Horror Spotlight’s Readalong July 2023

Horror Spotlight’s Readalong July 2023

In July we will be reading Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield for the readalong in the Horror Spotlight discord. You can join the discord with this link.

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah is not the same. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has brought part of it back with her, onto dry land and into their home.

Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp.

Goodreads | Bookshop 

The readalong begins July 1, and discussions will take place throughout the month of June on the Horror Spotlight discord server. Everyone is welcome to join. See you there!

 

Bonus Buddy Read

We are also doing a Buddy Read of The Merry Dredgers by Jeremy C. Shipp.  It is currently ongoing. 

Seraphina Ramon will stop at nothing to find out the truth about why her sister Eff is in a coma after a very suspicious "accident." Even if it means infiltrating the last place Seraphina knows Eff was alive: a once-abandoned amusement park now populated by a community of cultists.

Follow Seraphina through the mouth of the Goblin: To the left, a wolf-themed roller coaster rests on the blackened earth, curled up like a dead snake. To the right, an animatronic Humpty Dumpty falls off a concrete castle and shatters on the ground, only to reform itself moments later. Up ahead, cultists giggle as they meditate in a hall of mirrors. This is the last place in the world Seraphina

Goodreads | Bookshop

June 2023 New Horror Book Releases

Today we are celebrating some of the horror books that released in June!

Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede

By day, Maeve Fly works at the happiest place in the world as every child’s favorite ice princess.

By the neon night glow of the Sunset Strip, Maeve haunts the dive bars with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, imitating her misanthropic literary heroes.

But when Gideon Green - her best friend’s brother - moves to town, he awakens something dangerous within her, and the world she knows suddenly shifts beneath her feet.

Untethered, Maeve ditches her discontented act and tries on a new persona. A bolder, bloodier one, inspired by the pages of American Psycho. Step aside Patrick Bateman, it’s Maeve’s turn with the knife.

Published June 6, 2023 by Tor Nightfire | Goodreads | Amazon

---

Some Shall Break by Ellie Marney

This sequel to the New York Times bestselling None Shall Sleep is an equally electrifying, chilling thriller that brings us back into the lives of junior FBI consultants Travis Bell and Emma Lewis with a new case that may unravel everything they’ve been working for.

After a harrowingly close contact with juvenile sociopath Simon Gutmunsson, junior FBI consultants Emma Lewis and Travis Bell went their separate ways: Emma rejected her Quantico offer and Travis stayed to train within a new unit of the FBI Behavioral Science division. But the unit’s latest case is feeling eerily familiar and Kristin Gutmunsson—Simon Gutmunsson’s eccentric twin—reaches out to Travis to send a warning: Emma is in peril.
 
When Travis and Kristin turn up evidence that points back to Daniel Huxton, the serial killer that Emma had escaped, things become more complicated. With a copycat on the loose, Emma returns to Quantico and is thrown back into her past traumas. Compelled to prevent more tragedy—even if it means putting herself in danger—Emma turns to Simon for help once again. But Simon is keeping secrets that could impact their entire investigation. Will the team be able to stop the Huxton copycat before time runs out for his next victims?

Published June 6, 2023 by Little, Brown | Goodreads | Amazon

---

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

An insidious darkness threatens to devastate a rural New England village when occult forces are conjured and when bigotry is left unrestrained.

After a recent string of disappearances in a small Connecticut town, a grieving widower with a grim secret is drawn into a dangerous ritual of dark magic by a powerful and mysterious older gentleman named Heart Crowley. Meanwhile, a member of local law enforcement tasked with uncovering the culprit responsible for the bizarre disappearances soon begins to learn of a current of unbridled hatred simmering beneath the guise of the town’s idyllic community—a hatred that will eventually burst and forever change the lives of those who once found peace in the quiet town of Henley’s Edge.

From the Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author of the viral sensation, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Everything the Darkness Eats is a haunting supernatural thriller from a new and exciting voice in genre fiction.

