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Contemporary Horror

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The Evening Spider
by Emily Arsenault

Two haunted young mothers live in the same house in two different centuries—Frances, who becomes obsessed with a famous murder trial, and Abby, who, 125 years later, discovers Frances' diary and is convinced that there is a supernatural presence in her house. By a New York Times Notable author.

The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood

In the Republic of Gilead, a Handmaid named Offred lives in the home of the Commander, to the purpose that she become pregnant with his child. Stripped of her most basic freedoms, (work, property, her own name), Offred remembers a different time, not so long ago, when she was valuable for more than her viable ovaries, when she was mother to a daughter she could keep, and when she and her husband lived and loved as equals. Darkly prescient, scathingly sarcastic, and eminently frightening, The Handmaid's Tale has only gained relevance since it was originally published.

Rouge
by Mona Awad

After the mysterious death of her estranged mother, Belle, insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos, is lured into La Maison de Méduse a lavish, culty spa where she discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother's) obsession with the mirror.

Cutting Teeth
by Chandler Baker

Ten preschoolers develop an unsettling medical condition that leaves them craving blood and are implicated, along with their mothers, in the murder of their young teacher, in the new novel from the author of Whisper Network.

Devolution
by Max Brooks

A modern retelling of the Bigfoot legend is presented as a gripping journal by a woman from a high-tech Pacific Northwest community who becomes cut off from civilization by a volcanic eruption before witnessing the flight of starving humanoid beings.

The Violence
by Delilah S. Dawson

When a mysterious illness sweeps the nation, resulting in sudden, explosive bouts of animalistic rage, Chelsea, who has been abused by her husband for years, uses the opportunity to liberate herself from him once and for all.

Daisy Darker
by Alice Feeney

A family gathering for their matriarch's 80th birthday in her crumbling, gothic house on a tiny island begin disappearing one by one, in the new novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Rock Paper Scissors.

The Book of the Most Precious Substance
by Sara Gran

After a tragedy too painful to bear, former novelist Lily Albrecht has resigned herself to a dull, sexless life as a rare book dealer. Until she gets a lead on a book that just might turn everything around. The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a 17th century manual on sex magic, rumored to be the most powerful occult book ever written—if it really exists at all. And some of the wealthiest people in the world are willing to pay Lily a fortune to find it—if she can. Her search for the book takes her from New York to New Orleans to Munich to Paris, searching the dark corners of power where the world’s wealthiest people use black magic to fulfill their desires. Will Lily fulfill her own desires, and join them? Or will she lose it all searching for a ghost?

Such Sharp Teeth
by Rachel Harrison

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 her is the key to acceptance.

We Sold Our Souls
by Grady Hendrix

In this hard-rocking, spine-tingling supernatural thriller, the washed-up guitarist of a '90s heavy metal band embarks on an epic road-trip across America and deep into the web of a sinister conspiracy. In the 1990s, heavy metal band Dèurt Wèurk was poised for breakout success--but then lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom as Koffin, leaving his fellow bandmates to rot in obscurity. Two decades later, former guitarist Kris Pulaski works as the night manager of a Best Western--she's tired, broke, and unhappy. Everything changes when a shocking act of violence turns her life upsidedown, and she begins to suspect that Terry sabotaged more than just the band. Kris hits the road, hoping to reunite with the rest of her bandmates and confront the man who ruined her life.

The Snakes
by Sadie Jones

A family visit at a snake-infested hotel in Burgundy is complicated by a new husband's insecurities about his psychologist wife's wealthy parents, difficult personal secrets and a brutal tragedy. By the award-winning author of The Outcast.

I Was a Teenage Slasher
by Stephen Graham Jones

A good kid in a small Texas town in 1989 finds himself cursed to kill for revenge in true slasher film-style, in the new novel by the New York Times best-selling author of The Only Good Indians.

A House with Good Bones
by T. Kingfisher

Warned by her brother that their mother seems“off,” Sam visits and discovers a once-cozy home with sterile white walls, a her mom a jumpy, nervous wreck and a jar of teeth hidden in the rosebushes.

Incidents Around the House
by Josh Malerman

An 8-year-old girl in the Bronx fights to keep her troubled family together as they offer the only protection against a malevolent spirit she calls“Other Mommy” and who grows stronger and asks her daily for entrance into her heart.

When the Reckoning Comes
by LaTanya McQueen

Returning to her hometown for a plantation wedding, Mira is forced to acknowledge her history and save herself from what is to come as slaves who were tortured mercilessly roam the land seeking revenge on the descendants--the wedding guests--of those who tortured them.

Silver Nitrate
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Helping a cult horror director shoot the missing scene from his magic film that was never finished to lift a curse, sound editor Montserrat and her best friend Tristán start seeing strange things and must unravel the mystery of this film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city.

Out There Screaming:
an Anthology of New Black Horror
by Jordan Peele

The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates an anthology of all-new stories of black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation.

Edenville
by Sam Rebelein

A struggling writer accepts a position at Edenville College and he and his girlfriend begin to experience a series of strange and ominous events that entangle the pair in a dark, disturbing history.

Camp Damascus
by Chuck Tingle

Situated high up in the mountains, Camp Damascus offers a sin-free and“saved” life to its ultra-conservative Christian patrons as the self-proclaimed“most effective” gay conversion camp in America, while hiding a host of very unholy secrets.

Looking Glass Sound
by Catriona Ward

Returning to the small New England town of his youth where a killer had once stalked its streets, writer Wilder Harlow, while penning his memoir, fears his grip on the truth of the tragedy fading and that this will not only be his last book, but the last thing he ever does.

Mister Magic
by Kiersten White

Reuniting 30 years after a tragic accident ended their show Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members, who hold the secret of their close circle, the mystery of the beloved magical host and what really happened on that deadly last day, soon wonder if they've been lured into a trap.

The Monstrumologist
by Richard Yancey

In 1888, twelve-year-old Will Henry chronicles his apprenticeship with Dr. Warthrop, a New Escientist who hunts and studies real-life monsters, as they discover and attempt to destroy a pod of Anthropophagi.

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