28 Horror Books Releasing in 2026
It's shaping up to be a deliciously creepy year for new horror releases.
I just want to say that I started writing this the second week of January when none of these had come out yet, and then it got lost in my drafts so… hey good news, some of these books are available to read now!
Anyways, I’m personally very excited about the plethora of amazing new horror books that are coming out this year. Below are 28 new releases that I’m especially looking forward to.
The Wind Witch Murders by Casey Dunn
January 6th
1999, Arkansas. Being the daughter of a witch and alleged murderer isn’t easy. Yet Raven has carried that burden for the twelve years since her mother, Deanne, was locked away for the alleged ritualized murder of two boys. Now Deanne is dead, the truth buried with her. When a stranger appears at her funeral to place a feather on her casket, Raven realizes the mystery of her mother is still alive and well. But as she looks harder into Deanne’s past, more lies about her own life surface. Lies that lead to the infamous cult at the edge of town that Deanne once belonged to.
Fruit of the Flesh by I.V. Ophelia
January 20th
In early 1900s New York, former ballerina Petronille De Villier makes an unconventional choice: Marry struggling sculptor Arkady Kamenev. For her, it’s an escape from her family’s unsavory legacy. For him, the De Villier name promises the patronage his art desperately needs. Beneath their marriage of convenience lurks a darker recognition. In each other, they see a reflection of their own dangerous appetites. As buried secrets surface and bodies begin disappearing, Petronille and Arkady discover their union runs deeper than social advantage. Their shared obsessions draw them into an intoxicating dance of predator and prey, though it’s never quite clear who is which.
A Slow and Secret Poison by Carmella Lowkis
January 22nd
1922, Wiltshire. When Vee Morgan accepts the job of gardener at a crumbling stately home, she’s hoping for a fresh start where nobody knows her troubled history. But Harfold Manor is shadowed by grief, its rooms haunted by the only surviving member of the family, Lady Arabella Lascy. Vee is fascinated by her enigmatic new employer, a woman obsessed with the curse she believes has killed her family one by one. A curse that is coming for her next…
This House Will Feed by Maria Tureaud
January 27th
In the years since the potato blight began in Ireland, Maggie O’Shaughnessy has lost everything. Toiling in a workhouse for paltry rations, she can see no future – until the mysterious Lady Catherine whisks her away to an old mansion in the countryside. Lady Catherine wants Maggie to impersonate her late daughter, Wilhelmina, and hoodwink solicitors into releasing Wilhelmina’s widow pension. In exchange, Maggie will receive freedom and land of her own. Maggie plays the role of Wilhelmina as best she can while ignoring the villagers’ tales of ghostly figures and curses. But more worrying are the whispers that come from within. Something in Lady Catherine’s house is reawakening long-buried memories of a foe more terrifying than hunger or greed, of a power that calls for blood and vengeance, and of Maggie’s own role in a nightmare that demands the darkest sacrifice…
He’s the Devil by Tobi Coventry
February 3rd
Simon has always been a good guy. He’s consistently employee of the month at his bougie restaurant job, neurotically tidy, and generally tries to do right by everyone. And his dark parts? He keeps those well-hidden. But when his best and only friend Josh moves out of their shared apartment, Simon’s world starts to fall apart when his new roommate Massimo moves in. Because Massimo has brought something—or someone—with him. Strange things start to happen. Weird noises come from Massimo’s room, smells of earth and spoiled meat drift through the halls, lights flicker, and Simon’s nights fill with disturbing and alluring dreams. Meanwhile, across the city, murders are being committed, bodies torn apart from the inside. Massimo begins to awaken Simon’s exciting and horrifying inner self. Whatever this new friend is could be the end of Simon—or a completely new beginning.
Cruelty Free by Caroline Glenn
February 3rd
Ten years ago, Lila Devlin was an A-list actress with a movie star husband and a beautiful baby girl, Josie. When Josie was kidnapped, Lila’s pristine public image twisted into that of an Unfit Mother. Driven mad by the hungry press, incompetent cops, and true crime–obsessed “fans,” she disappeared from Hollywood.
Now, Lila has returned to LA with a grand vision for a radical new skincare brand. But when an encounter with a parasitic blogger ends fatally, Lila discovers that forgiveness isn’t nearly as satisfying as revenge. Thus begins her relentless, blood-soaked hunt through LA. But as her company’s success skyrockets and Lila begins unraveling the truth behind her daughter’s kidnapping, her murderous side hustle threatens the life she’s painstakingly rebuilt.
Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
February 24th
In the middle of the night, Riley pulls her younger brother Oliver out of bed, and the two run away from home. Riley is intent on joining a group of teenagers squatting in the abandoned ruins of an infamous movie star’s ranch, Nowhere. For actor Leaf Winham, Nowhere was a place to hide from his fame, and to hide his crimes―until a fire ravaged his home and exposed him as a murderer.
It is rumored that the ranch nestled in the peaks of the Rocky Mountains is now home to group of feral children, a place where adults cannot enter, and Riley hopes to find a new family there. But the Nowhere Kids are fierce in defending their turf and their clan, and Riley quickly realizes that while she and Oliver may have left the devil they knew, this group is a new type of diabolical.
Turn Off the Light by Jacquie Walters
March 3rd
Edith is a healer, a woman of knowledge – and a woman watched. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Whispers creep through the dark. Terrified she has opened her home to the Devil, Edith makes a desperate choice.
Claire doesn’t believe in ghosts – until she returns home to care for her dying father and finds her childhood house... listening. As one sleepless night bleeds into the next, she becomes convinced something is stirring beneath the floorboards. Something that has waited a long time to rise.
Is the house haunted? What compels this lurking darkness? As the danger mounts, Edith and Claire will discover they’ll need each other to survive. But they are separated by four hundred years. And time is running out for them both.
Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran
March 10th
In 1928, Emily Locke's final year at the isolated Briarley School for Girls is derailed when Violet, the school's brightest star, falls to her death. Emily and her buttoned-up rival Evelyn are, for once, in agreement: Violet’s death was no accident. There's an obvious culprit, the French schoolmistress with whom Violet was getting a little too close—they only need to prove it. Desperate for answers, Emily and her classmates turn to spiritualism, hoping for a glimpse of wisdom from the great beyond. To their shock, Violet’s spirit appears, choosing pious Evelyn as her unlikely medium. And Violet has a warning for them: the danger has just begun.
You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado
March 10th
When Papi Ramon, the patriarch of the wealthy Abreu family dies, he gives the family one last message in the will: “One of you is el bacà, the demon that I made a deal with. Get rid of them or you will be damned.” Xiomara, the uncontested favorite of Papi Ramon, watches as everyone dismisses this as the ramblings of a senile old man and demands the lawyer obtain the previous will Papi wrote.
While the lawyer drives back to his office, a storm breaks out, forcing the entire family to remain in the house with the words in Papi’s will hanging over them. Over the course of the night, scandal after scandal is revealed to the public about the family. Suddenly a tense few hours of surviving her family turns into a vicious night of recrimination, violence, accusations… and murder. Xiomara is faced with an impossible task: uproot a demon and kill it or excise the ghosts that linger within her own family.
You Did Nothing Wrong by C.G. Drews
March 17th
Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating. She has a new husband, a new house, and a new baby on the way. Everything is perfect. Then Jude claims he can hear voices in the walls. He says their renovations are “hurting” the house. Even Elodie can’t ignore it–something strange is going on. The question is, is it with the house, or with her son?
Wretch: or, The Unbecoming of Porcelain Khaw by Eric LaRocca
March 24th
After his husband dies, Simeon Link finds himself overcome by grief and seeking comfort in an unusual support group called The Wretches, who offer an addictive and dangerous source of relief. They introduce Simeon to a curious figure known as Porcelain Khaw—a man with the ability to let those who are grieving have one last intimate moment with their beloved... for a price.
Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher
March 24th
Sonia Wilson is a talented scientific illustrator—but she is only able to follow her dream because of her father’s reputation as a renowned scientist. Such is the lot in life for a woman in science in 1899. And after his death, she is left without work, prospects, or hope. So when the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. Once there though, questions come to light, like what happened to her predecessor? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thiefs?”
The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson
March 31st
Nona McKinley raised three boys in Hester Gardens, an impoverished community divided by those who follow God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate.
But then, strange things start happening to Nona. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, is hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus has become moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a different person entirely…
Nona has her secrets too. Her affair with the married church pastor has been weighing on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone—or something— is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price…
Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas
March 31st
Emmett Truesdale has never fit the Southern California mold of six-pack, suntanned masculinity. Over three hundred pounds, he carries the literal weight of his childhood trauma. Desperate for help, he enrolls in a clinical trial for a new weight loss product called Obexity. As Emmett sheds pounds at superhuman speed, every part of his life improves overnight.
