Thursday, April 29, 2021

YA/MG Horror Spotlight April 2021

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 April as well as what our team has been reading and reviewing.

Young Adult New Releases

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.

Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.

As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.

The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.

Published April 6th 2021 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers | Amazon | Goodreads

Poison Priestess (Lady Slayers #2) by Lana Popović

Book 2 in the Lady Slayers series, about French murderess and fortune teller Catherine Monvoisin

In 17th-century Paris, 19-year-old Catherine Monvoisin is a well-heeled jeweler’s wife with a peculiar taste for the arcane. She lives a comfortable life, far removed from a childhood of abject destitution—until her kind spendthrift of a husband lands them both in debt. Hell-bent on avoiding a return to poverty, Catherine must rely on her prophetic visions and the grimoire gifted to her by a talented diviner to reinvent herself as a sorceress. With the help of the grifter Marie Bosse, Catherine divines fortunes in the IIle de la Citee—home to sorcerers and scoundrels.

There she encounters the Marquise de Montespan, a stunning noblewoman. When the Marquise becomes Louis XIV’s royal mistress with Catherine’s help, her ascension catapults Catherine to notoriety. Catherine takes easily to her glittering new life as the Sorceress La Voisin, pitting the depraved noblesse against one other to her advantage. The stakes soar ever higher when her path crosses with that of a young magician. A charged rivalry between sorceress and magician leads to Black Masses, tangled deceptions, and grisly murder—and sets Catherine on a collision course that threatens her own life.

Published April 6th 2021 by Harry N. Abrams | Amazon | Goodreads

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

New York Times –bestselling author Goldy Moldavsky delivers a deliciously twisty YA thriller that’s Scream meets Karen McManus about a mysterious club with an obsession for horror.

New girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends.

To her surprise, however, the prank attracts the attention of the Mary Shelley Club, a secret club of students with one objective: come up with the scariest prank to orchestrate real fear. But as the pranks escalate, the competition turns cutthroat and takes on a life of its own.

When the tables are turned and someone targets the club itself, Rachel must track down the real-life monster in their midst . . . even if it means finally confronting the dark secrets from her past.

Published April 13th 2021 by Henry Holt & Company | Amazon | Goodreads

Witches Steeped in Gold (Witches Steeped in Gold #1) by Ciannon Smart

Divided by their order. United by their vengeance.

Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom – and vengeance.

Jazmyne is the Queen’s daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother’s power.

Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But power is intoxicating, revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain – except the lengths they will go to win this game.

This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of Furyborn and Ember in the Ashes.

Expected publication: April 20th 2021 by HarperTeen | Amazon | Goodreads

Middle Grade New Releases

Almost There and Almost Not by Linda Urban

From acclaimed author Linda Urban comes the funny, bittersweet story of a girl and her ghosts—and the welcoming home they find where they least expect it.

California Poppy has been dropped off, yet again, with an unsuspecting relative. This time it’s her eccentric Great-Aunt Monica, a woman she’s never even met. Aunt Monica has no idea what to do with an eleven-year-old, so she puts California to work researching their ancestor, the once-famous etiquette expert Eleanor Fontaine.

California soon discovers that Great-Great-Great Aunt Eleanor is…not exactly alive and well, but a ghost—and a super sensitive one at that. The grand dame bursts into clouds of dust whenever she loses her composure, which happens quite often. Still, an unexpected four-legged friend and some old-fashioned letter writing make this decidedly strange situation one that California can handle.

Just as California’s starting to feel like she’s found a place for herself, life turns upside-down yet again. Thankfully, this time she has some friends almost by her side…

Published April 6th 2021 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers | Amazon | Goodreads

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera

Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas—humans who capture and control criaturas—consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime.

When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back. To get into Devil’s Alley, though, she’ll have to become a bruja herself—while hiding her quest from her parents, her town, and the other brujas. Thankfully, the legendary criatura Coyote has a soft spot for humans and agrees to help her on her journey.

With him at her side, Cece sets out to reunite her family—and maybe even change what it means to be a bruja along the way.

Published April 13th 2021 by HarperCollins Children’s Books | Amazon | Goodreads

Young Adult Books Reviewed

Here are the Young Adult books team member Emily reviewed in April!

Moon Child by Gaby Triana – Be sure to check out Emily’s review of Moon Child (“There were some good gory and spooky moments, and I enjoyed the direction the story went in.”)

Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall – Don’t miss Emily’s 5⭐ review of Our Last Echoes (“Our Last Echoes is the second book I’ve read by Kate Alice Marshall, and I adore both of them.”)

Middle Grade Books Reviewed

Here are the Middle Grade books team member Alex read and reviewed in April!

Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick – Be sure to check out Alex’s review of Crater Lake (“Crater Lake is a fun MG sci-fi horror book with loads of action and fun dialogue guaranteed to have you turning pages fast!”)

The Nefarious Necklace by K A Evans – Also be sure to check out Alex’s review of The Nefarious Necklace (“This is not too spooky but it might be a good starter for MG horror readers while also keeping them educated on some Egyptian facts and history!”)

The Stitchers (Fright Watch, #1) by Lorien Lawrence – Don’t miss Alex’s review of The Stitchers (“If you are a fan of middle grade horror then you absolutely need this on your bookshelves!”)

Bones in the Wall (Ghost Hunters, #1) by Susan McCauley – And lastly, be sure to check out Alex’s review of Bones in the Wall (“Bones in the Wall is a great example of middle grade/paranormal horror that shows how it’s important not to give up on yourself or others.”)


Jen is one of our LOHF admins. Jen manages the technical side of the Ladies of Horror Fiction website. She also keeps a spotlight on middle grade and young adult horror each month.

You can also find Jen on her blog Book Den, Twitter as @bookden, Instagram as @bookdenjen, on Goodreads, and Letterboxd.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

What We've Been Reading #94

We have three recent reads to share with you today! We hope you find your new favorite book and don’t forget to click either tag above to find more recommendations that you need in your collection.

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

A startling debut about class and race, Lakewood evokes a terrifying world of medical experimentation—part The Handmaid’s Tale, part The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

When Lena Johnson’s beloved grandmother dies, and the full extent of the family debt is revealed, the black millennial drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in the mysterious and remote town of Lakewood, Michigan.

On paper, her new job is too good to be true. High paying. No out of pocket medical expenses. A free place to live. All Lena has to do is participate in a secret program—and lie to her friends and family about the research being done in Lakewood. An eye drop that makes brown eyes blue, a medication that could be a cure for dementia, golden pills promised to make all bad thoughts go away.

The discoveries made in Lakewood, Lena is told, will change the world—but the consequences for the subjects involved could be devastating. As the truths of the program reveal themselves, Lena learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the sake of her family.

Provocative and thrilling, Lakewood is a breathtaking novel that takes an unflinching look at the moral dilemmas many working-class families face, and the horror that has been forced on black bodies in the name of science.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Audra’s Teaser Review

Introspective, strange, and lyrical, Lakewood exemplifies my favorite kind of horror novel: ones that dig in to societal issues by exploring something real through the lens of the speculative. This book is a mix of the moody atmosphere of Catherine House with the politically charged medical horror aspects of When No One is Watching.

Read Audra’s entire review at Goodreads.

Laurie’s Teaser Review

Lakewood is a disturbing tale of classism, racism, and desperation and those who take advantage of others because they can and for their own gain. It’s horrifying on so many levels and definitely worth reading.

Read Laurie’s entire review at Goodreads.

Hooker by M. Lopes da Silva

Los Angeles, 1984: Sylvia Lumen was just trying to make a living, but when her sister is murdered by a serial killer bent on targeting sex workers, she unleashes a bloody trail of vengeance as…

Hooker: a violent vigilante who uses actual hooks – from fish hooks to hand scythes – to exact her righteous revenge and get her point across to the patriarchy.

For too long the City of Angels has been a haven for sexist predators. With an intrepid reporter as her partner, and a cast of unforgettable characters, Hooker will splatter her way across 1980s Los Angeles in this retrowave pulp thriller full of action, ferocious friendship, and queer love.

Book 16 in the Rewind-or-Die series: imagine your local movie rental store back in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, remember all those fantastic covers. Remember taking those movies home and watching in awe as the stories unfolded in nasty rainbows of gore, remember the atmosphere and textures. Remember the blood.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Alex’s Teaser Review

HOOKER has a lot going on for a short novella: a serial killer targeting sex workers, a woman seeking vengeance for her murdered sister using actual hooks to take down the patriarchy and advocate for sex work, and some bonus queer love, too!

Read Alex’s entire review at Goodreads.

Audra’s Teaser Review

M. Lopes da Silva takes on this trope of murdered sex workers and turns it on its head. She not only writes a compassionate story about sex work and the women in the industry but also reveals them as people with passions, dreams, and others who love them. They become active heroes instead of just nameless victims.

