A Selection of Horror Books Released, 14 to 20 Jul 2024
Themes: Supernatural, psychological, ghost, werewolf, haunted building, slasher, cosmic, and gothic horror
- This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Table of Contents
The Atropine Tree – Sarah Read
Gothic horror
Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets.
When Alrick Aldane returns to his family’s house, he expects to simply inherit his father’s land and title.
Instead, he discovers that he is also heir to the property’s disturbing history – one full of witchcraft – and a ghostly mystery that could condemn him to a fate worse than death.
Baying the Moon – Jennifer R. Donohue
Werewolf horror – Book 2 of Learn to Howl
Six months ago, Allie believed she was a normal human girl from a normal human family. Then one terrible night lead to a breathless road trip to rescue her real family. Her werewolf family.
After a begrudging information exchange with the Ward family, Allie’s Aunt Rachel has decided it’s safest to wait and see what the secret medical organization Allie rescued her from does next.
But Allie and her cousin Morgan aren’t risking any more of their family. Along with some other young werewolves, they hit the road again to delve into Silvernail’s goals and how they found the wolves in the first place.
Behind – Bentley Little
Psychological horror
When he was a little boy, there was a house behind Alex Lowry’s house. Except he was the only one who could see it. Only he could hear the woman singing from within.
Decades later, after the pandemic costs Alex his corporate job, he picks up work delivering specialty items to homebound clientele and, against all odds, he realizes he enjoys his new life. His world is simpler. Quieter.
Until he once more hears the tuneless, wordless song of the woman from the house behind.
Until the cracks in the facade of his simple, quiet life begin to yawn, and a past he thought he had outrun begins to gain on him.
Until he finds himself slipping into the world behind.
The Building That Wasn’t – Abigail Miles
Haunted building horror
When Everly Tertium encounters a strange man in the park claiming to be her grandfather, she is invited to visit a mysterious apartment building.
There, she finds herself in a constant state of déjà vu, impossibly certain that she’s already lived through these moments, already been introduced to these people, and already visited all of these rooms and floors. So why does she have no idea what’s happening to her?
The longer she stays in the building, the more Everly becomes convinced there is more going on than meets the eye. Something is off, time seems to pass differently, and the people living there seem trapped.
Slowly, Everly begins to wonder if she is trapped too. But would she even want to leave, if she could?
Grievers’ Wood – Stephen Barnard
Supernatural horror
One boy is dead. Another is missing. And a strange girl has been spotted in Grievers’ Wood.
The small town of Greaves has been sleepy for a long time, and that’s how they like it. However, the actions of two teenage boys triggers the awakening of something in the woods that has lain dormant for centuries. Something that concerns four of the town’s founding families and a past incident that shaped the future of the whole community.
But secrets won’t remain hidden for ever, and the past refuses to stay buried. Local journalist Ryan Pascoe, police constable Matty Sellars, and single mum Shelley Kirk will have to fight for their lives and their loved ones in order to keep the menace that stalks Grievers’ Wood at bay.
A Flock of Crows and Other Short Stories – Devin Cabrera
Horror collection
Ten horror stories. Are you brave enough to turn the page?
A couple wins an all-expense-paid trip to an underwater hotel, but their dream vacation turns into a nightmare when an earthquake unleashes an ancient sea creature from its deep sea prison. Trapped beneath the ocean’s surface, they must fight for their lives against a monstrous predator that should have remained buried forever.
A boy moves into a house by the swamp, only to discover that the marsh hides a dark secret. As night falls, a mysterious beast emerges, preying on the children that dare enter its territory.
When giant, malevolent clowns invade Earth, a teenage girl is thrust into a world of chaos and carnage. With humanity on the brink of extinction, she must outsmart and outrun the bloodthirsty clowns before she becomes their next meal.
A prank gone wrong leads a group of friends into a cornfield after they egg the wrong house, but the field is haunted by an evil scarecrow that will do anything to protect its crops.
I Was a Teenage Slasher – Stephen Graham Jones
Slasher horror
1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton, and a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business.
So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge.
Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.
Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography.
Not the Worst Monster in Town – Chisto Healy & C.A. Baynam
Supernatural carnival horror
Lycan Falcone’s carnival is far from ordinary and things get stranger when an old evil is awakened from below.
Lycan is already facing a mutiny led by his clown and somehow it’s all tied together.
As the evil comes to the surface, so do the secrets Lycan worked to hide.
The Ojanox 1: Scream in the Dark – Daemon Manx
Cosmic horror – Book 1 of The Ojanox Series
The year is 1979. A small New York town prepares to welcome the fall season in all the expected ways: young children bicker and boast over Halloween costumes, secret lovers meet in clandestine corners, and a tortured soul plots wicked deeds. All the while, hidden just out of view, patient and hungry… an ancient evil lurks.
