Published March 28, 2023 by Tor Nightfire

A contemporary Southern Gothic from award-winning master of modern horror, T. Kingfisher. A House With Good Bones explores the deep, dark roots of family.

Sam Montgomery is worried about her mother. She seems anxious, jumpy, and she's begun making mystifying changes to the family home on Lammergeier Lane. Sam figures it has something to do with her mother's relationship to Sam's late, unlamented grandmother.

She's not wrong.

As vultures gather around the house and frightful family secrets are unearthed under the rosebushes, Sam struggles to unravel the truth about the house on Lammergeier Lane before it consumes her and everyone else who stands in its way...

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A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher is what happens when Southern hospitality meets creeping dread—and then both sit down for a very awkward family dinner. The story follows Sam, a refreshingly snarky archaeologist and bug enthusiast, who returns to her childhood home only to find her usually vibrant mother behaving like a polite, nervous stranger. The usually eccentric house is too clean, too white, the air too still and the garden? Let’s just say it has… opinions. Things go from “Hmm, that’s odd” to “Holy freaking ladybugs” in the best, weirdest way possible.

Kingfisher blends unsettling horror with laugh-out-loud moments in a way only she can. One minute you’re creeped out, the next you’re snorting at Sam’s deadpan commentary. It’s not a scream-fest, but it is eerie and absurd and deeply weird in the way only Kingfisher does. One minute you're reading about ghostly whispers and oppressive vibes, the next you're laughing at Sam's sarcastic inner monologue or her casual conversations about bugs. The horror here is more unsettling than terrifying, but it sticks with you—and there's a wonderfully grotesque twist that really delivers.

The novel spends a lot of time carefully layering tension, hinting at deep-rooted family trauma, strange supernatural forces, and an ominous legacy tied to the grandmother’s influence. But when the horror finally arrives, it feels a bit rushed and underdeveloped. It’s not a bad ending by any means, it’s quirky, bold, and in line with the novel’s tone but compared to the expansiveness of the first two-thirds, it feels like it wrapped up too quickly. Despite that, Kingfisher remains on the must-read list for me. 

Published May 2, 2023 by Tor Nightfire

From USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairytale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.

You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.

On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three 'saints' who control them.

The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.

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 Cassandra Khaw’s The Salt Grows Heavy is a grim, lyrical horror-fantasy that begins with the mermaid's children having just eaten her prince. Albeit, he wasn't a very nice one. Khaw takes the familiar mermaid myth and completely capsizes it, crafting a story that’s brutal, surreal, and, beneath all the blood and bone, surprisingly tender. It's a novella that defies clear classification — a hybrid of gothic fairy tale, body horror, and lushly poetic prose. 

The story kicks off with the merchildren eating their way through the kingdom. Striking a weird companionship are the murderous mermaid and a plague doctor. She’s a predator, archaic and uncaring, but also deeply introspective. (Of course, she'd have to be since her husband recently cut out her tongue.) The peculiar plague doctor is enigmatic yet witty. The two strike up a friendship and almost coy flirtation.

I've said before that Khaw's writing is not for everyone. It's dense, with each morsel needing to be chewed carefully before being consumed. It’s the kind of language that turns violence into poetry and transforms body horror into something oddly exquisite.  It’s brutal and beautiful, grotesque and captivating. For readers who enjoy language that leans into the stylized and surreal, it’s an enjoyable experience. For many others, it may be a barrier to reading any of Khaw's writing. 

The tone is relentlessly grim, but not without a strange, dry humor that punctuates the story in unexpected places. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy weird literary horror, mythic storytelling, and moral ambiguity. It’s about monsters but also transformation, and what it means to survive when the world sees you as a thing to be used or controlled. This isn't a fairy tale. It's what crawls out of the sea foam after the supposed "happily ever after" is over.

Just like Khaw's expansive writing, The Salt Grows Heavy is not for everyone. If you’re looking for a tightly plotted story with clear moral lines and conventional structure, this probably won’t be your thing. It’s strange. It’s lyrical. It’s emotional. It’s a novella that doesn’t explain itself — it just pulls you under the waves and waits for you to drown.

Published March 25, 2025 by Poisoned Pen Press

"I'm in your blood, and you are in mine…"

The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.

Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behavior takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angry… and hungry. 

Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth, or risk losing her forever.

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Set in 1887 Netherlands, Blood on Her Tongue follows Lucy as she returns to her family's estate to care for her twin sister, Sarah, who has become ill and dangerously fixated on a bizarre body unearthed in the bog near their home. As Sarah's behavior grows increasingly erratic, Lucy must confront the possibility that something far more sinister than madness is at play.

As is true with gothic fiction, the atmosphere reigns supreme. The author builds a haunting, claustrophobic setting that perfectly complements the story’s tension. The house feels cold and suffocating, the nearby bog is basically a character itself, and there’s this constant dread hanging over everything. Sarah's transformation is both disturbing and magnetic, drawing readers into a world where the line between the natural and the supernatural blurs. Her peculiar behavior and condition are filled with uncertainty and mystery.

