Monday, September 30, 2019

YA/MG Horror Spotlight September 2019

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is putting a spotlight on Young Adult and Middle Grade horror each month. Below we are featuring the books that were released in September as well as what our team has been reading and reviewing.

New Releases

The Babysitters Coven by Kate Williams

Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this funny, action-packed novel about a coven of witchy babysitters who realize their calling to protect the innocent and save the world from an onslaught of evil.

Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it’s kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she’s good at it.

And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let’s just say she owes some people a new tree.

Enter Cassandra Heaven. She’s Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria food. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even take on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme’s babysitters club?

The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra’s mother left her: “Find the babysitters. Love, Mom.”

Turns out, Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they’re about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home.

Published September 17th 2019 by Delacorte Press | Goodreads | Amazon

The House of Bones by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family, and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it about Ellis that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.

Published September 24th 2019 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Goodreads | Amazon

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister–at all costs.

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods?

It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca–before she’s lost forever. And even though she’s hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends–and their cameras–following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

Published September 24th 2019 by Viking Books for Young Readers | Goodreads | Amazon

The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

Simmering in Patagonian myth, The Tenth Girl is a gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist.

At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi—a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother—it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls.

Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house—despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s ten students is missing, and when students and teachers alike begin to behave as if possessed, the forces haunting this unholy cliff will no longer be ignored.

One of these spirits holds a secret that could unravel Mavi’s existence. In order to survive she must solve a cosmic mystery—and then fight for her life.

Published September 24th 2019 by Imprint | Goodreads | Amazon

Young Adult Books Reviewed

Wilder Girls is becoming a fast LOHF favorite. This month Audra read and loved Wilder Girls as well! Be sure to check out Audra’s full review (This is an amazing book—one that I’m so excited that is marketed to teens, but that I’m also glad is resonating with the adult audience.)

Toni read and reviewed Kate Alice Marshall’s Rules for Vanishing. You can check out Toni’s full review at Misadventures of a Reader (Marshall was very clever in how she put this book together.)

This month Emily enjoyed both These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling and House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig. Be sure to read Emily’s review of The Witches Don’t Burn (If you’re looking for a witchy (and gay!) book to read next month, this is definitely one to pick up.) and her review of House of Salt and Sorrows (House of Salt and Sorrows is a fantastic retelling, and it would be a great pick to read during spooky season!)

Laurie enjoyed the audiobook production of Teeth in the Mist by Dawn Kurtagich. Check out Laurie’s full review (It is an atmospheric creepfest of the creepiest order. The audio production only enhances that and I LOVED the experience.)

Middle Grade Books Reviewed

Dead Voices

Toni also read and loved Dead Voices, the sequal to Small Spaces by Katherine Arden. You can read her full review here (I love the entire message that Arden has throughout this series.)

Upcoming Reviews

Jen read Mary Downing Hahn’s Deep and Dark and Dangerous and Toni read Doll Bones by Holly Black. Stay tuned for our upcoming reviews!

Currently Reading

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

Laurie is currently reading The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is one of Emily’s favorite YA horror novels from this year. Stay tuned for Laurie’s review of this one as well!


Have you read any of the books we read or reviewed this month? Let us know what YA or MG books you have read recently!

Friday, September 27, 2019

Women in Translation Horror Edition: Mexico

August was Women in Translation month, after finding so many amazing women writing horror in other countries we wanted to keep it going. We decided to focus on regions and countries. This month we decided to start with Mexico and Cuba. We have included both works with translated and untranslated works. As much as possibly we have tried to look at the difference in the horror that is being published in country compared to American horror. It was the differences that are really interesting


Mexico

The horror coming out of Mexico harks back to a very strong oral tradition; where ancient folklore is mixed with religion. What I found interesting was that much of the horror fiction being written by women dealt with very mundane things such as family, children and finding a significant other. But what I found really interesting was that the horror was less about conquering the supernatural. It was more about how to live along side it without it devouring the character. It is very different from American Horror where the impetus is all about conquering the supernatural or getting rid of the supernatural, not necessarily about living along side it.

Women with Translated Works

The Iliac Crest by Cristina Rivera Graza trans. by Sarah Booker

Bezoar and Other Unsettling Stories by Guadalupe Nettle trans. by Suzanne Kill Levine (will be published in 2020)

The House Guest and other stories by Amparo Dávila trans. by Audrey Harris and Matthew Gleeson


If you have any women in translation you want us to add please let us know!!

Horror Movie Maven: Hispanic Heritage Month

Theweather is getting colder, my belly and cupboards are filled with every varietyof pumpkin spice Trader Joe’s could supply, and maybe your thoughts are turningto films of the darker, more scream-filled variety. I don’t blame you if yourthoughts are always filled with horror films, but this is the time of year tostart amping up your game.

This September, double up on your horror movie intake by also celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month! Hispanic filmmakers from Mexico, Spain, and Central and South America are not afraid to get gory, tell unique stories, and delve into the many terrifying legends as well as real-life horrors of their culture. Instead of that recent Blumhouse dumpster fire, check out some of these amazing horror films.

Ladies of Horror Film [directed by women]

Tigers Are Not Afraid (Vuelven)

dir. Issa Lopez | Mexico | 2017 | Shudder

This movie focuses on the real-life horrors of Mexico’s drug wars through the eyes of children. It has a del Toro–type magical realism, a charming fairytale quality that only heightens the slow-creeping dread. A must see.

México Bárbaro

dir. Isaac Ezban, Laurette Flores Born, Jorge Michel Grau, Ulises Guzman, Edgar Nito, Lex Ortega, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Aaron Soto | Mexico | 2014 | Amazon

An anthology movie of eight stories, this one is a great introduction to all the dark and twisted fears bubbling up in Mexican culture.