Published June 6, 2023 by CLASH Books | Goodreads | Amazon

---

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

Reality and imagination collide when an expert puzzle-maker is thrust into an ancient mystery—one with explosive consequences for the fate of humanity—in this fantastical thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Angelology

All the world is a puzzle, and Mike Brink—a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor—understands its patterns like no one else. Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: Acquired Savant Syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower—he can solve puzzles, calculate equations, and see patterns in ways ordinary people can’t. But his condition has also left him deeply isolated, unable to fully connect with other people.

All of this changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder. Traumatized by the crime, Price hasn't spoken a word since her arrest five years before. When she draws a perplexing puzzle, her psychiatrist believes it will explain the crime she committed, and calls Brink to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack a strange and alluring cipher quickly morphs into an obsession with the woman who drew the puzzle. Price soon reveals that there is something more urgent, and more dangerous, behind her silence, thrusting Brink into a hunt for the truth.

The quest takes Brink through a series of interlocking enigmas, but the heart of the mystery is The God Puzzle, a mysterious prayer circle created by the thirteenth-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia, one of the most controversial men in the history of Kabbalah. As Brink navigates a maze of clues, and his emotional entanglement with Price becomes more intense, he realizes that there are dark forces at work that he cannot escape.

Ranging from an upstate New York women's prison to nineteenth-century Prague to the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library​, The Puzzle Master is a tantalizing, addictive thriller in which humankind, technology, and the future of the universe itself are at stake.

Published June 13, 2023 by Random House | Goodreads | Amazon

---

Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine

A novel set in 18th-century Venice at a prestigious music school, about two girls drawn together by a dangerous wager

Venice, 1717. Fifteen-year-old Luisa has only wanted one thing: to be the best at violin. As a student at the Ospedale della Pietà, she hopes to join the highest ranks of its illustrious girls’ orchestra and become a protégé of the great Antonio Vivaldi. Luisa is good at violin, but she is not the best. She has peers, but she does not have friends. Until Maddalena.

After a scandal threatens her noble family’s reputation, Maddalena is sent to the Pietà to preserve her marriage prospects. When she meets Luisa, Maddalena feels the stirrings of a friendship unlike anything she has known. But Maddalena has a secret: she has hatched a dangerous plot to rescue her future her own way. When she invites Luisa into her plans, promising to make her dreams come true, Luisa doesn’t hesitate. But every wager has its price, and as the girls are drawn into the decadent world outside the Pietà’s walls, they must decide what it is they truly want—and what they will do to pay for it.

Lush and heady, swirling with music and magic, Maddalena and the Dark is a Venetian fairytale about the friendship between two girls and the boundless desire that will set them free, if it doesn’t consume them first.

Published June 13, 2023 by Flatiron Books | Goodreads | Amazon

---

The Shadow Dancers of Brixton Hill by Nicole Willson

In 1937, American circuses are trying to recoup the losses they incurred during the Great Depression while competing with newer forms of entertainment like movie theaters. Kate Montgomery travels to the small town of Brixton Hill to scout a new act for her father’s struggling circus. Lewis Oswald, a trainer and friend of Kate’s family, introduces her to the Shadow Dancers, three young girls who can make their shadows dance independently of their bodies. While the act would revive her family’s circus, Kate is horrified by the young women’s dismal training and living conditions. She wants to help them escape their dreadful situation, but when the Shadow Dancers take matters into their own hands, she’ll have to save herself.

Published June 13, 2023 by Cemetery Gates Media | Goodreads | Amazon

---

We're Here: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Horror by various authors

For the marginalized and oppressed, the expression of dread varies greatly. There has been no safer place than art to communicate such powerful thoughts and feelings. And never have these voices been so embraced as in the horror genre. Hence, the existence of this important book— We’re Here: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Horror . Comprised of twelve stories, We’re Here boldly speaks its mind, presents old and new horrors, and celebrates the beautiful spectrum of otherness. Even in fiction, we live our truths.