Read Audra’s entire review at Goodreads.

A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh

“I am a vessel of dauntless courage and severe evil. My joy will endeavor, my rage possess.”

Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Jessica McHugh’s debut poetry collection, A Complex Accident of Life, combines visual art and text to create 52 pieces of Gothic blackout poetry exploring the intense passion, enigmatic nature, and transformative pleasure of life, viewed through the kaleidoscopic lens of a female horror artist.

Goodreads | Amazon

Jen’s Teaser Review

All of the poems in this collection were created using pages out of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I loved it. The poems were incredible, and I’m really inspired by the whole process.

If you’re a fan of poetry, do check it out.

Read Jen’s entire review at Book Den.

Alex’s Teaser Review

Oh, wow! A COMPLEX ACCIDENT OF LIFE by Jessica McHugh is a stunning collection of BLACKOUT POETRY set to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Whaaaaat?! You read that correctly!

Read Alex’s entire review at Goodreads.

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

If you are a LOHF writer and have a book you’d like us to consider for a review please visit our review submission page here.

Laurie is one of our LOHF Admins. Laurie creates our review posts, coordinates review requests, oversees the Ladies of Horror Fiction directory, and manages our LOHF Goodreads group.

You can find Laurie on her blog Bark’s Book Nonsense, on Twitter as @barksbooks, on Instagram as @barksbooks, and on Goodreads.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

What We've Been Reading #93

We have three recent reads to share with you today! We hope you find your new favorite book and don’t forget to click either tag above to find more recommendations.


Abjectification by C. Kubasta

Abjectification mines our most intimate moments to flesh out the horrors of human interaction. In the isolated system of these stories, the past is animate and tangible, located in the body, fantasy & nightmare intertwined.

Like matter, what we’ve loved isn’t destroyed, it merely changes forms. A man thinks he’s found a haven from the past with a new love in “Freak Show”; Meghan seems sensitive to exposure, but she isn’t the woman Jeff imagines he’s been sleeping with at all. A small family begins remodeling their home in “Shedding,” but their six-year-old daughter Emmy discovers unsettling things in the walls. In “Hand-Me-Down,” Carly Jo welcomes her high school boyfriend back into her life after he moves home to care for his dying mother; she’s haunted by the mother’s presence in their lives and in their bed. Old friends reconnect, disregarding “Boundaries,” only to discover a force is whittling the group down, their new spouses and partners in lethal danger. Kubasta’s collection is creepy, haunting, and unapologetically sexy.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Audra’s Teaser Review

I loved these stories. I loved the reading experience, I loved Kubasta’s varied narrative techniques and nimble writing that was sometimes very detailed and sometimes only offered the bare minimum. Kubasta specifically has a talent for ending stories, allowing them to resonate in you and resolve in a way that brings up more interesting questions to consider.

Read Audra’s entire review at Goodreads.


The One That Got Away Anthology

What doesn’t kill me, might make me kill you!

30 women authors from around the world were challenged to write about The One That Got Away. Here you’ll find tales of unrequited love, blind dates gone wrong, stalkers and their prey, cursed guitars, alien symbiotes, sinister letters, and bitter acts of revenge. Dive into murky depths and discover what hides inside the minds of women scorned..

Book 3 in the Kandisha Press Women of Horror Anthology Series

#frightgirlwinter recommended reading!

With Foreword by Gwendolyn Kiste (Bram Stoker Award Winning Author of The Rust Maidens)

Goodreads | Amazon

Alex’s Teaser Review

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY is a wonderful anthology comprised of stories written by 30 women all over the world! If that is not enough to spark your interest, then let’s talk about some of the themes and tropes you can experience: bad blind dates, supernatural, sci fi horror/tech gone awry, unrequited love, good old fashioned creature/slasher fun, predator and prey, fantasy, revenge, and so much more!

Read Alex’s entire review at Goodreads.


Children of Chicago by Cynthia Pelayo

This horrifying retelling of the Pied Piper fairytale set in present-day Chicago is an edge of your seat, chills up the spine, thrill ride. ‪ When Detective Lauren Medina sees the calling card at a murder scene in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, she knows the Pied Piper has returned. When another teenager is brutally murdered at the same lagoon where her sister’s body was found floating years before, she is certain that the Pied Piper is not just back, he’s looking for payment he’s owed from her. Lauren’s torn between protecting the city she has sworn to keep safe, and keeping a promise she made long ago with her sister’s murderer. She may have to ruin her life by exposing her secrets and lies to stop the Pied Piper before he collects. 

