That Which Feeds Us: A Hawaiian Gothic

That Which Feeds Us: A Hawaiian Gothic

By Keala Kendall

Random House, 2026. 337 pages. Young Adult Horror

A native Hawaiian teen travels to a luxury island resort in search of her missing twin and uncovers the dark side of paradise. For the world's wealthiest, Kōpa'a Island Resort is more than a destination. It's the ultimate escape. With no cell service or Wi-Fi, the Hawaiian island is a coveted wellness retreat renowned for its persimmon orchard and promises of rejuvenation. But to uncover what happened to Ohia, Lehua will have to unearth the island's bloody history and face the horrors that lurk within its sugarcane fields--or risk being consumed by them.

I never thought I'd have the opportunity to read a Native Hawaiian horror - and this one sure delivers! Swapping the usual haunted mansion for an eerie hotel resort, Kendall deftly investigates the many ghosts of colonization and its psychological impact on Hawaiians today. Rich with atmosphere, complex characters and spooky encounters, That Which Feeds Us is a ghost story that's sure to linger with readers long after they've braved its pages. 

If you like That Which Feeds Us: A Hawaiian Gothic, you might also like:

Honeysuckle and Bone

By Trisha Tobias

Sweet July Books, 2025. 304 pages. Young Adult Horror

Carina Marshall is looking to reinvent herself, and what better place to do it than Jamaica, her mother's alluring homeland where she conveniently has access to an au pair gig for the wealthy and powerful Hall family. Once there, Carina finds herself settling right into her busy, but comfortable, new life. Yes, the family runs a tight ship, and yes, there is some tension between the Halls, but Carina is content flying under the radar and hanging out with her new friends--not least, the handsome and charming Aaron. But when inexplicable things start happening to her in the house, only getting worse each night, Carina realizes that someone, or something, is out to get her. Is it the Halls? The house itself? Or is her own past catching up with her? With Aaron's help, she must figure out what is haunting her, and fast, before she's forced out of Blackbeard House for good.

She is a Haunting

By Trang Thanh Tran

Bloomsbury, 2023. 341 pages. Young Adult Horror

Seventeen-year-old bisexual Jade Nguyrn is spending the summer in Vietnam at the French colonial house her estranged father is fixing up as a vacation rental, but unbeknownst to her family, the house and its ghosts have other plans.

Burn Down, Rise Up

By Vincent Tirado

Sourcebooks Fire, 2022. 338 pages. Young Adult Horror

When an urban legend rumored to trap people inside subway tunnels seems to be behind mysterious disappearances in the Bronx, sixteen-year-old Raquel and her friends team up to save their city--and confront a dark episode in its history in the process

KD

The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls

The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls 

By Jessica Spotswood 

Henry Holt and Company, 2026. 388 pages. Young Adult Horror 

 The harrow home for wayward girls has long stood as a place of secrets. The estate has housed hundreds of young women hidden away during their pregnancies, their homesick cries echoing through the halls, providing a haunting score to Grace Harrow's childhood. Now, in the summer of 1947, the Home has been sold to a wealthy hotelier. Grace expects the new owner's daughters to be spoiled. Yet Rose, the eldest daughter--unaware of Mr. Harrow's abusive tendencies--is jealous of Grace's seemingly easy confidence. But as they're drawn into each other's lives, an unlikely friendship begins to form. Fortunately so, because not all of the wayward girls made it out ... One still lingers. Lurking in the shadows. Looking for vengeance. To expose the truth buried in the walls of the Harrow Home, Grace and Rose must unravel a legacy of silence and cruelty. But Grace's father will stop at nothing to keep the past hidden, and if the truth comes to light, it could destroy both their families. 

The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls is a book packed full of rage, revenge, and broken hearts. I was delighted to find that I cared about (or was at least interested in) every character's story - no small feat as I am sure we have all experienced. This is one of those perfectly atmospheric gothic tales. I felt like I could smell the pool the characters gathered around and could feel the humid basement air. Do yourself a favor and dip your toe in the water of this spooky read, just don't look too closely at your reflection. 