All proceeds from this title will be donated to The Trevor Project.

With stories by...
Judith Sonnet
Hailey Piper
Angelique Jordonna
Michael R. Collins
Ruth Anna Evans
Evan J. Peterson
Sumiko Saulson
Dan B. Fierce
Jason LaVelle
Pippa Bailey
Anton Cancre
James Lefebure

Published June 16, 2023 by Gloom House Publishing | Goodreads | Amazon

---

Suffer the Darkness by Yolanda Sfetsos

Kae Roscoe's daughter went missing in the woods sixteen months ago but when she returns, she's not the same person. She hardly speaks, doesn't eat, responds with extreme violence, and things get worse when she's released from the hospital. There's definitely something very different about Molly, and her reappearance is making strange things happen to everyone around her.

Published June 18, 2023 by DarkLit Press | Goodreads | Amazon

---

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories by Agustina Bazterrica

A collection of nineteen dark, wildly imaginative short stories from the author of the award-winning TikTok sensation Tender Is the Flesh.

From celebrated author Agustina Bazterrica, this collection of nineteen brutal, darkly funny short stories takes into our deepest fears and through our most disturbing fantasies. Through stories about violence, alienation, and dystopia, Bazterrica’s vision of the human experience emerges in complex, unexpected ways—often unsettling, sometimes thrilling, and always profound. In “Roberto,” a girl claims to have a rabbit between her legs. A woman’s neighbor jumps to his death in “A Light, Swift, and Monstrous Sound,” and in “Candy Pink,” a woman fails to contend with a difficult breakup in five easy steps.

Written in Bazterrica’s signature clever, vivid style, these stories question love, friendship, family relationships, and unspeakable desires.

Published June 20, 2023 by Scribner | Goodreads | Amazon

---

Night's Edge by Liz Kerin

Liz Kerin’s Night’s Edge is a sun-drenched novel about the darkest secrets we hide and how monstrous we can be to the ones we love most.

Having a mom like Izzy meant Mia had to grow up fast. No extracurriculars, no inviting friends over, and definitely no dating. The most important Tell no one of Izzy’s hunger – the kind only blood can satisfy.

But Mia is in her twenties now and longs for a life of her own. One where she doesn’t have to worry about anyone discovering their terrible secret, or breathing down her neck. When Mia meets rebellious musician Jade she dares to hope she’s found a way to leave her home – and her mom – behind.

It just might be Mia’s only chance of getting out alive.

Published June 20, 2023 by Tor Nightfire | Goodreads | Amazon

---

Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould

Beck Birsching has been adrift since the death of her mother, a brilliant but troubled investigative reporter. She finds herself unable to stop herself from slipping into memories of happier days, clamoring for a time when things were normal. So when a mysterious letter in her mother’s handwriting arrives in the mail with the words Come and find me, pointing to a town called Backravel, Beck hopes that it may hold the answers.

But when Beck and her sister Riley arrive in Backravel, Arizona it’s clear that there’s something off about the town. There are no cars, no cemeteries, no churches. The town is a mix of dilapidated military structures and new, shiny buildings, all overseen by the town’s gleaming treatment center high on a plateau. No one seems to remember when they got there, and the only people who seem to know more than they’re letting on is the town’s enigmatic leader and his daughter, Avery.

As the sisters search for answers about their mother, Beck and Avery become more drawn together, and their unexpected connection brings up emotions Beck has buried since her mother’s death. Beck is desperate to hold onto the way things used to be, and when she starts losing herself in Backravel and its connection to her mother, will there be a way for Beck to pull herself out?

In her sophomore novel Courtney Gould draws readers into the haunting town of Backravel and explores grief, the weight of not letting go of the past, first love, and the bonds between sisters, mothers and daughters.