 
Lucy is a great narrator, determined to make sense of her sister's decline. The bond between the twins is the heart of the story, but it’s twisted and uncomfortable in a way that totally works for gothic fiction. It's complicated, painful, and achingly human.  You’re never quite sure what’s real or what’s supernatural, which helps the creeping unease. As with a lot of gothic fiction, it’s a slow burn. There’s more moodiness and creeping unease than plot devices, but the payoff is worth it if you hang in there.

If you like your horror quiet, slow, and full of creeping dread, Blood on Her Tongue might be right up your alley. This book is all about mood—foggy landscapes, crumbling family homes, and the kind of tension that feels both tender and terrifying.

Published October 8, 2024 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Faolan Kelly’s grandfather is dead. She’s alone in the world and suddenly homeless, all because the local powers that be don’t think a young man of sixteen is mature enough to take over his grandfather’s homestead…and that’s with them thinking Faolan is a young man. If she revealed that her grandfather had been disguising her for years, they would marry her off at the first opportunity.

The mayor finds a solution that serves everyone but Faolan. He hires a gunslinger to ship her off to the Settlement, a remote fort where social outcasts live under the leadership of His Benevolence Gideon Dillard. It's a place rife with mystery, kept afloat by suspicious wealth. Dillard's absolute command over his staff just doesn't seem right. And neither do the strange noises that keep Faolan up at night.

When Faolan finds the body of a Settlement boarder, mangled by something that can’t possibly be human, it’s clear something vicious is stalking the palisades. And as Settlement boarders continue to drop like flies, Faolan knows she must escape to evade the creature’s wrath.

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Lish McBride has never met a genre she couldn’t wrestle into something fun and fierce—and Red in Tooth and Claw is no exception. It's a dark and quietly powerful young adult fantasy that blends the dust and grime of Western grit with supernatural intrigue and hidden threats. Imagine if the Wild West got strange, feminist, and slightly feral. Then throw in a heroine who’s tougher than a two-dollar steak and just as likely to punch you in the eye as look at you. It's the perfect amount of heart and snark.

 Set in an alternate Old West where magic and horror entwine, the story follows Faolan Kelly. To keep herself safe and to give her more opportunities in a rugged, patriarchal world, she's spent her life passing as a boy. After her grandfather's death, Faolan is sent to the Settlement, a remote fort led by the enigmatic His Benevolence Gideon Dillard (because that doesn't scream cult leader at all!).  Faolan quickly realizes the Settlement isn’t a refuge—it’s a trap. And she might be the only one sharp enough (or stubborn enough) to escape it.

Faolan is exactly the kind of protagonist you want in a world full of monsters—quick with a comeback and even quicker with a plan. Scrappy, resilient, and totally relatable. No matter the odds, she's not backing down.  She’s not trying to be a hero; she’s trying to survive.

The story weaves together elements of mystery, horror, and magic, keeping readers intrigued as Faolan uncovers the secrets of the Settlement. It’s a story about survival and the cost of being seen in a world that prefers you not to take up space. There's humor, but McBride keeps it light compared to some of her other novels.  If there's a downside, it's that this is a slower-paced book. If you’re expecting action on page one, it might feel like a slow burn. But the tension builds beautifully, and when things do go sideways, it hits harder because of it. There's a tad bit of romance, but it doesn't detract from the story.

Red in Tooth and Claw is a bite-sized delight for fans of paranormal fiction who like their monsters with a side of snark and soul. Moody, magical, and meaningful—with just enough teeth.

Published April 26, 2022 by Tor Books

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

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In Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher delivers a darkly enchanting original fairy tale that is as emotionally rich as it is darkly tongue-in-cheek. This novel threads elements of deconstructed fairy tales with horror and wit. 

When Marra learns the full extent of her sister’s suffering at the hands of a powerful and abusive prince, she sets out to kill him—as one does.  However, this requires the help of a ragtag group of unlikely companions: a dust-wife, a bone dog, an ex-knight, and a possessed chicken.  Yes, you read that right. Demon. Possessed. Chicken. With these quirky sidekicks, this adventure is officially off the rails.  

Marra isn’t your usual heroine either. She’s middle-aged, introverted, and not exactly sword-swinging slay-the-dragon type—but her quiet determination is impossible not to root for. She's realized the painfully obvious: no one is coming to save them. So she’s going to do it herself. If that means it's "off with his head", she'll find the axe. 

Nettle & Bone is a fairy-tale nouveau—a magical, macabre, and mystical messed-up journey full of heart, humor, and just enough horror. If you like your fantasy clever, creepy, and just a tad bit unhinged, this one is for you. 

Published June 7, 2024 by Wicked House Publishing

Whitt Rogers has been dreaming.

Horrible dreams.

Dreams that stretch the very fabric of the real and the unreal as he is pulled by a voice across the country to a small crab fishing ship set to depart into the Bering Sea. At sea, the memories piece themselves together in cracked fragments. But there is something out there. Something speaking to Whitt in his dreams. A voice from a long-forgotten memory that promises peace at the cost of madness. A voice that leads to a place unimaginable and inescapable

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A Dark and Endless Sea is a quiet, introspective horror novel that leans heavily into grief, memory, and isolation. Blaine Daigle clearly has a talent for atmospheric writing—his prose is thoughtful and often poetic, creating a somber tone that lingers throughout the book.

