February is a big month in the books for our team in terms of celebrations! Black History Month, the Lunar New Year, and Library Lovers Day all fall in February, and we had a blast boosting, sharing, and talking about books by Black & Asian authors especially. If you missed any of our posts, announcements, or reviews, you can find them all listed below!
We rounded up a big list of some of our favorite books written by Black women from the monthly #LOHFReadalong recommendations & book choices, including a section of recommendations featuring our past Women in Horror Month readathon picks.
We’re highlighting some of our favorite books by Black women writing in the horror genre; have you already added these titles to your bookshelves? Come see what the team has to say!
We support horror lovers at all ages! For some of our younger readers (or adult fans of younger genres), we’ve rounded up a great list of some spooky books written by Black women that are suitable for horror’s smallest fans.
The formula is simple: “if you like this non-horror book genre, try this horror book.” Although this list of recommendations is for everyone, it may be particularly helpful for those of you who love to read horror with elements of other popular genres.
Cassie is one of our core team members, and maintains our site interviews with authors and creating monthly themed content.
Find her online at her blog www.letsgetgalactic.com, Twitter as @ctrlaltcassie, or over at her Etsy store, where she sells clothing, coloring & activity books, bookmarks, art prints, DIY craft kits, & more!
In continuation of our celebration of Black History Month, I wanted to try something new! I love seeing those “if you like that, try this” lists or YouTube videos, so I decided to make one of my own. The formula is simple: “if you like this non-horror book genre, try this horror book.” So, these recs are perfect to share with your non-horror reading friends.
Although this list of recommendations is for everyone, it may be particularly helpful for those of you who love to read horror with elements of other popular genres. These “genre-defying” titles often fall into even more categories than the horror + ______ examples below, which is something I personally love reading!
It also might be good for other “mood readers” out there—you know, the folks who just can’t stick to a TBR but know what to read next because of ~a feeling~? Yeah, I see you, and I recognize a similar soul—I’m here to support you! Sometimes we need a little direction though, so hopefully this list can serve as a little key to diversify your reading!
At the age of seven, Tituba watched as her mother was hanged for daring to wound a plantation owner who tried to rape her. She was raised from then on by Mama Yaya, a gifted woman who shared with her the secrets of healing and magic. But it was Tituba’s love of the slave John Indian that led her from safety into slavery, and the bitter, vengeful religion practiced by the good citizens of Salem, Massachusetts. Though protected by the spirits, Tituba could not escape the lies and accusations of that hysterical time.
Jacqueline is a young Creole slave in antebellum New Orleans. An unusual stranger who has haunted her dreams since childhood comes to stay as a guest in her master’s house. Soon after his arrival, members of the household die mysteriously, and Jacqueline is suspected of murder. Despite her fear of the stranger, Jacqueline befriends him and he helps her escape. While running from the slave catchers, they meet conjurers, a loup-garou, and a traveling circus of supernatural freaks. She relies on ancestral magic to guide her and finds strength to conquer her fears on her journey.
In a vast, mysterious house on the cliffs near Dover, the Silver family is reeling from the hole punched into its heart. Lily is gone and her twins, Miranda and Eliot, and her husband, the gentle Luc, mourn her absence with unspoken intensity. All is not well with the house, either, which creaks and grumbles and malignly confuses visitors in its mazy rooms, forcing winter apples in the garden when the branches should be bare. Generations of women inhabit its walls. And Miranda, with her new appetite for chalk and her keen sense for spirits, is more attuned to them than she is to her brother and father. She is leaving them slowly—
Slipping away from them—
And when one dark night she vanishes entirely, the survivors are left to tell her story.
“Miri, I conjure you.”
This is a spine-tingling tale that has Gothic roots but an utterly modern sensibility. Told by a quartet of crystalline voices, it is electrifying in its expression of myth and memory, loss and magic, fear and love
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
When Korede’s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This’ll be the third boyfriend Ayoola’s dispatched in, quote, self-defense, and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede’s long been in love with him and isn’t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other.
My Sister, the Serial Killer is a blackly comic novel about how blood is thicker—and more difficult to get out of the carpet—than water . . .
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.
Survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle. Their fangs are sharp.
Among the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she’s pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine.
Zin E. Rocklyn’s extraordinary debut is a lush, gothic fantasy about the prices we pay and the vengeance we seek.