Published June 20, 2023 by Wednesday Books | Goodreads | Amazon

---

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?

This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street.

Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?

Published June 20, 2023 by Bloomsbury YA | Goodreads | Amazon

---

Jen is one of our Horror Spotlight admins. Jen manages the technical side of the Horror Spotlight website. She also 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.

What We've Been Reading | June 21, 2023

Below are a few horror reads we recommend. We hope you find something to add to your reading list!

---

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.

Amazon | Goodreads

Heather's Teaser Review

"If you like killer tomatoes, clowns, donuts, or anything in that category, you will get a kick out of this book."

Read Heather's entire review at Goodreads.

---

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.

Goodreads | Amazon

Laurie's Teaser Review

"I recommend The Stradivarius if you’re into gothic stories - and why wouldn’t you be? It has lovely prose, perfectly described creepy settings and interesting secondary characters."

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

---

Agony's Lodestone by Laura Keating

A grave could be visited. Ashes could be scattered.

But simply vanishing?

That ripped a hole in the world the size of a life, and through that hole sighed a terrible wind repeating a single note:

Gone.

For years, Aggie had forgotten the real Joanne, the way her sister had laughed, fought, been.

But now that the videotape made her real again—no matter how many times the recording changed, no matter how terrifying the flickering images—it was all Aggie wanted. To trade the Gone for the One. She owed Joanne that much. To say she was sorry. That it had been her fault.

It had been all their faults.

Goodreads | Amazon

Teresa's Review

"I really don't know what to write besides I loved this novella, because as per usual, I am worried about giving anything away. It is not what I expected, but it was what I wanted. And I just really dig this new trend of interior illustrations in adult books. Trevor Henderson's illustrations pair so beautifully with Laura's words."

Read Teresa's 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.

---

Our Reviewers

Heather is a contributing reviewer and helps out with the Horror Spotlight Instagram account. Find her online at Goodreads, Twitter as @HSquared_13, and on Instagram as @h.hellion.

Laurie is one of our Horror Spotlight Admins. Laurie creates our review posts, coordinates review requests, helps out with our Instagram/Twitter accounts, and is a contributing reviewer. You can find Laurie on her blog Bark’s Book Nonsense, on Twitter as @barksbooks, on Instagram as @barksbooks, and on Goodreads where she never shuts up about the things she's reading.

Teresa creates the Shelf Edition posts, creates bookish lists and is a contributing reviewer at Horror Spotlight. You can find Teresa on Goodreads, and on Twitter.

Shelf Edition: Rae Knowles

Today Horror Spotlight welcomes author Rae Knowles to share her shelves! 

---

Welcome to Horror Spotlight's Shelf Edition. Do you have any recent favorite Horror Spotlight books?

Just this week I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of In The Roses of Pieria by Anna Burke and can’t get it out of my mind. It’s somewhere between dark fantasy and horror, and I’m always on a quest to find dark sapphic books that have heat, beautiful prose, and well drawn characters. This book hit the mark for me. I can’t sing its praises high enough, definitely add it to your TBR ahead of its August release and check out other books by Anna Burke!

Another recent read was Sleep Alone by J.A.W. McCarthy. This book was non-stop sex, gore, and rock-n-roll, a triumph! I appreciated the seamless integration of queer characters morally grey leads.

Which Horror Spotlight books do you currently have on your TBR?

My current TBR is unmanageable (*laughs nervously*). I ordered The Briars by Stephanie Parent yesterday and am seriously looking forward to diving into her depiction of sex work, specifically in the context of a BDSM dungeon. I think sex workers deserve a lot more fleshed out, positive, representation in media, and I’m confident Stephanie will knock it out of the park. I included Marionette in my pictured books because I feel it does a great job exposing some problematic ways men can view women as it relates to sex work and evocative performances. I won’t reveal any spoilers, but if you’re unfamiliar with Antonia Rachel Ward’s novella, you should add it to your TBR, just mind the content warnings.