Into the Dark: Culture Shock

dir. Gigi Saul Guerrero | US | 2019 | Hulu

From Canadian Latina director Guerrero comes what I found easily the best of the installments of Hulu’s Into the Dark series. A pregnant woman crosses from Mexico into the good ole US of A, only to watch the dream she’s been searching for turn to a nightmare.

The Headless Woman (La mujer sin cabeza)

dir. Lucrecia Martel | Argentina | 2008 | Amazon

More of a thriller, this story follows a woman who hits something with her car and descends into paranoia, thinking that she might have killed someone.


ScreamQueens [killer leading ladies]

The Untamed (La región salvaje)

dir. Amat Escalante | Mexico | 2016 | Amazon

The Mexican Possession. If you’ve seen that one, then you don’t need any more information. If you haven’t, think sex-driven tentacled space(?) creature and you’ll have the right picture.

REC

dir. Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza | Spain | 2007 | Amazon

The Blair Witch Project of creepy apartment buildings—this one almost requires a diaper with its balls-to-the-wall constant bombardment of truly frightening moments.

Veronica

dir. Paco Plaza | Spain | 2017 | Netflix

This is hands-down my favorite exorcism movie after the classic. Catholic school, a spirit board, a blind nun, and a solar eclipse: what could go wrong?


ExtraCredit

Cronos

dir. Guillermo del Toro | Mexico | 1992 | Amazon

This list wouldn’t be complete with a film from visionary Guillermo del Toro, and this oft-overlooked vampiric tale of the search for immortality is my pick since it is his only movie made in his native Mexico.

Terrified (Aterrados)

dir. Demián Rugna | Argentina | 2017 | Shudder

OK, while I’m not sure I completely followed the plot of this film, it has some of the most intensely scary and unique visuals that made my stomach drop out of my body. Nuff said.

We Are What We Are (Somos lo que hay)

dir. Jorge Michel Grau | Mexico | 2010 | Hulu

This is a very human tale about kids just trying to keep their family together after their father dies. They also happen to be cannibals. Be sure to get the original version, not the 2011 US remake. Though both are good, the original has a certain darkness that just doesn’t translate.


If you think we missed any amazing movies drop a comment down below.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

What We're Reading #21

Here’s the newest round-up of our recently read and recommended Ladies of Horror Fiction titles!

The End of Days Book Cover

The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck

Winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Hans Fallada Prize, The End of Days, by the acclaimed German writer Jenny Erpenbeck, consists essentially of five “books,” each leading to a different death of the same unnamed female protagonist. How could it all have gone differently?—the narrator asks in the intermezzos. The first chapter begins with the death of a baby in the early twentieth-century Hapsburg Empire. In the next chapter, the same girl grows up in Vienna after World War I, but a pact she makes with a young man leads to a second death. In the next scenario, she survives adolescence and moves to Russia with her husband. Both are dedicated Communists, yet our heroine ends up in a labor camp. But her fate does not end there….

A novel of incredible breadth and amazing concision, The End of Days offers a unique overview of the twentieth century.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Toni’s Teaser Review

This book is the exact reason why we need more translated books. It is beautiful, heartbreaking and scary. I wish I had read this book so much sooner then I had. I want to push this into everyone’s hands and make them read it. 

Click here to see Toni’s full review at  The Misadventures Of A Reader.

Skin by Kathe Koja Cover

Skin by Kathe Koja

As a sculptor of metal, Tess is consumed with the perfection of welds, the drip of liquid metal, addicted to the burn. Her solitary existence ends when she meets Bibi. A self-proclaimed “guerilla performance artist,” Bibi pushes her body to the utmost in her dancing, sculpting it into a finely tuned machine. But the limits of her body frustrate her. With Tess, she creates a performance art of mobile, bladelike sculptures and human dance that becomes increasingly violent and dangerous. Still this is not enough for Bibi. Her desire to grow and transform leads her to body piercing, then to ritual cuttings and scarrings. And further. Though Tess breaks their partnership, she cannot stop Bibi’s dark exploration of the limits of her body. Her search is self-destructive, all-encompassing…unstoppable.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Laurie’s Teaser Review

Skin is about taking things to the extreme, yes, but also so much more. Bibi is all sharp angles and metal and torn and scarred skin and she has an intoxicating effect on Tess and all of those around her -intoxicating to the point of obsession and blind worship. Skin is about love and sex and friendship and toxic relationships but mostly it is about obsession and all of its nasty little tentacles and what happens when one takes things too far. It is an experience.

Click here to read Laurie’s full review at Bark’s Book Nonsense.

The Possession of Natalie Glasgow book cover

The Possession of Natalie Glasgow

Margaret Willow has never met an eleven-year-old as dangerous as Natalie Glasgow. Natalie spends her days comatose, but at night she prowls her mother’s home, unnaturally strong and insatiably carnivorous. With doctors baffled, Natalie’s mother reaches out to Margaret, an expert in the supernatural. But even Margaret is mystified and terrified by Natalie’s condition. She’s dying, and before she dies, she might kill someone. Has a demon clawed its way inside an eleven-year-old girl? Or does the source of this nightmare lie with Natalie’s dead father?

A tight, tense novella, THE POSSESSION OF NATALIE GLASGOW twists the exorcism tale at every turn down to its final grave confrontation.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Emily’s Teaser Review

The Possession of Natalie Glasgow is an intriguing and unique possession novel.

Click here to read Emily’s full review at Goodreads.

Thanks for joining us today and we hope you found something to add to your tbr list! Please share your recent reads with us in the comments below.

Banned Books Week September 22nd - 28th

It is that time of the year again to celebrate books that have been banned or challenged. To be perfectly transparent, I can’t believe that in this day and age books are still being banned or challenged. Just this week on my twitter feed it was announced that Harry Potter was banned by a Roman Catholic High School In Nashville, Tennessee. Their reasoning behind the ban was that the spells and curses were real.

