A Selection of Horror Books Released, 28 Jul to 3 Aug 2024

18 horror books this week

Themes: Supernatural, psychological, ghosts, splatterpunk, vampire, bigfoot, apocalypse, killer, shark, and coming of age horror

The Blonde Dies First – Joelle Wellington

YA supernatural horror

Devon Harris doesn’t have much planned for the summer, until her sister, Drew, invites Devon to a very exclusive private school party.

Out of her element, Devon commits to being game at everything. Even when the private school kids ask her if there are fights at her school. Even when they ask her if her box braids are her real hair. Even when those weird ass kids pull out a Ouija board.

But this seemingly harmless bit of fun has terrible consequences. Something has been released, and only a week later it’s hunting Devon, Drew and their friends. Hunting them in an eerily familiar way.

Bloody Hell: An Anthology of UK Indie Horror – Sarah Jules (editor)

Horror anthology

The United Kingdom is known for its breath-taking beauty, but even the most idyllic of places can harbour dark secrets.

Experience twenty-seven brand new horror stories from British indie authors, each set in a unique location throughout the British Isles. Grab a cup of tea, a scone, and remember… they’re only stories.

This fully illustrated anthology is brought to you by indie horror author Sarah Jules, and illustrator Rachael Rose, and features stories from veteran, and debut, British indie horror authors.

Castle of the Cursed – Romina Garber

YA vampire horror

After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.

Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.

As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her, and they’re closer than she ever realized.

The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread – Neon Hemlock Press

LGBTQ horror anthology

An anthology of gothic depravity, horror & perversion.

It contains queer horrors both psychological and supernatural, gory and cerebral.

The Creepening of Dogwood House – Eden Royce

Middle grade supernatural horror

At night, Roddie still dreams of sitting at his mother’s feet while she braids his Afro down. But that’s a memory from before. Before his mom died in a tragic accident. Before he was taken in by an aunt he barely knows. Before his aunt brought him to Dogwood House, the creepiest place Roddie has ever seen. It was his family’s home for over a hundred years. Now the house, abandoned and rotting, draped in Spanish moss that reminds him too much of hair, is his home too.

Aunt Angie has returned to South Carolina to take care of Roddie and reconnect with their family’s hoodoo roots. Roddie, however, can’t help but feel lost. His mom had never told him anything about hoodoo, Dogwood House, or their family.

As they set about fixing the house up, Roddie discovers that there is even more his mother never said. Like why she left home when she was seventeen, never to return. Or why she insisted Aunt Angie always wear her hair in locs. Or what she knew of the strange secrets hidden deep within Dogwood House: secrets that have awoken again, and are reaching out to Roddie.

Cruel Jaws: The Novelization – Brad Carter

Shark movie tie-in horror

Something sinister has come to the coastal town of Hampton Bay. Something horrifying and colossal that refuses to stop killing until the white sand beaches are blood red.

A renegade shark expert and a down on his luck lawman are all that stand between a genetically engineered killing machine and thousands of blissfully unaware tourists.

It’s a race against time, bureaucratic red tape, and the mafia to stop a homicidal shark from turning a holiday weekend into a nightmare of carnage.

Down Into the Sea – Dan Franklin

Coming of age horror

Fourteen-year-old Eric Ross is struggling. His father is in prison for murder. His mother has slipped into addiction. Even if he can survive the bullying and the sudden run of disappearances, he has little hope for a future outside of the sleepy Massachusetts fishing town he calls home.

But there is something far more important on his mind.

He found her down beneath the local entertainment pier, and she seems just about perfect. Except for the teeth. But she doesn’t want to simply be a part of his world. She wants more.

Duncan Ralston is Dead – Lisa Breanne

Apocalypse comedy horror

A Rumor has fractured humanity…

Violence is on the rise…

The police have stopped answering calls…

Hospitals are overrun…

Cities are burning…

Matt Shaw cannot be reached for comment…

Duncan Ralston is Dead.

This is how it happened.

Gaping Wound – Iona Penn

Splatterpunk horror

Caden always knew that he was different and now he would stop at nothing to match who he is on the outside with who he is on the inside.

With a mother who doesn’t share his ideologies, Caden begins research on the deep dark web, looking up do-it-yourself gender reassignment surgeries.

Ghost Camera – Darcy Coates

Ghost horror (new edition)

When Jenine finds an abandoned polaroid camera, she playfully snaps a photo without a second thought. But there’s something wrong with the image: a ghostly figure stands in the background, watching her.

Fixated on her.

Moving one step closer with every picture she takes.

Desperate, Jenine shares her secret with her best friend, Bree. Together they realize the camera captures unsettling impressions of the dead. But now the ghosts seem to be following the two friends. And with each new photo taken, a terrible danger grows ever clearer.

This new edition includes new bonus stories.

Ghostly, Ghastly Tales – Anastasia Garcia

Middle grade illustrated horror collection

Each tale pulls you into a dark world of contemporary stories based on myths and legends from around the world.

Haunted battlefields? Talking heads? Ghosts? Nefarious creatures in the night? Read all about spooky field trips, ghostly omens, cautionary tales, and more.