Unfortunately, Obexity comes with some killer side effects, including lost stretches of time and overwhelming cravings. Worse, people who were cruel to him have started disappearing and when the police warn of a cannibalistic killer on the loose, he fears that Obexity is turning him into a monster. But how can he give it up now that people are finally starting to treat him like he’s human?
Morsel by Carter Keane
April 13th
Lou did what the children of parents with backbreaking, poorly paying jobs are supposed to do: pulled up her bootstraps, went to college, and got an office gig with coworkers who won’t stop talking about their multilevel marketing scheme disguised as self-betterment.
When Lou accepts a property appraisal assignment in the rural hills of Ohio, she knows it’s her last chance to save her job and keep making rent. But she quickly finds herself stranded in the middle of nowhere with a sabotaged truck, her dog, and someone – or something – stalking her through the ancient Appalachian woods.
Invasive Species by Ellery Adams
April 14th
Something’s not right in Cold Harbor—more so than usual. While this sleepy small town has seen its fair share of monsters, none are as hungry as Mrs. Smith. The mysterious resident has finally emerged from her crumbling mansion on the hill, mesmerizing the townspeople with her beauty. Her secret? Nine human sacrifices to feed her immortality.
Natalie Scott is more worried about Mrs. Smith blocking her first real estate sale. She’s eager to prove herself in a world where the social mores of 1980s suburbia reign – where she’s expected to keep a magazine-perfect home and raise beautiful children, all while sticking to her husband’s budget. But Natalie’s twelve-year-old daughter, Jill, and her Icelandic housekeeper, Una, can sense something deeper at play. Armed with library books and a whole lot of grit, Jill and Una team up to save the town once and for all.
These Familiar Walls by C.J. Dotson
April 14th
In 1998, loneliness pushes Amber to ignore the misgivings of her family when she befriends the troubled new kid – a boy with dead eyes, a fascination with fire, and no remorse. Their turbulent relationship is brief but has lasting consequences. Twenty-two years later, he resurfaces to kill Amber’s parents, and is in turn betrayed by his accomplice and killed in Amber’s childhood home.
Amber inherits the house and, in an effort to save money, moves in with her husband and two children, hoping to reclaim some sense of stability. Instead, she finds that the familiar walls are haunted by more than just bitter memories. She shifts in and out of dreamlike trances, her reflection won’t blink, and a menacing voice whispers to her from the gathering shadows. Although she tried to brush off the strange happenings as stress-fueled hallucinations, Amber is soon forced to admit that something much more real—and more dangerous—haunts her family.
Thrall by Rebecca Mahoney
April 21st
Lucy Easting has finally broken free from her grim home life and is ready to truly live. But her long-awaited new beginning at Rollins University isn’t what she expected. After attending the first campus party of the year, Lucy awakens the next day with a no memory… and two puncture marks on her neck. She tries to piece together what happened that night, but every lead brings her to another dead end. Until she receives a handwritten note from the campus radio station, inviting her to call. When she does, the host confirms her worst fear: Lucy’s turning into a vampire.
Lucy teams up with the show’s host who believes their “friend with the cold hands” is responsible for the disappearance of several women in town, and they’ve been tracking him via the airwaves since long before Lucy arrived. As the vampire’s sway over Lucy grows and his plans become clear, she realizes she must fight for a future of her own, or she may not have any future at all.
The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
April 21st
EXCITING OPPORTUNITY: Caretaker urgently needed. Three days of work. Competitive pay. Serious applicants ONLY.
Macy can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention – it had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all – vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she’s not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for. Besides, it’s only three days’ work… Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.
What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property – and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.
Odessa by Gabrielle Sher
April 21st
Yetta is a bright, quick teenage girl with a wild spirit. Stifled by her mother’s anxiety, her father’s rules, and the path that’s been laid out for her, she craves the kind of freedom she doesn’t know the edges of. But her family has reason to be cautious and restrictive. Fear has wrapped itself around their shtetl. Jews are mysteriously disappearing, and there are whispers of an impending Gentile attack. When violence comes to their door, Yetta is killed.