I just want to ruminate on that for a second. The spells and curses from a work of fiction are real. That is absolutely mind boggling. That in the 21st century we are still dealing with books being banned. We all need to have a good read of Fahrenheit 451. Is that what we really want our future to look like. That may sound alarmist but think good and hard on that. Now, take a look at the little screen that we all carry everywhere. Now think about the screens in Fahrenheit. Do you see where I am going with this?

We need the books that are hard to read. We need to read books which challenge our notions of the world.


Ladies of Horror Fiction Books which have been banned

The HandMaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

The latest ban was for the text being detrimental to Christian values, sexually explicit scenes and graphically violent.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Was banned for depicting obscene or unnatural acts and acts against god. The latest ban was in 1955 by the South African Government.

The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Was also banned by the South African Government due to the message against blindly following tradition. However, the movie had been banned in Minnesota as late as 1981.


There are probably many more that I have missed off this list. Removing books from libraries is a very slippery slope. Personally, I don’t want to live in Fahrenheit 451 do you?

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

What We're Reading #20

The Ladies of Horror Fiction are here to help you add a few more books to your tbr piles!

Chocking Back The Devil Poems by Donna Lynch

Choking Back the Devil by Donna Lynch is an invocation, an ancient invitation that summons the darkness within and channels those lonely spirits looking for a host. It’s a collection that lives in the realm of ghosts and family curses, witchcraft and urban legends, and if you’re brave enough to peek behind the veil, the hauntings that permeate these pages will break seals and open doorways, cut throats and shatter mirrors.

You see, these poems are small drownings, all those subtle suffocations that live in that place between our ribs that swells with panic, incubates fear. Lynch shows her readers that sometimes our shadow selves–our secrets–are our sharpest weapons, the knives that rip through flesh, suture pacts with demons, cut deals with entities looking for more than a homecoming, something better, more intimate than family.

It’s about the masks we wear and the reflections we choose not to look at, and what’s most terrifying about the spells is these incantations show that we are the possessed, that we are our greatest monster, and if we look out of the corner of our eyes, sometimes–if we’ve damned ourselves enough–we can catch a glimpse of our own burnings, what monstrosities and mockeries we’re to become.

So cross yourselves and say your prayers. Because in this world, you are the witch and the hunter, the girl and the wolf.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Emily’s Teaser Review

Choking Back the Devil is the second collection I’ve read from Donna Lynch, and I loved it so much! These poems were gorgeous and haunting, and I really enjoyed my time reading them. I found this collection to be honest and easy to connect with.

Click here to see Emily’s full review Goodreads.

Jen’s Teaser Review

This was my first time to read Donna Lynch, and it definitely won’t be my last. I loved the poems in this collection, and I highly recommend Choking Back the Devil as a collection to try.

Click here to see Jen’s full review at Book Den.

Book Cover My Sister the Serial Killer

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

“Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer.”

Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead.

Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her car is big enough for a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures of her dinner to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit.

Korede has long been in love with a kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where she works. She dreams of the day when he will realize that she’s exactly what he needs. But when he asks Korede for Ayoola’s phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and how far she’s willing to go to protect her.

Sharp as nails and full of deadpan wit, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s deliciously deadly debut is as fun as it is frightening.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Toni’s Teaser Review

This is one of those books that’s written so well you want to keep reading it. The pacing of the story is perfect. It really lets you chew on the story as it goes along. The characters in the story are so well written you really feel like the MC is talking to you throughout the story. The premise of the story is really unique and fresh. Braithwaite is a very talented. 

Click here to see Toni’s full review at The Misadventures of a Reader.

The Toll by Cherie Priest

The Toll by Cherie Priest

From Cherie Priest, the author of The Family Plot and Maplecroft, comes The Toll, a tense, dark, and scary treat for modern fans of the traditionally strange and macabre.

State Road 177 runs along the Suwannee River, between Fargo, Georgia, and the Okefenokee Swamp. Drive that route from east to west, and you’ll cross six bridges. Take it from west to east, and you might find seven.

But you’d better hope not.

Titus and Davina Bell leave their hotel in Fargo for a second honeymoon canoeing the Okefenokee Swamp. But shortly before they reach their destination, they draw up to a halt at the edge of a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car . . .

When, much later, a tow-truck arrives, the driver finds Titus lying in the middle of the road, but Davina is nowhere to be found.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Audra’s Teaser Review

I’m describing this book to people as Southern Gothic with a deadly modern edge. Priest really has an eye for pitting new and contemporary ideas against old-school stylings and feel, and what comes out is a hell of a good time.

Click here to see Audra’s full review at Goodreads.

Thanks for joining us today and we hope you found something to add to your tbr list! Please share your recent reads with us in the comments below.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Shelf Edition: Jess

This month, our guest for Shelf Edition is Jess, who is @ghoulishspirit on social media. Here’s some info from her: Hi, I’m Jess, a 35-year-old stay at home mom with 3 kids, 2 girls and a baby boy (14, 9, and 16 months). I am successfully turning my little ones into mini bookworms as well. I’m an avid horror lover, coffee junkie, movie buff, music enthusiast, and animal lover who likes to style and decorate her dwellings like the Addams family abode. But don’t be fooled because I love color, glitter, and sparkles EVERYWHERE!!!!

Do you have any recent favorite LOHF books? 

I recently discovered horror poetry while reviewing some books. The author is Donna Lynch and she writes with her heart pinned to her sleeve. I am so happy I found her work because it’s very hard (especially being a woman in the horror field) to open yourself so willingly against negativity. Her book is called Choking Back the Devil and I highly recommend it. I’ve already read it 5 times and keep going back for more. Another recent favorite LOHF writer (that just topped number 1) that I’m reading/reviewing for is Mr. Stoker & I by Becky Wright. It’s a very beautifully written retelling of Dracula. This author is also so humble and an amazing person, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Jess Shelfie #1

What LOHF books do you have on your TBR?

