Fearsome Fiction

A Selection of Horror Books Released, 23 Feb to 1 Mar 2025

7 horror books this week

Themes: Psychological, folk, extreme, biome, revenge, and body horror

Horror books

Table of Contents

Aflockapocalypse – Tony Favro

Extreme horror

AflockapocalypseThe skies are screaming, and death has wings.

Diego Cortez thought tracing his family roots deep in the Amazon rainforest would bring him peace. Instead, it cursed him.

Pecked by the mythical Hoatzin bird, he’s transformed into a monstrous bird-god with a thirst for revenge and a terrifying new power: control over an endless swarm of birds with talons sharpened for slaughter.

As his feathered army descends upon a small town, death rains down in brutal, blood-soaked waves. No one is safe. Not the military. Not even those who see Diego beneath the feathers; his family.

Aunt Flo – Renn White

Body horror

Aunt FloJennifer’s battle with extreme PMS takes an unexpected turn when her well-meaning scientist husband, Henry, concocts a medication to cure her mood swings. However, the remedy backfires spectacularly, transforming Jennifer into a voracious, acidic gelatinous blob.

As she rampages through the countryside, devouring everything in her path, Henry is busy at work, securing global distribution rights to his breakthrough medicine, unaware of the terror he has created.

Will he find a solution before it’s too late, or will Jennifer’s hunger consume them all?

Boreal: An Anthology of Taiga Horror – Katherine Silva (editor)

Horror anthology

Boreal: An Anthology of Taiga Horror22 stories intermingle the dark and lonely forests of the taiga biome with odysseys of sorrow, grief and self-reflection that skirt the boundaries of life and death.

War-ravaged trees, hypnotic glades, and cold desolate mountains await you.

A sample of stories: Two sisters huddle in a cabin seeking protection from a dark force… An engineer and an anthropologist search for their lost geologist partner on a derelict expedition… A disgraced tracker investigates a desecrated shrine in a small village…

Libby Lives – Ali Toothman

Revenge horror

Libby LivesEveryone in town knows Libby Turner as the sweet waitress at The Rustic Spoon, but they don’t know about the bodies buried in her past.

After surviving a childhood of abuse, Libby finally has a shot at a normal life, including an unexpected romance with a protective local cop who makes her feel truly safe for the first time.

Then the notes start appearing. Someone is watching her. Someone knows her darkest secrets. And they’re determined to make her pay for what she’s done.

Ruthie – Angie Gibson

Revenge horror

RuthieIn a quiet Southern town, six-year-old Ruthie vanishes. As the town’s police and citizens scramble to find her, fear begins to settle in. Some know more than they’re letting on, tormented by guilt. The entire town is shaken. Parents clutch their children tighter, united in their vigilance.

The signs were there all along. Yet Ruthie was left in the hands of a monster – betrayed by wilful ignorance and shocking incompetence.

The town prays for her safe return. But what if their prayers were answered… in a way they never expected? What if Ruthie came back… for revenge?

Be careful what you wish for, because sometimes, you might just get it.

Something in the Walls – Daisy Pearce

Folk horror

Something in the WallsNew child psychologist Mina has little experience. In a field where the first people called are experts, she’s been unable to get her feet wet.

Instead, she aimlessly spends her days stuck in the stifling heat wave sweeping across Britain, and anxiously contemplating her upcoming marriage to careful, precise researcher Oscar. The only reprieve from her small, close world is attending the local bereavement group to mourn her brother’s death from years ago.

That is, until she meets journalist Sam Hunter at the grief group one day. And he has a proposition for her.

Thirteen-year-old Alice Webber claims she’s being haunted by a witch. Living with her family in their crowded home in the remote village of Banathel, Alice’s symptoms are increasingly disturbing, and money is tight.

Taking this job will give Mina some experience; Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime; and Alice will get better, Mina is sure of it.

Instead of improving, Alice’s behavior becomes increasingly inexplicable and intense. The town of Banathel has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world. They believe there are ways of dealing with it. And they don’t expect outsiders to understand.

As Mina races to uncover the truth behind Alice’s condition, the dark cracks of Banathel begin to show. Mina is desperate to understand how deep their sinister traditions go and how her own past may be the biggest threat of all.

Timeless – Laura Bilodeau

Horror anthology

TimelessTravel through time with this star-studded line up featuring nine chilling stories of horror through the ages.

Does time heal all, or does it just repeat itself time and time again?

Only time will tell.

Published: 1 March 2025