Today we are celebrating some of the horror books that released in May!
How Lovely To Be a Woman by Tiffany Michelle Brown
A woman desperate to achieve the life she’s always dreamed of orders an AI baby online. Mounting workplace misogyny helps an introvert unlock her innate power. A woman obsessed with skincare goes to great lengths to rid her face of imperfections. A frat boy looking to score gets much more than he bargained for when a sexy coed turns the tables on him. Seeking relief from the pressures of everyday life, a woman checks into a hotel that caters to her dark predilections.
Equal parts heartbreaking and grotesque, How Lovely To Be a Woman: Stories and Poems explores the everyday horrors of womanhood and delights in the monstrous ways women adapt, evolve, fight back, and survive.
Published May 1, 2023 | Goodreads | Amazon
Conjuring the Witch by Jessica Leonard
There are witches in the woods.
These are the words the reverend of the Lilin Assembly of Our Lord repeats to his parishioners each week. Steve and Nicole Warby think it’s just a metaphor, until Nicole takes a walk in those woods and comes back changed. Something came out of them with her, and the simple small-town life they’ve always known is forever altered when they discover the dark secrets buried deep and those intent on keeping them there. Fearing for his wife’s sanity, and his own comfortable status in the church, Steve is unsure if he wants to help or ignore the problems. The reverend believes there are witches in the woods, and he thinks Nicole is only the most recent.
Conjuring the Witch is a dark, haunted story about what those in power are willing to do to stay in power, and the sins we convince ourselves are forgivable.
Published May 2, 2023 by Ghoulish Books | Goodreads | Amazon
Menacing Manor by Kiersten White
Book four in the tragic series about the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who must solve one wretched mystery after the next, brought to you by #1 N ew York Times bestselling author KIERSTEN WHITE. The electrifying penultimate adventure finds the Sinister-Winterbottoms at the manor of Mr. Frank and Dr. Stein!
After escaping from Edgaren’t and Dr. Jay, the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their friends arrive at Stein Manor Science Camp. They all work together to distract the friendly teenage camp director so they can explore and look for clues about where their parents might be.
Meanwhile, Theo and Alexander settle on a daring plan. They know exactly where Edgaren’t is going to coming for them, and the books. This time, they’ll be ready. This time, they’ll get answers. And this time, they won’t trust the adult in charge, which is easy enough when it’s enormous, lurking, unfriendly Mr. Frank. But as they get closer to opening the books and their parents’ histories, an unexpected foe is watching everything they do. . . .
Fake volcanoes! Real sea caves! Strangely modified frogs! Startling betrayal! And a lightning-struck manor! all combine for the electrifying penultimate Sinister Summer adventure.
Published May 2, 2023 by Delacorte Press | Goodreads | Amazon
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
From USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairytale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.
You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.
On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three 'saints' who control them.
The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruellest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.
Published May 2, 2023 by Tor Nightfire | Goodreads | Amazon
The Briars by Stephanie Parent
Former ballerina Claire and dominatrix Ruby work at the Briars, a commercial dungeon in Los Angeles, which has been haunted by the benevolent spirit of its founder since her death in the 1990s. Yet with the arrival of a mysterious new submissive, the ghost’s behavior turns dangerous. As employees are injured, clients scared off, and the women’s livelihoods threatened, Ruby and Claire must work together to uncover the ghost’s sinister secrets.
Ruby and Claire enlist the help of their fellow sex workers to stop the increasingly violent ghost, and the women draw on their sisterhood as they take the offensive against their supernatural adversary. Meanwhile, the explosive chemistry between Ruby and Claire disrupts the identities both women have carefully constructed for themselves, and leads to a deep connection they will fight to preserve.
As the ghost’s identity and its darkest intentions come to light, Claire, Ruby, and the other women at the Briars must access an inner strength they never imagined they possessed in order to save their dungeon, the women they love, and themselves.
Published May 9, 2023 by Cemetery Gates Media | Goodreads | Amazon
The Stradivarius by Rae Knowles
When a surprise inheritance and whirlwind romance offer Mae a chance to escape her repressive aunt, she’s all too eager to elope and start life anew in her childhood home. But when she and her new husband arrive, the towering Victorian sits in disrepair, and Mae learns that her father’s decade-old, unsolved murder is still a source of rumor and speculation in town.
Leading the charge to unravel the mystery surrounding her father’s death is Ollie, a vibrant genderqueer and an outsider in their hometown. Sure that solving the cold case will land them a coveted job in the police department, Ollie gains access to the Victorian by agreeing to do maintenance work on the property.
Inside, Mae is taunted by a feminine specter, soft voices from empty rooms, and distinct melodies of Lady Paola: the priceless, Stradivarius violin stolen the night of her father’s murder.
Forte, mezzo-forte, the measured, andante cadence.
Her hiss, her pull, her scream.
Mae fears the house is haunted by her father’s spirit, her husband believes she’s going the way of her mother–slipping into madness, but Ollie suspects something more sinister is at play. If Ollie and Mae can’t work together to uncover the Victorian’s secrets, Mae will join her mother in an institution or her father in the grave.