I am basically your average bookworm, who buys faster than I can read, so I will most likely die under my “To Be Read” (TBR) pile. What surprised me though, when I was perusing my bookshelves, I never realized just how many women horror authors I had. I feel very fortunate for this. So to answer the questions, I have plenty on my TBR. To name a few authors with their novels that are at the top would be Jaime Jo Wright (all of them), The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring, His Hideous Heart by Dahlia Adler, and The Toll by Cherie Priest.

Jess Shelfie #2

Where do you find recommendations? Are there any LOHF books that have been recommended to you that you loved?

I tend to discover a lot of my books through friends, authors, and publishers on social media. I’ve been touching the tip of the iceberg of anthologies as well. I keep my eyes open for more from an author I enjoyed in the short stories. I have a tendency of grabbing all the books that the author has written.  As of late, I am gratefully able to work with new authors from reviewing books and building relationships with them and the publishers.

Where do you shop for books?

I absolutely adore buying my books from little mom and pop shops! Shopping locally in my used bookstores (unfortunately, they’re few and far between) and finding the hidden gems is what makes my heart so happy. There’s always a fulfilling accomplishment having an armful of books supporting author, publisher, and bookstore. You’ll also catch me on Amazon or publishers websites for the Indie stories I need in my life.

Jess Shelfie #4

Are there any upcoming LOHF releases you’re excited about? 

There are quite a few LOHF books I have my eye on, but I’ll give you my Top 5 for you to lookout for as well:

The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring (9/24/19)

His Hideous Heart by Dahlia Adler (9/10/19)

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (9/24/19)

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (10/8/19)

Capturing the Devil (Stalking Jack the Ripper series) by Kerri Maniscalco (9/10/19)

Jess Shelfie #5

Where can people find you on social media?

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghoulishspirit/

My Blog: https://ghoulishspirit.wordpress.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5011755-jess

Twitter: @ghoulishspirit

Thank you for joining us, Jess! Our tbr piles also thank you! If you would like to be featured on a future shelf edition please leave a note in the comments. We’d love to see your shelves!

Guest Post: Derivation of Hag by Kathleen Kaufman

Derivation of Hag

By Kathleen Kaufman

At San Diego Comic Con, the awesome Brendan Reichs joked that “I wrote a book about my mom and named it Hag.”   

He wasn’t wrong, the reaction to the title has sparked immediate and sometimes negative reactions.  We think of Hag as an insult, an ugly old woman, an unwanted creature, witch with a wart on the end of her nose.  

It’s all around not something you want to be called.   

Or is it?  The derivation of Hag goes back and back.   It is one of very few words that have no masculine form, it is a distinctly female term, used all the way back in the thirteenth century to describe a witch or enchantress.   Derived in part from the Old English term haga, which described the hedge or trees that separated a forest from the town.   Haga also appears in the Old English translation of Hawthorne, a tree of particular importance to ancient Celtic Pagans.   

By Middle English, haga had morphed to haetnesse,or goddess – a term used to call upon Minerva and Diana.    

As paganism became increasingly feared, the idea of a haga, or a woman who straddled the world of man and the land of the fae and forest was increasingly seen as a thing to be feared, rather than revered.   Later, as the beginnings of what would become Modern English further morphed haga to heathenish,  to  hag and then to witch, the role of a Hag was often a healer, a medicine woman who traveled from town to town, using roots and the plants of the forest to treat fevers and wounds.  It was then the Hag was really in trouble.  

Perhaps the most imbedded connotation of the term witch or hag comes from the 1692 Salem Witch Trials where a disproportionate number of accused witches were midwives, healers, or simply unfortunate enough to have escaped whatever infection was sweeping their community.  Salem and the surrounding community has become a nuclear shadow, a persistent stain on our founding history.   

Martha Carrier was called the ‘Queen of Hell’ and a ‘rampant hag’ before her execution on charges of witchery in August of 1692.  Prior to her new title, she had been the daughter of a prominent Andover family, wife of a prominent businessman, mother to four children…that is until a smallpox outbreak swept through Andover. The ‘Queen of Hell’ had the misfortune to not only escape infection, but also guard her children from illness. What’s worse, records show that she knew the way use local herbs to help heal her neighbors and friends.   Hag, Witch, Devil were the only monikers for such a talent. 

Some words carry weight.  Hag is a very heavy term.   But I counter that it is time to take back this ancient descriptor that encapsulates a powerful, and magical woman who straddles the land of the fae and the waking world simultaneously.   It is time to claim the word Hag for what it is, a uniquely feminine term, not for an old, ugly woman – but rather a force to be reckoned with, a power that not only understood the power of the ancient forests and healing power of nature, but also a woman to be revered, even worshipped.   

So yes, I wrote a book about my mother titled Hag, and I couldn’t be more proud to be the daughter of a hag such as she.    


Kathleen Kaufman is a native Coloradan and long-time resident of Los Angeles.   Her prose has been praised by Kirkus Reviews as “crisp, elegant” and “genuinely chilling” by Booklist.   She is the author of The Tree Museum, The Lairdbalor, soon to be a feature film with Echo Lake Studios and director Nicholas Verso, and her most recent, Hag, due out in October 2018.   Kathleen is a monster enthusiast, Olympic-level insomniac and aficionado of all things unsettling.   When not writing, she can be found teaching literature and composition at Santa Monica College or hanging out with a good book.   She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son, terrier and a pack of cats.  

Friday, September 13, 2019

LOHF Recommends: Witches

It is that time of the year again. When the leaves starting changing colors and the wind holds the promise of the Autumn that is coming. (Who I am kidding I live in the desert. It is still hot). Children are getting ready to pick out their Halloween costumes. As a little girl I was always a witch, which is probably why I associate Autumn with witches. This month we are paying homage to the wonderful Autumny witch.


