Friday, May 20, 2022

Shelf Edition: K.P. Kulski

Please welcome Women in Horror Author K.P. Kulski to the May 2022 Shelf Edition!

Do you have any recent favorite LOHF books?

I definitely need to talk about J.A.W. McCarthy. Her recent collection Sometimes We’re Cruel, and Other Stories is everything dark and unsettling. I loved every minute of it. The way McCarthy tells a story is like having a foreboding presence in the room with you, watching as you pour over the words, what an experience.

Tortured Willows is a deeply moving work for me. The poetry collection from four fabulous dark poets: Christina Sng, Angela Yuriko Smith, Geneve Flynn, and Lee Murray. A collection steeped in sorrow, fury, and remarkable strength. Achingly beautiful, each poem exposes a truth about the experience of Asian women, including Asian diaspora women. As you can imagine, this spoke to me in a very personal way.

Horror Authors Asian Women

Which LOHF books do you currently have on your TBR?

I’m a chaotic reader, picking up books as they speak to me or when I feel a need for their story. I am also a bit apt to consider certain books horror although in marketing they are seen more as thrillers, but whatever, march on to my own beat and all that. So Catherynne M. Valente’s Deathless has been on my pile for a bit, waiting for the right moment. Horrid by Katrina Leno, I mean how could you not with that cover? I’ve been intrigued by Cynthia Pelayo’s Into the Forest and all the Way Through and am looking forward to experiencing her work. A Collection of Nightmares by Christina Sng, because I’m usually late to the party but I know it will wreck me in all the best ways. Finally, Goddess of Filth by V. Castro and Jessica Guess’s Cirque Berserk, I’ve heard so much about both books that I know I need to get the words of both authors into my eyeballs asap.

TBR Stack

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

It certainly helps to be part of the horror writer community, so I get a lot of recommendations from reviews and fellow writers in the community who are often friends as well. There is so much great work being published right now, it can be quite hard to keep up. What a wonderful thing to have infinite books. I keep singing J.A.W. McCarthy’s praises but as mentioned above, her collection Sometimes We’re Cruel, and Other Stories, was a recommendation I originally saw on Instagram and I absolutely adore the book.

LOHF Favorites Stack

Where do you prefer to shop for books?

I love getting books from the library with my kids. We usually get a pile of ten to fifteen books, hahaha. My local library is particularly amazing and has an order and outside pickup service that’s been great for the pandemic. If I love a book that I borrowed, I almost always have to buy a copy because there’s something sacred about have access to those words at any moment. I prefer to purchase through the publisher if available or Barnes and Noble. I try to limit how much I give Amazon, but it’s not always an option unfortunately. I’m hoping to be able to get back to visiting my local indie bookstores, but of course, the pandemic has changed a lot of things.

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

Alma Katsu’s The Fervor, which I believe releases as I write this… today (ed note: 4/26/2022). The setting of Japanese internment camps is just ripe for horror and I can’t wait to see what Katsu does with it. I just saw an announcement yesterday that Ai Jiang just signed for her debut novel, Linghun to be released with Dark Matter Ink. I’ve enjoyed her short stories so I’m excited to read her longer work. Also, the novella, Consume by the writer and filmmaker Kourtnea Hogan is releasing from Bizarro Pulp Press. She happens to be a friend and I know she’s got one of the best horror brains out there, can’t wait to experience her novella.

In regards to your own work, tell our readers a little bit about what’s new and/or coming up for you.

I have a novella coming out around September from Bizarro Pulp Press called House of Pungsu. Seeing this book out in the world is the culmination of a labor of love, so I’m of course, excited and eager for it to reach readers. But even more, I hope it makes a difference in some readers lives and give them something to think about. The novella is set in a Joseon era palace and is very much about exploring the question of women’s identity. Of course, you also need to figure out why the palace is empty except for the three women who inhabit it. Oh, and they can’t leave and there’s an awful lot of locked doors.

K.P. Kulski’s Workspace

Where can people find you on social media and/or find your work?

I’m on Twitter pretty regularly @garnetonwinter and love to connect with others. You can also find me and my work on my website: garnetonwinter.com.

K.P. Kulski’s Bibliography

Author Bio

K.P. Kulski is the author of Fairest Flesh, from Strangehouse Books and House of Pungsu, from Bizarro Pulp Press. Her short fiction has appeared in various publications including Fantasy Magazine, and anthologies, Not All Monsters, from Strangehouse Books and The Dead Inside, from Dark Dispatch. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Korean mother and American-military father, she spent her youth wandering many places both inside and outside the United States. She’s a veteran of the U.S. Navy and Air Force and as a former history professor, she often draws inspiration from the stories of the past. Find her at garnetonwinter.com and on Twitter @garnetonwinter.