“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”
The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa—a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.
Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks—alone, except for her fox companion—searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?
Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, Andromeda quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option. Evil may roam the castle’s halls, but so does a burning desire.
Kiersten White meets Tomi Adeyemi in this Ethiopian-inspired debut fantasy retelling of Jane Eyre.
More than a decade ago, Mira fled her small, segregated hometown in the south to forget. With every mile she traveled, she distanced herself from her past: from her best friend Celine, mocked by their town as the only white girl with black friends; from her old neighborhood; from the eerie Woodsman plantation rumored to be haunted by the spirits of slaves; from the terrifying memory of a ghost she saw that terrible day when a dare-gone-wrong almost got Jesse—the boy she secretly loved—arrested for murder.
But now Mira is back in Kipsen to attend Celine’s wedding at the plantation, which has been transformed into a lush vacation resort. Mira hopes to reconnect with her friends, and especially, Jesse, to finally tell him the truth about her feelings and the events of that devastating long-ago day.
But for all its fancy renovations, the Woodsman remains a monument to its oppressive racist history. The bar serves antebellum drinks, entertainments include horrifying reenactments, and the service staff is nearly all black. Yet the darkest elements of the plantation’s past have been carefully erased—rumors that slaves were tortured mercilessly and that ghosts roam the lands, seeking vengeance on the descendants of those who tormented them, which includes most of the wedding guests.
As the weekend unfolds, Mira, Jesse, and Celine are forced to acknowledge their history together, and to save themselves from what is to come.
The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson!
Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.
The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.
But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right?
As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.
Cassie is one of our core team members, and maintains our site interviews with authors and creating monthly themed content.
Find her online at her blog www.letsgetgalactic.com, Twitter as @ctrlaltcassie, or over at her Etsy store, where she sells clothing, coloring & activity books, bookmarks, art prints, DIY craft kits, & more!
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 February as well as what our team has been reading and reviewing.
Young Adult New Releases
Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren
This addictive YA horror about a group of teen ghost hunters who spend the night in a haunted LA hotel is The Blair Witch Project for the TikTok generation.
When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers—and ultimately harmless.
But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads.
Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our help—and the living we should fear.
Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.
Expected publication February 1st 2022 by UnderlinedGoodreads | Bookshop
These Deadly Games by Diana Urban
Let’s play a game.
You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you tell your parents or anyone else, she dies.
Are you ready?
When Crystal Donavan gets a message on a mysterious app with a video of her little sister gagged and bound, she agrees to play the kidnapper’s game. At first, they make her complete bizarre tasks: steal a test and stuff it in a locker, bake brownies, make a prank call.
But then Crystal realizes each task is meant to hurt—and kill—her friends, one by one. But if she refuses to play, the kidnapper will kill her sister. Is someone trying to take her team out of the running for a gaming tournament? Or have they uncovered a secret from their past, and wants them to pay for what they did…
As Crystal makes the impossible choices between her friends and her sister, she must uncover the truth and find a way to outplay the kidnapper… before it’s too late.
Author of All Your Twisted Secrets, Diana Urban’s explosive sophomore novel, These Deadly Games, will keep you riveted until the final twist is revealed.
Expected publication February 1st 2022 by Wednesday BooksGoodreads | Bookshop
Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams
As infants, twin sisters Charlie Yates and Magnolia Heathwood were secretly separated after the brutal lynching of their parents, who died for loving across the color line. Now, at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, Charlie is a young Black organizer in Harlem, while white-passing Magnolia is the heiress to a cotton plantation in rural Georgia.
Magnolia knows nothing of her racial heritage, but secrets are hard to keep in a town haunted by the ghosts of its slave-holding past. When Magnolia finally learns the truth, her reflection mysteriously disappears from mirrors—the sign of a terrible curse. Meanwhile, in Harlem, Charlie’s beloved grandmother falls ill. Her final wish is to be buried back home in Georgia—and, unbeknownst to Charlie, to see her long-lost granddaughter, Magnolia Heathwood, one last time. So Charlie travels into the Deep South, confronting the land of her worst nightmares—and Jim Crow segregation.
The sisters reunite as teenagers in the deeply haunted town of Eureka, Georgia, where ghosts linger centuries after their time and dangers lurk behind every mirror. They couldn’t be more different, but they will need each other to put the hauntings of the past to rest, to break the mirrors’ deadly curse—and to discover the meaning of sisterhood in a racially divided land.
