setting and promises to give this particular tale some teeth.
A dark, strange take on an old story? Yes, please.
Salomé puts a familiar figure into a horror setting and promises to give this particular tale some teeth.
Filth Eaters by Ito Romo
In 1849, vampire Radamés discovers that New World vampires get to live a little more like humans. They marry. They have children. They actually get to build lives. Naturally, he wants that for himself.
His search takes him to Mexico, where he falls for a member of the ancient Filth Eaters and fathers a new kind of vampire. From there, the story jumps across centuries, mixing vampires with empire, greed, climate change, and the very human need to find someone to love.
May 26
In 1849, vampire Radamés discovers that New World vampires get to live a little more like humans. They marry. They have children. They actually get to build lives. Naturally, he wants that for himself.
His search takes him to Mexico, where he falls for a member of the ancient Filth Eaters and fathers a new kind of vampire. From there, the story jumps across centuries, mixing vampires with empire, greed, climate change, and the very human need to find someone to love.
May 26
House of Margins by Tlotlo Tsamaase
Anaya Sebeya is a brilliant young writer who disappears after attending a prestigious writing residency at Günter Huis, an eerie colonial mansion on Devil’s Peak.
Years later, her sister Ranewa becomes obsessed with a true-crime podcast claiming to reveal what happened to Anaya. As she listens, she starts piecing together a much stranger and more horrifying story.
Because at Günter Huis, Anaya wasn't just struggling to write. The house was getting inside her head, twisting time and reality and demanding a story that apparently wasn't meant to be told.
Anaya Sebeya is a brilliant young writer who disappears after attending a prestigious writing residency at Günter Huis, an eerie colonial mansion on Devil’s Peak.
Years later, her sister Ranewa becomes obsessed with a true-crime podcast claiming to reveal what happened to Anaya. As she listens, she starts piecing together a much stranger and more horrifying story.
Because at Günter Huis, Anaya wasn't just struggling to write. The house was getting inside her head, twisting time and reality and demanding a story that apparently wasn't meant to be told.
Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen
It’s 1635, the Thirty Years’ War is tearing through Bavaria, and Ursula, a runaway nun, and Elsebeth, a peasant, are hiding from marauding soldiers in the forest.
Then they find a gilded saint’s skull.
Legend says that reunite the skull with the saint’s body and you get a wish. Unfortunately, they're not the only ones interested in the relic. A necromancer wants it, the saint starts whispering at night, and the magic comes with a price.
It’s 1635, the Thirty Years’ War is tearing through Bavaria, and Ursula, a runaway nun, and Elsebeth, a peasant, are hiding from marauding soldiers in the forest.
Then they find a gilded saint’s skull.
Legend says that reunite the skull with the saint’s body and you get a wish. Unfortunately, they're not the only ones interested in the relic. A necromancer wants it, the saint starts whispering at night, and the magic comes with a price.
Teddy Bears Never Die by Cho Yeeun
A deadly cyanide poisoning kills Hwa-young's mother, but Hwa-young doesn't believe it was an accident. Determined to find the person responsible, she takes whatever work she can get to save enough money to hire a hitman.
Hwa-young is about to become the next victim when a grubby teddy bear starts talking to her.
Now the two team up to uncover the truth, take revenge, and bring the real killer to justice.
A deadly cyanide poisoning kills Hwa-young's mother, but Hwa-young doesn't believe it was an accident. Determined to find the person responsible, she takes whatever work she can get to save enough money to hire a hitman.
Hwa-young is about to become the next victim when a grubby teddy bear starts talking to her.
Now the two team up to uncover the truth, take revenge, and bring the real killer to justice.
Between Nat Cassidy's dark detours, Sarah Gailey's creepy island, Mónica Ojeda's psychedelic festival nightmare, gothic spirits, twisted fairy tales, human experimentation, and several books that appear to have taken the concept of "gross" as a personal challenge, there's plenty here to keep horror readers busy.
Which is great news for us but not so great for our TBR pile.
Happy reading and may your books be creepy, your coffee be strong, and your house remain suspiciously tooth-free.
← Previous Month | This Year in Horror 2026 | Next Month →
Between Nat Cassidy's dark detours, Sarah Gailey's creepy island, Mónica Ojeda's psychedelic festival nightmare, gothic spirits, twisted fairy tales, human experimentation, and several books that appear to have taken the concept of "gross" as a personal challenge, there's plenty here to keep horror readers busy.
Which is great news for us but not so great for our TBR pile.
Happy reading and may your books be creepy, your coffee be strong, and your house remain suspiciously tooth-free.
← Previous Month | This Year in Horror 2026 | Next Month →