Friday, July 30, 2021

YA/MG Horror Spotlight July 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 July as well as what our team has been reading and reviewing.

Young Adult New Releases

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

Lush and chilling, with razor-sharp edges and an iron core of hope, this bewitching, powerhouse novel of two girls fighting back against the violence the world visits on them will stun and enchant readers.

Girls have been going missing in the woods…

When Natasha’s sister disappears, Natasha desperately turns to Della, a local girl rumored to be a witch, in the hopes that magic will bring her sister home.

But Della has her own secrets to hide. She thinks the beast who’s responsible for the disappearances is her own mother—who was turned into a terrible monster by magic gone wrong.

Natasha is angry. Della has little to lose. Both are each other’s only hope.

From the author of Ghost Wood Song, this eerie contemporary fantasy is perfect for fans of Wilder Girls and Bone Gap.

Published July 27, 2021 by HarperTeen Bookshop | Goodreads

Small Favors by Erin A. Craig

Ellerie Downing lives in the quiet town of Amity Falls in the Blackspire Mountain range–five narrow peaks stretching into the sky like a grasping hand, bordered by a nearly impenetrable forest from which the early townsfolk fought off the devils in the woods. To this day, visitors are few and rare. But when a supply party goes missing, some worry that the monsters that once stalked the region have returned.

As fall turns to winter, more strange activities plague the town. They point to a tribe of devilish and mystical creatures who promise to fulfill the residents’ deepest desires, however grand and impossible, for just a small favor. But their true intentions are much more sinister, and Ellerie finds herself in a race against time before all of Amity Falls, her family, and the boy she loves go up in flames.

Published July 27, 2021 by Delacorte Press Bookshop | Goodreads

Middle Grade New Releases

Hardly Haunted

Hardly Haunted by Jessie Sima

From the bestselling creator of Not Quite Narwhal comes a delightfully spooky story about an old house who wants to be a home…even if her new family isn’t what she expected.

House has a problem.

She’s a little spooky. She’s a little cobwebby. Oh, no! What if she’s haunted?

She’s not sure, but . . . her hinges creak. Her pipes bang. And on windy days, the branches scritch-scratch at her windows. She tries to hold her breath and be as still as possible. If she’s on her best behavior, maybe a family will move in.

How will House ever find a family that doesn’t mind being haunted?

Published July 20, 2021 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers Bookshop | Goodreads

Middle Grade Preview

Rosie Paints with Ghosts by Cassie Daily

Our very own Cassie Daley is releasing Rosie Paints with Ghosts next month so we are doing a special preview spotlight! You can find out more about Rosie by visiting Cassie’s blog post Cover Reveal: Rosie Paints with Ghosts – A Spooky Illustrated Children’s book!

Young Adult Books Reviewed

Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall

This month Kathy read and loved Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall. Don’t miss her 5 star review of Our Last Echoes (“If you enjoy reading books about the paranormal, you will love Kate Alice Marshall’s Our Last Echoes.“)!

Middle Grade Books Reviewed

Be sure to check out my reviews for Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick (“This book was a lot of fun, and I adored that it had a big scifi element to it.“), The Stitchers by Lorien Lawrence (“The Stitchers is a fun – what is going on with the old people in this neighborhood – spooky delight.“), and The Nefarious Necklace by K.A. Evans (“I think kids that have grown up reading Magic Treehouse would love to graduate into reading The Nefarious Necklace.“) here: Mini Middle Grade Horror Reviews


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.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

What We've Been Reading #100

We are back for our 100th review round-up! We hope you’ll find a new book or three to add to your collection. If you’re looking for more reading recommendations please click either tag above which will bring you to our previous review posts.


Dracula, Motherf**ker! by Alex de Campi

Dracula, Motherf**ker! by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson

Vienna, 1889: Dracula’s brides nail him to the bottom of his coffin. Los Angeles, 1974: an ageing starlet decides to raise the stakes. Crime scene photographer Quincy Harker is the only man who knows it happened, but will anyone believe him before he gets his own chalk outline? And are Dracula’s three brides there to help him… or use him as bait? A pulpy, pulse-pounding graphic novel of California psych-horror from acclaimed creators ALEX DE CAMPI and ERICA HENDERSON. 