Expected publication: February 8th 2022 by Little, Brown Books for Young ReadersGoodreads | Bookshop
Extasia by Claire Legrand
**One of BuzzFeed’s Great LGBTQ+ YA novels to Warm up Your Winter**
From New York Times bestselling author Claire Legrand comes a new, bone-chilling YA horror novel about a girl who joins a coven to root out a vicious evil that’s stalking her village. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Grace Year.
Her name is unimportant.
All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain–an evil which has already killed nine of her village’s men.
She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove.
Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother’s shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?
This searing and lyrically written novel by the critically acclaimed author of Sawkill Girls beckons readers to follow its fierce heroine into a world filled with secrets and blood–where the truth is buried in lies and a devastating power waits, seething, for someone brave enough to use it.
Expected publication: February 22nd 2022 by Katherine Tegen BooksGoodreads | Bookshop
Only a Monster by Vanessa Len
With the sweeping romance of Passenger and the dark fantasy edge of This Savage Song, this standout YA contemporary fantasy debut from Vanessa Len, is the first in a planned trilogy.
It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place.
But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.
As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . .
. . . she is not the hero.
Expected publication: February 22nd 2022 by HarperTeenGoodreads | Bookshop
Middle Grade New Releases
The Keeper by Guadalupe GarcÃa McCall
Inspired by the true story of the “Westfield Watcher.”
The first letter turns up on his desk. The second is stuck between the spokes of his bike. The third flies through the kitchen window.
And they are all addressed to James from someone called the Keeper.
Moving from Texas to Oregon was a bad idea. No sooner have James and his family arrived in their “perfect” new town than he starts getting mysterious and sinister letters from someone called the Keeper. Someone who claims to be watching him. Someone who is looking for “young blood.” James and his sister, Ava, are obviously in danger. But the problem with making a fuss about moving and having a history of playing practical jokes is that no one believes James—not even his parents.
Now James and Ava need to figure out who is sending the letters before they become the next victims in their neighborhood’s long history of missing children. Because one thing is clear: uncovering the truth about the Keeper is the only thing that will keep them alive.
Expected publication: February 8th 2022 by HarperCollinsGoodreads | Bookshop
Young Adult Books Reviewed
Bruno Guenard / BIOSPHOTO
This month Cassie read and reviewed I Stop Somewhere by T.E. Carter. Don’t miss her review of I Stop Somewhere (“The social commentary regarding how our society deals with the horrors girls and women encounter every day is a difficult subject to approach in young adult fiction, but it’s so, so important to have these kinds of stories to let girls know that they aren’t alone.”) We recommend checking content warnings.
Kathy read and reviewed Small Favors by Erin A. Craig. Be sure to check out her review of Small Favors (“I loved Erin A. Craig’s Small Favors with its depiction of the small-town community of Amity Falls when life was simple – that is, until the monsters came to town.”)
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.
We’ve had a busy month here at Ladies of Horror Fiction and missed last week’s review round-up but we’re back today with three new reading recommendations!
Please click either tag above to find more books we’ve recommended.
A Woman Built By Man edited by SH Cooper & Elle Turpitt
A Woman Built By Man is a collage of 21 horror tales that seek to crawl under the skin and deconstruct the many ways women are built up and broken down by a patriarchal society. And the many ways they’re finally saying, “Enough.”
This group of stories absolutely blew me away. I’m sitting here wanting to give you a top 5 favorite stories out of the 21 included in this book, but I can’t. I loved all of them!
An eerie horror debut about a little boy who recovers from a mysterious pandemic and inherits an imaginary friend who makes him do violent things…
Kids have imaginary friends. Rachel knows this. So when her young son, Billy, miraculously recovers from a horrible flu that has proven fatal for many, she thinks nothing of Delfy, his new invisible friend. After all, her family is healthy and that’s all that matters.
But soon Delfy is telling Billy what to do, and the boy is acting up and lashing out in ways he never has before. As Delfy’s influence is growing stranger and more sinister by the day, and rising tensions threaten to tear Rachel’s family apart, she clings to one purpose: to protect her children at any cost–even from themselves.
We Hear Voices is a mischievously gripping near-future horror novel that tests the fragility of family and the terrifying gray area between fear and love.