Thank you for joining us, K.P.! Our TBR piles also thank you! 

If you would like to be featured on a future shelf edition please leave a note in the comments. We’d love to see your shelves! 


Teresa creates our Shelf Edition posts and is one of our LOHF Awards readers. You can find Teresa on Goodreads, on Twitter as @teresa_ardrey, and lurking in a corn maze.

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

What We've Been Reading #132

We have three recommended reads for your tbr pile today! Our team members review books by T.C. Parker, Hailey Piper and Sonora Taylor. We’re sure you’ll find something new to love!

Click either tag above to read more team recommendations.


Hummingbird by TC Parker

There’s a storm brewing in Gallow: angry parents, protests at the school, a new priest up at the church with some very clear ideas on sin… and an unfamiliar face in the cottage on the edges of the village, carving sculptures out of skin and bone.

It’s a powder keg. Even before the protestors start disappearing…

Jodie doesn’t want trouble – just to be left alone to raise her son in peace.

Tanya wants more God and less wickedness in her own son’s studies.

Tara wants to leave her complicated past behind her, if only it would let her go.

And all Jonas wants is to get some work done – and if he can make peace with his father while he’s at it, then so much the better.

But the woman in the cottage and the priest up at the church – they have very different goals in mind. And Jodie and Tanya, Tara and Jonas… they’re about to get caught in the crossfire.

With a Foreword by Stephanie Ellis, author of PAUSED and THE FIVE TURNS OF THE WHEEL

“Hummingbird is the kind of novel labyrinth where the unexpected lurks around every corner. Parker’s mosaic holds layer upon layer of gripping characters and supernatural tricks in a Pulp Fiction-esque horror show, where a monster’s only weakness is another kind of monster. Immediately engrossing.” — Hailey Piper, author of THE WORM AND HIS KINGS

Amazon | Goodreads

Teresa’s Teaser Review

This is one of the best books I have read so far this year, and it deserves all of the stars. If you know me, and you probably don’t, I loved Saltblood with the fire of a thousand suns, and I am here to say that Hummingbird is even better. TC Parker is just getting better and better with each book.

Read Teresa’s entire review at Goodreads.


Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper

Within forty-eight hours, Yaya Betancourt will go from discovering teeth between her thighs to being hunted by one of the most powerful corporations in America.

She assumes the vagina dentata is a side effect of a rare genetic condition caused by AlphaBeta Pharmaceutical, decades ago, when she and several thousand others were still in the womb.

But, when ABP corporate goons upend her life, she realizes her secondary teeth might be evidence of a new experiment for which she’s the most advanced test tube… a situation worsened when Yaya’s condition sprouts horns, tentacles, and a mind of its own.

On the run and transforming, Yaya may be either ABP’s greatest success, or the deadliest failure science has ever created.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Tracy’s Teaser Review

Queen of Teeth promises teeth and tentacles, yet delivers so much more. The complexity of the world Piper crafts is believable and expertly done. Fans of Piper will adore this book and new readers will be quick to pick up her previous titles after this delightful initiation.

Read Tracy’s entire review at Goodreads.

Alex’s Teaser Review

YES YES YES! Only Hailey Piper can combine vagina tentacles/dentata and ALL the body horror and still have it feeling a little romantic. There are scenes written to disgust you and elate you. There are scenes to make you really think about things. There’s some sharp wit and humor dabbled in. There’s social commentary, world-building, and an all around incredible pacing that will have you feverishly flipping through all the pages. All of these things are a sure way to make you fall in love with Piper’s debut novel.

Read Alex’s entire review at Goodreads.


Someone to Share My Nightmares by Sonora Taylor

A band of bloodthirsty sea creatures terrorize a scientist and a journalist trapped in a Carolina cove. The seduction of a plumber making a house call becomes a nightmarish haunting for both parties. A woman transformed for her lover has second thoughts about just how good ‘together forever’ can be. And the one man a woman wants for Christmas is the holiday demon sent to punish the wicked.

Someone to Share My Nightmares is a tapestry of horrors interwoven with sensuality. Can our deepest fears be vanquished when they’re shared with someone else? Or is the danger doubled when two people come together?

Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop

Cassie’s Teaser Review

Overall, this is a stunning addition to the “horrormance” genre, and to horror short story collections in general. Super fun, quick to read, and that cover – spicy, whooooo! Love it so much, and will continue reading anything by Sonora Taylor in the future – she’s got so much range, folks!!