Hag by Kathleen Kaufman

Bunny by Mona Awad

Catfish Lullaby by A.C. Wise

The Good House by Tanarive Due

Grimly Jane by Elle Alexander

A Hawk in The Woods by Carrie Laben

Into The Water By Paula Hawkins (Horror Adjacent)

Itza by Rios De La Luz

The Jumbies Series by Tracy Baptiste *MG

The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab *YA

Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yolen *prose

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Hex Life edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering


As always this is not an exhaustive list of witch themed books. If you have one you would like to shout about please put it in the comments below.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

What We're Reading #19

We’re back with more Ladies of Horror Fiction book recommendations. Let those tbr piles topple!

Tinfoil Butterfly by Rachel Eve Moulton

Tinfoil Butterfly by Rachel Eve Moulton

The Shining meets About a Boy in this electrifying debut about a troubled young woman and a lonely boy facing their demons in the frozen Black Hills.

Emma is hitchhiking across the United States, trying to outrun a violent, tragic past, when she meets Lowell, the hot-but-dumb driver she hopes will take her as far as the Badlands. But Lowell is not as harmless as he seems, and a vicious scuffle leaves Emma bloody and stranded in an abandoned town in the Black Hills with an out-of-gas van, a loaded gun, and a snowstorm on the way.

The town is eerily quiet and Emma takes shelter in a diner, where she stumbles across Earl, a strange little boy in a tinfoil mask who steals her gun before begging her to help him get rid of “George.” As she is pulled deeper into Earl’s bizarre, menacing world, the horrors of Emma’s past creep closer, and she realizes she can’t run forever.

Tinfoil Butterfly is a seductively scary, chilling exploration of evil–how it sneaks in under your skin, flaring up when you least expect it, how it throttles you and won’t let go. The beauty of Rachel Eve Moulton’s ferocious, harrowing, and surprisingly moving debut is that it teaches us that love can do that, too.

Goodreads | Amazon

Toni’s Teaser Review

For me….the story is about the redemption of the main character. That is really sticks for me. There is so much tragedy in this story. So much sadness. But just when you think you are going to drown in the sorrow you get hope.

Click here to see Toni’s full review at The Misadventures of a Reader

Dear Laura by Gemma Amor book cover

Dear Laura by Gemma Amor

Every year, on her birthday, Laura gets a letter from a stranger. That stranger claims to know the whereabouts of her missing friend Bobby, but there’s a catch: he’ll only tell her what he knows in exchange for something…personal.So begins Laura’s sordid relationship with her new penpal, built on a foundation of quid pro quo. Her quest for closure will push her to bizarre acts of humiliation and harm, yet no matter how hard she tries, she cannot escape her correspondent’s demands. The letters keep coming, and as time passes, they have a profound effect on Laura.From the author of Cruel Works of Nature comes a dark and twisted tale about obsession, guilt, and how far a person will go to put her ghosts to bed.

Goodreads | Amazon

Emily’s Teaser Review

Dear Laura is more of a psychological horror story. This one is on the slow burn side, and the unsettling dread builds well.

Click here to see Emily’s full review at Goodreads.

Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly

Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly

An utterly propulsive and unpredictable psychological thriller from stunning new talent T. Marie Vandelly

For the lucky among us, life is what you make of it, but for Dixie Wheeler, the theme music for her story was chosen by another long ago, on the day her father butchered her mother and brothers and then slashed a knife across his own throat. Only one-year-old Dixie was left alive, infamously known as Baby Blue for the song left playing in the aftermath of the slaughter.

Twenty-five years later, Dixie is still desperate for a connection to the family she can’t remember, so when her childhood home goes up for sale, Dixie sets aside all reason and moves in, re-creating a macabre decor with her family’s salvaged furniture. But as the ghosts of her family seemingly begin to take up residence in the home that was once theirs, Dixie starts to question her own sanity and wonders if the evil force menacing her is that of her father, or a demon of her own making.

In order to make sense of her present, Dixie becomes determined to unravel the truth of her past and seeks out the detective who originally investigated the murders. But the more she learns, the more she opens up the uncomfortable possibility that the sins of her father may belong to another, and, perhaps most tragically, to Dixie herself. As bodies begin to pile up around her, Dixie must find a way to expose the lunacy behind her family’s massacre and redeem what little remains of her soul.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Jen’s Teaser Review

Fans of thrillers and horror pay attention! Theme Music is awesome. It’s brutal and it’s unreliable, and it’s so much fun.

Click here to see Jen’s full review at Book Den.

Thanks for joining us today and we hope you found something to add to your tbr list! Please share your recent reads with us in the comments below.

Monday, September 9, 2019

Guest Post: W is for Witching: An Analysis of the Hawthorne Name and Identity by Stephanie M. Wytovich

W is for Witching: An Analysis of the Hawthorne Name and Identity 

By Stephanie M. Wytovich

The Salem Witch Trails took place in February of 1692 and lasted until May of 1693. This bout of hysteria began in a small colony in Massachusetts due to the accusations of Elizabeth Paris, Ann Putnam and Abigail Williams, all of who started having fits and unexplainable episodes that evoked suspicion of the supernatural. Eventually, these girls informed two judges—Johnathan Corwin and John Hathorne—that their illnesses were caused by the afflictions of three women: Tituba (a slave), Sarah Osborne (an elderly woman), and Sarah Good (a beggar).

Now most of us know the escalation of what happened next: interrogations, torture, the witch trails, death by hanging, and in one case, a man was pressed to death by stones. We learn about the tainted history of Salem in grade school, about the myths and fears surrounding witches, all those innocent women whose crimes were their gender, their independence, their existence, yet one man was so horrified by the ancestral ties attached to his name that he spent his life trying to undo the damage.