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Audra’s Teaser Review

What if the story was about Dracula’s brides instead of the big man himself? Though I do enjoy the original Dracula, it’s long past time to give the brides a bit more recognition. Originally, they were nameless vampire women that have always been treated as sexy objects, part of the gothic decor, or something truly evil that the sweet, good Harker must resist. Look, patriarchy, we are over it. The ladies deserve some time in the (metaphorical) sun too.

Read Audra’s entire review at Goodreads.


The Midnight Lullaby by Cheryl Low

Everybody has secrets…n

For years, Benedict Lyon has been living a lie. Not even his family knows the truth he’s been keeping from the world. Only Emmeline knows his secret—and she’s dead.

…some are darker than others…

When the matriarch of the Lyon family passes away, Benedict is summoned home for the funeral. Emmeline urges Benedict not to go, certain that if he returns to that house, neither one of them will escape.

…but are they worth dying for?

Their presence in the family home causes the spirit of Gloria Lyon to become restless, and as the remaining members of the Lyon family attempt to put their mother to rest, long-buried secrets, some deadlier than others, are unearthed. Who will survive…

The Midnight Lullaby.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Laurie’s Teaser Review

It’s violent and chilling and emotionally satisfying and I highly recommend reading this novella if you enjoy any of these things.

Read Laurie’s entire review at Goodreads.


Moon Child by Gaby Triana

The Craft meets The Shining in slow-burn tropical horror.

“Terrifying.”

“Beautiful.”

“First-rate Southern Gothic horror.”

18-year-old Valentina Callejas was raised to do what her Cuban, Catholic grandparents say to do. But Valentina feels a different pull–an affinity with nature, tarot cards, and the occult. After ditching her church retreat, she knows it’s time to go off on her own. 

Visiting Macy–a half-sister she’s never met until now–in a little rotting town five hours from the big city where she was raised, Valentina discovers the abandoned, oppressive Sunlake Springs Resort. There she meets the “clairs,” young psychics drawn to the hotel’s haunted history who’ve been waiting for her to open a magical entryway to the spirit world. 

But Valentina’s sensitive hands tell a different story–of anguished spirits, menacing cracks, and hooded ghosts of Florida’s unsavory past. Even a local legend, the beautiful “Lady of the Lake,” hints to the hotel’s sinister history. To protect the clairs from the horrors awaiting them on the other side, Valentina must use her growing powers and decide, once and for all, if she’s the witch she was meant to be.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Emily’s Teaser Review

There were some good gory and spooky moments, and I enjoyed the direction the story went in. If there’s a sequel, I definitely want to read it.

Read Emily’s entire review at Goodreads.

Alex’s Teaser Review

This is a fun Southern Gothic with family drama, supernatural elements, moments of horror, and atmospheric vibes you just can’t help but fall in love with!

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, July 27, 2021

2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team would like to congratulate all of the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award recipients. Please join us in celebrating these amazing women and their outstanding works of horror fiction.

Best Collection

Winner: All That’s Fair, S.H. Cooper

Also nominated:

Bluebeard’s First Wife, Ha Seong-nan
Halloween Season, Lucy A. Snyder
Lucid Screams, Red Lagoe
Sed de Sangre, V. Castro


Best Debut

Winner: The Year of the Witching, Alexis Henderson

Also nominated:

Beneath the Rising, Premee Mohamed
Catherine House, Elisabeth Thomas
Fairest Flesh, K.P. Kulski
Lakewood, Megan Giddings
The Return, Rachel Harrison


Best Graphic Novel

Winner: The Low, Low Woods, Carmen Maria Machado (art by Dani)

Also nominated:

Devil Within, Stephanie Phillips, art by Maan House
Dracula, Motherf**ker, Alex de Campi, art by Erica Henderson
Monstress, Vol. 5, Marjorie M. Liu, art by Sana Takeda


Best Poetry Collection

Winner: A Complex Accident of Life, Jessica McHugh

Also nominated:

Burials, Jessica Drake-Thomas
A Collection of Dreamscapes, Christina Sng
Cradleland of Parasites, Sara Tantlinger
Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Cynthia Pelayo


Best Middle Grade

Winner: Hide and Seeker, Daka Hermon

Also nominated:

Crater Lake, Jennifer Killick
Ghost Squad, Claribel A. Ortega
The Girl and the Ghost, Hanna Alkaf
The Stitchers, Lorien Lawrence
Thirteens, Kate Alice Marshall


Best Novel

Winners: Tender Is the Flesh, Agustina Bazterrica

Also nominated:

Betty, Tiffany McDaniel
The Hollow Places, T. Kingfisher
Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Saltblood, T.C. Parker
The Sun Down Motel, Simone St. James


Best Novella

Winner: The Bell Chime, Mona Kabbani

Also nominated:

Beneath A Bethel, April-Jane Rowan
Cirque Berserk, Jessica Guess
Crossroads, Laurel Hightower
The Invention of Ghosts, Gwendolyn Kiste
The Worm and His Kings, Hailey Piper


Best Short Fiction

Winner: “Unkindly Girls,” Hailey Piper

Also nominated:

“Carreg Samson,” Catherine McCarthy (Diabolica Britannica: A Dark Isles Horror Compendium)
“The Clockmaker,” Sonora Taylor (Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2)
“The Cucuy of Cancun,” V. Castro (Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror)
“The Curse of She, Part 6,” Hailey Piper (We Are Wolves)
“Heart Music,” Lee Murray (Grotesque Monster Stories)
“Holes,” R.A. Busby (Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2)
“A Key for Any Lock,” S.H. Cooper (We Are Wolves)
“Unkindly Girls,” Hailey Piper (Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror)


Best Young Adult

Winner: Blood Countess, Lana Popović

Also nominated:

Category Five, Ann Dávila Cardinal
Deathless Divide, Justina Ireland
Harrow Lake, Kat Ellis
Horrid, Katrina Leno

Monday, July 26, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Young Adult

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Young Adult.

Blood Countess by Lana Popovic

Blood Countess by Lana Popović

In 16th century Hungary, Anna Darvulia has just begun working as a scullery maid for the young and glamorous Countess Elizabeth Báthory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna, she’s vaulted to the dream role of chambermaid, a far cry from the filthy servants’ quarters below. She receives wages generous enough to provide for her family, and the Countess begins to groom Anna as her friend and confidante. It’s not long before Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell—and the Countess takes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancé, Anna realizes she’s not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Countess turns on her, too.

Published January 28th 2020 by Harry N. Abrams | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Lana Popović, visit Lana Popović’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to Lana Popović and the 2020 nominees for Best Young Adult:

Category Five, Ann Dávila Cardinal
Deathless Divide,
Justina Ireland
Harrow Lake,
Kat Ellis
Horrid,
Katrina Leno


Please check out all the nominees and winners of the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards here!

Saturday, July 24, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Short Fiction

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Short Fiction.

“Unkindly Girls,” Hailey Piper

“Unkindly Girls” by Hailey Piper appeared in Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror edited by Samantha Kolesnik | Published August 31st 2020 by Grindhouse Press | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

Worst Laid Plans

To learn more about Hailey Piper, visit Hailey Piper’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to Hailey Piper and the 2020 nominees for Best Short Fiction:

“Carreg Samson,” Catherine McCarthy (Diabolica Britannica: A Dark Isles Horror Compendium)
“The Clockmaker,” Sonora Taylor (Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2)
“The Cucuy of Cancun,” V. Castro (Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror)
“The Curse of She, Part 6,” Hailey Piper (We Are Wolves)
“Heart Music,” Lee Murray (Grotesque Monster Stories)
“Holes,” R.A. Busby (Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2)
“A Key for Any Lock,” S.H. Cooper (We Are Wolves)
“Unkindly Girls,” Hailey Piper (Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror)


Stay tuned as we continue to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards!

Friday, July 23, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Poetry Collection

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Poetry Collection.

A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh

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.

Published June 24th 2020 by Apokrupha | Goodreads | Amazon

To learn more about Jessica McHugh, visit Jessica McHugh’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to Jessica McHugh and the 2020 nominees for Best Poetry Collection:

Burials, Jessica Drake-Thomas
A Collection of Dreamscapes,
Christina Sng
Cradleland of Parasites,
Sara Tantlinger
Into the Forest and All the Way Through,
Cynthia Pelayo


Stay tuned as we continue to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards!

Thursday, July 22, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Novella

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Novella.

The Bell Chime by Mona Babbani

The Bell Chime by Mona Kabbani

“Can you hear the bell chime?”

A girl suffering from paralyzing night terrors finds a missing poster hanging from the door of her apartment building. On that poster is a photograph of a frighteningly familiar face.

It’s her.

Only, she’s never seen this photo before and something about its grin scares her. How its eyes seem to follow her no matter where she finds herself in the room.

Over a series of strange events to follow—events that will make her question whether her sanity is still there or fleeting—she must discover:

What is real and what is the nightmare?