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Emily’s Teaser Review

This book has some solid creepy scenes, and I enjoyed the plot overall. There’s more that I want to say, but can’t without going into spoiler territory, so just know that it’s a good horror read & you should add it to your list. If there ends up being a sequel, I’ll definitely be on board.

Read Emily’s entire review at Goodreads.


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

If you are a LOHF writer and have a book you’d like us to consider for a review please visit our review submission page here.


Laurie is one of our LOHF Admins. Laurie creates our review posts, coordinates review requests, oversees the Ladies of Horror Fiction directory, and manages our LOHF Goodreads group.

You can find Laurie on her blog Bark’s Book Nonsense, on Twitter as @barksbooks, on Instagram as @barksbooks, and on Goodreads.

Monday, April 19, 2021

April 2021 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. Please let us know if we missed any new releases so we can add it to the list!

Almost There and Almost Not by Linda Urban

From acclaimed author Linda Urban comes the funny, bittersweet story of a girl and her ghosts—and the welcoming home they find where they least expect it.

California Poppy has been dropped off, yet again, with an unsuspecting relative. This time it’s her eccentric Great-Aunt Monica, a woman she’s never even met. Aunt Monica has no idea what to do with an eleven-year-old, so she puts California to work researching their ancestor, the once-famous etiquette expert Eleanor Fontaine.

California soon discovers that Great-Great-Great Aunt Eleanor is…not exactly alive and well, but a ghost—and a super sensitive one at that. The grand dame bursts into clouds of dust whenever she loses her composure, which happens quite often. Still, an unexpected four-legged friend and some old-fashioned letter writing make this decidedly strange situation one that California can handle.

Just as California’s starting to feel like she’s found a place for herself, life turns upside-down yet again. Thankfully, this time she has some friends almost by her side…

Published April 6th 2021 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers | Amazon | Goodreads


The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

Be careful what you wish for.

When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.

In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.

Published April 6th 2021 by Gallery/Scout Press | Amazon | Goodreads


House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.

Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.

As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.

The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.

Published April 6th 2021 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers | Amazon | Goodreads


The Mother We Share by Jennifer Soucy

She yearned for the mother she never knew, wishing for a whole family. Something heard and replied…

Evie Bonaventura is terrified when a strange girl breaks into her room, a creature with her dead mother’s eyes. Dad confesses Evie had a twin, but she died along with their mother who was unable to survive the devastating childbirth. Mom swore on her deathbed that her baby was kidnapped by fairies—a changeling, but that was impossible. Myths aren’t real.

Yet the otherworldly girl continues to stalk Evie before attacking their father and others. Beltane approaches, their 18th birthday and the night when fairy powers peak. Evie’s determined to protect her family, confident because heroes always win—don’t they?

Tragedy strikes, forcing Evie to act. She embarks on an adventurous rescue mission from Boston to Ireland, aided by an unlikely band of brave friends, legendary creatures, and a colorful coven of witches. Evie has a choice: destroy her twin sister or save her, in honor of the mother they once shared.

Published April 6th 2021 by RhetAskew Publishing | Amazon | Goodreads


Poison Priestess (Lady Slayers #2) by Lana Popović

Book 2 in the Lady Slayers series, about French murderess and fortune teller Catherine Monvoisin

In 17th-century Paris, 19-year-old Catherine Monvoisin is a well-heeled jeweler’s wife with a peculiar taste for the arcane. She lives a comfortable life, far removed from a childhood of abject destitution—until her kind spendthrift of a husband lands them both in debt. Hell-bent on avoiding a return to poverty, Catherine must rely on her prophetic visions and the grimoire gifted to her by a talented diviner to reinvent herself as a sorceress. With the help of the grifter Marie Bosse, Catherine divines fortunes in the IIle de la Citee—home to sorcerers and scoundrels.

There she encounters the Marquise de Montespan, a stunning noblewoman. When the Marquise becomes Louis XIV’s royal mistress with Catherine’s help, her ascension catapults Catherine to notoriety. Catherine takes easily to her glittering new life as the Sorceress La Voisin, pitting the depraved noblesse against one other to her advantage. The stakes soar ever higher when her path crosses with that of a young magician. A charged rivalry between sorceress and magician leads to Black Masses, tangled deceptions, and grisly murder—and sets Catherine on a collision course that threatens her own life.