Read Cassie’s entire review at Goodreads.


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

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


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

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

Monday, May 16, 2022

June 2022 Readalong Selection

For the June #LOHFReadalong, the members of the Ladies of Horror Fiction discord group selected The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas.

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, a sinister haunting, and the woman pulled into their clutches…

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

The readalong begins June 1, and discussions will take place throughout the month of June. You must be a member of the Ladies of Horror Fiction discord group to participate. Everyone is welcome to join!

Check in and let us know you are joining us.

If you have any questions, please let us know. We look forward to reading with you!


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.

Friday, May 6, 2022

May New Releases

Each month the Ladies of Horror Fiction team posts all the books we are aware of that will be releasing during that month here and on our Bookshop.org page. You can also check out the releases for the whole year here. If you buy books through our Bookshop.org links below or from our page, we get a percentage of the sale, which helps our volunteer team continue our efforts to promote LOHF!

Please let us know if we missed any new releases so we can add them to our lists!


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Your Body Is Not Your Body by various authors

EXTREME CONDITIONS DEMAND EXTREME RESPONSES.
Over thirty creators from the Trans/Gender Nonconforming communities come together to voice their rage, defiance and fearlessness in the New Weird Horror tradition that Tenebrous Press exemplifies.

A centaur seeks illicit surgery in an alien bodily modification club.

Two medieval monks react to their transformation and demonic pregnancy in very different ways.

A resourceful trans teen destroys sports bigots through the power of pluckiness…and gratuitious body horror.

A spacebound cathedral crosses galaxies to dump the corpse of God into a star; hopefully they won’t be distracted from their mission by excessive psychedelic orgies.

A doxxed teen falls victim to violent assault…and dishes out some harrowing retribution of their own.

The rules of conventional Horror go out the f$%&ing window in this collection of stories featuring cosmic malice; technological killing machines; murderous pleasure-bots; acid-filled alien cops; Weird worm implants; witchcraft; mad science; proselytizing zombies; ghouls, sorcerers and cannibals…and that just begins to scratch the grave-dirt.

This anthology began in reaction to the attempted criminalization of trans/GNC youth and their families in the state of Texas. It has evolved into a rallying cry and Horror-drenched celebration of identity of every stripe. A portion of all proceeds go to Equality Texas.

Expected publication: May 1st 2022 by Tenebrous Press Goodreads | Amazon


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Perfect by L.A. Kessler

Perfection.

Juliet Huff’s life depends on it.

She’s never been outside, had friends over, or attended school. She’s also never had a cold, a bruise, or a scrape.  

Her parents are researchers, part of the secretive Genesis Foundation, and they have one goal. Utopia. No one will ever lose another child to disease or birth defects. They’ll achieve their goal through cloning perfect children. In order to attract funding, any imperfect subjects are terminated.

As she nears her eighteenth birthday, she discovers she will become the first Genesis child to reach this milestone and will be “preserved” as a permanent record of their work unless she can break free.

But Juliet has a secret. She met someone from the outside world once, the boy from across the street. Breaking free of her house, she finds help from Bill Manning and his friends, but time is running out and she must expose the Genesis Foundation…

Because she’ll never be perfect again. 

Expected publication: May 2nd 2022 by independently published Goodreads | Amazon


Book of Night by Holly Black

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus

In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

With sharp angles and prose, and a sinister bent, Holly Black is a master of shadow and story stitching. Remember while you read, light isn’t playing tricks in Book of Night, the people are.

Expected publication: May 3rd 2022 by Tor Books Goodreads | Bookshop


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A Bouquet of Viscera by Bridgett Nelson

An overzealous vigilante, who sees her victims’ auras, finds herself in a very uncomfortable situation. A young woman, injected with a microchip in a futuristic America, develops unusual and grisly cravings. Four high school graduates end up on the menu of a giant, mutant sea creature. Diary entries share shocking and disturbing confessions…but who is the author?

Bridgett Nelson, a fresh new talent in the world of horror, makes her debut with this short fiction collection containing these stories and more! These gory tales of revenge and retribution are sure to terrify and delight readers in equal measure.

Before opening the pages of A BOUQUET OF VISCERA, be sure to take a deep, calming breath. Because these nightmare scenarios, and many others, are lurking under the covers and waiting just for you.

Published March 8th 2022 by independently published Goodreads | Amazon


The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, a sinister haunting, and the woman pulled into their clutches…

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to battle the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

Expected publication: May 3rd 2022 by Berkley Goodreads | Bookshop


Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire

Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.

Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.

So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.

But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.

It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all….

One must maintain a little bit of summer even in the middle of winter.” —Thoreau

Expected publication: May 3rd 2022 by Tordotcom Goodreads | Bookshop


Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror edited by Mark Matthews

“My soul’s bliss kills my body, but does not satisfy itself.” ~Emily Bronte

Addiction is the perpetual epidemic, where swarms of human moths flutter to the flames of hell. Because that warm blanket of a heroin high, that joyful intoxication of a pint of vodka, that electric energy from a line of cocaine, over time leaves you with a cold loneliness and a bitter heart. Relationships destroyed, bodies deteriorate, loved ones lost, yet the craving continues for that which is killing us—living, as the title suggests, like an Orphan of Bliss.

Welcome to the third and final fix of addiction horror and the follow up to the Shirley Jackson Award Finalist, Lullabies For Suffering. A diverse table of contents brought together for an explosive grand finale-an unflinching look at the insidious nature of addiction, told with searing honesty but compassion for those who suffer.

Expected publication: May 4th 2022 by Wicked Run Press Goodreads | Bookshop


Mums & Sons by Rebecca McCallum

Mums and Sons: An Exploration of Child/Parent Relationships in The Babadook, Hereditary and Psycho by Rebecca McCallum

Horror is an incredible vehicle for understanding and exploring the complexity of human relationships and the mother child connection is among the most powerful bonds that a person can experience in their life.

Using three definitive horror texts, this exploration will take a close look at how these relationships operate across three major stages in life: boyhood (The Babadook), teenage years (Hereditary) and adulthood (Psycho). Touchstones in this examination will include – the damaging nature of secrets, the importance of setting, notions of doubling and duality, acts of repression, outsider status and one of the greatest taboos of all – the horror of motherhood.

Mums and Sons is the first feature-length publication by Horror Scholar and Film Journalist Rebecca McCallum and offers insights through an in-depth study that will appeal to horror enthusiasts, academics, and anyone with an interest in film analysis.

Expected publication May 6th 2022 by Plastic Brain Press Plastic Brain Press


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Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing by Hailey Piper

Communications specialist Alto’s shift aboard the starship M.G. Yellowjacket turns hellish after waking from a triste to learn every crewmate has vanished. Worse, a sinister presence has crawled aboard the ship. It’s violent, destructive, and it can reach into your thoughts to make you see and feel what it wants.

Anxiety-ridden Alto might be the least-qualified person to face a creature that can hack minds like computers. Only a perilous journey to the ship’s bridge can reunite comms specialist with crew and give them a chance to call for help.

But the intruder only scratches the surface of this crisis, and discovering the truth will bring Alto face to face against a nightmare beyond flesh and thought.

Expected publication: May 7th 2022 by Off Limits Press LLC Goodreads | Bookshop


Dark Factory by Kathe Koja

Dark Factory is a state-of-the-art club where reality is customizable: just scroll down the menu, and change your world. Ari Regon is the club’s floor manager, a wild card who makes things happen, Max Caspar is a stubborn and talented DIY artist. And they’re both chasing the same thing: the ultimate experience, a vision of true reality.

Expected publication May 10th 2022 by Meerkat Press Goodreads | Bookshop


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Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror edited by John F.D. Taff

Dark Stars, edited by John F.D. Taff, is a tribute to horror’s longstanding short fiction legacy, featuring 12 terrifying original stories from today’s most noteworthy authors, with an introduction by bestselling author Josh Malerman and an afterword by Ramsey Campbell.

Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology, Dark Forces, edited by Kirby McCauley, this collection contains 12 original novelettes showcasing today’s top horror talent. Dark Stars features all-new stories from award-winning authors and up-and-coming voices like Stephen Graham Jones, Priya Sharma, Usman T. Malik, Caroline Kepnes, and Alma Katsu, with seasoned author John F.D. Taff at the helm. An afterword from original Dark Forces contributor Ramsey Campbell is a poignant finale to this bone-chilling collection.

Within these pages you’ll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harboring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You’ll encounter terrible monsters—both human and supernatural—and be forever changed. The stories in Dark Stars run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown—possibly unknowable—threats.

It’s all in here because it’s all out there, now, in horror.

Expected publication May 10th 2022 by Nightfire Goodreads | Bookshop


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Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes a dazzling new novel where immortality is just a casting call away.

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic.

“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers.” Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill—but she doesn’t care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.

