Play Nice by Rachel Harrison is a thrilling horror novel with scares coming from both the literal and figurative demons.

The first thing you'll see when googling this book is "Gothic feminist body horror" - and it is that, but it's also romantic and witchy and about love and loss and found family.

Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang joins the chorus of media that takes a satirical look at influencers with the intent of showing they’re not what they seem - but she has a unique take on the modern trope that makes her novel feel fresh.

Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine by Kristina Ten feels like that weird girl you know from school or work or the pub (which is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black) sits down next to you and starts talking. Some of what she says is obviously unrealistic, but it all feels true, and it encourages you to share your own weird stories.

The Villa, Once Beloved by Victor Manibo is a compelling gothic horror complete with an atmospheric estate, a mysterious family legacy involving a curse, and an innocent young woman at the center.

The Film You Are About to See by Haley Newlin is a reality blurring creature feature set at an all-night “Dusk Til Dawn Spooktacular” at a 1950s Indiana drive-in showing classics like House of Wax and The Tingler while a big bug is turning moviegoers into pod people. And, yes, it is as amazing as it sounds.

Unusual Occurrences by Glenn Rolfe is a collection of dark stories about aliens and ghosts and nature and monsters of all sorts. Though the topics are speculative or supernatural, the characters and themes like family, grief, and fear are relatable, the language was casual, like a friend - probably wearing a band tee - telling a story, and the collection was overall a fun read.

As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel is a Gothic fantasy romance about witches and demons - in particular one demon who passes generations of time waiting for one witch to be reborn so the Faustian bargain they’ve struck can be fulfilled - or is this demon waiting for more personal reasons? Can a creature with no soul feel love?

The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers combines two of my favorite things: bookshops and murder. That definitely doesn’t sound right, but you get it. They’re probably two of your favorite things, too.

The Goth Garden by Felicia Feaster is a gorgeous art book that just happens to be packed full of history, lore, growing guidance, and uses of fifty plants and flowers to add to your very own goth garden - or at least to your bookshelf.

Blood Ties is the perfect action adventure horror romance to read while waiting for WoW: Midnight to drop or if you’ve never played the game. Christie Golden does a masterful job describing enough of the world and characters for those unfamiliar with the game but not so much that fans will get bored.

I’ll Make a Spectacle of You by Beatrice Winifred Iker is a chilling Southern Gothic folk horror novel primarily set in and around the fictional Bricksbury University, a historically black college in Jonesborough, TN, in the heart of Appalachia.

Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson wasted no time building tension as we realize within the first lines that something is wrong.

Poe witnessed her mother’s murder when she was 13 years old, and now she hosts her own true crime podcast where she invites criminals to, as anonymously as they like, confess their crimes.

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Dinner by Jennifer Hayden is a hand-drawn memoir peppered with tongue-in-cheek (but potentially technically edible if you squint) recipes about how much she hates cooking. Every single night. In perpetuity.

Anyone who writes anything for any reason has experienced the dead stare of a blank page at some point, and some of my favorite fiction has explored that feeling.

Though comparisons to Stephen King will surely be made by any horror fan - Philip Fracassi himself peppers allusions to King and his works within the novel - Gothic is more than a “man with writer’s block becomes unhinged” story which is obvious right away when the opening chapter is dedicated to the search for the artifact which is the catalyst for said writer’s madness.

Like Peyton Place, like Derry, there is something dark under the surface of the seemingly idyllic small town of Wilson Island.

Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World by Cullen Bunn is an engrossing thriller and cosmic horror novel that follows the inhabitants of Wilson Island as the community is terrorized by a serial killer - until they realize that’s the least of the horrors that they face.

The teenage years can be hard. You have to worry about dating and friendships and family and things and people changing, growing, and it can feel like everyone is moving on without you and you’re all alone. Sometimes you feel like you may not even recognize your friends as they develop interests apart from you or a new relationship. What happens when the reason you don’t recognize them is because they really aren’t themselves anymore?

The House of Illusionists and Other Stories by Vanessa Fogg is a charming collection of speculative stories about love, connection, family, life, death, and more, with lyrical languages and ranging from fantasy to horror to magical realism to sci-fi to a beautiful folkloric tale within a tale.

A mix of horror, mystery, and dark humor, with a dash of nostalgia thanks to the mid-90s setting, this second entry in the Bless Your Heart series is as comforting as a cozy mystery - though the body count and some descriptions of gore - not to mention the snark of high school homecoming queen wannabes - probably bump it out of the cozy category.

Every neighborhood has a haunted house, and in thirteen-year-old Jessie’s neighborhood, that’s the McIntyre place, and like any teenager, she just wants her eight-year-old brother Paul to go away so she can listen to her music, so she dares him to go into the McIntyre place just to get him out of her hair for a few hours. She had no way of knowing she would never see him again or that it would destroy her family.