Her father, in his grief, fumbles through his nascent knowledge of ancient texts and old magic to bring her back. By some miracle, Yetta is returned – but she is not the girl she once was. She knows there is a secret her family is keeping from her. The answer resides, in part, in the monstruous being stalking the villagers and their enemies, lurking in the woods beyond the shtetl, something that may be of her father’s making, and a being which has plans of its own.
Hex House by Amy Jane Stewart
April 28th
Pregnant and still in her wedding dress, Elly flees her new husband on their wedding night. Freezing and lost in the dead of night, Elly begins to lose hope. So, when a beautiful house appears out of nowhere and a woman beckons her inside, it almost feels too good to be true. Welcome to Hex House: a refuge, a home, a sanctuary. A place that can only be found by those who truly need it; a place that promises to teach Elly how to access a power more incredible than anything she could have imagined.
Four years after Siobhan meets Elly at Hex House, her life is in ruins. Once a promising filmmaker invited to the house to make a documentary with her brother, Theo, she’s given up on her dream after witnessing unspeakable horrors there. That is, until someone reaches out with news about Hex House that could change everything. And Siobhan knows, deep down, that she was always destined to return.
Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka
May 5th
When filmmaker turned stay-at-home mom Tennessee Cherish moves into the dream house her husband bought for her, a brighter future seems to be on the horizon. Even if her husband is frustratingly absent due to his new high-paying job. Even if their two young children begin acting out in strange ways. Even if she feels lonelier than ever.
Distracted by the endless details that come with moving, Tenn doesn’t notice when odd things begin happening at home. The faucet that runs at all hours. The creepy doll that seems to show up in every room. The human tooth they found in the floorboards. As the kids’ outbursts and the strange events start to escalate, the family finds themselves increasingly caught in loops, repeating everyday actions with dangerous effects. Tenn realizes she must find the source of what is haunting her family, before it kills them all.
The Children by Melissa Albert
June 2nd
Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods. In one, she and her brother, Ennis, live in the wooded shadow of their family’s isolated farmhouse; in the other, the pages of their mother’s world-famous Ninth City books, where their magical adventures have made them household names. In reality, Guinevere and Ennis are near-feral, unwashed and underfed. 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. She’s forced to confront the questions she’s spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother’s fantasy world?
The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
June 18th
Phillip Tennent makes his living at the tideline, collecting artefacts that wash up from the Channel. It’s been years since the crisis changed everything, but its exact nature remains obscured. Government barely functions, the seas are full of new creatures, Europe has been mislaid. It feels like the end.
Now Phillip has fished out of the water an object he can’t keep. A creature that keeps changing. An artefact he must take inland, before it destroys everything he thinks he knows.
Stay Buried by Jennifer McMahon
August 11th
1919: Frankie O’Massey has always been the black sheep of isolated Boone’s Ferry, Vermont. Her uncle, Dr. Thomas Endicott, has been training her in the science of medicine, something the townspeople are wary of. When a mysterious illness strikes the town, and the community suspects supernatural forces, the two desperately search for a logical explanation. Patient zero seems to be the town’s knackerman—a recluse who collects dead and dying farm animals to make use of their parts.
2016: Siblings Ashley and Malcolm lost their mother two years ago. When their grandmother dies, they inherit a property in Boone’s Ferry—a place their grandmother has always refused to talk about. The idyllic town is full of picturesque farmland and small-town charm. But some of the townspeople aren’t very welcoming—and they have some unsettling traditions, like leaving offerings to a vengeful spirit four times a year.
What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
October 6th
At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums.
Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest Sixth Layer – because the deeper they go, the better the payout. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world, and Jade’s approval means everything, so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way. When their job goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void… or what really waits for her in its depths.
Milkteeth by Caitlin Starling
October 20th
Beatrice is a broodmother: a vampire responsible for nursing newly made fledglings through the first years of their unlife. She nests in an abandoned, isolated warren of office space beneath her patron’s skyscraper, raising two fractious fledglings.
But when Beatrice decides to take on a third fledgling, the product of an attempted siring gone wrong, Beatrice finds herself strained to breaking between the societal and physical demands of her position, her own ravenous hunger, and an obsessive need to discover what’s happening to her—because her body is changing too, transforming her into something even more monstrous.
Parenthetical is a newsletter for creative women who care about what they read, how they live, and what they’re building – without the #girlboss energy. Paid subscribers get access to the full resource library, plus The Well-Designed Life curriculum.