Published April 6th 2021 by Harry N. Abrams | Amazon | Goodreads


You Love Me (You #3) by Caroline Kepnes

Joe is done with the cities. He’s done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he’s saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cozy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.

He gets a job at the local library—he does know a thing or two about books—and that’s where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco. Librarian. Joe won’t meddle, he will not obsess. He’ll win her the old-fashioned way… by providing a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand. Over time, they’ll both heal their wounds and begin their happily ever after in this sleepy town.

The trouble is… Mary Kay already has a life. She’s a mother. She’s a friend. She’s… busy.

True love can only triumph if both people are willing to make room for the real thing. Joe cleared his decks. He’s ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kay will do the right thing and make room for him.

Published April 6th 2021 by Random House | Amazon | Goodreads


Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera

Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas—humans who capture and control criaturas—consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime.

When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back. To get into Devil’s Alley, though, she’ll have to become a bruja herself—while hiding her quest from her parents, her town, and the other brujas. Thankfully, the legendary criatura Coyote has a soft spot for humans and agrees to help her on her journey.

With him at her side, Cece sets out to reunite her family—and maybe even change what it means to be a bruja along the way.

Published April 13th 2021 by HarperCollins Children’s Books | Amazon | Goodreads


The Helm of Midnight (The Five Penalties #1) by Marina J. Lostetter

A legendary serial killer stalks the streets of a fantastical city in The Helm of Midnight, the stunning first novel in a new trilogy from acclaimed author Marina Lostetter.

In a daring and deadly heist, thieves have made away with an artifact of terrible power–the death mask of Louis Charbon. Made by a master craftsman, it is imbued with the spirit of a monster from history, a serial murderer who terrorized the city with a series of gruesome murders.

Now Charbon is loose once more, killing from beyond the grave. But these murders are different from before, not simply random but the work of a deliberate mind probing for answers to a sinister question.

It is up to Krona Hirvath and her fellow Regulators to enter the mind of madness to stop this insatiable killer while facing the terrible truths left in his wake.

Published April 13th 2021 by Tor Books | Amazon | Goodreads


Near the Bone by Christina Henry

A woman trapped on a mountain attempts to survive more than one kind of monster, in a dread-inducing horror novel from the national bestselling author Christina Henry.

Mattie can’t remember a time before she and William lived alone on a mountain together. She must never make him upset. But when Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox in the woods, she realizes that they’re not alone after all.

There’s something in the woods that wasn’t there before, something that makes strange cries in the night, something with sharp teeth and claws.

When three strangers appear on the mountaintop looking for the creature in the woods, Mattie knows their presence will anger William. Terrible things happen when William is angry.

Published April 13th 2021 by Berkley Books | Amazon | Goodreads


The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

New York Times –bestselling author Goldy Moldavsky delivers a deliciously twisty YA thriller that’s Scream meets Karen McManus about a mysterious club with an obsession for horror.

New girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends.

To her surprise, however, the prank attracts the attention of the Mary Shelley Club, a secret club of students with one objective: come up with the scariest prank to orchestrate real fear. But as the pranks escalate, the competition turns cutthroat and takes on a life of its own.

When the tables are turned and someone targets the club itself, Rachel must track down the real-life monster in their midst . . . even if it means finally confronting the dark secrets from her past.

Published April 13th 2021 by Henry Holt & Company | Amazon | Goodreads


Smithy by Amanda Desiree

In 1972, renowned researcher Dr. Piers Preis-Herald brought together a group of collegiate researchers to study the inner lives of man’s closest relative–primates. His team would undertake their study by raising a young chimpanzee and teaching him American Sign Language. The primate selected was born chimpanzee #710642 at the Kohlberg Center for Primate Research. He would eventually be known to the world as Smithy.

Nearly fifty years after the Smithy Project ended in tragedy at Trevor Hall, the question remains: Was Smithy a hoax? A clever mimic? A Rorschach projection of humanity’s greatest hopes and fears? Or was he indeed what devotees of metaphysics have claimed for so long: a link between our world and the next?

Published April 13th 2021 by Inkshares | Amazon | Goodreads


Dispossessed by Piper Mejia

Nobody likes you when you’re the ugly new kid. A hoodie and a new foster home won’t hide the creeping dread that you are dangerous. So, when you’re offered the chance to meet a grandfather you never knew, you jump on a plane to the bush-covered mountains of New Zealand. Slate longs for a home when he finds himself living among an ancient race masquerading as travelling performers. Dispossessed and disillusioned, Slate fears being trapped in a life hiding from the world; one his own father had to run from. However, the decision to stay or leave is taken from him when he is held captive by hunters on the trail of the ultimate game trophy. Tortured and alone, Slate fears that the only way to escape is to become the monster he never wanted to be.