Featuring stories inspired by folklore from Nigeria, the Philippines, the Caribbean, Iceland, England, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Ancient Egypt, Germany, Mexico, and the American South.

Headhunters – Luis Paredes

Supernatural horror

Edgar Tooms’s summer vacation is cut short by a supernatural home invader-a ten-foot-tall praying mantis.

The voracious beast, an ancient Mesopotamian demon, is after Edgar’s grandfather, a housebound ghost with no body. After escaping the creature’s claws, Edgar realizes that the gigantic mantis will never stop. Luckily, the demon’s entry into our world sparks a mystic transformation within Edgar, giving him a fighting chance.

Boosting Edgar’s odds are the addition of his best friend Clara Diaz, and her quirky Aunt Ginnie, and the enigmatic professor Sol Balam who all bring their own special gifts to the fight.

But hope fades when an even more powerful demon joins the hunt for Edgar’s grandfather. Now, Edgar must travel to the Underworld to seek help from a banished race of creatures hungry for revenge against their Mantid overlords.

Time isn’t on Edgar’s side as the cunning demons close in for a final showdown that threatens his friends and family.

Heads Will Roll – Josh Winning

Supernatural summer camp horror

Willow’s worst nightmare was being canceled. But the shadows in the woods of Camp Castaway might destroy more than her reputation.

After sitcom star Willow tweets herself into infamy and stumbles blind-drunk into a swimming pool, her agent ships her off to Camp Castaway. Nestled deep in upstate New York, Castaway is a summer camp for adults who are desperate to leave their mistakes behind. No real names, no phones, no way to call for help.

Willow’s fellow campers seem okay. Her own favorite actress is even here, making a s’more. And did that jaded writer, Dani, just wink at her?

But the peaceful vibe is shattered when one of the campers vanishes and Willow finds a mutilated doll in her room with a threatening message rolled up inside its mouth. Terror grips the group, campers begin to lose their heads – literally – and disturbing past deeds come to light.

It Came from the Trees – Ally Russell

Middle grade bigfoot horror

A young girl and her scout troop brave the woods to find her missing friend when no one else will.

The wilderness is in Jenna’s blood. Her Pap was the first Black park ranger at Sturbridge Reservation, and she practically knows the Owlet Survival Handbook by heart. But she’s never encountered a creature like the one that took her best friend Reese.

Her parents don’t believe her; the police are worthless, following the wrong leads; and the media isn’t connecting the dots between Reese’s disappearance and a string of other attacks. Determined to save her friend, Jenna joins a new local scout troop, and ventures back into the woods.

When the troop stumbles across suspicious signs: huge human-like footprints near the camp, scratch marks on trees, and ominous sounds from the woods, Jenna worries that whatever took Reese is back to take her too. Can she trust her new scout leader? And will her new friend Norrie, who makes her laugh and reminds her so much of Reese, believe her?

After the unthinkable happens, the scouts, armed with their wits and toiletries, band together to fight the monster and survive the night.

Living Death Race – John Everson

Post-apocalyptic zombie horror

One Deadly Girl… One Macho Guy… One Kick-Ass Car… And a Whole Lotta ZOMBIES…

In an apocalyptic near-future where zombies have taken over, the remaining humans live walled up in a few key cities. Once a year, their doors open to let the bravest of drivers out to compete in the Living Death Race.

Mira “Beauty” Linn made her money to trick out her classic 1972 Mustang in the underground, illegal zombie cock fight ring. But when Tony shanghaies her and her car to drive in the Living Death Race, she vows to let nothing get between her and the prize. Not Kill Bill and the Cootch, not Master & Servant, not Gwen, Tony’s zombie mistress and definitely not Tony, who someone erroneously dubbed The Brains.

Out of Whack – KN Gould

Killer horror

Austin and Violet are on the run through the backroads of Middle America. Despite Austin’s cold assurances, Violet’s already unstable life is about to unravel even further, and the person she trusts most in this world has an unbelievable, sinister secret.

What happens to the young couple when Violet discovers what Austin is hiding?

With each passing mile of road, with each victim left in their wake, more is revealed, leading up to a violent, chaotic conclusion.

Stay on the Line – Clay McLeod Chapman

Supernatural horror

After a small coastal town is devastated by a hurricane, the survivors gravitate toward a long out-of-service payphone in hopes of talking out their grief and saying goodbye to loved ones, only for it to begin ringing on its own.

As more townspeople answer the call, friends and family believed to have been lost to the storm begin searching for a way back home.

Sins of the Wronged – Daniel Lorn

Psychological horror

Maria is helplessly in love with Dominic, who appears quite detached from her attempts to resolve their issues. Dominic has been consistently cheating on Maria since the start of their relationship, but she cannot see past how perfect things used to seem.

A glimmer of hope flickers in Maria’s heart as they embark on a weekend getaway to the countryside, where they first professed their undying love for each other. But instead of rekindling their once passionate connection, what unfolds is a chilling descent into a world of darkness, despair, and unbridled chaos.

Published: 3 August 2024