 If you like The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls, you might also like: 

 

What Rough Beast 

By Mindy McGinnis 

Harper, 2026. 272 pages. Young Adult Horror 

 Ava learned the hard way that speaking up means being shut out. A social outcast, she finds comfort in her job at a wildlife rehabilitation center, surrounded by the injured, the damaged, and the lame. Best of all, the work distracts her from the night that changed her life--and the boy she holds responsible for it. Micah knows he's not a good guy. His past is littered with mistakes, accidents, and things he'd rather forget. But feeling guilty and accepting punishment are two different things. He doesn't know which is worse--the weight of what he's done & or the growing feeling that it's all about to be dragged into the light. Hailey will do whatever it takes to rise up from her life of abject poverty. The biggest weapon she has is her looks, and she'll use it to get what she wants--the richest boy in town. When Ava's claims threaten their relationship, Hailey knows she must silence her--maybe forever. When Ava unknowingly awakens an entity that has been biding its time underground, the three teens will be brought together on a night when something wants to be born and only a death will balance the scales. 

Holloway 

By Elana K. Arnold 

Clarion Books, 2026. 330 pages. Young Adult Horror 

 It is the late summer of 2021, and a girl named Nora is on the Paris Metro. Nora, whose mother loved her, even though Nora was broken. Nora, who couldn't help her mother when her mother needed her most. Nora, from whom the pandemic has taken nearly everything, save the object she clings to: a cylinder containing her mother's ashes. With no family left, no friends to speak of, and no way to turn back time, Nora has come to France to keep a promise she never got to make: to spread the ashes in a place her mother never got to see. But instead, Nora finds herself on the run through a forest in the night, taking refuge in a dark holloway. And when she wakes, and tries to make her way back to something she recognizes, she realizes that is impossible. Because it is no longer 2021. Questioning everything--including her own sanity--Nora sets out on a journey through a time and place completely foreign to her, and yet one that, much like the time and place she came from, is defined by death, loss, fear, and uncertainty. A journey in which she must find a way to honor her mother--and heal herself--in a world that feels irrevocably broken. 

Manor of Buried Secrets 

By Mason O’Connor 

Catalyst Press, 2026. 307 pages. Young Adult Horror 

 When sixteen-year-old Peter Brewer's unconventional great-aunt Patricia--one of the last heirs to the once-wealthy Woodwright family--passes away at the age of 105, Peter's family travels to Patricia's mansion for her funeral. Thrown into the hothouse of old feuds and eccentric characters, Peter finds himself drawn into the web of family secrets surrounding Patricia's inheritance. Rumors swirl of a hidden fortune, and Peter's curiosity grows with each obscure conversation he overhears. When Peter and his new friend Larissa find Patricia's cryptic love letters to a young man, written decades before, they set out to uncover the hidden truths about Patricia's legacy--and how her secrets may still haunt the Woodwright family. Falling for Larissa, Peter can't help wondering if he is doomed to torpedo this relationship because of his own foibles. As Peter is pulled deeper into Patricia's long-buried past, he starts to realize that others at the funeral might have their own hidden agendas ... and seeking to uncover the truth may put him and Larissa in danger of getting in their way.

CB

Japanese Gothic

Japanese Gothic 

By Kylie Lee Baker 

Hanover Square Press, 2026. 344 pages. Fiction 

 Lee Turner doesn't remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge--his father's new home in Japan. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn't always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls. 

 October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father's face, but Sen would do anything to please him. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window. One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie. Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it. 

‘Tis the season for spooky, summer reads and Japanese Gothic rings it in with aplomb. This deeply atmospheric novel had me looking over my shoulder and hearing whispers in the wind. The parallel stories are driven by compelling characters that had me invested, but absolutely did not trust. This book was mysterious, gothic, and a little out there and I just couldn’t get enough. 

