While most people bemoan the loss of an hour of sleep due to the time change, avid readers know that this means we have a little more time to pack in an extra chapter while drinking our coffee in the morning or curled up in bed at the end of the day. And, let’s get real, horror readers probably aren’t getting much sleep anyways (how can we when every creak, groan, and tap at the window might be some sort of horrific creature that’s finally come to collect?)
Below you’ll find 7 new horror titles that you can spend a little more time with this April.
Eye of the Ouroborus by Megan Bontrager
Horror fans know that strange, terrifying, and unexplainable things often happen in the woods. In fact, the National Parks Service and Rescue Team of West Virgina knows this for a fact. When people disappear, the woods don’t often give them back—that’s where the Federal Bureau of Reality (an organization that guards the space where different realities converge) comes in. But when Theodora Buchanan’s sister goes missing, she becomes determined to find out what happened to her, no matter the cost.
No One is Safe! by Philip Fracassi
Probably best known for his heart wrenching and terrifying novel, Boys in the Valley, Philip Fracassi returns to the world of horror with his brand new collection of pulpy (in more ways than one) short stories, No One is Safe!. Here you’ll find tales of evil houses—a pinnacle of horror—suburban vampires, and cats that can cure diseases. It’s a wild ride from start to finish and not one to be missed.
Weird Black Girls: Stories by Elwin Cotman
Weird Black girls is a wildly enjoyable, unsettling, and deeply strange collection of short stories ranging from an evil tree that possesses the minds of parents to a LARPing tournament with a strange twist to it that brings new perspective to Black experiences and solidifies Elwin Cotman as one to keep an eye out on in the literary horror world.
The Redemption of Morgan Bright by Chris Panatier
A year after her sister’s mysterious death on the road leading away from Hollyhock Asylum, Morgan decides to take matters into her own hands. Riddled with guilt and determined to find out the truth, Morgan crafts a new identity for herself—a housewife by the name of Charlotte Turner—in order to stay at Hollyhock. But the longer Morgan spends at Hollyhock, the harder it becomes to discern between Charlotte’s made up life and her own.
Panatier has crafted an atmospheric thriller and bone chilling horror novel that fans of Shutter Island are sure to love.
Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro
As mentioned in one of my previous pieces, vampires are hot right now. Gone are the days of sparkly teenagers, replaced once again by terrifying creatures of the night, and Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro is just further proof of that.
When Malinalli, a centuries old aztec vampire who was once a translator for the conquistador Cortés, arrives in Dublin on the hunt for two artifacts connected to her past the last thing she expects is to develop feelings for a mortal man. But that’s exactly what happens when she meets a horror writer who isn’t afraid of her true nature. As their relationship grows, another man, immortal like she is, draws her attention and promises a very different way to satiate her needs.
Grey Dog by Elliot Gish
Grey Dog by Elliot Gish is a sapphic slow burn of a horror novel. Set in a small Canadian town in 1901, it tells the story of Ada Byrd, a schoolmarm trying to escape her past, who accepts a teaching job at an isolated institution known as Lowry Bridge. But what begins as a hopeful fresh start takes a turn when Ada bears witness to unexplainable goings on that disgust and entice her in equal measure. Soon Ada begins to believe that these violent acts might herald the return of something sinister from her past that she calls Grey Dog.
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
When it comes to horror novels set in outer space, S.A. Barnes is the queen. If you’ve been chasing the high of Aliens and Event Horizon since watching them, trust me when I say that you want to get your hands on both of her books ASAP.
In Ghost Station, Ophelia Bray, a psychologist who has dedicated her career to studying ERS (a space-based condition that has led to numerous deaths) and a small, rag-tag exploration crew are tasked with doing reconnaissance on an abandoned planet. While the investigation goes smoothly at first, things take a violent turn when one of their own is brutally murdered, calling into question whether or not they’re really alone.
