A Selection of Horror Books Released, 1 to 7 Jun 2025
Themes: Supernatural, psychological, dystopian, liminal, and horror movie horror
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Table of Contents
Badlands – Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Supernatural horror – Book 5 of Nora Kelly
In the New Mexico badlands, the skeleton of a woman is found, and the case is assigned to FBI Agent Corrie Swanson.
The victim walked into the desert, shedding clothes as she went, and died in agony of heatstroke and thirst. Two rare artifacts are found clutched in her bony hands: lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods.
Is it suicide or… sacrifice?
Agent Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found, exactly like the other, the two realize the case runs deeper than they imagined.
As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price.
Dark Cloud on Naked Creek – Cindy O’Quinn
Psychological horror
After a patient under the care of Afton Sullivan, a nurse at a men’s prison, dies under mysterious circumstances, she blames herself for the prisoner’s death.
It isn’t the first time strange things have happened with her patients, and Afton fears it won’t be the last.
Thus begins an odyssey of discovery for Afton, as she ventures into the depths of Appalachia to dig into her family’s history and learn the truth about herself and the cunning folk of the mountain that she’s kin to.
Is she killing people, or does something much darker lurk in the hills and hollers of West Virginia?
The Devil’s in the Next Room – John Durgin
Supernatural horror
The bonds of family are brutally tested as darkness closes in, and some secrets refuse to stay buried.
On an isolated farm deep in the New Hampshire woods, Brian Davidson spends his days caring for his brother Bo, who suffers from a childhood head injury, and their ailing mom. Together, the brothers have managed to live a peaceful life, but the shadows around their home have begun to shift.
Dead bodies start turning up nearby: horrifically twisted, covered in carved symbols, mouths agape in frozen screams.
As the disturbing events creep closer to home, Brian begins to sense that his family’s past might hold the key to this hideous mystery.
Homecoming – Micah Castle
Psychological horror
When the death of an old friend draws Jake back to the town he swore he’d never return to, a storm traps him inside his childhood home.
As memories best forgotten cloud his mind, he sees townsfolk in white robes gathered outside. They call for him to receive Her mark, to be one among them.
They won’t take no for an answer, and Jake quickly finds his only hope for escape is what he truly fears the most: the basement.
Meet Me at the Crossroads – Megan Giddings
Dystopian horror
On an ordinary summer morning, the world is changed by the appearance of seven mysterious doors that seemingly lead to another world.
People are, of course, mesmerized and intrigued: A new dimension filled with beauty and resources beckons them to step into an adventure. But, perhaps inevitably, people soon learn that what looks like paradise may very well be filled with danger.
Ayanna and Olivia, two Black midwestern teen twin sisters have different ideas of what may lie in the world beyond.
But will their personal bond endure such wanton exploration? And when one of them goes missing, will the other find solace on her own? And will she uncover the circumstances of what truly happened to her once constant companion and best friend?
Of Monsters and Mainframes – Barbara Truelove
Supernatural space horror
Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge, but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception.
Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying, and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans.
To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team of monsters: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones.
Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil: Dracula.
The Residents of James Hotel – MG Mason
Ghost horror
Vince is stranded at a bus stop one cold and wet stormy November evening when a stranger offers him a lift and a room for the night. The stranger is one Michael James, a local aristocrat, and owner of The James Hotel in the nearby town of Execombe.
It’s an old hotel of mysterious figures and strange voices.
It’s a place where the owner and his equally mysterious reception manager repeatedly states “Nobody ever wants to leave!”
What is the secret of The James Hotel? Who are the residents? And more importantly, what secrets lurk within the fabric of its historic walls?
Strange Houses – Uketsu
Liminal horror
When a writer fascinated by the macabre is approached by an acquaintance, he finds himself investigating an eerie house for sale in Tokyo.
At first, with its bright and spacious interior, it seems the perfect first home. But upon closer inspection, the building’s floor plans reveal a mysterious “dead space” hidden between its walls.
Seeking a second opinion, the writer shares the floor plans with his friend Kurihara, an architect, only to discover more unnerving details throughout.
What is the true purpose behind the house’s disturbing design? And what happened to the former owners who disappeared without a trace?
When a body suddenly appears and a young woman reaches out about a second house, it soon becomes clear that the writer and his friend may be in over their heads.
Strength – Greg Ramsay
Post-apocalypse horror
What would you do with infinite life?
A scientist looking to help the medical industry develops nanotech, only to have it stolen and modified by political forces around the world until it provides limitless life and immense strength for armed forces.
Wars will be waged over the technology until a mad president ends the world in nuclear fire. But even that won’t stop the wars.
Born in a ditch, our protagonist faces a life full of suffering and loss; a future unknown.
But as he grows and sees life from different viewpoints, he will rise to take on the evil king of a post-apocalyptic America.
The question is… even with a body and heart as strong as his, will he be enough against more than one immortal dictator?
The Traveling Movie Show – Robert Essig
Horror movie horror
It’s been said there’s no such thing as bad publicity, so when a man is murdered at the premiere of their debut film, Death Obsession, a small group of young filmmakers decide to make the best of a bad situation.
The Traveling Movie Show is a cross-country tour of the last drive-in theaters in America. A way to build buzz for a new horror film. But murder is close on their tails and fear of the tour being shut down has caused this misfit group to take fate into their own hands.
As they cover up each new death in each new town, they begin to turn on one another, wondering who the killer is.
In the blistering heat of summer as they travel across the Midwest, they find out that some secrets weren’t meant to be kept.
And sometimes killers are born of celluloid, dreams, and blood money.
Published: 7 June 2025
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