 If you like Japanese Gothic, you might also like: 

 

Nothing but Blackened Teeth 

By Cassandra Khaw 

Nightfire, 2021. 125 pages. Fiction 

 A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company. It's the perfect venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends, brought back together to celebrate a wedding. A night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare as secrets get dragged out and relationships are tested. But the house has secrets too. Lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart. And she gets lonely down there in the dirt. Effortlessly taking the classic haunted house story and turning it on its head, Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a sharp and devastating exploration of grief, the parasitic nature of relationships, and the consequences of our actions. 

The Hacienda 

By Isabel Cañas 

Berkley, 2022. 345 pages. Fiction 

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz's father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife's sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost. But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined. When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz's sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo's sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz's fears--but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano? Beatriz only knows two things for certain. Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her. Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, it will take Andrés's skills as a witch to battle the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda. 

 

The Children 

By Melissa Albert William 

Morrow, 2026. 398 pages. Fiction 

Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods. In one, she lives in the wooded shadow of her family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of her mother's world-famous Ninth City books, where her magical adventures have made her a household name. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother's readers imagine: she and her older brother are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the lichen-clotted woods they've made their playland. As Edith Sharpe's books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame--until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith's series unfinished and her children the sole survivors. Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere's childhood begin to surface

CB

Tantrum

Tantrum 

By Moulton, Eve 

G.P Putnam's Sons, 2025. 178 pages. Horror

In this electric horror novella, an exhausted mother thinks her newborn might be a monster. She’s right. Not only was Lucia born with a full set of teeth and a devilish glint in her eye, but she is always hungry. Thea doesn't know whether to be terrified or proud of her rapacious baby girl. But Lucia's rapid growth starts to bring dark memories to the surface. Flashes from Thea's childhood that won't release their hooks from her heart. Lucia wants to eat. Thea might just let her.

Tantrum by Eve Moulton starts off as darkly humorous horror about a mother, Thea, who suspects her infant is evil. As the book unfolds, the true horror is found in the past Thea escaped. This novella explores intergenerational trauma, the shadow self, and childhood abuse through vivid, surreal allegories. Moulton's writing is intimate and visceral that not only entertains, but provokes further examination into how our pasts shape us and how to find power in our rage. Fast paced and engaging, it can be read in one sitting. Fans of literary horror, motherhood narratives, and body horror will find something to love in this book!

TW: Childhood sexual abuse 

If you like Tantrum, you might also like:

Such Sharp Teeth
By Harrison, Rachel

Berkley, 2022. 328 pages. Horror 

When she is attacked by a huge animal, Rory Morris becomes unnaturally strong, changing into someone else -- or something else, and wonders if she is putting those close to her in danger or if embracing the wildness inside of her is the key to acceptance.

Baby Teeth

By Stage, Zoje
St. Martins Press, 2018. 304 pages. Horror

An ailing woman fights to protect her family from her mute daughter's psychologically manipulative schemes, which are complicated by her doting husband's denial about their daughter's true nature.

MT

Play Nice

Play Nice

by Rachel Harrison 

Berkley, 2025. 325 pages. Fiction

Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so-glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Or so her mother, Alex, claimed. After Alex's sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house-flipping content. Only, as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother's claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother's book, the presence in the house becomes more real, and more sinister, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio's beautiful life to its very foundation.

Rachel Harrison has a way of modernizing classic horror themes and tropes in a way that makes her books so fun to read. While less campy than some of her other novels, Play Nice is full of dark comedy, and the dialed back tone allows Harrison's characters to shine. The relationships between Clio and her family members mirror real life complexities and highlight the way children raised under the same roof can have vastly different experiences. The passages from Alex’s memoir add depth and understanding (as well as some great spooky lore!). I’d recommend Play Nice to anyone who wants to enjoy a good character study with some creepiness and nods to horror greats along the way.