 

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

I get almost all of my book recommendations from social media. I’m a sucker for beautiful marketing pictures and almost anything with sapphic characters and dark elements is getting added to my cart. The She Wore Black podcast by Agatha Andrews is another place I love to discover new-to-me authors. I picked up House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson after listening to the episode about it and devoured (*smirk*) the book in a sitting or two. 

Are there any upcoming Horror Spotlight releases you're excited about?

So many! I’ve mentioned a few already, but additionally, Zachary Rosenberg has multiple works forthcoming which center Jewish and queer protagonists. He’s an extremely talented writer and someone who’s been incredibly supportive of me personally and professionally. All in all a stellar human and a stand out talent. I’m so thrilled to see his rise in indie horror and looking forward to the releases of Hungers as Old as This Land and The Long Shalom.

Let’s get a little adventurous. Answer one or both: What Horror Spotlight book (or story, or movie, etc) would you like to see turned into a Muppet Movie? And/Or Who would play you in a horror movie based on your life?

The sickest part of me would like to see We Are Here to Hurt Each Other by Paula Ashe adapted into a Muppet series. It’s a stunner of a collection, one of the few reads that I actually had to put down and step away from for the intensity of the darkness within its pages (complimentary). Paula’s prose is masterful, her themes are hauntingly human, and the stories explore the depraved corners of our secret minds. I think having Muppets depict the characters would either balance out the heaviness, or highlight it. Either way, I’d tune in.

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

My debut novel The Stradivarius releases May 3rd from Brigids Gate Press and will be followed by my novella, Merciless Waters in November. The Stradivarius is a queer retelling of Gaslight from Patrick Hamilton set in modern day South Carolina and is a psychological thriller. Merciless Waters is a sapphic, folk horror set on a pirate ship with erotic elements. I’m extremely excited to release this one into the world as it’s jam packed with one of my favorite themes–feminine rage.
Merciless Waters will be part of the Sapphic Horror Series from Brigids Gate Press which will also include April Yates’s City of Snares and our co authored novel, Lies That Bind, which will release early 2024. April’s Ashthorne is pictured above and I highly recommend her work for fellow sapphic horror lovers. The last piece of the Sapphic Horror Series is an anthology co-edited by April and I called Scissor Sisters. We’re looking for stories of sapphic villains to reclaim the predatory lesbian trope. Submissions run May 1-May 30 and I cannot wait to start reading!

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

You can find me on TikTok and Twitter @_Rae_Knowles or on my website at RaeKnowles.com. A full list of my books is on Goodreads and you can order them from Amazon or through your local indie bookshop.

Author Bio:

Rae Knowles (she/her) is a queer woman with multiple works forthcoming from Brigids Gate Press. Her debut novel, The Stradivarius is available now, her sapphic horror novella, Merciless Waters, is due out winter ’23, and her collaboration with April Yates, Lies That Bind, in early ’24. A number of her short stories have been published or are forthcoming from publications like Dark Matter Ink, Nightmare, Seize the Press, Taco Bell Quarterly, and Nosetouch Press. Recent updates on her work can be found at RaeKnowles.com and you can follow her on twitter @_Rae_Knowles

---

Teresa creates the Shelf Edition posts, creates bookish lists and is a contributing reviewer at Horror Spotlight. You can find Teresa on Goodreads, and on Twitter.

Horror Spotlight’s Readalong July 2023

In July we will be reading Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield for the readalong in the Horror Spotlight discord. You can join the discord with this link.
 

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah is not the same. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has brought part of it back with her, onto dry land and into their home.

Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp.

Goodreads | Bookshop 

The readalong begins July 1, and discussions will take place throughout the month of June on the Horror Spotlight discord server. Everyone is welcome to join. See you there!

Horror Spotlight Pride 2023

 PRIDE 2023

Happy Pride to all who celebrate, no matter how you celebrate! 