Remy and Alicia, a couple of insecure service workers, are not particularly happy together–but they are bound by a shared obsession with Jen, a beautiful former co-worker of Remy’s who now seems to be following her bliss as a globe-trotting jewelry designer. In and outside the bedroom, Remy and Alicia’s entire relationship revolves around fantasies of Jen, whose every Instagram caption, outfit, and New Age mantra they know by heart.
Imagine their confused excitement when they run into Jen, in the flesh, and she invites them on a surfing trip to the Hamptons with her wealthy boyfriend and their group. Once there, Remy and Alicia try (a little too hard) to fit into Jen’s exalted social circle, but violent desire and class resentment bubble beneath the surface of this beach-side paradise, threatening to erupt. As small disturbances escalate into outright horror, Remy and Alicia tumble into an uncanny alternate reality, one shaped by their most unspeakable, deviant, and intoxicating fantasies. Is this what “self-actualization” looks like?
Part millennial social comedy, part psychedelic horror, and all wildly entertaining, A Touch of Jen is a sly, unflinching examination of the hidden drives that lurk just outside the frame of our carefully curated selves.
You think you know where this book is taking you. But the train you’re on is about to emerge from the tunnel and it’s going to be some Hieronymus Bosch nightmare that you can’t wake up from. OMG I’m really excited for you!
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.
Many of us horror fans have something in common when it comes to our starts in the genre: we were little horror lovers first, our fear of the dark juxtaposed with both our love and curiosity of it as small children hiding under the covers, flipping through our pages.
In honor of the current generation of young readers interested in creepy things, we’ve rounded up a few team favorites in YA and middle grade horror written by Black women. Honestly, these aren’t only great reads if you’re young—our team is full of grown-ups, and we couldn’t get enough!
Share this list with a young reader in your life today, and let’s help keep the love of the genre alive for its smallest fans!
MIDDLE GRADE
Photos by Emily
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
A spine-tingling tale rooted in Caribbean folklore that will have readers holding their breath as they fly through its pages.
Corinne La Mer isn’t afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They’re just tricksters parents make up to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest. Those shining yellow eyes that followed her to the edge of the trees, they couldn’t belong to a jumbie. Or could they?
When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger speaking to the town witch at the market the next day, she knows something unexpected is about to happen. And when this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne’s house, cooking dinner for Corinne’s father, Corinne is sure that danger is in the air. She soon finds out that bewitching her father, Pierre, is only the first step in Severine’s plan to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn’t know she possessed to stop Severine and save her island home.
Alex says: “It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of MG horror—and this is exceptionally different as it is telling a story that is so new to me and so fascinating! I was pulled into the forest and could smell and see all the oranges in this story. I felt the claustrophobia of the jumbie weeds taking over. And I could sense the presence of the yellow glowing eyes watching me from afar.”
Emily says: “I think The Jumbies is pretty spooky for a middle-grade book. It’s not too spooky, but I think it’s a great selection for a kid who likes stuff on the darker side. There are great creatures, magic, bravery, and more. It’s a lot of fun.”
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.
Alex says: “I knew when I saw this cover and read the synopsis that I had to read this book! And I am pleased to say that this book does not disappoint in the slightest! It’s full of coming-of-age, friendships, mystery/suspense, nightmares, and more. This book is a cautionary tale for abiding by the rules of any game played. Breaking the rules can have serious consequences. And in this case, the game they are playing is Hide and Seek. I can’t even count how many hours and hours I spent playing this game with my friends and family as a child. . . . But now I will never look at it the same again!”
Jen says: “Books like Hide and Seeker are exactly why I read—and will continue to read—middle grade. I haven’t found an adult book with this kind of heart in a long time.”
Tracy says: “Older readers should not sleep on middle grade horror. Horror marketed for younger audiences can still be scary, still provide entertainment, and the very best ones hit close to the heart. Daka Hermon’s novel, Hide and Seeker, is one book that does all three. Mysterious, heart-wrenching, and yeah, scary; this novel is sure to appeal to a wide range of readers.”
A historical ghost story set in South Carolina in the 1960s—a tale of courage, friendship, and Black Girl Magic.
It’s 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won’t stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn eleven—and their uncle, Doc, tells them he’s going train them in rootwork.