But in Luli’s world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means becoming the monster herself.

Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page.

Expected publication: May 10th 2022 by Tordotcom Goodreads | Bookshop


Howls from the Dark Ages edited by P.L. McMillan and Solomon Forse

HOWL Society Press presents Howls From the Dark Ages, a horror anthology with 18 thrilling tales of medieval macabre and a foreword by Christopher Buehlman, author of Between Two Fires.

“The Fourth Scene” by Brian Evenson
“In Thrall to This Good Earth” by Hailey Piper
“The Mouth of Hell” by Cody Goodfellow
“A Dowry For Your Hand” by Michelle Tang
“The King of Youth vs. The Knight of Death” by Patrick Barb
“In Every Drop” by Lindsey Ragsdale
“The Final Book of Sainte Foy’s Miracles” by M.E. Bronstein
“Palette” by J.L. Kiefer
“The Lady of Leer Castle” by Christopher O’Halloran
“Angelus” by Philippa Evans
“The Lai of the Danse Macabre” by Jessica Peter
“Schizarre” by Bridget D. Brave
“A Dark Quadrivium” by David Worn
“Brother Cornelius” by Peter Ong Cook
“The Forgotten Valley” by C.B. Jones
“Deus Vult” by Ethan Yoder
“White Owl” by Stevie Edwards
“The Crowing” by Caleb Stephens

Expected publication: May 12th 2022 by HOWL Society Press Goodreads | Bookshop


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I, Dracula by D.S. Crowe

Being alive for eternity without ever being loved is Dracula’s most painful ordeal. Ostracized by his mother, imprisoned by his father, feared by his country and hated by a woman he adores, Dracula’s only hope for love rests with the son he gave away at birth. Is Mihnea still alive? There is only one way to find out and the only way to ask for his forgiveness. Is Dracula’s tragic confession going to endear his son’s compassion? Will compassion earn him much longed for love? But is his story loyal to the truth…

Expected publication May 13th 2022 by independently published Goodreads | Amazon


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The Haunting of Orchard Hill by Sara Crocoll Smith

Tell the bees I’m gone…

In the dead of night, Nina escapes her abusive husband with her baby son. She only gets as far as Orchard Hill when a swarm of bees forces her off the road and totals her car.

A mysterious old woman offers to give them room and board in exchange for help around her farmhouse. But Nina begins to suspect there’s a dark past hidden in the creepy, desolated orchard.

Has Nina traded one nightmare only to enter another?

Ancient apple trees… eerie singing… tainted honey… her baby missing…

Nothing is as it seems at sunny Orchard Hill. As Nina uncovers its terrifying secrets, she’ll be pushed to her limits and come face to face with how far a mother will go to protect her son.

Expected publication: May 13th 2022 by Fun, Fiction, Fandom Goodreads


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The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan

A destitute maidservant must choose whom to love: her vampire mistress or the woman trying to save her life. In the Dream House meets The Ghost Bride in a provocative tale of seduction, violence, and despair from lesbian dark fantasy author Lianyu Tan.

1927, colonial Singapore

Monsters don’t scare Gean Choo. And there are monsters aplenty among the Europeans on sultry Singapore island, all of them running away from something—or someone.

When she starts her new job as a lady’s companion, she can’t imagine falling for the impassioned, demanding mistress of Ambrosia Hall, nor the gruff, brooding woman who serves as her lady’s majordomo.

The latter holds her heart; the former, her body, blood, and loyalty.

Both want her. 

Both need her.

And one of them will die for her. 

Expected publication: May 13th 2022 by Shattered Scepter Press Goodreads | Amazon


The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker

New Mexico, 2017: Sylvia Wren is one of the most important American artists of the past century. Known as a recluse, she avoids all public appearances. There’s a reason: she’s living under an assumed identity, having outrun a tragic past. But when a hungry journalist starts chasing her story, she’s confronted with whom she once was: Iris Chapel.

Connecticut, 1950: Iris Chapel is the second youngest of six sisters, all heiresses to a firearms fortune. They’ve grown up cloistered in a palatial Victorian house, mostly neglected by their distant father and troubled mother, who believes that their house is haunted by the victims of Chapel weapons. The girls long to escape, and for most of them, the only way out is marriage. But not long after the first Chapel sister walks down the aisle, she dies of mysterious causes, a tragedy that repeats with the second, leaving the rest to navigate the wreckage, to heart-wrenching consequences.

Ultimately, Iris flees the devastation of her family, and so begins the story of Sylvia Wren. But can she outrun the family curse forever?