Published April 15th 2021 by IFWG Publishing International | Amazon | Goodreads


Earthly Bodies by Susan Earlam

It is 2058. Rebecca, a widow, receives an invitation to leave Earth and start over, but nature has evolved and is tagging along for the ride.

Earthly Bodies is a dystopian eco-horror story that spans the ages, where strangers reveal their contribution to an extraordinary act of survival.

An artist ahead of his time crafts a new way of painting portraits, causing outcry and claims of heresy.
A military man becomes obsessed with growing something he found on manoeuvres far from home.
A lonely geneticist helps her brother with his plan to save humanity; secretly selecting humans to join a mission and escape a ravaged Earth.
Rebecca seeks a fresh start, away from her devastating loss.

Harmony with Nature is everyone’s wish. It’s time to be careful what you wish for.

Readers of speculative fiction and feminist horror will enjoy this novel.

Earthly Bodies echoes the visionary environmental scope of The Overstory and Annihilation, with the horror of Naomi Booth’s Sealed, and a structure more like Station Eleven.

Published April 2021 by Speleorex Press | Amazon | Goodreads


The Banquet by Villimey Mist

Maria Lopez, a sexual assault survivor, receives an invitation to The Banquet, a secret annual event where women such as herself get the opportunity to exact vengeance on their attackers.

Published April 19th 2021 by Smashwords | Goodreads


The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

After her father vanishes while investigating the disappearance of 13 young women, a teen returns to her secretive hometown to pick up the trail in this second YA historical mystery from the author of The Silence of Bones.

Hwani’s family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest, near a gruesome crime scene. The only thing they remember: Their captor wore a painted-white mask.

To escape the haunting memories of this incident, the family flees their hometown. Years later, Detective Min—Hwani’s father—learns that thirteen girls have recently disappeared under similar circumstances, and so he returns to their hometown to investigate… only to vanish as well.

Determined to find her father and solve the case that tore their family apart, Hwani returns home to pick up the trail. As she digs into the secrets of the small village—and reconnects with her now estranged sister—Hwani comes to realize that the answer lies within her own buried memories of what happened in the forest all those years ago.

Expected publication: April 20th 2021 by Feiwel & Friends | Amazon | Goodreads


Witches Steeped in Gold (Witches Steeped in Gold #1) by Ciannon Smart

Divided by their order. United by their vengeance.

Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom – and vengeance.

Jazmyne is the Queen’s daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother’s power.

Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But power is intoxicating, revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain – except the lengths they will go to win this game.

This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of Furyborn and Ember in the Ashes.

Expected publication: April 20th 2021 by HarperTeen | Amazon | Goodreads


Jen is one of our LOHF admins. Jen manages the technical side of the Ladies of Horror Fiction website. She also keeps a spotlight on middle grade and young adult horror each month.

You can also find Jen on her blog Book Den, Twitter as @bookden, Instagram as @bookdenjen, on Goodreads, and Letterboxd.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

What We've Been Reading #92

We have three recent reads to share with you today! We hope you find your new favorite book and don’t forget to click either tag above to find more recommendations.


Antioch by Jessica Leonard

Antioch used to be a quiet small town where nothing bad ever happened. Now six women have been savagely murdered. The media dubs the killer ‘Vlad the Impaler’ due to the gruesome crime scenes of his victims. Clues are drying up fast and the hunt for the monster responsible is hitting a dead end.

After picking up a late-night transmission on her short-wave radio, a local bookseller named Bess becomes convinced a seventh victim has already been abducted. Bess is used to spending her nights alone reading about Amelia Earhart conspiracy theories, and now a new mystery has fallen in her lap: one she might actually be able to solve.

Assuming she doesn’t also wind up abducted.

Antioch, a cross between Session 9 and Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, is an eerie mind-bending debut horror novel guaranteed to leave you drowning in paranoia. 

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Audra’s Teaser Review

A small town, a vicious string of murders, and a bookish girl who enjoys shortwave radio and conspiracy theories—Leonard’s unique debut horror novel had me hooked from the first page.

Read Audra’s entire review at Goodreads.


