The Covid pandemic serve as the stage for the serial killings, it serves as a shorthand to communicate the fear, anxiety, loneliness, irrationality, and all the other things that came with it in the months (now years) after it began. 

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is full of native folklore and packed with emotion - humor, sadness, terror - and definitely worth a read, especially for Jones’ fans.

Requiem is a cosmic gothic horror novel that explores the familiar trope of what can happen when AI goes wrong (in space!) but the familiarity did not detract from the story and as advances in AI technology continue, is even more relevant.

Salt Bones is a riveting mystery of lost girls filled with folklore, generational trauma, family secrets, and class politics in the California desert.

With all due respect and many fond memories of Christopher Pike, R.L. Stone, and Lois Duncan, YA in general and especially YA horror today excels in both quality and quantity. That being said, something I would have killed to read when I was 15 is not always what I’m looking for at 50.

After listening to a strong, atmospheric New England Gothic novel, I realized it was less than half over, and the ride was just beginning.

The Unkillable Frank Lightning is a riveting witchy weird western retelling of the Frankenstein story, with a sympathetic monster (whether we’re talking about the creator or creation) and a cast of characters straight out of the Wild West.

Dark Cloud on Naked Creek is a thoroughly Appalachian novel, steeped in the folklore and traditions of the mountains I grew up in, but it will resonate with anyone who empathizes or sympathizes with the challenge between honoring the past and resolving generational trauma without letting it define you.

Queer horror and urban fantasy resting on an intriguing plot revolving around a mysterious set of magical paintings had me staying up past my bedtime to keep reading The Macabre.

Packed with tips and tricks for novice and experienced bartenders along with images of the concoctions in creepy dressing, every night can be a Spooky Cocktail (or Mocktail!) night.

I had this on pre-order before Meg even formally announced it, so I may be a little biased. I unabashedly love her designs (see my Craft page for examples I’ve cross stitched.)

Another solid slightly supernatural thriller from Sarah Pinborough. Freddie and Emily as dual narrators are not always reliable or likable, as intended by the author and used successfully as a primary plot point..

What if the Roys from Succession got their power from a sinister 1000 year old curse?

Diavola is perfect for fans of modern gothic horror, especially if you like it laden heavily with dark humor.

A creepy read at any age! Paul Tremblay’s first middle-grade novel has everything we didn’t have as Gen X horror loving children who graduated from a doctor (Seuss) to a King (Stephen) with almost nothing in between. (Yes, R.L. Stone is great - but came a little later than middle school for me).

Part folklore, part history, part magic v.science, And the Trees Stare Back is set in 1989 Soviet Estonia where religion is banned and even telling stories about the horrors that may live in the forest is illegal.

The Shivers Collection is made up of five punchy short stories from some of the biggest names in modern horror. (This is an Amazon original, so I regret to inform you that your options for reading are limited. But it is available on Kindle Unlimited, so there’s that.)

When I was a baby hippie who had recently discovered Joni Mitchell and was also a horror lover, maybe 13 years old, I wrote a short story for a class assignment about a daisy whose field was paved over that was reincarnated as a bulldozer and wreaked revenge on all parties involved in the destruction of her field.

I told you it wouldn’t always be horror. Unless you count centuries of being overlooked, forgotten, and oppressed by the patriarchy a horror. Which I do.

The Sundowner’s Dance cannot be reduced to being called a “horror novel” - not that it isn’t because it is: part psychological thriller, part Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but it’s also a story of grief: grieving the loss of loved ones and of self and of fear: the fear of death and of losing oneself both physically and mentally.