There is much speculation as to when and why Nathaniel Hawthorne changed the spelling of his last name—he added a ‘W”—but it is generally believed that he did so to separate himself from his great-great grandfather, John Hathorne, who played a vital part in the sentencing in the witch trials where over 200 people were accused and 20 died.

Last year, I went to Salem, Massachusetts to pay my respects at The Witch Memorial. You can read more about my experience hereand here.

After studying at Bowdoin College, Nathaniel Hawthorne dedicated his time to studying the craft of writing, and most of his body of work depicts the harsh realities of his Calvinist heritage in an attempt to shine a light on the sins of his forefathers. Stories such as “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil” reveal the dark side of human nature with themes such as ostracization, loss of faith, mistrust, and abandonment being at the forefront of the text. However, the witchcraft in his fiction is subtle and based on speculation rather than fact, much like the actual trials themselves. As such, the tables are turned as Hawthorne searches for atonement, dealing out punishment to the accusers rather than the accused in order to repent and seek redemption. 

Something else worth noting in Hawthorne’s fiction is his treatment of women. My students and I talk about this a lot because while in some facets, Hawthorne seems to be miles ahead of his ancestors, in other ways, he’s lacking, especially when it comes to the portrayal of women. My thoughts are that while yes, his women are often fragile and submissive, he’s doing this in a gross exaggeration as a reflection of the time period. In Salem, anything could have stood as proof of witchcraft and signed a death warrant: a wrong look, a financial debt, an affair, a forgotten prayer, etc. Women had to appear submissive in order to survive, and Hawthorne displays this characterization to further illustrate past wrongdoings and educate readers to ensure the scales remain even instead of tipped in one direction.

Whether I’m reading The Scarlet Letteror perhaps a more allegorical work such as “Rapaccini’s Daughter,” it’s the social commentary that Hawthorne slips into the text that brings me back as a reader. I admire that he wrote stories that while fiction, told more truth than our history books, and I think that his work is so important to American literature because it both holds us accountable for our tragedies while also reminding us that something like this can never happen again, and that’s what good stories do. They teach us, they educate us, they entertain, and they change lives.


Stephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her work has been showcased in numerous venues such as Weird Tales, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Fantastic Tales of Terror, Year’s Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 8, as well as many others. 

Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University, and a mentor with Crystal Lake Publishing. She is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare, and most recently, The Apocalyptic Mannequin. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press. 

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

What We're Reading #18

We’re back with more must have Ladies of Horror Fiction book recommendations!

Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff book cover

Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff

LAST ONES LEFT ALIVE is the story of Orpen, a young woman who must walk on foot across a ravaged Ireland in the desperate hope of saving herself, and her guardian Maeve, from the zombie-like menace known as the skrake. Sarah Davis-Goff’s strikingly original debut will appeal to readers of dystopian literary fiction such as STATION 11 or THE END WE START FROM.

Watch your six. Beware tall buildings. Always have your knives.

Growing up on a tiny island off the coast of a post-apocalyptic Ireland, Orpen’s life has revolved around physical training and necessity. After Mam died, it’s the only way she and her guardian Maeve have survived the ravenous skrake (zombies) who roam the wilds of the ravaged countryside, looking for prey.

When Maeve is bitten and infected, Orpen knows what she should do – sink a knife into her eye socket, and quickly. Instead, she tries to save Maeve, and following rumours of a distant city on the mainland, guarded by fierce banshees, she sets off, pushing Maeve in a wheelbarrow and accompanied by their little dog, Danger. It is a journey on which Orpen will need to fight repeatedly for her life, drawing on all of her training and instincts. In the course of it, she will learn more about the Emergency that destroyed her homeland, and the mythical Phoenix City – and discover a starting truth about her own identity.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Emily’s Teaser Review

This book was a tense read, and the author did a great job with setting the tone of the novel. It’s a stressful slow burn. 

Click here to see Emily’s full review at Goodreads.

Tracy’s Teaser Review

The writing is spare when it needs to be, lush and descriptive to highlight poignant or graphic/violent scenes, and I really think this adds to the emotional draw. 

Click here to see Tracy’s full review at Sci-fi & Scary.

Catfish Lullaby by AC Wise book cover

Catfish Lullaby by AC Wise

Lewis is a town of secrets.

There have long been rumors of something unnatural in the swamp, and more than one person has gone missing. Many blame the Royce family while others believe in a local monster, rising from the dark waters.

As a child, Caleb witnessed something inexplicable the night the Royce place mysteriously burned to the ground. As an adult, Caleb returns to take over his father’s role as sheriff, and the long shadow of the Royce family returns to haunt him. Caleb struggles to solve an eerily familiar crime and finds himself face to face with another old mystery–the legend of Catfish John.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Emily’s Teaser Review

Catfish Lullaby is the first book I’ve read by AC Wise, and it was good! It’s a witchy novella set in a small town with secrets, which is obviously the best setup you can have for a book. 

Click here to see Emily’s full review at Goodreads.

Sing Your Sadness Deep

Sing Your Sadness Deep Stories by Laura Mauro

British Fantasy Award-winning author, and Shirley Jackson Award finalist Laura Mauro, a leading voice in contemporary dark fiction, delivers a remarkable debut collection of startling short fiction. Human and humane tales of beauty, strangeness, and transformation told in prose as precise and sparing as a surgeon’s knife. A major new talent!

Featuring “Looking for Laika,” winner of the British Fantasy Award, and “Sun Dogs,” a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award.

Goodreads | Amazon | Better World Books

Audra’s Teaser Review

The way Mauro uses language makes you pay attention. Her phrasing would snag in my brain and make me think about the stories in a new way. 

Click here to see Audra’s full review at Goodreads.