The story centers on Whitt, who has woken with no memory of what came before this moment.  He's plagued by nightmares of a flooded town and floating dead bodies. He's directed to a crabbing boat in small-town Alaska. There’s a lot to admire in how Daigle explores the fragility of human connection while in isolation.  The emotional realism is the book’s strongest point. There are a lot of dream sequences, compounding Whitt as an unreliable narrator, and leaving the reader with a sense of surrealism.

That said, the pacing is slow—very slow. While some readers may appreciate the quiet build, I found myself wanting more payoff and a clearer sense of stakes. It’s a story that flirts heavily with dread, but the ending just didn't deliver in a satisfying way.

I loved The Broken Places, but this one just wasn't for me.

Published October 15, 2024 by Titan Books

A grieving mother and son hope to survive Christmas in a remote mountain cabin, in this chilling novella of dread, isolation and demons lurking in the frozen woods. Perfect for fans of The Only Good Indians, The Shining and The Babadook.

Two weeks ago, Christine Sinclaire's husband slipped off the roof while hanging Christmas lights and fell to his death on the front lawn. Desperate to escape her guilt and her grief, Christine packs up her fifteen-year-old son and the family cat and flees to the cabin they'd reserved deep in the remote Pennsylvania Wilds to wait out the holidays.

It isn't long before Christine begins to hear strange noises coming from the forest. When she spots a horned figure watching from between frozen branches, Christine assumes it's just a forest animal—a moose, maybe, since the property manager warned her about them, said they'd stomp a body so deep into the snow nobody'd find it 'til spring. But moose don't walk upright like the shadowy figure does. They don't call Christine's name with her dead husband's voice.

A haunting examination of the horrors of grief and the hunger of guilt, perfect for readers of Stephen King, Christina Henry, and Chuck Wendig.

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I went into Cold Snap expecting a chilling, atmospheric horror story with strong emotional distress — and for the first little bit, that’s what it seemed to be. Set against the icy backdrop of a small Appalachian town, the setup is familiar but effective: people with emotional baggage retreat to a remote cabin in the woods, and weird things begin to happen. To quote Dora the Explorer: "¡Vámonos!"

Unfortunately, what begin as isolation horror deeply embedded with grief (the husband died hanging Christmas lights), the story quickly took a turn into surreal territory, and I found myself more confused than captivated. Her dead husband is talking to her, or is it the moose, and events start to feel disjointed — almost dreamlike, but not in a way that ever fully clicks.

What really pulled me out of the story, though, was the cat death — which is not only graphic and disturbing but referenced multiple times throughout the book. I understand horror can be visceral and I don't shy from gore, but the way this was handled felt excessive and deeply unpleasant. And the only person traumatized by it was the kid! Mom was just like "Darn, the cat got stomped to death in the snow by a maybe-moose". If animal harm is a deal-breaker for you, I strongly recommend skipping this one.

There are interesting ideas here — grief, guilt, isolation — but they get buried under so much weirdness and emotional chaos that they never fully land. Cold Snap might resonate with readers who enjoy abstract, metaphor-heavy horror, but for me, it was more frustrating than frightening.  I kept waiting for it all to come together or for the deeper meaning to reveal itself, but by the end, I was wondering WTH just happened.

Having loved Bless Your Heart and Throw Me to The Wolves, I was excited to venture into this one, but it missed its mark with me. 

Published  June 25, 2024 by Del Rey

A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,” from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box

 

To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”  

 

When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must pay. 

 

Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe but other incidents show cracks in her parents' marriage. The safety Bela relies on is on the brink of unraveling.  

 

But Other Mommy needs an answer. 

 

Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror told by the child Bela. A story about a family as haunted as their home.

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Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House is a haunting, tightly-wound domestic horror story told entirely through the lens of a child’s eyes. With its eerie tone, it’s a novel that creeps under your skin slowly, but steadily.

The story centers on Bela, an eight-year-old girl who begins seeing an invisible presence she calls “Other Mommy.” At first, it’s easy for her parents to chalk this up to normal childhood fantasy. After all, many children have imaginary friends, until “Other Mommy” becomes more persistent—and more terrifying.  Every day, the entity asks Bela the same chilling question: “Can I go inside your heart?” The tension builds from that single line, as we begin to understand that what’s happening to Bela may be far more than imaginary.

What makes this novel so unsettling is its perspective. Malerman’s choice to stick closely to eight-year-old Bela’s point of view gives the book a disorienting quality. It’s a bold narrative style that won’t work for everyone, but for Malerman, it serves the story’s creeping dread incredibly well. I picked this one up in audiobook as well, and let me tell you, Delanie Nicole Gill gives life to Bela in the creepiest way.

This is less of a jump-scare horror novel and more of a slow horrific boil. The horror grows not from gore or violence, but from emotional unease and the erosion of safety in the home. You know it's only a matter of time until it spills over, but you can't look away. 