Welcome to Garrett Grove, an unassuming community nestled within the foothills of the Watchung Mountains. The very definition of “Everytown, USA”, it is a largely self-contained municipality, most of the residents on a first-name basis. An almost postcard-perfect location.
For ten-year-old Troy Fischer, eagerly awaiting the thrills of Halloween, autumn is his favorite time of year. This spooky season looks to be the best one yet – he has caught the eye of the new girl at school, and the haunted attraction he built in his garage, called Scream in the Dark, is guaranteed to have all of his classmates talking.
But something is happening to the children of Garrett Grove. A mysterious outbreak threatens the community, leaving a handful of doctors and the town’s sheriff desperate to find the source of the contagion before it is too late.
Poe & I – Matthew Mercer
Psychological horror
Jonah Peabody takes a job as caretaker and docent for the last home of Edgar Allan Poe in The Bronx, but from the moment he moves into Poe’s Basement, he finds himself also living inside a Poe story, stalked by a man who seems to be his doppelganger and who seeks revenge for past misdeeds.
Jonah claims to be hunting for his lost sister, but as the narrative shifts between past and present, it’s clear that he’s not telling us the entire story. What is he hiding and why?
Haunted by the violent ghosts of his own family and Poe himself, Jonah must reconcile with his dark past before the dual shadow of guilt and grief buries him alive. Living in Poe’s Basement might just be his last chance at redemption.
Portrait of a Shadow – Meriam Metoui
YA psychological horror
A missing sister. A mysterious boy. And a painting that holds the truth beneath its peeling edge.
Inez is missing, but missing things can always be found.
Mae knows this as a fact, even though the police investigation has come to a standstill, even though her parents are moving on. But when she goes to clear out her older sister’s studio, she finds a mess of research and a white canvas that seems even older than the ornate frame it is set in. The closer Mae gets to the canvas, the more difficult it is to pull her eyes away from its mottled surface, its heavy layers of white paint, its peeling top corner she is tempted to pull to see what’s beneath. But she doesn’t. Not yet.
Mae decides to trace her sister’s last steps in the hopes of finding answers, certain that Inez’s disappearance is related to the painting. And she knows she is desperate enough to let the strange boy who claims to have been Inez’s neighbor tag along. Even if his good looks don’t help distract from his avoidance of her questions.
So begins a scavenger hunt piecing together what they can find from what Inez left behind. One that leads to centuries-old questions best left unasked and secrets best kept in the dark.
Smothermoss – Alisa Alering
Ghost horror
A haunting, imaginative, and twisting tale of two sisters and the menacing, unexplained forces that threaten them and their rural mountain community.
In 1980s Appalachia, sisters Sheila and Angie couldn’t be more different. While their mother works long shifts at the nearby asylum, Sheila cares for their home and keeps to herself, even when enduring relentless bullying. Her fearless younger sister, Angie, is more focused on fighting imaginary zombies and creating tarot-like cards that seem to have minds of their own.
When the brutal murder of two female hikers on the nearby Appalachian Trail stuns their small community, the sisters find themselves tangled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Angie discovers a ripped, blood-soaked shirt; money Sheila’s been stashing away disappears; and a strange man tries to barter with a woman’s watch at a local store.
As the threat of violence looms larger, the mysterious, ancient mountain they live on – and their willingness to trust each other – might be the only things that can save these sisters from the darkness consuming their home.
That Which Stands Outside – Mark Morris
Folklore horror
After Todd Kingston rescues Yrsa Helgerson from muggers one rainy London night, their resulting friendship quickly develops into a romance.
When Yrsa’s mother dies, Todd accompanies her back to her childhood home, an isolated Nordic island. The reception they receive there is one of suspicion and hostility. The islanders believe Yrsa to be a child of a mythic race called the Jötnar, a claim which Yrsa dismisses as superstitious nonsense.
But as the island is rocked by a series of devastating events, Todd finds himself caught up in a terrifying battle, one which possibly threatens the future of the world itself.
Trespass Against Us – Leon Kemp
YA supernatural horror
A group of teens visit an abandoned reform school, and then return two years later to confront the supernatural evil they awoke there.
Two years ago, four friends went into the abandoned religious reform school Dominic House.
Only three came out.
Riley still bears horrific scars from that night. He doesn’t speak to his friends anymore. And he’s haunted by the truth: Riley’s boyfriend, Ethan, didn’t disappear. Something in that house took him.
Now, alongside TV’s most famous ghost hunter, Jordan Jones, Riley is returning, determined to find out what happened to Ethan.
But as the night wears on, Riley realizes he isn’t just revisiting the most terrifying night of his life – he’s reliving it.
And this time, whatever lives in Dominic House will make sure they all stay.
Published: 20 July 2024
Subscribe
Horror-themed clothing, notebooks, homewares, and accessories