Thanks for joining us today and we hope you found something to add to your tbr list! Please share your recent reads with us in the comments below.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

September 2019 LOHF New Releases

Each month the Ladies of Horror Fiction team posts all of the books we are aware of that will be releasing during that month. If you are involved in the process of publishing a horror book written by a female author, please reach out to us and let us know so we can help to spotlight the book’s release!

No One's Home by D.M Pulley

No One’s Home by D.M Pulley

For fans of The Haunting of Hill House comes a dark tale of a mansion haunted by a legacy of tragedy and a family trapped by lies.

Margot and Myron Spielman move to a new town, looking for a fresh start and an escape from the long shadow of their past. But soon after they buy Rawlingswood, a foreclosed mansion rumored to be haunted, they realize they’re in for more of the same…or worse.

After a renovation fraught with injuries and setbacks, the Spielmans move in to the century-old house, and their problems quickly escalate. The home’s beautiful facade begins to crumble around them when their teenage son uncovers disturbing details of Rawlingswood’s history—a history of murder, betrayal, and financial ruin. The Spielmans’ own shameful secrets and lies become harder to hide as someone or something inside the house watches their every move.

As tensions build between the family members, the home’s dark history threatens to repeat itself. Margot and Myron must confront their own ghosts and Rawlingswood’s buried past before the house becomes their undoing.

Published September 1st 2019 by Thomas & Mercer | Goodreads | Amazon


The Bone Cutters by Renee S. DeCamillis

The Bone Cutters by Renee S. DeCamillis

Dory wakes up in the padded room of a psychiatric hospital with no recollection of how she wound up there. She soon finds out she’s been Blued-Papered—involuntarily committed. When she is sent to the wrong counseling group, she discovers a whole new world of drug addicts she’d never known existed. When she learns that those grotesque scars they all have are from cutting into their own bodies, it makes her skin itch. Why do they do it?—They get high off bone dust. They carve down to the bone, then chisel and scrape until they get that free drug. When they realize Dory’s never been “dusted”, she becomes their target. After all, dust from a “Freshie” is the most intense high, and pain free—for the carver.

By the end of that first meeting Dory is running scared, afraid of being “dusted”, though the psych. hospital staff doesn’t believe a word she says. She’s delusional—at least that’s what they tell her. They end up sending her to that same counseling group every day, though Dory knows that all those junkie cutters want is what’s inside of her, and they won’t give up until they get what they’re after.

Like Girl Interrupted and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, The Bone Cutters is one woman’s dark and surreal experience with a madness that is not necessarily her own.

Published September 1st 2019 by Eraserhead Press | Goodreads | Amazon


Metamorphosis by Claire Fitzpatrick

Metamorphosis by Claire Fitzpatrick

Madeline will never become a woman. William will never become a man. Does June deserve to be human? Does Lilith deserve a heart?

Seventeen stories. Seventeen tales of terror.

If imperfection is crucial to a society’s survival, what makes a monster?

Published September 2nd 2019 by Ifwg Publishing Australia | Goodreads | Amazon


The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 11 edited by Ellen Datlow

For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the tenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night.

Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as:

  • Neil Gaiman
  • Kim Stanley Robinson
  • Stephen King
  • Linda Nagata
  • Laird Barron
  • Margo Lanagan
  • And many others

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers.

Expected publication: September 3rd 2019 by Night Shade Books | Goodreads | Amazon


Catfish Lullaby by AC Wise

Catfish Lullaby by AC Wise

Lewis is a town of secrets.

There have long been rumors of something unnatural in the swamp, and more than one person has gone missing. Many blame the Royce family while others believe in a local monster, rising from the dark waters.

As a child, Caleb witnessed something inexplicable the night the Royce place mysteriously burned to the ground. As an adult, Caleb returns to take over his father’s role as sheriff, and the long shadow of the Royce family returns to haunt him. Caleb struggles to solve an eerily familiar crime and finds himself face to face with another old mystery–the legend of Catfish John.

Expected publication: September 3rd 2019 by Broken Eye Books | Goodreads | Amazon


Tinfoil Butterfly by Rachel Eve Moulton

Tinfoil Butterfly by Rachel Eve Moulton

The Shining meets About a Boy in this electrifying debut about a troubled young woman and a lonely boy facing their demons in the frozen Black Hills.

Emma is hitchhiking across the United States, trying to outrun a violent, tragic past, when she meets Lowell, the hot-but-dumb driver she hopes will take her as far as the Badlands. But Lowell is not as harmless as he seems, and a vicious scuffle leaves Emma bloody and stranded in an abandoned town in the Black Hills with an out-of-gas van, a loaded gun, and a snowstorm on the way.

The town is eerily quiet and Emma takes shelter in a diner, where she stumbles across Earl, a strange little boy in a tinfoil mask who steals her gun before begging her to help him get rid of “George.” As she is pulled deeper into Earl’s bizarre, menacing world, the horrors of Emma’s past creep closer, and she realizes she can’t run forever.

Tinfoil Butterfly is a seductively scary, chilling exploration of evil–how it sneaks in under your skin, flaring up when you least expect it, how it throttles you and won’t let go. The beauty of Rachel Eve Moulton’s ferocious, harrowing, and surprisingly moving debut is that it teaches us that love can do that, too.

Expected publication: September 10th 2019 by MCD X Fsg Originals | Goodreads | Amazon


The Babysitters Coven - Kate Williams

The Babysitters Coven – Kate Williams

Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this funny, action-packed novel about a coven of witchy babysitters who realize their calling to protect the innocent and save the world from an onslaught of evil.

Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it’s kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she’s good at it.

And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let’s just say she owes some people a new tree.

Enter Cassandra Heaven. She’s Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria food. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even take on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme’s babysitters club?

The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra’s mother left her: “Find the babysitters. Love, Mom.”

Turns out, Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they’re about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home.

Expected publication: September 17th 2019 by Delacorte Press | Goodreads | Amazon


Monster She Wrote

Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson

Meet the women writers who defied convention to craft some of literature’s strangest tales, from Frankenstein to The Haunting of Hill House and beyond.