Published September 2nd 2020 | Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop

To learn more about Mona Kabbani, visit Mona Kabbani’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to Mona Kabbani and the 2020 nominees for Best Novella:

Beneath A Bethel, April-Jane Rowan
Cirque Berserk,
Jessica Guess
Crossroads,
Laurel Hightower
The Invention of Ghosts,
Gwendolyn Kiste
The Worm and His Kings,
Hailey Piper


Stay tuned as we continue to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards!

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Novel

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Novel.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans —though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.

Published in English translation August 4th 2020 by Scribner | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Agustina Bazterrica, visit Agustina Bazterrica’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to Agustina Bazterrica and the 2020 nominees for Best Novel:

Betty, Tiffany McDaniel
The Hollow Places,
T. Kingfisher
Mexican Gothic,
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Saltblood,
T.C. Parker
The Sun Down Motel,
Simone St. James


Stay tuned as we continue to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards!

Monday, July 19, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Middle Grade

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Middle Grade.

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon

One of our most iconic childhood games receives a creepy twist as it becomes the gateway to a nightmare world.

I went up the hill, the hill was muddy, stomped my toe and made it bloody, should I wash it?

Justin knows that something is wrong with his best friend.Zee went missing for a year. And when he came back, he was . . . different. Nobody knows what happened to him. At Zee’s welcome home party, Justin and the neighborhood crew play Hide and Seek. But it goes wrong. Very wrong.

One by one, everyone who plays the game disappears, pulled into a world of nightmares come to life. Justin and his friends realize this horrible place is where Zee had been trapped. All they can do now is hide from the Seeker.

Published September 15th 2020 by Scholastic | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Daka Hermon, visit Daka Hermon’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to Daka Hermon and the 2020 nominees for Best Middle Grade:

Crater Lake, Jennifer Killick
Ghost Squad,
Claribel A. Ortega
The Girl and the Ghost,
Hanna Alkaf
The Stitchers,
Lorien Lawrence
Thirteens,
Kate Alice Marshall


Stay tuned as we continue to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards!

Saturday, July 17, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Graphic Novel

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Graphic Novel.

The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado

The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado
(Art by Dani)

When your memories are stolen, what would you give to remember? Follow El and Vee as they search for answers to the questions everyone else forgot.

Shudder-to-Think, Pennsylvania, is plagued by a mysterious illness that eats away at the memories of those affected by it. El and Octavia are two best friends who find themselves the newest victims of this disease after waking up in a movie theater with no memory of the past few hours.

As El and Vee dive deeper into the mystery behind their lost memories, they realize the stories of their town hold more dark truth than they could’ve imagined. It’s up to El and Vee to keep their town from falling apart…to keep the world safe from Shudder-to-Think’s monsters.

Collects issues # 1–6.

Published September 29th 2020 by DC Black Label | Amazon | Goodreads

To learn more about Carmen Maria Machado, visit Carmen Maria Machado’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to Carmen Maria Machado and the 2020 nominees for Best Graphic Novel:

Devil Within, Stephanie Phillips, art by Maan House
Dracula, Motherf**ker,
Alex de Campi, art by Erica Henderson
Monstress, Vol. 5,
Marjorie M. Liu, art by Sana Takeda


Stay tuned as we continue to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards!

Friday, July 16, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Debut

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Debut.

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.

In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.

But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.

Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.

Published July 21st 2020 by Ace | Amazon | Goodreads

To learn more about Alexis Henderson, visit Alexis Henderson’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to Alexis Henderson and the 2020 nominees for Best Debut:

Beneath the Rising, Premee Mohamed
Catherine House,
Elisabeth Thomas
Fairest Flesh,
K.P. Kulski
Lakewood,
Megan Giddings
The Return,
Rachel Harrison


Stay tuned as we continue to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards!

Thursday, July 15, 2021

LOHF Award for Best Collection

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Collection.

All That's Fair by S.H. Cooper

All That’s Fair by S.H. Cooper

A maiden looking for love in all the wrong places.

A mother in an endless search for missing children.

A crone whose passing is marked by the tinkling of tiny bells.

All That’s Fair is a collection of twenty-two short horror stories themed around women who are made up of anything but sugar, spice, and everything nice. Be they human, ghost, or something else entirely, one thing holds true for all: These are not the girls you’ll find (or want) next door.