Some readers may find the repetition or ambiguity frustrating—particularly if they prefer clean answers or fast-paced horror—but for those who appreciate character-driven, atmospheric terror, Incidents Around the House delivers. Malerman crafts a tale that is both terrifying and poignant, leaving readers to ponder the true nature of the horrors that lurk within our homes and hearts.

Published July 9, 2024 by Tor Nightfire

Misha is a jaded scriptwriter who has been working in Hollywood for years, and has just been nominated for his first Oscar. But when he's pressured by his producers to kill off a gay character in the upcoming season finale―"for the algorithm"―Misha discovers that it's not that simple.

As he is haunted by his past, and past mistakes, Misha must risk everything to find a way to do what's right―before it's too late.

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Chuck Tingle has delivered a horror novel that’s weird and surprisingly heartfelt. Bury Your Gays is a wild ride through Hollywood, queer trauma, and the horror of being told your story isn’t marketable unless it ends in tragedy. This book is part surreal nightmare, part heartfelt unpacking of queer trauma, and part roast of an industry that loves queer suffering as long as it’s profitable. It’s weird, raw, and a little chaotic—but it knows it’s chaotic, which makes it work.

The story follows Misha Byrne, a queer screenwriter finally getting his big break, nominated for an Oscar. But just as things are looking up, the studio demands he kill off his queer characters “for the algorithm.” Misha refuses—and suddenly, reality starts to bend. Literal monsters show up, old traumas resurface, and Hollywood’s shiny surface reveals some very real rot underneath.

Misha is a fully fleshed-out protagonist: vulnerable, angry, exhausted, and desperately clinging to his sense of self while the industry chews him up. Misha’s emotional journey, especially flashbacks to his rough childhood and complicated present, is heavy, honest, and really well done. His relationship with boyfriend Zeke is sweet, offering warmth and grounding that somehow doesn’t come off cheesy (okay, maybe a little cheesy, but we’re rooting for them anyway).

Tingle throws every flavor of horror into the mix as Misha's own scripts come to life—cosmic dread, slasher gore, eldritch horrors, and some wild body horror—and somehow it all holds together. Is it weird? Absolutely. Is it fun? Most definitely. The result is chaotic, but deliberately so. It’s a mess with meaning. Underneath all the madness is some genuinely powerful insights about identity and how queer people are treated by the media machine. 

“I call on all of you to usher in a new era of stories where the gay, or bi, or lesbian, or asexual, or pansexual, or trans character lives happily ever after. Buy those stories. Make those stories profitable.”

Published May 14, 2024 by Berkley

A single mother working in the gothic mansion of a reclusive horror director stumbles upon terrifying secrets.

Harry Adams loves horror movies, so it’s no coincidence that she accepted a job cleaning house for horror-movie director Javier Castillo. His forbidding gray-stone Chicago mansion, Bright Horses, is filled from top to bottom with terrifying props and costumes as well as glittering awards from his career making movies that thrilled audiences—until family tragedy and scandal forced him to vanish from the industry.

Javier values discretion, and Harry always tries to keep the house immaculate, her head down, and her job safe. Then she hears noises from behind a locked door, noises that sound remarkably like a human voice calling for help. Harry knows not asking questions is a vital part of keeping her job, but she soon discovers that the house may be home to secrets she can’t ignore.

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The House That Horror Built follows Harry Adams, a single mom and horror movie fan, who takes a cleaning job at the creepy mansion of the reclusive director Javier Castillo. His home, packed with eerie props and trophies, has an unsettling vibe right from the start. As Harry explores the mansion, filled with reminders of Castillo’s violent film legacy, strange things begin happening—mysterious noises, costumes that seem almost alive, and other unsettling moments.

The mansion itself almost steals the show. Filled with film set props, costumes, and puppets, the mansion is claustrophobic, richly detailed, and dripping with tension. Harry, meanwhile, comes off as vulnerable and also pretty passive. She mostly reacts to what’s happening instead of driving the story forward, which can be a bit frustrating. Plus, she has this habit of spiraling into worst-case scenarios—her son even jokes she imagines “every possible permutation of doom.” You’d think with all that anxiety, she’d be a little more suspicious of the things that are happening.

Christina Henry’s real talent shines in building a spooky mood. The creepy house, the mysterious director, the whispered voices, and ghostly hints—they’re all here. But the tension unfolds way too slowly, and the pacing drags. Even when the story finally picks up, it’s more melancholy than thrilling. The House That Horror Built might appeal to fans who enjoy slow-burning thrillers, but if you’re after chills, jump scares, or fast-paced action, this one’s more like wandering down a dim hallway that never quite leads to a real fright.

Published August 20, 2024 by HarperCollins Publishers

The Edgar Award–winning author of A Dreadful Splendor blends mystery and spooky thrills with friendship and romance in this delicious love letter to Gothic fiction, featuring two brides who must band together to unravel the ghostly secrets at the heart of a crumbling island manor.

'Til death do us part...