This list has a couple extra caveats besides the normal "this is not a definitive list." The list is based on a theme, to recreate the pride flag with covers of horror books by marginalized authors.  I do not have the graphics skills required to actually put said covers into the flag, so you get them like this.  Also, not all of the books on this list are LGTBQIA2S+, but the titles in bold have queer representation of some kind, be it author or characters, etc. Any mistakes are unintentional and mine (Teresa) alone. That being said, let's celebrate LGTBQIA2S+ voices year round. 

Let us know in the comments who you're reading to celebrate Pride this year! 

 WHITE

These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall
Awake in the Night by Shauna Mc Eleney
The Devil’s Shallows by Debra Castaneda
Real Bad Things by Kelly J Ford
Priory by Becky Wright
Catmint’s Moth by Laura Jean Mason
The Drift by C.J. Tudor
The Black Guy Dies First by Robin R. Means Coleman and Mark H. Harris
The Insatiable Hunger of Trees by Samantha Eaton

PINK

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
Transmuted by Eve Harms
Heart Haunt Havoc by Freydis Moon (audiobook by Rain Corbyn, AKA Richard Pendragon)
And Then I Woke Up by Malcom Devlin
Stories of the Eye edited by Joe Koch and Sam Richard
The Merry Dredgers by Jeremy C Shipp
Be Very Afraid of Kanako Inuki! By Kanako Inuki
Maeve Fly by CJ Leede
Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper

BABY BLUE

Loudest When Startled by Luna Rey Hall
The Lamb will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy
This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham
The Merry Spinster by Daniel M Lavery
The Last Chance Hotel by Nicki Thornton
The Reyes Incident by Briana Morgan
Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel
Cutting Your Teeth by Caylan Macrae (audiobook by Rain Corbyn, AKA Richard Pendragon)
Cherish Farrah by Bethany C Morrow 

BROWN

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
Piñata by Leopoldo Gout
Black Tide by KC Jones
The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
Shutter by Ramona Emerson
Let’s Play White by Chesya Burke
Beside Myself by Ashley Marie Farmer
We Are Here to Hurt Each Other by Paula D. Ashe
Below by Laurel Hightower

BLACK

All Men Are Trash by Gina Ranalli
A Blackness Absolute by Caitlin Marceau
Inheriting Her Ghosts by S. H. Cooper
Exit Ghost by Jen R Donahue
A Press of Feathers by TC Parker
Spirit Houses by Die Booth
Our Own Unique Affliction by Scott J. Moses
Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo
Stradivarius by Rae Knowles

RED

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
What Happened Was Impossible by E.F. Schraeder
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester
Red X by David Demchuk
Sleep Alone by JAW McCarthy
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

ORANGE

Halloween Fiend by CV Hunt
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter
Shoemaker’s Magician by Cynthia Pelayo
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
On Stolen Land by Stephanie Rabig
Watch the Whole Goddamned Thing Burn by Doungjai Gam
Food Fright by Nico Bell
The Women of Weird Tales 

YELLOW

Hide by Kirsten White
Wingspan of Severed Hands by Joe Koch
Waiting for God by Vi Khi Nao
Split Scream Vol 2 by M. Lopes Da Silva and Cynthia Gómez
Flowers of Mold by Ha Seong-Nan
The Wild Fall by Katherine Silva
Out of Atzlan by V. Castro
How Lovely to be a Woman by Tiffany Michelle Brown
Monstersona by Chloe Spencer

GREEN

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, translated by Jonathan Wright
Graveyard of Lost Children by Katrina Monroe
The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglas
Infested by Angel Luis Colón
A Hawk in the Woods by Carrie Laben
Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, translated by Sarah Booker
Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris
Waif by Samantha Kolesnik
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

BLUE

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
The Girl from Rawblood by Catriona Ward
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
Exquisite Corpse by Billy Martin
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell
Dismal Dreams by Red Lagoe