Published August 13th 2020 by independently published | Amazon | Goodreads

To learn more about S.H. Cooper, visit S.H. Cooper’s profile in the LOHF Directory.

Congratulations to S.H. Cooper and the 2020 nominees for Best Collection:

Bluebeard’s First Wife, Ha Seong-nan
Halloween Season,
Lucy A. Snyder
Lucid Screams,
Red Lagoe
Sed de Sangre,
V. Castro


Stay tuned as we continue to announce the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards!

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Ladies of Horror Fiction Award Nominees

This month the Ladies of Horror Fiction team has been unveiling the nominees for the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards. Please join us in celebrating these amazing women and their outstanding works of horror fiction.

We are honored to present to you the entire list of nominees:

Nominees

Best Collection

All That’s Fair, S.H. Cooper
Bluebeard’s First Wife, Ha Seong-nan
Halloween Season, Lucy A. Snyder
Lucid Screams, Red Lagoe
Sed de Sangre, Violet Castro

Best Debut

Beneath the Rising, Premee Mohamed
Catherine House, Elisabeth Thomas
Fairest Flesh, K.P. Kulski
Lakewood, Megan Giddings
The Return, Rachel Harrison
The Year of the Witching, Alexis Henderson

Best Graphic Novel

Devil Within, Stephanie Phillips
Dracula, Motherf**ker, Alex de Campi & Erica Henderson
The Low Low Woods, Carmen Maria Machado
Monstress, Vol. 5, Marjorie M. Liu

Best Middle Grade

Crater Lake, Jennifer Killick
Ghost Squad, Claribel A. Ortega
The Girl and the Ghost, Hanna Alkaf
Hide and Seeker, Daka Hermon
The Stitchers, Lorien Lawrence
Thirteens, Kate Alice Marshall

Best Novel

Betty, Tiffany McDaniel
The Hollow Places, T. Kingfisher
Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Saltblood, T.C. Parker
The Sun Down Motel, Simone St. James
Tender is the Flesh, Agustina Bazterrica

Best Novella

The Bell Chime, Mona Kabbani
Beneath A Bethel, April-Jane Rowan
Cirque Berserk, Jessica Guess
Crossroads, Laurel Hightower
The Invention of Ghosts, Gwendolyn Kiste
The Worm and His Kings, Hailey Piper

Best Poetry Collection

Burials, Jessica Drake-Thomas
A Collection of Dreamscapes, Christina Sng
A Complex Accident of Life, Jessica McHugh
Cradleland of Parasites, Sara Tantlinger
Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Cynthia Pelayo

Best Short Fiction

Carreg Samson, Catherine McCarthy (Diabolica Britannica)
The Clockmaker, Sonora Taylor (Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2)
The Cucuy of Cancun, V. Castro (Worst Laid Plans)
The Curse of She, Part 6, Hailey Piper (We Are Wolves)
Heart Music, Lee Murray (Grotesque Monster Stories)
Holes, R.A. Busby (Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2)
A Key for Any Lock, S.H. Cooper (We Are Wolves)
Unkindly Girls, Hailey Piper (Worst Laid Plans)

Best Young Adult

Blood Countess, Lana Popović
Category Five, Ann Dávila Cardinal
Deathless Divide, Justina Ireland
Harrow Lake, Kat Ellis
Horrid, Katrina Leno


Congratulations to all of the nominees! The winners will be announced via the website beginning July 15th.

Monday, July 12, 2021

LOHF Award Nominees for Best Young Adult

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to present the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award Nominees for Best Young Adult.

The nominees are:

Blood Countess, Lana Popović
Category Five, Ann Dávila Cardinal
Deathless Divide, Justina Ireland
Harrow Lake, Kat Ellis
Horrid, Katrina Leno


Blood Countess by Lana Popovic

Blood Countess by Lana Popović

In 16th century Hungary, Anna Darvulia has just begun working as a scullery maid for the young and glamorous Countess Elizabeth Báthory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna, she’s vaulted to the dream role of chambermaid, a far cry from the filthy servants’ quarters below. She receives wages generous enough to provide for her family, and the Countess begins to groom Anna as her friend and confidante. It’s not long before Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell—and the Countess takes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancé, Anna realizes she’s not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Countess turns on her, too.