Expected publication: May 17th 2022 by Harper Goodreads | Bookshop


Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel

A girl would be such a blessing…

The last time Maeve saw her cousin was the night she escaped the cult they were raised in. For the past two decades, Maeve has worked hard to build a normal life in New York City, where she keeps everything—and everyone—at a safe distance.

When Andrea suddenly reappears, Maeve regains the only true friend she’s ever had. Soon she’s spending more time at Andrea’s remote Catskills estate than in her own cramped apartment. Maeve doesn’t even mind that her cousin’s wealthy work friends clearly disapprove of her single lifestyle. After all, Andrea has made her fortune in the fertility industry—baby fever comes with the territory.

The more Maeve immerses herself in Andrea’s world, the more disconnected she feels from her life back in the city; and the cousins’ increasing attachment triggers memories Maeve has fought hard to bury. But confronting the terrors of her childhood may be the only way for Maeve to transcend the nightmare still to come…

Expected publication: May 17th 2022 by Nightfire Goodreads | Bookshop


Suburban Death Project by Aimee Parkison

The twelve stories comprising Suburban Death Project sparkle with disturbing brilliance, revealing in full why Aimee Parkison is so widely celebrated for her innovative narratives and experimental fiction. Suburban Death Project breathes life into what is barely surviving: ill-fated families, frightening relationships, and dangerous loves.

With a dark humor serving to make unimaginable traumas both tolerable and knowable, Parkison delves into marriage and mourning, lust and loss, and violence and its aftermath. She exposes the horrors of life in its bodily form and relieves them with a passionate wonder burning so brightly it outshines age, death, and family secrets. In average American households, families haunt each other while still alive as they recompose into dragonflies, peach trees, squirrels, ducks, owls, shadows, tunnels, and zoos of endangered species. Pinned to boards for study, peered at by voyeurs, videoed by neighbors, or vivisected for them greater good, each body in these riveting stories undergoes an unflinching examination.

Expected publication: May 17th 2022 by Unbound Edition Press Goodreads | Bookshop


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Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien and Kat Weaver

In the 1920s gothic comedy Uncommon Charm, bright young socialite Julia and shy Jewish magician Simon decide they aren’t beholden to their families’ unhappy history. Together they confront such horrors as murdered ghosts, alive children, magic philosophy, a milieu that slides far too easily into surrealist metaphor, and, worst of all, serious adult conversation.

Expected publication: May 17th 2022 by Neon Hemlock Press Goodreads | Bookshop


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Parachute by Holly Rae Garcia

Angela Rodriguez and her friends aren’t sure what they want out of life now that they’ve graduated high school, but they think there is plenty of time to figure it all out. When a trip to an abandoned elementary school leads to a break-in, they discover an old gym parachute.

Raising the fabric above their heads, the group expects it to balloon out around them like it did when they were younger. But instead, the parachute reveals alternate universes and terrifying worlds.

There’s only one rule…

DON’T LET GO.

Expected publication: May 20th 2022 by Easton Falls Publishing Goodreads | Amazon


Dance Among the Flames by Tori Eldridge

Passion. Horror. Betrayal.
From the national bestselling author of the Lily Wong thriller series comes a “stunningly original” (F. Paul Wilson) dark journey into Brazilian mysticism about a desperate mother who rises from the slums to embrace Quimbanda magic amid her quest for the ultimate revenge.

Across forty years, three continents, and a past incident in 1560 France, Serafina Olegario tests the boundaries of love, power, and corruption as she fights to escape her life of poverty and abuse. Serafina’s quest begins in Brazil when she’s possessed by the warrior goddess Yansa, who emboldens her to fight yet threatens to consume her spirit. Fueled by power and enticed by Exu, an immortal trickster and intermediary to the gods, Serafina turns to the seductive magic of Quimbanda. It’s dangerous to dance in the fire. But when you come from nothing, you have nothing to lose. 

Expected publication: May 24th 2022 by Running Wild Press Goodreads | Bookshop


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Hide by Kiersten White

A high-stakes hide-and-seek competition turns deadly in this dark thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.

The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don’t get caught.

The prize: enough money to change everything.

Even though everyone is desperate to win—to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts—Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she’s an expert at that.

It’s the reason she’s alive, and her family isn’t.

But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.

Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

Expected publication: May 24th 2022 by Del Rey Goodreads | Amazon


Deep Water by Emma Bamford

The dark side of paradise is exposed when a terrified couple reveals their daunting experience on a remote island to their rescuers—only to realize they’re still in the grips of the island’s secrets—in this intense and startling debut in the tradition of Into the Jungle and The Ruins.