If you like Play Nice, you might also like:

Just Like Home 

by Sarah Gailey

Tor, 2022. 344 pages. Fiction 

"Come home." Vera's mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories - she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family. Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren't alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera's childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn't the one leaving notes around the house in her father's handwriting ... but who else could it possibly be? There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.

We Used to Live Here

by Marcus Kliewer

Emily Bestler Books/Atria, 2024. 312 pages. Fiction 

As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. As soon as the strangers enter their home, uncanny and inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. When Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality.

Model Home

by Rivers Solomon

MCD Books, 2024. 286 pages. Fiction

The three Maxwell siblings, members of the only Black family in a gated community, experienced strange and terrifying events in their house growing up. After their parents’ mysterious deaths, the adult siblings return home to confront the past and uncover whether the deaths were natural or supernatural. 

RP

Cry Out Loud

Cry Out Loud

By Tara O'Connor

Random House Graphic, 2025. 243 pages. YA Comics

Nobody understands Nell. Strongheaded, fiercely independent, and constantly furious, Nell just wants to be free to carve out her own path in life. And she doesn't care whether her mom or anyone else approves of her choices. But what Nell doesn't know is that her destiny was etched in stone generations ago. After getting suspended from school, Nell is forced to go live with an aunt and uncle whom she's never met before. Her sense of unease quickly evolves into terror when Nell discovers that she's been chosen as the latest victim in a perilous plot that spans centuries and has left countless bodies in its wake.

This is a fun YA horror graphic novel perfect for teens (and adults!) with just enough unease built in to satisfy. I particularly enjoyed the full color illustrations, and looking up how to pronounce the Irish names. A great read for spooky season and for those who enjoy coming of age and found family stories.  

If you liked Cry Out Loud, you might also like:

Creepy Cat

By Cotton Valent

Seven Seas Entertainment, 2021. 127 pages. YA Comics

Flora moves into a mysterious mansion and finds it inhabited by a strange creature-Creepy Cat! Thus begins her strange and sometimes dangerous life with a feline roommate. This gothic comedy brings the chuckles...and the chills.

Muted

By Miranda Mundt

Ten Speed Graphic, 2025. 313 pages. Graphic Novels

A summoning ritual gone awry kicks off a lush, witchy graphic novel series with joyful streaks of found family and sapphic romance.

RBL

The Eyes are the Best Part

The Eyes are the Best Part

By Monika Kim
Erewhon Books, 2024. 277 pages. Horror.

With her life in disarray after her Appa's extramarital affair and subsequent departure, Ji-won, plagued by horrifying yet enticing dreams of bloody rooms full of eyes, is overcome by hunger and rage that can only be sated by deceit, manipulation and murder as victims accumulate around her college campus.

The epitome of "I support women's rights and wrongs!" This book does a fantastic job of mixing relatable feminine rage with just enough body horror and cannibalism that you'll still be horrified throughout.  I also felt that despite being inside Ji-won's mind with her, there was still an element of mystery to the story that made it hard to put down. If you want to be justifiably angry, a bit disgusted, slightly worried, and ultimately satisfied, definitely give this book a chance.

If you like The Eyes are the Best Part, you might also like: 

My Sister, the Serial Killer

By Oyinkan Braithwaite

Doubleday, 2018. 226 pages. Fiction.

Satire meets slasher in this short, darkly funny hand grenade of a novel about a Nigerian woman whose younger sister has a very inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends. "Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer." Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola's third boyfriend in a row is dead. Korede's practicality is the sisters' saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her car is big enough for a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures of her dinner to Instagram when she should be mourning her 'missing' boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit. A kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where Korede works is the bright spot in her life. She dreams of the day when he will realize they're perfect for each other. But one day Ayoola shows up to the hospital uninvited and he takes notice. When he asks Korede for Ayoola's phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and what she will do about it. Sharp as nails and full of deadpan wit, Oyinkan Braithwaite has written a deliciously deadly debut that's as fun as it is frightening.