Frankenstein was just the beginning: horror stories and other weird fiction wouldn’t exist without the women who created it. From Gothic ghost stories to psychological horror to science fiction, women have been primary architects of speculative literature of all sorts. And their own life stories are as intriguing as their fiction. Everyone knows about Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein, who was rumored to keep her late husband’s heart in her desk drawer. But have you heard of Margaret “Mad Madge” Cavendish, who wrote a science-fiction epic 150 years earlier (and liked to wear topless gowns to the theater)? If you know the astounding work of Shirley Jackson, whose novel The Haunting of Hill House was reinvented as a Netflix series, then try the psychological hauntings of Violet Paget, who was openly involved in long-term romantic relationships with women in the Victorian era. You’ll meet celebrated icons (Ann Radcliffe, V. C. Andrews), forgotten wordsmiths (Eli Colter, Ruby Jean Jensen), and today’s vanguard (Helen Oyeyemi). Curated reading lists point you to their most spine-chilling tales.

Part biography, part reader’s guide, the engaging write-ups and detailed reading lists will introduce you to more than a hundred authors and over two hundred of their mysterious and spooky novels, novellas, and stories.

Expected publication: September 17th 2019 by Quirk Books | Goodreads | Amazon


The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs by Celine Loup

The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs by Celine Loup

After moving into a new home and giving birth to her first child, a woman worries that a supernatural force is haunting her child’s nursery, and has corrupted her husband into a creature intent on harming them both.

Emma is excited to start a family in her new home, but after her child’s birth she finds her world turning upside-down. The infant cries like it’s scared of something, or someone, and Emma’s sleepless nights quickly drive a wedge between her and her husband, who seems uncharacteristically detached. When Emma begins to see strange things in the house, the line between reality and fantasy blurs and her grasp of what’s real and what’s not becomes even more clouded. Is something unnatural haunting the nursery? And what if it also affected her husband, who ventured up into the attic when they first arrived…

Inspired by the works of Shirley Jackson and Ira Levin, Celine Loup’s The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs weaves a tale of horror and suspense that captures the isolation of postpartum depression, while exploring the very real fears associated with new motherhood.

Expected publication: September 24th 2019 by Archaia | Goodreads | Amazon


The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

Debut author Jennifer Giesbrecht paints a darkly compelling fantasy of revenge in The Monster of Elendhaven, a dark fantasy about murder, a monster, and the magician who love both.

The city of Elendhaven sulks on the edge of the ocean. Wracked by plague, abandoned by the South, stripped of industry and left to die. But not everything dies so easily. A thing without a name stalks the city, a thing shaped like a man, with a dark heart and long pale fingers yearning to wrap around throats. A monster who cannot die. His frail master sends him out on errands, twisting him with magic, crafting a plan too cruel to name, while the monster’s heart grows fonder and colder and more cunning.

These monsters of Elendhaven will have their revenge on everyone who wronged the city, even if they have to burn the world to do it.

Expected publication: September 24th 2019 by Tor.com | Goodreads | Amazon


The House of Bones by Emily Lloyd-Jones

The House of Bones by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family, and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it about Ellis that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.

Expected publication: September 24th 2019 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Goodreads | Amazon


Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister–at all costs.

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods?

It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca–before she’s lost forever. And even though she’s hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends–and their cameras–following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

Expected publication: September 24th 2019 by Viking Books for Young Readers | Goodreads | Amazon


The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

Simmering in Patagonian myth, The Tenth Girl is a gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist.

At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi—a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother—it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls.

Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house—despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s ten students is missing, and when students and teachers alike begin to behave as if possessed, the forces haunting this unholy cliff will no longer be ignored.

One of these spirits holds a secret that could unravel Mavi’s existence. In order to survive she must solve a cosmic mystery—and then fight for her life.

Expected publication: September 24th 2019 by Imprint | Goodreads | Amazon


The Apocalyptic Mannequin By Stephanie Wytovich

The Apocalyptic Mannequin By Stephanie Wytovich

Expected publication: September 26, 2019 by Raw Dog Screaming Press | Amazon


Lesath by A.M. Kherbash

Lesath by A.M. Kherbash

Locked in his dark cell, Greg lay awake in bed, fidgeting with the small cassette recorder, pressing the rewind and stop buttons to listen to the heavy click and spring-loaded clank that initiated and punctuated the faint whirring mechanics. He knew well enough no one was going to come looking for him―not while he was in between jobs, living in a four-door pickup truck, and had traveled to an undisclosed location without telling anyone.

What brought him here were rumors of an abandoned building that was said to be part of a black site―rumors that were circulated amongst truckers and drifters: some exaggerated the sinister aspect of the place, detailing with morbid relish the methods of enhanced interrogation that were being developed or deployed there, while others assumed the contrarian position and downplayed the horrors, if not downright dismissed the whole story as hyperbole.
Questionable as the lead was, the story seemed too good for an amateur journalist like Greg to pass up. All the same, he did not expect there would be some truth to those rumors, that the building is not quite derelict as he had imagined. And that, thanks to a case of mistaken identity, he was now incarcerated there as an inmate.

Greg stopped the rewinding mechanism when he detected rustling and soft thumps coming through the ceiling vent―or thought he did, since the quirky nature of unidentified noise is that it usually ceases whenever one stops to listen. Like a living body, no running building is without its small, unaccountable bumps and muffled clanks; yet even if they’re mostly benign noise, at night, they’re magnified by the ever-present hush, and their unfamiliarity never fails to inflame the imagination of the sleepless newcomer.

LESATH is a psychological horror that pays tribute to gothic fiction.

Expected publication: September 30th 2019 | Goodreads | Amazon


Have we missed any September 2019 LOHF titles you are excited about? Let us know in the comments!

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