Published January 28th 2020 by Harry N. Abrams | Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop

To learn more about Lana Popović, visit Lana Popović’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Category Five by Ann Davila Cardinal

Category Five by Ann Dávila Cardinal

Category Five is a new supernatural YA thriller from Ann Dávila Cardinal, set against the backdrop of a post-hurricane Puerto Rico.

After the hurricane, some see destruction and some smell blood.

The tiny island of Vieques, located just off the northeastern coast of the main island of Puerto Rico, is trying to recover after hurricane Maria, but the already battered island is now half empty. To make matters worse, as on the main island, developers have come in to buy up the land at a fraction of its worth, taking advantage of the island when it is down.

Lupe, Javier, and Marisol are back to investigate a series of murders that follow in the wake of a hurricane and in the shadow of a new supernatural threat.

Published June 2nd 2020 by Tor Teen | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Ann Dávila Cardinal, visit Ann Dávila Cardinal’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

The sequel to Dread Nation is a journey of revenge and salvation across a divided America.

After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.

But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodermus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880’s America.

What’s more, this safe haven is not what it appears – as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.

But she won’t be in it alone.

Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by – and that Jane needs her, too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.

Watching Jane’s back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it’s up to Katherine to keep hope alive – even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her.

Published February 4th 2020 by Balzer + Bray | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Justina Ireland, visit Justina Ireland’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Harrow Lake

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis

The daughter of a horror film director is not afraid of anything–until she gets to Harrow Lake.

Things I know about Harrow Lake:
1.It’s where my father shot his most disturbing slasher film.
2.There’s something not right about this town.

Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker–she thinks nothing can scare her.

But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she’s quickly packed off to live with a grandmother she’s never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father’s most iconic horror movie was shot. The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map–and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away.

And there’s someone–or some thing–stalking her every move.

The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola’s got secrets of her own. And if she can’t find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her.

Published August 25th 2020 by Dial Books | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Kat Ellis, visit Kat Ellis’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Horrid by Katrina Leno

Horrid by Katrina Leno

From the author of You Must Not Miss comes a haunting contemporary horror novel that explores themes of mental illness, rage, and grief, twisted with spine-chilling elements of Stephen King and Agatha Christie.

Following her father’s death, Jane North-Robinson and her mom move from sunny California to the dreary, dilapidated old house in Maine where her mother grew up. All they want is a fresh start, but behind North Manor’s doors lurks a history that leaves them feeling more alone…and more tormented.

As the cold New England autumn arrives, and Jane settles in to her new home, she finds solace in old books and memories of her dad. She steadily begins making new friends, but also faces bullying from the resident “bad seed,” struggling to tamp down her own worst nature in response. Jane’s mom also seems to be spiraling with the return of her childhood home, but she won’t reveal why. Then Jane discovers that the “storage room” her mom has kept locked isn’t for storage at all–it’s a little girl’s bedroom, left untouched for years and not quite as empty of inhabitants as it appears….

Is it grief? Mental illness? Or something more…horrid?

Published September 15th 2020 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Katrina Leno, visit Katrina Leno’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


The Ladies of Horror Fiction Award winners will be announced later this month!

Saturday, July 10, 2021

LOHF Award Nominees for Best Short Fiction

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to present the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award Nominees for Best Short Fiction.

The nominees are:

“Carreg Samson,” Catherine McCarthy (Diabolica Britannica: A Dark Isles Horror Compendium)
“The Clockmaker,” Sonora Taylor (Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2)
“The Cucuy of Cancun,” V. Castro (Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror)
“The Curse of She, Part 6,” Hailey Piper (We Are Wolves)
“Heart Music,” Lee Murray (Grotesque Monster Stories)
“Holes,” R.A. Busby (Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2)
“A Key for Any Lock,” S.H. Cooper (We Are Wolves)
“Unkindly Girls,” Hailey Piper (Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror)


“Carreg Samson” by Catherine McCarthy appeared in Diabolica Britannica: A Dark Isles Horror Compendium | Published July 13th 2020 by Keith Anthony Baird | Goodreads | Amazon

To learn more about Catherine McCarthy, visit Catherine McCarthy’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


“The Clockmaker” by Sonora Taylor appeared in Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2, edited by Jill Girardi | Published July 20th 2020 by Kandisha Press | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Sonora Taylor, visit Sonora Taylor’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


“The Cucuy of Cancun” by V. Castro appeared in Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror edited by Samantha Kolesnik | Published August 31st 2020 by Grindhouse Press | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about V. Castro, visit V. Castro profile in the LOHF Directory.