The Lamb

By Lucy Rose

Harper, 2025. 328 pages. Horror.

From an incendiary new talent, a contemporary folktale in which a mother and daughter take in passersby and eat them, exploring queerness, first loves, and tense mother-daughter relationships. Margot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember. They spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. People who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she picks apart their bodies and toasts them off with some vegetable oil. But Mama's want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must face the possibility that her life is changing for good. The Lamb is a folktale, a horror story, a love story, an enchantment. With this teeming, gothic debut, Lucy Rose wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.

Victorian Psycho

By Virginia Feito
W.W. Norton & Company, 2025. 195 pages. Horror.

Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess--she'll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate's dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family--Mr. Pounds can't keep his eyes off Winifred's chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband's wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.

KJ

The Last Murder at the End of the World

The Last Murder at the End of the World
by Stuart Turton
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2024. 354 pages. Science Fiction, Mystery.

Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed many years ago by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island, it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three long-lived scientists (the only ones who remember what life was like before), living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, and to do what they're told, including obeying a strict nightly curfew. One morning, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. To make matters worse, the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island--the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 92 hours, the fog will smother the island-and everyone on it. But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer--and they don't even know it. The clock is ticking…

I recently enjoyed Stuart Turton’s mind-bending mystery novel, The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, in which the protagonist is compelled to solve a murder by reliving the days leading up to it, in the bodies of various participants and witnesses. It was a nifty premise, but to my delight it took an even deeper turn, becoming a thoughtful meditation on remorse, forgiveness, and the worth of a soul by the end. I love a book that takes what could just be a clever gimmick and turns it into something more. That’s a long way of saying that when The Last Murder at the End of the World came along, I had some high expectations. Could this author surprise me again?

I’m pleased to report that Turton is an author worth watching. He has taken another high concept idea and done the most interesting things with it. The narrator, Abi, being a nigh-omniscient artificial intelligence is both a delightful surprise and an intriguing complication, as while her entire purpose is to serve and protect the remnant of the human race on the island, her perspective is utterly inhuman. Most of the time, The Last Murder feels like a traditional third-person limited narrative. The residents of the island have to piece the clues together as best they can, based on their understanding of themselves and their relationships, both with the scientists and one another. It is easy to get drawn into the thoughts and struggles of Emory, Thea, and the other islanders, only for Abi to make a comment at just the right moment to bring the reader crashing back to earth with the realization that we're getting all our information from a narrator who can't even tell us if she knows more than she's saying. I can’t say more lest I spoil the big revelations; all I can say is that my sci-fi-loving heart was quite satisfied by the ending which proves, again, to be more than originally promised. Stuart Turton has said that he wants to try something different with every book he writes; I will be waiting to see what he writes next!

 If you like The Last Murder at the End of the World, you might also like:

Ghost Station
by S.A. Barnes
Nightfire, Tor Publishing, 2024. 377 pages. Science fiction, Horror.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of Eckhart-Reiser syndrome (ERS), a psychological condition that can affect long-time space travelers--the most famous case of which resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. Ophelia is assigned to a small exploration crew on an abandoned planet who recently suffered the tragic death of a colleague. She wants to help, but as the tight-knit crew works to solve the mystery of what happened to the previous inhabitants of the planet, it becomes clear that they are not eager to open up. In fact, they are definitely hiding something. The gruesome murder of their pilot sparks terror that history is about to repeat itself. Is this simply the terrible effects of another case of ERS, or something more sinister?

 

The Deep
by Nick Cutter
Gallery Books, 2015. 394 pages. Horror, Suspense.