When a Navy vessel comes across a yacht in distress in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. I killed them.”

Trembling with fear, she reveals their shocking story to Danial. Months earlier, the couple had spent all their savings on a yacht, full of excitement for exploring the high seas and exotic lands together. They start at the busy harbors of Malaysia and, through word of mouth, Jake and Virginie learn about a tiny, isolated island full of unspoiled beaches. When they arrive, they discover they are not the only visitors and quickly become entangled with a motley crew of expat sailors. Soon, Jake and Virginie’s adventurous dream turns into a terrifying nightmare.

Now, it’s up to Danial to determine just how much truth there is in Virginie’s alarming tale. But when his crew make a shocking discovery, he realizes that if he doesn’t act soon, they could all fall under the dark spell of the island.

Expected publication: May 31st 2022 by Gallery/Scout Press Goodreads | Bookshop


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How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann

This darkly funny and provocative novel reimagines classic fairy tale characters as modern women in a support group for trauma.

In present-day New York City, five women meet in a basement support group to process their traumas. Bernice grapples with the fallout of dating a psychopathic, blue-bearded billionaire. Ruby, once devoured by a wolf, now wears him as a coat. Gretel questions her memory of being held captive in a house made of candy. Ashlee, the winner of a Bachelor-esque dating show, wonders if she really got her promised fairy tale ending. And Raina’s love story will shock them all.

Though the women start out wary of one another, judging each other’s stories, gradually they begin to realize that they may have more in common than they supposed . . . What really brought them here? What secrets will they reveal? And is it too late for them to rescue each other?

Dark, edgy, and wickedly funny, this debut for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, Kristen Arnett, and Kelly Link takes our coziest, most beloved childhood stories, exposes them as anti-feminist nightmares, and transforms them into a new kind of myth for grown-up women.

Expected publication: May 31st 2022 by Little, Brown and Company Goodreads | Bookshop


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When Other People Saw Us, They Saw the Dead edited by Lauren T. Davila

A faceless man stalks a woman’s nightmares in Hollywood. A Kanontsistóntie is summoned to seek revenge in a monastery. A move from the Projects to Manhattan leads to ominous shadows closing in. Two sisters discover a secret room in their farm, unearthing a sinister power.

When Other People Saw Us, They Saw the Dead is an anthology of dark, unsettling writing from some of the most exciting contemporary BIPOC writers. Blending Gothic, horror, folklore, fantasy and fairy-tale, these eerie short stories will disturb, move and humour you. Death is ever-present in the pages of They Saw the Dead, blending with notions of home, memory, grief and belonging, as well as gentrification, white supremacy and colonisation.

Edited by Lauren T. Davila, They Saw the Dead explores what it is to be truly haunted.

Expected publication May 2022 by Haunt Publishing Goodreads | Haunt Publishing


Audra

Audra and her horror hound, Ouija, help manage the Ladies of Horror Fiction Instagram page. When not ghost hunting or rollerskating, she also contributes articles and helps maintain the website.

You can find Audra on Instagram as @ouija.reads, Twitter as @audraudraudra, and Goodreads.

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

What We've Been Reading #131

We have three recommended reads for your tbr pile today! Our team members review books by Kanae Minato, Sara Tantlinger, and April-Jane Rowan. We hope you find something new to love!

Click either tag above to read more team recommendations.


Penance by Kanae Minato

The tense, chilling story of four women haunted by a childhood trauma.

When they were children, Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko were tricked into separating from their friend Emily by a mysterious stranger. Then the unthinkable occurs: Emily is found murdered hours later.

Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko weren’t able to accurately describe the stranger’s appearance to the police after the Emily’s body was discovered. Asako, Emily’s mother, curses the surviving girls, vowing that they will pay for her daughter’s murder.

Like Confessions, Kanae Minato’s award-winning, internationally bestselling debut, Penance is a dark and voice-driven tale of revenge and psychological trauma that will leave readers breathless.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Cassie’s Teaser Review

Although this is a story about tragedy and revenge, there are also underlying – and maybe even more lasting – themes of forgiveness at the end, not just for other people, but for yourself.

Read Cassie’s entire review at Goodreads.


To Be Devoured by Sara Tantlinger

To Be Devoured by Sara Tantlinger

What does carrion taste like? Andi has to know. The vultures circling outside her home taunt and invite her to come understand the secrets hiding in their banquet of decay. Fascination morphs into an obsessive need to know what the vultures know. Andi turns to Dr. Fawning, but even the therapist cannot help her comprehend the secrets she’s buried beneath anger-induced blackouts.