A Collection of Dreamscapes

A Collection of Dreamscapes poetry by Christina Sng

A Collection of Dreamscapes by Christina Sng is an exploration of the darkness inside us, the shadow-self that screams and begs, forever fighting to claw itself out. It’s a siren song of transformation, an uncovered diary that bleeds fairy tales and dystopias, and it reads like a grimoire full of spells and curses that bring monsters and madmen to life.

Between these pages, readers will meet women who hide behind the taste of poisoned apples, who set themselves on fire, who weep at riverbanks, the taste of freedom too much to swallow, too heavy to bear. They will be whisked away to faraway lands and unimaginable worlds, the drip of fog-soaked dreams a steady flow down their throats while they choke on betrayal and bathe in the waters of tears twice cried.

Sng’s poems are a blend of dark fantasy and science fiction, a changeling’s whisper and an ogre’s cry. They are both subtle and violent, and they weave themes of empowerment and strength through stars and earthquakes, forcing us to push away the rubble and look at what we’ve had to do to survive. They are the sacrifice in the forest and the haunting in the house, every gasp and ancient fear a reflection of the violence we’ve had to bury deep inside ourselves, all those battle cries and reimagined dreams we desperately try to forget. Here, Sng marries blood and magic, forever walking hand-in-hand with scar and ash, their imprints both a nightmare and a blessing, a dream and the truth.

Swallow them carefully. Once they’re inside you, there’s no getting them out.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Laurie’s Teaser Review

This little book of dark poetry will entrance you with its dark magic and simmering rage. Within its pages, you will find fairytale worlds filled with magic, wonder, and furious brutality. If you like dark fiction, I recommend giving it a try. The poems are broken up into themed chapters that often progress from one to the next continuing in a story-like fashion.

Read Laurie’s entire review at her blog Bark at the Ghouls.


Ghastly Tales of Gaiety & Greed by E.F. Schraeder

Coasters, carousels, an old cemetery, and sprawling hotel on a stormy lakeside. Visit this haunted tour of scrapbook memories where legendary summers intersect with history and rumor. Told in vignettes that weave stories, newspaper clippings, postcards, and images, Ghastly Tales follows four families through the decades at a lakeside resort and amusement park where everyone eventually returns.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Alex’s Teaser Review

The stories inside are more subtle and creepy than in your face, jump out at you and possess you, full blown terror… so I think readers who like slow-burn and build up will love this one!

Read Alex’s entire review at Goodreads.


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

If you are a LOHF writer and have a book you’d like us to consider for a review please visit our review submission page here.


Laurie is one of our LOHF Admins. Laurie creates our review posts, coordinates review requests, oversees the Ladies of Horror Fiction directory, and manages our LOHF Goodreads group.

You can find Laurie on her blog Bark’s Book Nonsense, on Twitter as @barksbooks, on Instagram as @barksbooks, and on Goodreads.

Monday, April 12, 2021

YA/MG Horror Spotlight March 2021

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 March as well as what our team has been reading and reviewing.

Young Adult New Releases

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness.

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend—the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.

The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.

With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.

Allison Saft’s Down Comes the Night is a snow-drenched romantic fantasy that keeps you racing through the pages long into the night.

Love makes monsters of us all.

Published March 2nd 2021 by Wednesday Books | Amazon | Goodreads

The Lake by Natasha Preston

Hot on the heels of The Twin, the undisputed queen of YA thrillers is back with a scary and suspenseful read about a summer camp filled with dark secrets.

Esme and Kayla once were campers at Camp Pine Lake. They’re excited to be back this year as CITs (counselors in training). Esme loves the little girls in her cabin and thinks it’s funny how scared they are of everything–spiders, the surly head counselor, the dark, boys . . . even swimming in the lake! It reminds her a little of how she and Kayla used to be, once. Before . . . it happened.

Because Esme and Kayla did something bad when they were campers. Afterwards, the girls agreed to keep it secret. They’ve moved on–or so they say–and this summer is going to be great. Two months of sun, s’mores, and flirting with the cute boy counselors. But then they get a note. THE LAKE NEVER FORGETS. And the secret they’ve kept buried for so many years is about to resurface.

Published March 2nd 2021 by Delacorte Press | Amazon | Goodreads

Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall

Kara Thomas meets Twin Peaks in this supernatural thriller about one girl’s hunt for the truth about her mother’s disappearance.

Sophia’s first memory is of drowning. She remembers the darkness of the water and the briny taste as it fills her throat. She remembers the cold shock of going under. She remembers her mother pulling her to safety before disappearing forever. But Sophia has never been in the ocean. And her mother died years ago in a hospital. Or so she has been told her whole life.