A strange plague called the 'Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes forgetfulness – first in small things like the location of one’s car keys, but getting progressively worse to the point that the human body “forgets” how to function at all – and there is no cure. Far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Mariana Trench, a heretofore-unknown substance hailed as a “universal healer” has been discovered, and it may just be the key to eradicating the ‘Gets. A special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea to study this phenomenon. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths...and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

-LAH

No One Will Come Back for Us

No One Will Come Back for Us
by Premee Mohamed with Soneela Nankani (narrator)
Tantor Media, Inc., 2024. 10 hours. Sci-Fi, Horror, Short Stories.

Here there be gods and monsters—forged from flesh and stone and vengeance—emerging from the icy abyss of deep space, ascending from dark oceans, and prowling strange cities to enter worlds of chaos and wonder, where scientific rigor and human endeavor is tested to the limits. These are cosmic realms and watery domains where old offerings no longer appease the ancient Gods or the new and hungry idols. Deities and beasts. Life and death. Love and hate. Science and magic. And smiling monsters in human skin…

I have to admit that horror is not my favorite genre. Until now, my only real forays into the realm of horror were the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and the Jane Austen parodies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Ben H. Winters. However, I was intrigued by the premise of this short story collection, in which ancient beings come into conflict with our modern world. I quickly found myself drawn in by Mohamed’s straightforward writing and Nankani’s unsettlingly cheerful narration. These tales are standalones; two are definitely connected if you’re paying close attention, but overall the only real common element is the idea that there are…things out there that are far older than we can imagine and are probably beyond our comprehension. At times, they feel like fairy tales--but the older, scarier kind, wherein if the “fair folk” take notice of you for any reason, you’re probably doomed. Whether it’s a beehive possessing the little girls of a village, the “old gods” that bless your farmland in exchange for the proper offerings, an alien something that has welcomed unsuspecting human colonists in the worst way possible, a science experiment gone unbelievably wrong, or even “Death” itself, there are enough creepy eldritch things in this collection to keep you awake for a long time.

 

If you like No One Will Come Back for Us, you might also like:

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror
by Jordan Peele (editor)
Random House, 2023. 386 pages. Fiction, Horror, Short Stories.

A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele's anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers.

The Salt Grows Heavy
by Cassandra Khaw
Nightfire, Tor Publishing Group, 2023. 106 pages. Fiction, Horror, Fantasy.

You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.

 -LAH

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

By Grady Hendrix
Berkley, 2025. 482 pages. Horror.

Four teenage girls trapped in a secretive maternity home for unwed mothers in 1970 St. Augustine, Florida, find an unexpected source of power through witchcraft.

The pace is pretty slow until after the midpoint, but once it picks up it doesn't stop. In the end what makes the story truly scary isn't witchcraft, but the reality of the mostly powerless pregnant characters in regards to their bodies and their babies. As well as the societal atrocity of trying to collectively erase their experiences. However, the body horror does add an extra punch. Perfect for Hendrix's fans and for those who like their books with a smidgen of witchcraft. 

If you like Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, you might also like: 

The Furies

By Kathryn A. Lowe

St. Martin's Press, 2019. 358 pages. Fiction.

In 1990s England, at an elite boarding school connected to seventeenth-century witch trials, troubled sixteen-year-old Violet is drawn into a circle of friends dabbling in witchcraft to avenge wrongs done to them.

The Girls Who Went Away

By Ann Fessler

Penguin Press, 2006. 362 pages. Nonfiction.

This book brings to light the lives of 1.5 million single American women in the years following World War II who, under enormous social and family pressure, were coerced to give up their newborn children. It tells not of wild and carefree sexual liberation, but rather of a devastating double standard that has had punishing long-term effects on these women and on the children they gave up. Single pregnant women were shunned by family and friends, evicted from schools, sent away to maternity homes to have their children alone, and often treated with cold contempt by doctors, nurses, and clergy. The majority of the women interviewed by Fessler, herself an adoptee, have never spoken of their experiences, and most have been haunted by grief and shame their entire adult lives.

RBL