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Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror January 2026 |
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King Sorrow
by Joe Hill
What it's about: Arthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful buildings. But his idyll -- and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot -- is shattered when a local drug dealer and her partner corner him into one of the worst crimes he can imagine: stealing rare books from the college library. Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and help. Together they dream up a wild, fantastical scheme to free Arthur from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren suggests using the unnerving Crane journal (bound in the skin of its author) to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The others -- brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen -- don't hesitate to join Colin in an effort to smash reality and bring a creature of the impossible into our world. But there's nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year -- or become his next meal.--
Why you might like it: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill, a chilling tale of modern-world dangers, dark academia, and the unexpected consequences of revenge as six friends dabble in the occult and are tragically, horrifyingly successful… calling forth an evil entity that demands regular human sacrifice.
Reviewers say: “A brilliantly Faustian fable with a heart as huge as a dragon’s, and a stinging twist in its tail. I devoured it.” —Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in Suite 11
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| There Is No Antimemetics Division by QntmWhat it's about: Humanity is under attack by Unknowns, an alien force of "antimemes" (an idea that is designed to be forgotten), and Marie Quinn, the director of the Antimemetics Division, is desperate to regain ground against them. But how do you fight against an enemy that can essentially erase itself?
Reviewers say: “Utterly brilliant . . . a dazzling, confusing novel with a highly effective, creeping sense of dread . . . I can’t recommend it enough.”—Charlie Jane Anders, The Washington Post |
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Lightbreakers
by Aja Gabel
What it's about: What would you give to relive the past? Maya, an artist, and Noah, a quantum physicist, share an insatiable curiosity about the world. But their happy marriage has a shadow over it: Serena, the child Noah had with his first wife, who died before she turned four. When Noah is invited by the Janus Project to unravel the secrets of time travel, he jumps at the opportunity. At a laboratory deep in the Texas desert, he begins participating in a dangerous experiment that could result in something he thought impossible: seeing his daughter again. Meanwhile, Maya embarks on a journey back to her own past in Japan, and to a formative lover who once shattered her heart. As Noah and Maya grapple with hope and despair, new information emerges that the experiments might not be exactly what they seems.
Why you might like it: A heartachingly moving novel, Lightbreakers plumbs the mysteries of human connection, and explores how to love in a world where time is both a healer and a thief.
Reviewers say: "Readers will love the novel’s impressive pacing, and the ideas it presents about the intersection of art and science will linger in the mind." –Bookpage, starred review
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Hungerstone
by Kat Dunn
What it's about: A compulsive feminist reworking of Carmilla, the queer novella that inspired Dracula. It's the height of the industrial revolution and ten years into Lenore's marriage to steel magnate Henry, their relationship has soured. When Henry's ambitions take them from London to the remote British moorlands to host a hunting party, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into their lives. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night. Carmilla, who stirs up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger ... As the day of the hunt draws closer, Lenore begins to unravel, questioning the role she has been playing all these years. Torn between regaining her husband's affection and the cravings Carmilla has awakened, soon Lenore will uncover a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk...
Reviewers say: "A dark, sensuous, gothic story of female appetite, ravenous desire and insatiable rage. A blood-drenched, glittering jewel of a novel that I absolutely devoured." -Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne and Atalanta
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The Haunting of Paynes Hollow
by Kelley Armstrong
What it's about: When Samantha Payne's grandfather dies, she figures she won't even get a mention in the will. After all, she hasn't seen him in fourteen years, not since her father took his own life after being accused of murdering a child at their lakefront cottage. Her grandfather always insisted her father was innocent, despite Sam having caught him burying the child's body, his clothing streaked with blood. But when she does attend the reading of the will at the behest of her aunt, she discovers that her grandfather left her the very valuable lakefront property where the family cottage sits. There's one catch: Sam needs to stay in the cottage for a month. To finally face the fact she was wrong and her father was innocent, in her grandfather's words. Traveling to Paynes Hollow, Sam is faced with the realities of her childhood and the secrets kept hidden in the shadows of her memories. When her aunt goes missing a couple days into their stay, Sam begins to question everything again. Plagued by nightmares and paranoia, she begins hearing sounds in the forest and seeing shapes crawling from the water as the rippling waves of the lake promise something unspeakably dark lurking just below their surface.
Why you might like it: From New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a nail-biting supernatural horror about a haunted lakeside property and twisted family secrets.
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The Book of Azrael
by Amber V. Nicole
What it's about: Where there are gods, there are also monsters... A thousand years ago, Dianna gave up her life in the deserts of Eoria to save her dying sister. She called upon anyone who would listen, not expecting a monster far worse than any nightmare to answer. Now she does what Kaden asks, even if that means securing an ancient relic from the very creatures that hunt her. In the old world his name was Samkiel. In the new world it is Liam, but one title remains true throughout time. He is the World Ender, a myth to his enemies, a savior and King to those loyal to him. After the Gods War, he locked himself away, hiding from the world. He denied his crown and responsibilities, leaving the very ones who needed him most to deal with the fallout of the death of their homeworld. Now an attack on those he holds dear sends him back to the one realm he never wished to visit again and into the sights of an enemy he thought imprisoned eons ago. Now enemies older than time must put aside their differences and work together in hopes of saving both their world and every realm in between.
Why you might like it: A viral Booktok hit for fans of Sarah H. Parker, Jasmine Mas, Penn Cole, and Kerri Maniscalco, The Book of Azrael is the first in the internationally beloved, slowburn, high-stakes epic romantasy featuring a villainous shapeshifter heroine and a tortured God King in a steamy, monstrous world.
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Tron: Ares
A highly sophisticated program, Ares, is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission.
Rated PG-13
Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi
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Black Phone 2
As Finn, now 17, struggles with life after his captivity, his sister begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp known as Alpine Lake.
Rated R
Horror
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Bone Lake
A couple's vacation at a secluded estate is upended when they're forced to share the mansion with a mysterious couple. A dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, triggering a battle for survival.
Rated R
Horror, Thriller
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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