A series of clues have led Sophia to the island of Bitter Rock, Alaska, where she talked her way into a summer internship at the Landon Avian Research Center, the same center her mother worked at right before she died. There, she meets the disarmingly clever Liam, whose own mother runs the LARC, as well as Abby, who’s following a mystery of her own: a series of unexplained disappearances. People have been vanishing from Bitter Rock for decades, leaving only their ghostly echoes behind. When it looks like their two mysteries might be one and the same, Sophia vows to dig up the truth, no matter how many lies she has to tell along the way. Even if it leads her to a truth she may not want to face.

Our Last Echoes is an eerie collection of found documents and written confessionals, in the style of Rules for Vanishing, with supernatural twists that keep you questioning what is true and what is an illusion.

Expected publication: March 16th 2021 by Viking Books for Young Readers | Amazon | Goodreads

Rule of Wolves (King of Scars #2) by Leigh Bardugo

The Grishaverse will be coming to Netflix soon with Shadow and Bone, an original series!

The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times-bestselling King of Scars Duology.

The Demon King. As Fjerda’s massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king’s gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.

Expected publication: March 30th 2021 by Orion Children’s Books | Amazon | Goodreads

Middle Grade New Releases

Bridge of Souls (Cassidy Blake #3) by Victoria Schwab

Where there are ghosts, Cassidy Blake follows … unless it’s the other way around?

Cass thinks she might have this ghost-hunting thing down. After all, she and her ghost best friend, Jacob, have survived two haunted cities while travelling for her parents’ TV show.

But nothing can prepare Cass for New Orleans, which wears all of its hauntings on its sleeve. In a city of ghost tours and tombs, raucous music and all kinds of magic, Cass could get lost in all the colourful, grisly local legends. And the city’s biggest surprise is a foe Cass never expected to face: a servant of Death itself.

Cass takes on her most dangerous challenge yet…

Published March 2nd 2021 by Scholastic Press | Amazon | Goodreads

Ghost in the Headlights by Lindsey Duga

In this modern-day retelling of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” an angry ghost haunts a small-town road in search of revenge…

When Brianna Jenson agreed to move in with her cruel uncle Shane in rural Pennsylvania, she didn’t expect to find herself in the middle of a terrifying town legend.

Every afternoon on her walk home from school, as the sun begins to set behind the overhanging branches of Shadowrun Road, Brianna hears footsteps following her — footsteps that belong to no one. Then there’s the car that races along the narrow country road with blinding lights and almost runs her over! That’s when Brianna realizes… there’s no one driving. It’s almost as if someone — or something — is trying to get her attention.

As Brianna investigates what happened on Shadowrun Road, she discovers a town tragedy that has never been resolved. Can Brianna get to the bottom of this ghostly mystery before it’s too late?

Published March 2nd 2021 by Scholastic Inc. | Amazon | Goodreads

Young Adult Books Reviewed

Here are the Young Adult books team member Audra read and reviewed in March!

For Better or Cursed (The Babysitters Coven, #2) by Kate Williams – Be sure to check out Audra’s review of For Better or Cursed (“I adored The Babysitters Coven, and I was looking forward to seeing what Esme, Cass, and Pig would be up to in this second entry.”)

Dread Nation (Dread Nation, #1) by Justina Ireland – Don’t miss Audra’s 5⭐ review of Dread Nation (“I can’t wait to read the sequel Deathless Divide to this! I can tell this is just the tip of the iceberg; there is so much more story here, and I am definitely along for the ride.”)

Deathless Divide (Dread Nation, #2) by Justina Ireland – You also don’t want to miss her review of the sequel Deathless Divide (“All in all, this is an engaging and wonderful expansion of the Dread Nation universe—not exactly an easy feat to pull off, since the first book was simply amazing.”)

Middle Grade Books Reviewed

Last year I (Jen) read and loved Be Wary of the Silent Woods by Svetlana Chmakova. This past month I finally posted my review of Be Wary of the Silent Woods (“Be Wary of the Silent Woods was another home run for me. Be Wary of the Silent Woods is the first volume in the The Weirn Books series. It’s a graphic novel, and I adored it.”)


Jen is one of our LOHF admins. Jen manages the technical side of the Ladies of Horror Fiction website. She also keeps a spotlight on middle grade and young adult horror each month.

You can also find Jen on her blog Book Den, Twitter as @bookden, Instagram as @bookdenjen, on Goodreads, and Letterboxd.

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