“The Curse of She, Part 6” by Hailey Piper appeared in We Are Wolves, edited by Gemma Amor, Laurel Hightower, and Cynthia Pelayo | Published December 4th 2020 | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Hailey Piper, visit Hailey Piper’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


“Heart Music” by Lee Murray appeared in Grotesque Monster Stories by Lee Murray | Published June 2020 by Things in the Well | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Lee Murray, visit Lee Murray’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


“Holes” by R.A. Busby appeared in in Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology, Volume 2, edited by Jill Girardi | Published July 20th 2020 by Kandisha Press | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about R.A. Busby, visit R.A. Busby’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


“A Key for Any Lock” by S.H. Cooper appeared in We Are Wolves, edited by Gemma Amor, Laurel Hightower, and Cynthia Pelayo | Published December 4th 2020 | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about S.H. Cooper, visit S.H. Cooper’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


“Unkindly Girls” by Hailey Piper appeared in Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror edited by Samantha Kolesnik | Published August 31st 2020 by Grindhouse Press | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Hailey Piper, visit Hailey Piper’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


The Ladies of Horror Fiction Award winners will be announced later this month!

Friday, July 9, 2021

LOHF Award Nominees for Best Poetry Collection

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to present the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award Nominees for Best Poetry Collection.

The nominees are:

Burials, Jessica Drake-Thomas
A Collection of Dreamscapes, Christina Sng
A Complex Accident of Life, Jessica McHugh
Cradleland of Parasites, Sara Tantlinger
Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Cynthia Pelayo


Burials by Jessica Drake

Burials by Jessica Drake-Thomas

What is buried can return. Those who are dead can still speak. A witch can be burned, but not silenced. When the abattoir is opened, the dead will rise. Burials is the narrative of those whose voices have been taken away-murdered women, witches, ghosts. It’s about speaking one’s truth, and using magic to heal or to banish, even from beyond the grave.

Published October 6th 2020 by CLASH Books | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Jessica Drake-Thomas, visit Jessica Drake-Thomas’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


A Collection of Dreamscapes

A Collection of Dreamscapes 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.

Published April 16th 2020 by Raw Dog Screaming Press | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Christina Sng, visit Christina Sng’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh

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.

Published June 24th 2020 by Apokrupha | Amazon | Goodreads

To learn more about Jessica McHugh, visit Jessica McHugh’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Cradleland of Parasites by Sara Tantlinger

Cradleland of Parasites by Sara Tantlinger

Bram Stoker Award–winner Sara Tantlinger delivers her CRADLELAND OF PARASITES, a harrowing and darkly gorgeous collection of poetry chronicling the death and devastation of one of history’s greatest horrors: The Black Plague.

Published October 2020 by Strangehouse Books | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Sara Tantlinger, visit Sara Tantlinger’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Into the Forest and All the Way Through by Cina Pelayo

Into the Forest and All the Way Through by Cynthia Pelayo

Nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection.

Into the Forest and all the Way Through is a collection of true crime poetry that explores the cases of over one hundred missing and murdered women in the United States.

Published August 26th 2020 by Burial Day Books | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Cynthia Pelayo, visit Cynthia Pelayo’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


The Ladies of Horror Fiction Award winners will be announced later this month!

Thursday, July 8, 2021

LOHF Award Nominees for Best Novella

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is pleased to present the 2020 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award Nominees for Best Novella.

The nominees are:

The Bell Chime, Mona Kabbani
Beneath A Bethel, April-Jane Rowan
Cirque Berserk, Jessica Guess
Crossroads, Laurel Hightower
The Invention of Ghosts, Gwendolyn Kiste
The Worm and His Kings, Hailey Piper


The Bell Chime by Mona Babbani

The Bell Chime by Mona Kabbani

“Can you hear the bell chime?”

A girl suffering from paralyzing night terrors finds a missing poster hanging from the door of her apartment building. On that poster is a photograph of a frighteningly familiar face.

It’s her.

Only, she’s never seen this photo before and something about its grin scares her. How its eyes seem to follow her no matter where she finds herself in the room.

Over a series of strange events to follow—events that will make her question whether her sanity is still there or fleeting—she must discover:

What is real and what is the nightmare?

Published September 2nd 2020 | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Mona Kabbani, visit Mona Kabbani’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Beneath a Bethel by April Jan Rowan

Beneath A Bethel by April-Jane Rowan

Every youth of Elbridge remembers their Floris, the holy ceremony where their teeth are pulled out with pliers. It marks their ascension into adulthood and their right to have new porcelain teeth, ones that are embedded with magic, that grant the ability to make wishes.