November 1816: Restless but naïve Emeline Fitzpatrick is desperate to escape her stifling life in foggy Halifax. Her guardian is lining up repugnant suitors, but Emeline has her eyes set on a handsome lieutenant in the British navy. She just needs to persuade him to propose, or her one chance at happiness will be gone forever.

But when Emeline’s hopes end in scandal, she finds herself with only one suitor left: the wealthy and enigmatic Captain Graves. Having already lost two wives to tragic circumstances, the unfortunate widower is seeking a new companion in his cloistered seaside manor, Faraday House. Or at least that is what Emeline had been told, because when she arrives, she is horrified to discover that the second Mrs. Graves, Georgina, has not yet died.

Emeline is only certain of two things: something ghastly is afoot at Faraday House, and no one is going to save her. She will have to rely on her own courage, her burgeoning bond with the ill but strong-willed Georgina, and the aid of a handsome reverend with a mysterious past to unravel the secrets at the heart of the manor and forge her own destiny.

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In classic gothic style, The Third Wife of Faraday House was a slow-burn. Sprinkled with mystery and spooky scenes, it was hard to put down once it got started. 

Emeline has recently discovered that her guardians are looking for "appropriate" suitors for her. They do have her best interests at heart for a well-cared-for life. Emeline, however, has something else in mind; the handsome naval officer Frederick Fletcher. If only he would follow through on his proposal and whisk her away to Bermuda as promised. Unfortunately, after being caught together, her only choice is to marry Captain Graves far away from the scandal. Emeline arrives at Faraday house to marry the Captain only to find out that the Captain's second wife, Georgina, isn't dead yet! 

The setting is perfect for a gothic novel. Big stone house on an island, whose ocean road is only accessible during low tide. There's a widow walk, a dusty tower room, secret rooms, ghostly music, and blood dripping from the ceiling. It's creepy without needing to be gory. There's a feeling of constant danger, starting from the moment Emeline arrives on the island to be dumped by a broken carriage and left by herself while the driver goes onward to Faraday House. That feeling continues with Emeline's UNwelcome experience when finally making it to the house and throughout the novel. There's suspicion built into every moment. 

 

If I have one complaint, Emeline is a difficult character to like. She's very naive and her constant pining for the lieutenant is annoying. If only he would sweep in and rescue her. If only she could get a letter to him telling him how awful it is and to hurry up already! In her mind, all she does is babble to look pretty and proper.  Of course, it's in Emeline's best interests to keep Georgina alive, delay the marriage, and give Frederick time to come save her. As time went on and the relationship between Emeline and Georgina developed, she did grow on me.

As with the best gothic mysteries, little hints are given to the reader throughout the story. While you think you know immediately what is happening, there's a lot of redirection. Who you thought was the villain two chapters ago, suddenly seems to not be. There's not a single character that your opinion of will stay the same throughout.  It's such a twisty little plotline!

The Third Wife of Faraday House is a mystery, ghost story, and romance all rolled into one that would appeal to readers of multiple genres. It's a bit light for most horror readers and Regency romance readers, but I think it contains enough elements of each to be discoverable for most mainstream readers. 

Published November 28, 2023 by Starwatch Press

The faeries of Witchwood Manor have stolen its young lord. His governess intends to steal him back.

Victorian governess Winifred Hall knows a con when she sees one. When her bratty young charge transforms overnight into a perfectly behaved block of wood, she soon realises that the real boy has been abducted by the Fair Folk. Unfortunately, the lord of Witchwood Manor is the only man in England who doesn’t believe in faeries—which leaves Winnie in the unenviable position of rescuing the young lord-to-be all by herself.

Witchwood Manor is bigger than its inhabitants realise, however, and full of otherworldly dangers. As Winnie delves deeper into the other side of the house, she enlists the aid of its dark and dubious faerie butler, Mr Quincy, who hides several awful secrets behind his charming smile. Winnie hopes to make her way to the centre of the Witchwood Knot through wit and cleverness… but when all of her usual tricks fail, who will she dare to trust?

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The author states that The Witchwood Knot "started as a cross between the movie Labyrinth and the faerie tale known as the Twelve Dancing Princesses". She admits that what she ended up with wasn't exactly what she planned but that doesn't mean it's any less fantastic. Instead, it's difficult to put a distinct name on the end story.

Is it gothic? Yes. 

It is a fairytale? Yes. 

But is it romantic and whimsical at the same time? Also yes!

The world Atwater created is marvelous. It has everything good gothic fiction should. Isolated countryside mansion resplendent with stained glass windows surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. Pointed gables, white columns like skeletal fingers, screaming faces in the walls. All the finer things really.  Like any good worldbuilding, hers has its own rules that one must abide by but I won't give all the secrets away. 

The characters are what endeared The Witchwood Knot to me. Winnie is well suited to her position as a governess. She handles her charge quite well and when he is replaced by a fetch, doesn't hesitate to head into the fairy realm after him. Mr. Quincy, butler extraordinaire, and Winnie's interactions are frustrating (for Winnie) and yet endearing. He's very smooth but there are many secrets and he is unwilling to impart his knowledge just quite yet. Her charge is quite surly and you almost immediately dislike him as a spoiled child, but like Mr. Quincy, there is so much more than meets the eye. Oliver, the protector spirit cat that resides in his own skull, was destined to be my favorite as soon as he was introduced.