Jez and Jay have always been fascinated by the African American folk magic that has been the legacy of her family for generations—especially the curious potions and powders Doc and Gran would make for the people on their island. But Jez soon finds out that her family’s true power goes far beyond small charms and elixirs…and not a moment too soon. Because when evil both natural and supernatural comes to show itself in town, it’s going to take every bit of the magic she has inside her to see her through.
Jen says: “My ultimate hope for this book is that teachers and librarians who are looking for books for their spooky-loving readers will add this book to their shelves.”
Alex says: “What a wonderful book! I loved it. LOVED IT!!”
Dread Nation and Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
(Only including the synopsis for Dread Nation because the second might be spoiler-y!)
Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.
But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.
Jen says: “Dread Nation was very successful at building the story over the course of the entire novel. I love when a book gets better and better and then thoroughly hooks me by the end.”
Emily says: “The story and characters are memorable, and it was amusing and heartbreaking at the same time. I bought the second book last week, and I’m looking forward to reading it!”
Audra says: “The main character Jane is everything you’d want in a great heroine and more. There are excellent scenes of zombie action, plenty of mysteries afoot, and budding romances to delight in.”
Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.
The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.
But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right?
As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.
Alex says: “The way Jackson made ALL of this work together so effortlessly is such a feat! I was scared and I was on the edge of my seat at times. I felt for our MC and her phobia and anxiety while being judged and shunned by everyone around her. I cannot wait to read more from Jackson as this is my first—I am running to add more of her books to my TBR.”
Cassie says: “There’s a lot of talk about mental health and anxiety specifically that’s important for people to read – a line between main character Mari and her love interest about anxiety not needing a reason to exist was a big highlight in my copy of the book, and I love the author’s approach to a lot of these real-life topics.”
Heather says: “I really enjoyed this one! It has so many different topics grief, addiction, blended families, a spooky house. The characters are so well written you want to root for them and maybe put one in time out.”
Cassie is one of our core team members, and maintains our site interviews with authors and creating monthly themed content.
Find her online at her blog www.letsgetgalactic.com, Twitter as @ctrlaltcassie, or over at her Etsy store, where she sells clothing, coloring & activity books, bookmarks, art prints, DIY craft kits, & more!
Titanic meets The Shining in S.A. Barnes’ Dead Silence, a SF horror novel in which a woman and her crew board a decades-lost luxury cruiser and find the wreckage of a nightmare that hasn’t yet ended.
A GHOST SHIP. A SALVAGE CREW. UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS.
Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.
What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn’t right.
Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.
The readalong begins March 1, and discussions will take place throughout the month of March. You must be a member of the Ladies of Horror Fiction discord group to participate. Everyone is welcome to join!
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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.
Continuing our celebration of Black History Month, today we’ve put together a handful of our favorite novels & novellas by Black women writing in the horror genre. See what the team has to say about these fantastic reads below, and then add them to your TBR lists if you haven’t already gotten to ’em!
photos by: Laurie, Cassie, Emily, Alex
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 it out alive, or will the carnival’s past demons extinguish their futures?
Laurie says: “Cirque Berserk starts right off with murderous mayhem and doesn’t come up for breath until the story ends. If you want a fun slasher set to an 80s soundtrack, you need this book in your life.”
Emily says: “Cirque Berserk is a very fun slasher, and it’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
Alex says: “I had a great time from the first page through the end… and I still want more! Cirque Berserk is just my kind of book: slasher horror! I will always love the slasher sub-genre. But this is not your average or cookie-cutter slasher. Guess creates her own new formula and she executes it perfectly.”
Cassie says: “THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN! I love classic horror slasher films, and this book had such similar vibes that it’s a near crime for it to not have already been adapted to the screen.”
Flowers for the Sea is a dark, dazzling debut novella that reads like Rosemary’s Baby by way of Octavia E. Butler.
We are a people who do not forget.
Survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle. Their fangs are sharp.
Among the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she’s pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine. Zin E. Rocklyn’s extraordinary debut is a lush, gothic fantasy about the prices we pay and the vengeance we seek.
Tracy says: “Flowers for the Sea showcases the skillset and magic that Zin E. Rocklyn is capable of bringing to the written word. It is not just another book to read, but an experience that must not be missed.”
Laurie says: “Flowers for the Sea is a gorgeously told tale of rage, isolation, and all the unearthly hells that the sea and sky have up for offer in this bleak universe created by author Zin E. Rocklyn. The sea is angry, the sky is angry but most of all the heroine of this tale is angry. And justifiably so.”