Published May 9, 2023 | Goodreads | Amazon
Graveyard of Lost Children by Katrina Monroe
Once she has her grip on you, she'll never let you go.
At four months old, Olivia Dahl was almost murdered. Driven by haunting visions, her mother became obsessed with the idea that Olivia was a changeling, and that the only way to get her real baby back was to make a trade with the "dead women" living at the bottom of the well. Now Olivia is ready to give birth to a daughter of her own...and for the first time, she hears the women whispering.
Everyone tells Olivia she should be happy. She should be glowing, but the birth of her daughter only fills Olivia with dread. As Olivia's body starts giving out, slowly deteriorating as the baby eats and eats and eats, she begins to fear that the baby isn't her daughter at all and, despite her best efforts, history is repeating itself.
Soon images of a black-haired woman plague Olivia's nightmares, drawing her back to the well that almost claimed her life―tying mother and daughter together in a desperate cycle of fear and violence that must be broken if Olivia has any hope of saving her child...or herself.
Baby Teeth meets The Invited in a haunting story of the sometimes-fragile connection between a woman's sense of self and what it means to be a "good" mother.
Published May 9, 2023 by Poisoned Pen Press | Goodreads | Amazon
Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
It's 1853 London. Ex-medical student Victor Frankenstein has been missing for years now. Frankenstein's great niece Mary Saville and her husband, Henry, are trying to follow in his scientific footsteps and become renowned paleontologists. They have the brains and the ambition; the only thing they lack is the reputation. Mary is a woman with a sharp mind but a fierce tongue and Henry is an unemployed gambling addict: none of this earning appeal with their peers.
But after finding clues to her great uncle's disappearance, Mary's luck may just change. She constructs a plan that will force the scientific community to take her and her husband seriously; no one will be able to ignore them after they learn to create life. Once they have successfully constructed their Creature, Henry's ambition soars, but Mary finds herself asking deeper, more important questions than she's ever confronted before. As Henry's desire for fame grows, Mary must decide how far she is willing to go to protect the Creature she has grown to love.
Published May 4, 2023 by Doubleday | Goodreads | Amazon
Vial Thoughts by Van Essler
Balanced on a thin wire between horror and steampunk, Van Essler’s debut novel is an acrobatic performance at the darkest of circuses. Lenora Leahill has recently inherited her father’s estate and is ready to take her place in the enlightened Age of Awareness where books can be instantly consumed as injections using an Aqua Peritia cuff. She has grand plans for securing her legacy, but navigating these new responsibilities alone is not easy, especially when it’s impossible to see clearly under the city’s ashfall.
When an old colleague of her father’s demands fulfillment of a promise Lenora knows nothing about, she discovers this new Age of Awareness is haunted by a dark history. Lenora must wade through the shadows of the past and gain her footing in the present if she has any hope of a future—unless death or madness finds her first.
Published May 11, 2023 by Raw Dog Screaming Press | Goodreads | Amazon
What Happened Was Impossible by E.F. Schraeder
Everyone knows the woman who escapes a massacre is a final girl, but who is the final boy? What Happened Was Impossible follows the life of Ida Wright, a man who knows how to capitalize on his childhood tragedies...even when he caused them.
Published May 16, 2023 by Ghoulish Books | Goodreads | Amazon
All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley
The Haunting of Bly Manor meets House of Salt and Sorrows in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s contemporary YA gothic romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we’ll cross for love.
The Sleeping House was very much awake . . .
Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace—an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate.
Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice’s peculiar girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice’s eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is quickly drawn in by Evie’s compelling behavior and ethereal grace.
But as Marin settles in, she can’t escape the anxiety that follows her like a shadow. Dead birds appear in Marin’s room. The children’s pranks escalate. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, leaving mutilated animals in its wake. All is not well at Lovelace House, and Marin must unravel its secrets before they consume her.
Published May 16, 2023 by Katherine Tegen Books | Goodreads | Amazon
Attack of the Killer Tumbleweeds by Antonia Rachel Ward
They came!
They rolled!
They shredded!
Nothing can stop the killer tumbleweeds when they descend on Las Vegas!
Starring Dean Valentine, and introducing Glitter, the most stunning showgirl on the strip. You won't want to miss ATTACK OF THE KILLER TUMBLEWEEDS!
Showing in all good movie theaters now.
It’s 1958, and for jaded showgirl Glitter and washed-up Hollywood star Dean Valentine, teaming up to seduce a pair of newly-wed tourists is just another day in Vegas. But when the strip is overrun by razor-sharp tumbleweeds intent on destroying everything in their path, Glitter and Dean are forced into an unlikely alliance with a preacher’s daughter and her scientist husband as they try to solve the mystery of the tumbleweeds’ origin and escape the city—all while evading a psychopathic mobster with an axe to grind.
Published May 23, 2023 by Ghost Orchid Press | Goodreads | Amazon
Jen is one of our Horror Spotlight admins. Jen manages the technical side of the Horror Spotlight website and keeps a spotlight on new horror releases each month.
You can also find Jen on her blog Book Den, Twitter as @bookden, Instagram as @bookdenjen, on Goodreads, and Letterboxd.
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