I was quite surprised by the romance. It didn't seem like the characters had anything in common to even find romance an option. Even once it started developing, it lingered for so long before actually becoming romance, that I had just about given up on it. After it was all said and done, this sweet and thoughtful romance made it seem like all the rest hadn't come before. How confounding and yet, I'm still completely on board despite certain anatomical protrusions. No, not that one.

Read it for yourself and you'll see. 

Published October 31, 2023 by Tor Nightfire

Nat Cassidy is at his razor-sharp best again with his horror novel Nestlings, which harnesses the creeping paranoia of Rosemary's Baby and the urban horror of 'Salem's Lot, set in an exclusive New York City residential building.

Ana and Reid need a break. The horrifically complicated birth of their first child has left Ana paralyzed, bitter, and struggling―with mobility, with her relationship with Reid, with resentment for her baby. Reid dismisses disturbing events and Ana’s deep unease and paranoia, but he can't explain the needle-like bite marks on their baby.

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The Deptford is known for celebrities, exquisite architecture, and views of Central Park. Despite its high profile, it remains somewhat of a mystery, as its residents are extremely protective of their privacy within its walls. However, for Reid and Ana, the Deptford represents a new start and presents a financial opportunity they can't possibly turn down. 

Cassidy sets the tone of the novel in the very first sentence of the novel. "We don't belong here." Ana feels that something is off while touring the apartment and that feeling only grows stronger as they are settling in. Oh, not for Ried though. Reid is completely charmed by the Deptford and its odd residents, leaving Ana alone with that creeping sense of unease.  The dread multiplies with each little oddity as Ana insists that something is wrong with the Deptford and something is wrong with Charlie. 

Cassidy has thoughtfully created characters with authenticity, and the worries and dilemmas they face are utterly relatable. Ana's paranoia parallels that of Polanski's Rosemary but what Cassidy has created here is its own being. Ana is not only haunted by the occurrences of the Deptford, but also by the trauma of Charlie's birth, the night she and Reid don't talk about, and by the changes in her own body. Ensnared by their circumstances, the atmospheric horror surges forward until Ana is caught up in uncertainty about the meaning and purpose of her life as well as the environmental apprehension. 

I can't really say anything else about the plot without giving things away but it definitely takes an even weirder turn than I initially expected. If you want a break for something unusual with relatable characters, creeping dread, and an epilogue that is the epitome of a sad smile, then Nestlings should be the next pick off your TBR.

Published June 18, 2013 by 47North

They only come when it snows, and nobody ever gets away.

A group of close friends gathers at a secluded cabin in the wintry mountains of Colorado for a final holiday hurrah. Instead, it may be their last stand. First a massive blizzard leaves them marooned. Then the more chilling realization: something is lurking in the woods, watching them, waiting...

Now a weekend of family, friends, and fun has turned into a test of love and loyalty in the face of inhuman horrors. The only hope for those huddled inside is to fight—tooth and nail, bullet and blade—for their lives. Otherwise, they'll end up like the monsters' other victims: bright pools of blood on glittering snow, screams lost in the vast mountains.

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**First and foremost, my apologies for the radio silence. This is my first review since May. After five years of reviewing, 2023 has left me completely burnt out. With a year in at a job that requires me to interact with a computer screen all day, the thought of coming home and trying to pound the keys has been an entirely revolting and exhausting thought. In order to get back to the love of reading and reviewing, I'm reading whatever the hell I want and writing whatever comes to mind. 

The Shuddering is my first incursion into Ania Ahlborn's books. I tend to be underwhelmed by the more mainstream horror books so I went in with little to no expectations. The isolation cabin-in-the-woods trope is one of my favorites though and to add malevolent monsters to that? Sure, I'm in. 

This is one of those books that doesn't make you wait for the action. There's no build-up, no slow slide into the abyss. You don't get time to acclimate before the slicing and dicing begins. The first chapter is tension-filled and bloody, fulfilling that instant gratification we sometimes need as horror readers. Afterward, it's a balancing act between learning the characters and being introduced to randos that are simply there to be creature fodder. Even those characters managed to have depth. They have strengths and weaknesses that make them realistic and relatable. In the briefest of instances, you still get a good feel for who they are, before they stop being anything at all. 

I won't say that the entire book wasn't a complete cliche because it most certainly was. The characters are conflicted and have complicated relationships. They play stupid games and win stupid prizes. The setting has your typical isolationist feel with an incoming miring winter storm and the monsters have an amorphous embodiment...until they don't. Somehow though, the fact that this was a horror story completely took a backseat to the characters and their drama. 

I can't believe how emotionally involved I got with these characters. When I tell you I gasped at the heart wrench, yeah, it surprised me too. When the heck did these characters get so under my skin? I was completely and totally invested in the potential for them to conquer their insurmountable odds and it broke me when they didn't. It was so bleak and depressing and turned me completely inside out. It was so...unnecessary, and I think that's what made me love it all the more. 