Heather says: “The story is fast paced and it ends on such a high note and you are going to feel deeply.”
Jacqueline is a young Creole slave in antebellum New Orleans. An unusual stranger who has haunted her dreams since childhood comes to stay as a guest in her master’s house. Soon after his arrival, members of the household die mysteriously, and Jacqueline is suspected of murder. Despite her fear of the stranger, Jacqueline befriends him and he helps her escape. While running from the slave catchers, they meet conjurers, a loup-garou, and a traveling circus of supernatural freaks. She relies on ancestral magic to guide her and finds strength to conquer her fears on her journey.
Tracy says: “If historical, southern, horror-ish fiction is your jam, you’ll love this.”
Cassie says: “Invisible Chains is, at times, both brutal and beautiful–I loved the writing, but I will warn that you should check some content warnings beforehand because it gets intense.”
Get Outmeets The Stepford Wivesin this electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing.
Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust.
Then the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW.
It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career.
A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.
Janelle says: “Obsessed with this book!”
Audra says: “This is an incisive and insightful socially aware horror story. Harris offers a chilling and realistic tale of prejudice and anti-Blackness in the modern workplace. I can see Jordan Peele adapting this one for the big screen!”
The Good House is the critically acclaimed story of supernatural suspense, as a woman searches for the inherited power that can save her hometown from evil forces.
The home that belonged to Angela Toussaint’s late grandmother is so beloved that the townspeople in Sacajawea, Washington call it the Good House. But that all changes one summer when an unexpected tragedy takes place behind its closed doors, and the Toussaint’s family history–and future–is dramatically transformed.
Angela has not returned to the Good House since her son, Corey, died there two years ago. But now, Angela is finally ready to return to her hometown and go beyond the grave to unearth the truth about Corey’s death. Could it be related to a terrifying entity Angela’s grandmother battled seven decades ago? And what about the other senseless calamities that Sacajawea has seen in recent years? Has Angela’s grandmother, an African American woman reputed to have powers, put a curse on the entire community?
A thrilling exploration of secrets, lies, and divine inspiration, The Good House will haunt readers long after its chilling conclusion.
Emily says: “The Good House is my second read by Tananarive Due, and I absolutely love her books. This is a solid haunted house book, and I highly recommend it if you need a good creepy summer read.”
Tracy says: “As far as craft goes, Due is a masterful storyteller. She blends atmosphere, dialogue, and pace in such a way that a 400+ page paperback feels too short. Not because it didn’t end well, but because as a reader I just wanted to keep living in this world.”
An alien artifact turns a young girl into Death’s adopted daughter in Remote Control, a thrilling sci-fi tale of community and female empowerment from Nebula and Hugo Award-winner Nnedi Okorafor
“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”
The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa–a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.
Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks–alone, except for her fox companion–searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?
Audra says: “Though this is more of a sci-fi read, I would definitely put it in the horror-adjacent category. It also has elements of folklore and is set in the not-too-distant future.”
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
When Korede’s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This’ll be the third boyfriend Ayoola’s dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede’s long been in love with him, and isn’t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other…
My Sister, the Serial Killer is a blackly comic novel about how blood is thicker – and more difficult to get out of the carpet – than water…
Heather says: “This book was beautiful and well written. I spent a lot of my time yelling out loud about the injustice against the main character and how I wanted everyone to be rightfully punished.”
Alex says: “MSTSK has comedic horror elements along with those of dark fiction and thriller books. Satire and social commentary are definitely planted throughout the book – they are not always in your face, but I bet that most readers will see some of these subtle bombs that Braithwaite drops.”
Emily says: “I would label this one a horror comedy. Oyinkan Braithwaite is one to watch! This story is amusing, but still with a lot of depth, and I highly recommend picking it up.”
Laurie says: “{This book is] mainly a story about familial bonds and the lasting effects of childhood trauma with a bit of sociopathy thrown in there. I enjoyed every fascinating word of this complicated relationship and highly recommend it to every weirdo like me who enjoys similar things.”
Cassie is one of our core team members, and maintains our site interviews with authors and creating monthly themed content.
Find her online at her blog www.letsgetgalactic.com, Twitter as @ctrlaltcassie, or over at her Etsy store, where she sells clothing, coloring & activity books, bookmarks, art prints, DIY craft kits, & more!