Angora’s Floris will be upon the banks of the Eldwen river, the communal ceremony befitting his station. However he longs to remember his ceremony for the splendour of the Bethel, wreathed in candle light, drooping flowers and holy hymns.

Seeking to fulfil his dream leaves him the victim of violence and an outcast from society, living on its fringes until a chance meeting brings him to the heart of the Masters Guild, the place teeth are made. Learning secrets he never thought he’d be privy too, he eventually discovers the dark cost of their tradition.

Beneath A Bethel is a dark horror fantasy, set in a harsh, snow-covered city that hides its brutality with pageantry.

Published August 31st 2020 by Gurt Dog Press | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about April-Jane Rowan, visit April-Jane Rowan’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess

Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess

The summer of 1989 brought terror to the town of Shadows Creek, Florida in the form of a massacre at the local carnival, Cirque Berserk. One fateful night, a group of teens killed a dozen people then disappeared into thin air. No one knows why they did it, where they went, or even how many of them there were, but legend has it they still roam the abandoned carnival, looking for blood to spill.

Thirty years later, best friends, Sam and Rochelle, are in the midst of a boring senior trip when they learn about the infamous Cirque Berserk. Seeking one last adventure, they and their friends journey to the nearby Shadows Creek to see if the urban legends about Cirque Berserk are true. But waiting for them beyond the carnival gates is a night of brutality, bloodshed, and betrayal.

Will they make they make it out alive, or will the carnival’s past demons extinguish their futures?

Book 4 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.

Published February 20th 2020 by Unnerving | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Jessica Guess, visit Jessica Guess’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


Crossroads by Laurel Hightower

Crossroads by Laurel Hightower

How far would you go to bring back someone you love?

When Chris’s son dies in a tragic car crash, her world is devastated. The walls of grief close in on Chris’s life until, one day, a small cut on her finger changes everything.

A drop of blood falls from Chris’s hand onto her son’s roadside memorial and, later that night, Chris thinks she sees his ghost outside her window. Only, is it really her son’s ghost, or is it something else—something evil?

Soon Chris is playing a dangerous game with forces beyond her control in a bid to see her son, Trey, alive once again.

Published August 10th 2020 by Off Limits | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Laurel Hightower, visit Laurel Hightower’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


The Invention of Ghosts by Gwendolyn Kiste

The Invention of Ghosts by Gwendolyn Kiste

It starts with rapping in the ceiling and spirit boards that know them a little too well.

Everly and her best friend aren’t your typical college students. Instead of raucous Saturday night parties, they spend their weekends conjuring up things from the beyond. Ectoplasm, levitation, death photography – you name it, and Everly knows all about it. But while this obsession with the supernatural is only supposed to be in good fun, the girls soon discover themselves drifting deeper into magic and further from each other. Then when one evening ends with an inadvertently broken promise, everything they’ve ever known is shattered in an instant, sending them spiraling into a surreal haunting. Now Everly must learn how to control the spectral forces she’s unleashed if she wants any chance of escaping a ghost more dangerous than all the witchcraft she can summon.

From the Nightscape Press Charitable Chapbooks line (one third of all sales of this chapbook will go to support the National Aviary), a tale of the occult, unlikely phantoms, and complicated friendships, The Invention of Ghosts is the latest strange vision from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens.

Published May 26th 2020 by Nightscape Press | Goodreads | Amazon

To learn more about Gwendolyn Kiste, visit Gwendolyn Kiste’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper

The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper

New York City, 1990: When you slip through the cracks, no one is there to catch you. Monique learns that the hard way after her girlfriend Donna vanishes without a trace.

Only after the disappearances of several other impoverished women does Monique hear the rumors. A taloned monster stalks the city’s underground and snatches victims into the dark.

Donna isn’t missing. She was taken.

To save the woman she loves, Monique must descend deeper than the known underground, into a subterranean world of enigmatic cultists and shadowy creatures. But what she finds looms beyond her wildest fears—a darkness that stretches from the dawn of time and across the stars.

Published November 15th 2020 by Off Limits Press | Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon

To learn more about Hailey Piper, visit Hailey Piper’s profile in the LOHF Directory.


The Ladies of Horror Fiction Award winners will be announced later this month!

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