Published June 2, 2023 by Macfarlane Lantern Publishing

A village abandons all they knew in search of water.

A man covets the last roses of summer and pays the price in blood.

Two young monsters seek a peaceful life by the seaside.

A scorching prophecy threatens to destroy all that a princess holds dear.

Once upon a time stories travelled from place to place on the tongues of merchants and thieves and kings alike. Around a crackling bonfire beneath a sky that never grew dark they were shared, and traded, and altered, until every corner of the globe had their own collection of tales.

In the spirit of these age-old stories comes Once Upon a Summer , a seasonal anthology of folk and fairy tales from 15 authors across the globe. It covers everything from summer romances to eco-terror to seaside ghost stories, and features both intriguing twists on classic tales and exciting original stories.

The second of four planned seasonal anthologies from Macfarlane Lantern Publishing, Once Upon a Summer is sure to have a story for just about everyone. Grab your copy in time for the solstice today!

Inside this

The I Scream Van by Caroline Logan

What Big Geese You Have by Adie Hart

The Forest at the End of the World by Josie Jaffrey

It Is Written by S. Markem

These Burning Bones by Laila Amado

Vespertine by Elanna Bellows

The Last Roses of Summer by Kate Longstone

Love, Pride, Virtue and Fate by Bharat Krishnan

Juniper and the Upside Down Well by Ella Holmes

Love in the Time of Volcanoes by Jake Curran-Pipe

Bluebeard’s Beach House by Jenna Smithwick

The Knucker of Lyminster by Katherine Shaw

Summer Dreams by R. A. Gerritse

The Witches of Dogtown by A. J. Van Belle

Contract with a Mermaid by M. J. Weatherall

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My love for fairytale retellings is no secret here. Having previously read, Once Upon a Winter (You can read my review here.), I was excited to dive into the summer. I wasn't able to spend as much time with this anthology as I wanted but I did jump in on a couple of the stories. What I read, I loved! Most are cute and fluffy, while a few are dark, which is exactly what I wanted. 

Bluebeard’s Beach House by Jenna Smithwick was the story I most wanted to read, given its' darker origin story. Bluebeard, or La barbe bleue,  was written down by Charles Perrault—who also authored Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood. The story begins with a wealthy nobleman wanting to remarry after the death of his SIX previous wives. Red flag much? Of course, it is, which is why after much debate (mostly due to his ugly blue beard and NOT the dead wives), one of the daughters of a neighbor agrees to marry him,  He leaves, but before he does, he gives his new wife the keys to all his treasures. Strangely, given all that he is giving her free access to, she is forbidden, upon severe punishment, to open one particular closet. While he's away she has her sister and family over for a party and her curiosity gets the best of her. When she enters the closet, she finds the previous six wives' bodies laying there! She drops the key in the blood on the floor, and no matter what she tries, she can't get the blood off. When the husband arrives home, seeing the blood on the key and knowing what she saw, he is going to kill her. She asks for one last prayer with her sister, Anne. After stalling, she goes downstairs to her fate, but right before she's killed, her brothers show up and stab Bluebeard to death. She inherits the estate and remarries, giving her a happily ever after...hopefully.

**Spoilers ahead**

In Smithwick's story, the new wife Josephine, is preparing in full 50s housewife magazine style for a dinner party. The magazines came from wife #2, Danielle. In her version of the story, Henry, our clean-shaven Bluebeard, is a little less rich, and the dinner party is to charm prospective partners. Josephine wonders if wife #2, felt the way she feels having to live up to Henry's expectations of his first wife. She has a certain amount of resigned jealousy seeing their portraits hanging still from their place of honor at the top of the stairs. She feels inadequate in the face of his previous marriages and under constant disapproval from Henry. Thinking she sees the portrait move, she drops the glass she's holding, a wedding gift of Henry and Mary's, and cuts herself in the process of cleaning the shards up. Pleading illness, Henry goes alone to the party but warns her not to rummage in the attic. After a ghostly vision of Mary urging her to give in to temptation, Josephine grabs the key and heads upstairs. The first thing she experiences is the smell, and there are weird skittering and scratching sounds, there's blood on the neck of a dress, and are those...feet? She stumbles over a dollhouse, a complete miniature of the house she's in, and inside the attic room, there are two dolls—Mary and Danielle. Blood from her cut hand gets on the white dresses of the dolls and she knows Henry will know she's been in the attic. She calls her sister in panic, who comes over. Henry arrives home and threatens her, Anne smacks him with a cast iron pan, and Josephine locks him in the attic, and sets the place on fire. Her happy ending comes with building a new house on the land, one that is airy and comfortable, and while there may be a new love interest there, it's not dependent on a man. 