VIOLET

Lute by Jennifer Marie Thorne
My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson
A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
Queer Little Nightmares edited by David Ly
(UN)Bury Your Gays by Clinton W Waters
Diet Riot edited by Nico Bell and Sonora Taylor
Bound in Flesh edited by Lor Gislason

RAINBOW

Hot Pink Satanism by Damien Casey and Kyra R. Torres
It came from the Closet edited by Joe Vallese
Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology edited by Celine Frohn
Queer Screams by Abigail Waldron
& This is How to Stay Alive by Shingai Njeri Kagunda
The Nuckelavee by Mike McClelland
Hysteria: Lolly & Lady Vanity by Ali Seay
The Horror Collection: LGBTQIA+ Edition edited by Kevin J. Kennedy
Deep by Aquino Loayza (audiobook by Rain Corbyn)

---

Teresa creates the Shelf Edition posts, creates bookish lists and is a contributing reviewer at Horror Spotlight. You can find Teresa on Goodreads, and on Twitter.

What We've Been Reading | June 7, 2023

Below are a few horror and horrorish reads we've been reading lately. We hope you find something to add to your tbr pile!

---

We Don't Swim Here by Vincent Tirado

She is the reason no one goes in the water. And she will make them pay. A chilling new novel for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson, Lamar Giles, and Ryan Douglass

From the author of BURN DOWN, RISE UP comes a chilling novel told through alternating voices that follows two cousins as they unravel their town’s sinister past, their family’s complicated history, and the terrifying spirit that holds their future captive.

Bronwyn is only supposed to be in rural Hillwoods for a year. Her grandmother is in hospice, and her father needs to get her affairs in order. And they're all meant to make some final memories together.

Except Bronwyn is miserable. Her grandmother is dying, everyone is standoffish, and she can't even go swimming. All she hears are warnings about going in the water, despite a gorgeous lake. And a pool at the abandoned rec center. And another in the high school basement.

Anais tries her hardest to protect Bronwyn from the shadows of Hillwoods. She follows her own rituals to avoid any unnecessary attention—and if she can just get Bronwyn to stop asking questions, she can protect her too. The less Bronwyn pays attention to Hillwoods, the less Hillwoods will pay attention to Bronwyn. She doesn't get that the lore is, well, truth. History. Pain. The living aren't the only ones who seek retribution when they're wronged. But when Bronwyn does more exploring than she should, they are both in for danger they couldn't expect.

Amazon | Goodreads

Heather's Teaser Review

"If you love a good mysterious town, ghost, murder, and secrets. Pick this up! Vincent is really out here knocking it out of the park with these books!"

Read Heather's entire review at Goodreads.

---

Moon Child by Gaby Triana

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

“Terrifying.”

“Beautiful.”

“First-rate Southern Gothic horror.”

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

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

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

Goodreads | Amazon

Teresa's Teaser Review

"Valentina and the other clairs are written so well that you feel like you are there with them, and once the atmosphere of the Resort starts to seep in to your bones, you are trapped there, just like the spirits seem to be. Moon Child is haunted in the very best way."

Read Teresa's entire review at Goodreads.

---

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Cassidy Blake's parents are The Inspecters, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspecters head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn't sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn't belong in her world. Cassidy's powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

Goodreads | Amazon

Jen's Teaser Review

"City of Ghosts is a middle grade horror novel, but it definitely has wide appeal. It has my favorite MG elements: ghosts and friendships."

Read Jen's entire review at her blog Book Den.

---

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.

---

Our Reviewers

Heather is a contributing reviewer and helps out with the Horror Spotlight Instagram account. Find her online at Goodreads, Twitter as @HSquared_13, and on Instagram as @h.hellion.

Teresa creates the Shelf Edition posts, creates bookish lists and is a contributing reviewer at Horror Spotlight. You can find Teresa on Goodreads, and on Twitter.

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.