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The Chill
by Scott Carson
What it's about: Seventy-five years after the village of Galesburg was flooded to build the Chilewaukee Reservoir (aka "The Chill"), descendants of the area's displaced residents find themselves contending with vengeful spirits lurking in the water's murky depths.
Book buzz: Inspired by true events, this suspenseful novel penned by the pseudonymous Scott Carson counts Stephen King among its fans.
Try this next: For another creepy novel about a small town reckoning with the sins of its past, check out Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex.
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| Flyaway by Kathleen JenningsWhat it's about: Years after her father and brothers vanished, Bettina Scott receives a cryptic letter written in one of her brothers' handwriting and sets off to discover what really happened to her family.
Why you might like it: Debut author Kathleen Jennings' haunting Australian Gothic offers descriptive prose, an atmospheric setting, and a folklore-infused mystery.
Reviewers say: "An unforgettable tale, as beautiful as it is thorny" (The New York Times). |
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| Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham JonesStarring: Texas teen and unreliable narrator Sawyer, who crafts a twisted plan to best an unusual adversary.
How it began: "Manny," the department store mannequin Sawyer and his friends posed in a movie theater as a prank, has come to life and is hell-bent on killing off the kids one by one.
Read it for: a fast-paced and darkly humorous homage to slasher films. |
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The Deep
by Alma Katsu
All aboard! Four years after surviving the sinking of the Titanic, Irish nurse Annie books passage on its sister ship, the Britannic, where she encounters the same eerie phenomena that plagued the fateful voyage.
Want a taste? "Some days, she wakes from nightmares of black water rushing into her open mouth, freezing her lungs to stone."
Why you might like it: Though both voyages' outcomes will already be well known to readers, Alma Katsu imbues her well-researched novel's evocative dual timeline with nail-biting suspense.
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| The Invention of Sound by Chuck PalahniukWhat it is: a transgressive send-up of Hollywood movie-making; a gruesome exploration of the commodification of violence.
What it's about: When grieving father Foster Gates hears the voice of his presumed-dead daughter in a horror film, he tracks down Mitzi Ives, the Foley artist responsible for the sound. Meanwhile, Mitzi is harboring dark secrets that could destroy Tinseltown's fragile facade.
Is it for you? This nihilistic latest from Fight Club's Chuck Palahniuk is full of twists, unlikeable characters, and insights on the power of art. |
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| The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel KrausWhat it is: the final zombie tale from Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero, completed by Blood Sugar author and lifelong Romero fan Daniel Kraus following Romero's 2017 death.
Why you might like it: This fast-paced epic follows a large and diverse cast of well-drawn characters as they navigate 15 years of a zombie apocalypse.
Don't miss: the winking nods to Romero's films. |
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Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre
by Max Brooks
What it's about: After a volcanic eruption at Mt. Rainier leaves them stranded, the clueless denizens of a remote eco-community square off against displaced Sasquatches hungry for their next meal.
Why you might like it: Much like his bestselling debut World War Z, Max Brooks' gruesome latest is written as a firsthand account, featuring diary entries, interviews, transcripts, and the author's own research.
Movie buzz: Bigfoot fans, rejoice! A film adaptation is in the works.
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| The Hollow Ones by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck HoganWhat it's about: When her partner inexplicably attacks a child during a raid, FBI agent Odessa Hardwicke shoots him dead and watches in horror as a spectral entity leaves his corpse. Enlisting the help of occult detective John Blackwood, Odessa hopes to track down the centuries-old menace responsible for her partner's demise.
Series alert: The Hollow Ones kicks off the Blackwood Tapes series.
For fans of: Algernon Blackwood's occult detective tales; the creepy Lovecraftian horror of T. Kingfisher's The Twisted Ones. |
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| Through the Woods by Emily CarrollWhat's inside: A dismembered bride. A monster in human skin. A wolf outside your window.
Why you might like it: Familiar fairy tale themes get a visually arresting new spin in this collection of young adult horror comics inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and the Brothers Grimm. Canadian artist Emily Carroll illustrates each chilling tale with bold colors (emphasis on blood red), careful details, and suspenseful pacing. |
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| A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun HamillWhat it's about: Noah's family runs a popular haunted house attraction in Texas, and they're all in denial about the cosmic horrors that have plagued them for years.
What sets it apart: the unlikely (and...sexually charged?) friendship that forms between Noah and the wolfish supernatural creature that lurks outside his bedroom window.
Want a taste? "My monster suit always fit better than my regular skin." |
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| Maplecroft by Cherie PriestLizzie Borden took an axe... in self-defense against the terrifying Lovecraftian sea monsters who possessed her parents' bodies.
Who it's for: This fast-paced epistolary novel will appeal to readers who enjoy the alternate history/horror mash-ups of Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter series.
Series alert: Maplecroft is the 1st in the Borden Dispatches series; Lizzie's adventures continue in Chapelwood. |
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| Lovecraft Country by Matt RuffWhat it's about: While looking for his missing father in 1954 Massachusetts, Black Army vet Atticus Turner and his friends discover a menacing cult whose leader wants to use Atticus in a horrifying ritual.
Read it for: a thought-provoking homage to H.P. Lovecraft's weird fiction -- and an unflinching condemnation of his racist views.
TV buzz: An adaptation co-produced by Underground creator Misha Green and Get Out director Jordan Peele recently began airing on HBO. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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