This was such a great story! The buildup of tension and the creepy atmosphere were perfect! I loved the changes that Smithwick made to the classic story: the ghostly visitations/visions that Josephine had of the two previous wives, how they are actually warning her, and how Josephine, in the end, releases them from the house. Even though there aren't bloody bodies laying in a closet, I thought that the dollhouse was a very effective way of linking back to the origin stories. I especially loved the twist at the end of Josephine's little girl playing with the dollhouse, saying that Daddy is being mean, and how Josephine picks up the doll that looks like Henry, puts him in the attic, and shuts the door. This is exactly how you take a fairytale and give it a contemporary twist. 

Be sure to go back and check out the other stops on the tour! 

Published August 30, 2022 by Entangled: Teen

Some shadows protect you…others will kill you in this dazzling new fantasy series from award-winning author Abigail Owen.

Everything about my life is a lie. As a hidden twin princess, born second, I have only one purpose—to sacrifice my life for my sister if death comes for her. I’ve been living under the guise of a poor, obscure girl of no standing, slipping into the palace and into the role of the true princess when danger is present.

Now the queen is dead and the ageless King Eidolon has sent my sister a gift—an eerily familiar gift—and a proposal to wed. I don’t trust him, so I do what I was born to do and secretly take her place on the eve of the coronation. Which is why, when a figure made of shadow kidnaps the new queen, he gets me by mistake.

As I try to escape, all the lies start to unravel. And not just my lies. The Shadowraith who took me has secrets of his own. He struggles to contain the shadows he wields—other faces, identities that threaten my very life.

Winter is at the walls. Darkness is looming. And the only way to save my sister and our dominion is to kill Eidolon…and the Shadowraith who has stolen my heart.

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Young adult fantasy can be very hit or miss for me so I started The Liar's Crown with a little trepidation. As it turns out, I had nothing to be hesitant about. Classic tropes, magic, a little romance with a little spice, and a well-built fantasy world made this one a fun read. 

Meren is an interesting protagonist. Since birth, she's been trained to be a copy of her sister, the real princess. She's had all the training to talk like her, act like her, and take her place should danger arise. It's kinda a bum deal, but Meren takes it very seriously. She doesn't whine about her station or her sister for that matter. It's just the way things are. When their grandmother dies, her sister is set to take the throne. Of course, danger may be present at the coronation, so Meren is put in place to keep her sister, and the real queen to be, safe. Before any of that can occur, Meren is stolen away by Reven to supposedly protect her from getting in the clutches of Eiolodon, a tyrant and enemy of the crown. 

Reven didn't quite know what he was in store for. Meren is witty, full of sass, and not at all what he was expecting the meek princess to be. Their banter is perfect and what an adventure they have set themselves on the road for! Reven's the perfect tortured love interest, a little dangerous, but trying to do the right thing. All's not what it seems for him as well, and some days he's barely holding it together. Moral gray love interests can be exciting if done right and Reven is as broody and dark as they come. 

While Owen didn't do anything to reinvent the YA fantasy genre, the world-building is top-notch and the magical elements were distinctive. You can easily engross yourself in the story without getting distracted by things that just don't make sense. The characters were entertaining, apart and together, and gave just enough steam without completely losing the adventure of things. The Liar's Crown is a solid, young adult fantasy that I'd recommend for fans of the genre. 

Published January 17, 2023 by Berkley

Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else.

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.

Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.

But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…

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Grady Hendrix twists childhood imagination in the most demented way possible in this hilarious but unnerving romp that has to be his best novel yet. It's campy. It's creepy. It's just plain delightful.

Louise and her younger brother Mark have so much emotional debris to shift through after the unexpected death of both their parents—to say nothing of the decades of accumulated stuff (like creepy puppets and dolls). Character growth was not shirked throughout the novel and the two main characters had a lot of developing to do. So much, at times, I couldn't stand either of the jerks.  Unlikeable character redemption arcs are always tricky, but Hendrix pulled it off. 

Hendrix takes a long time setting up his characters and the scene. The weirdness doesn't start immediately, and even when it does, it can be rationalized. Given what we know of the sibling's relationship, it's not surprising at all that Louise thinks her jackass brother is trying to freak her out. You have to be in this for the long haul as Hendrix spends a lot of time on the sibling's relationship.

Oh buddy, though, when it all starts happening, watch out. I did get this one as an audiobook, which was especially horrific since the narrators did the voices too. I had a hard time not looking like a crazy person listening to this at work. I laughed many times at the characters or just the insaneness of it all. In other scenes, I cringed, and I'm sure I made all kinds of faces during a few of the later scenes. In the middle of it all, there's still that weird humor that Hendrix is noted for and is my favorite kind: dark! Squirrel Baby Jesus was dear to my heart and had me giggling insanely to myself and yet still cringing!  If Christopher Moore decided to write horror, I think his brainchild would end up in the realm of How to Sell a Haunted House. 

After what felt like the final showdown of the book, I was excited to see that I was only 2/3rds through. I thought "What could possibly come after this?"...and then I found out. Honestly, I was too busy enjoying the ride to bother trying to figure out where things were going. It's not often a book comes along that can completely immerse me in the world. Would I recommend this book? Hell, yeah. It's not going to be for everyone. If you like your horror fast and dirty, you're probably going to despise the amount of time waiting for something to happen. If you don't mind the build-up and back-story family drama, you're going to love it.