Her girlfriend, Luna, tries to help Andi battle her inner darkness and infatuation with the vultures. However, the desire to taste dead flesh, to stitch together wings of her own and become one with the flock sends Andi down a twisted, unforgivable path. Once she understands the secrets the vultures conceal, she must decide between abandoning the birds of prey or risk turning her loved ones into nothing more than meals to be devoured.

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Tracy’s Review

I adore Tantlinger’s poetry and I could hear her lyricism in her prose. This book is absolutely disgusting . . . Its beauty parallels the disgust and I LOVE that the author goes there when the story demands it. Nothing is held back and the book is all the better for it.

Read Tracy’s review at Goodreads.


Lovelorn by April-Jane Rowan

In Victorian England, within the sprawling countryside, a small village borders Lovelorn, a crystal kingdom inhabited by the Fair Folk that masquerades as a dense wood. Two unsuspecting mortals stray into the depths of this hidden world.

Harry, a disgraced jockey, stumbles upon a Kelpie and seeks to bind him, intending to use him to regain his former glory at horse racing. He is dancing a dangerous waltz however as Kelpies are a sly and deadly folk, his actions bringing him steadily closer to a grave at the bottom of a lake.

Mabel, a grieving wife abandoned by her husband, searches for her young son, Peter, who was stolen by the Fair Folk, simply wanting to bring her family together again. She makes a bargain with a knight from Lovelorn, entrusting her quest to him, all the while fearful that his word cannot be trusted.

Unbeknownst to them, their paths run parallel. They struggle to navigate the unbalanced and crumbling kingdom, while being opposed by creatures they thought resided only in fables. Can they play by the strange rules of the Fair Folk and win their freedom, or are they fated to lose themselves within the trees?

Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Laurie’s Teaser Review

This book isn’t screwing around and hiding from its horrors both physical and emotional and there are even some moments of humor and that’s what I love the most about Rowan’s writing. It’s filled with pain and beauty and has a darkly romantic thread running through it and I can’t wait to read more. Highly recommended to anyone who finds this type of dark world endlessly fascinating.

Read Laurie’s entire review at Bark’s Book Nonsense.


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

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


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

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

Monday, May 2, 2022

April 2022: Monthly Recap

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team celebrated #NationalPoetryMonth this April with fun features, listicles, interview, guest posts, and more! Check it all out below.


News and Announcements

April New Releases

Each month the Ladies of Horror Fiction team posts all of the books we are aware of that will be releasing during that month.

May 2022 Readalong Selection

For the May #LOHFReadalong, the members of the Ladies of Horror Fiction discord group selected Sundial by Catriona Ward.


Reviews

What We’ve Been Reading #127

What We’ve Been Reading #128

What We’ve Been Reading #129

What We’ve Been Reading #130


Special Topics

#LOHFReadathon Team Favorites from #WomenInHorrorMonth

Our team is sharing their favorite reads from March’s Women In Horror month-long event!

If You Liked That, Try This: Dark Poetry Collections to Match Your Favorite Horror Themes

Whether you prefer true crime, hauntings, or dystopian horror – we have a poetry collection recommendation for you.

Team Favorites: Dark Poetry Collections We’ve Loved

The #LOHF team shares some of their personal favorite dark poetry collections.

Reading Poetry for Beginners: A Guide for People Who “Don’t Read Poetry”

New to reading poetry & looking for tips on how to start? Have you read poetry before, but feel like you might be “doing it wrong”? Let us help you with this month’s handy guide.

National Poetry Month Guest Post from Eva Roslin

Author Eva Roslin took the time to write a guest post for #NationalPoetryMonth!

Writing Poetry in the Dark: A Spotlight Interview with Stephanie M. Wytovich

We got to chat with writer, editor, and all-around awesome human Stephanie M. Wytovich to discuss Raw Dog Scream Press’s upcoming craft book, WRITING POETRY IN THE DARK.

Blackout Poetry Q&A: An Interview with Jessica McHugh

We love learning about different types of poetry, and were so grateful to have a chance to talk about her work in blackout poetry this month with Jessica McHugh.

Shelf Edition with Victoria Moore

We’re so excited to finally bring our Shelf Edition feature back, and couldn’t wait to share this sneak peek at the owner of an indie bookstore’s shelves, in honor of National Independent Bookstore Day.

YA / MG Spotlight – April 2022

Check out the books that were released in March as well as what YA/MG our team read and reviewed.


Cassie

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!

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