As this is Women in Horror month (March) I wanted to offer up a list of my WiH book recommendations! No particular order, no rating specifics, just going off what I considered enjoyable.
As always, each of these are things I think deserves to be read, and I will highlight both trad and indie releases. I love horror, and these voices are ones that make the genre even better.
I will share the book’s cover, the synopsis, and maybe include a link to FanFiFam reviews if there are any!
Women in Horror
In this queer retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne classic gothic story, Rappaccini’s Daughter, a young woman is lured to a lush estate owned by a botanist who might be hiding dark secrets.
Cordelia Beecher is on the run. In search of her missing brother Edward, she has fled the oppressive charity school she was raised in, desperate to find the only family she knows. Using clues from his past letters, she sets off for the sleepy town of Farrow but everyone there claims to have never heard of Edward—not even the man he was supposedly working for as an apprentice.
With nowhere to go, Cordi turns to Lady Evangeline, a local botanist who owns the magnificent Edenfield estate. The benevolent lady of the manor has made it her mission to take young, often traumatized, women into her employ and protect them from man’s world of wicked desires and deceits. Hired as a maid and companion to her enigmatic daughters, Prim and Briar, Cordi quickly settles into Edenfield. Even as her relationship with Briar blossoms, Cordi can’t help but suspect that there are secrets in the estate…and when she stumbles across evidence that Edward was once there, she’s determined to find answers.
Atmospheric, eerie, and thoroughly original, Her Wicked Roots will establish Tanya Pell as a “wickedly creepy” (Josh Winning, author of Heads Will Roll) and vital voice in horror.
When a disease runs rampant, turning people into cannibalistic horrors, society comes to a halt. Kate manages to escape the sadistic captivity she has endured and collides with Nick, a Marine haunted by the scars of war.
They join forces to navigate a treacherous landscape, battling the undead and hostile survivors. But what happens when the monsters outside are the least of their worries?
Nick’s shame is crushing, and Kate’s distrust is swallowing her whole. Will they overcome the darkness that threatens to consume them from within? And what will become of a world overrun with creatures that cannot seem to stop…laughing?
My Review, Bill’s Review, Ed’s Review, Nick’s Review, Adam’s Review, DB’s Review
Midwestern Mayhem! Remember the ’90s? Well…the town of Demise, North Dakota doesn’t, and they’re living in the year 1997. That’s because an alien worm hitched a ride on a comet, crash-landed in the town’s trailer park, and is now infecting animals with a memory-loss-inducing bite-and right before Christmas! Now it’s up to nineteen-year-old Realene and her best friend Nate to stop the spread and defeat the worms before the entire town loses its mind. The only things standing in the way are their troubled pasts, a doomsday cult, and an army of infected prairie dogs.
A gothic feminist body horror in two timelines revolving around three Anatomical Venuses—ultrarealistic wax figures of women—that come to life at night to murder men who have wronged them.
Seoul, present day. Antiques dealer Alys’s task is nearly complete. She has at last secured Elizabeth, the final anatomical Venus in a dangerously intertwined trio. Crafted in eighteenth-century London and modeled after real-life sex workers to entice male medical students to study female anatomy, these eerie wax figures, known as slashed beauties, carry unsavory lore. Legend has it that the figures are bewitched, and come to life at night to murder men who have wronged them. Now Alys embarks for England, where she knows what she must do: sever her cursed connection to the Venuses once and for all.
London, 1763. Abandoned and penniless in Covent Garden, wide-eyed Eleanor and another young woman, Emily, are taken under the wing of beautiful and beguiling Elizabeth, one of the city’s most highly desired courtesans. But as Eleanor is seduced deeper into a web of money, materialism, and men, it seems that Elizabeth may not be the savior she appears to be.
As past and present begin to intersect, it becomes clear that the women’s stories are linked in deeper, darker ways than it initially seems. And that the only method for Alys to end the witchcraft that binds her legacy is to gather all three models in one place and destroy them.
The problem is, Elizabeth is not ready to burn. Far from it. Centuries on, she is determined to rise again, and she will obliterate anything standing in her path. Including Alys herself.
The year is 2009, and Chrissy Rodriguez is determined to make her ghost hunting vlog an internet success. She’s only one more failed investigation away from financial ruin and having to move back home. When she receives an email asking her to investigate Merlin High, a school that burned down in the 80s, she is presented with a unique opportunity that could make or break her.
As they explore the decaying halls searching for evidence of the paranormal, Chrissy notices that her team is acting a little…off. Everything begins to unravel, blurring the lines between past and present. With her team stretched to its limits, Chrissy realizes that some secrets want to be found. And some of them have even been waiting.
First Landing State Park. Antarctica. Mongolia. France. Norway. Ireland. Somerset. Egypt. A giant glacier in an unnamed land.
What do all these places have in common?They’re the perfect place to set a horror story, is what. In this brand new collection of destination based tales of terror, Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award nominated author Gemma Amor (The Folly, Full Immersion, Six Rooms, Dear Laura) takes us on a series of adventures through the weird and the wonderful, the strange and the unexplainable, across the remotest, wildest parts of this world, and through lands yet to be discovered. Expect dark and deranged encounters, beautiful vistas, old gods, ghosts, peculiar creatures, vampires, and that most terrifying of all monsters: mankind.
For fans of Jordan Peele’s films, Stranger Things, and The Other Black Girl, Listen To Your Sister is a laugh-out-loud, deeply terrifying, and big-hearted speculative horror novel from electrifying debut talent Neena Viel.
Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good-natured sixteen-year-old recklessness, is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie–but now the ink is dry on the paperwork and in classic middle-child fashion, he’s off doing his own thing. And through it all, The Nightmare never stops haunting Calla: recurring images of her brothers dying that she is powerless to stop.
When Jamie’s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives–and reality–hang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened.
A young woman in need of a transformation finds herself in touch with the animal inside in this gripping, incisive USA Today bestselling novel from the author of Cackle and The Return.
Rory Morris isn’t thrilled to be moving back to her hometown, even if it is temporary. There are bad memories there. But her twin sister, Scarlett, is pregnant, estranged from the baby’s father, and needs support, so Rory returns to the place she thought she’d put in her rearview. After a night out at a bar where she runs into Ian, an old almost-flame, she hits a large animal with her car. And when she gets out to investigate, she’s attacked.
Rory survives, miraculously, but life begins to look and feel different. She’s unnaturally strong, with an aversion to silver—and suddenly the moon has her in its thrall. She’s changing into someone else—something else, maybe even a monster. But does that mean she’s putting those close to her in danger? Or is embracing the wildness inside of her the key to acceptance?
This darkly comedic love story is a brilliantly layered portrait of trauma, rage, and vulnerability.
My Review, George’s Review, Charlie’s Review
Amateur cinematographer Cleo Moss hasn’t tried to make a film since her father’s death three years ago. Her cousin Noah, a director, is convinced that her latest script is the perfect opportunity to try again, but Cleo is less sure. Those reservations grow when a blizzard nearly runs them off the road on their way to the shoot, and again when they discover that the house they’re filming in has a tragic past to rival Cleo’s own horror-filled writing. By the time she starts seeing ghostly shadows out of the corner of her eye, she’s convinced that the production is doomed.
At first, filming moves forward in spite of an unreliable camera battery and Noah’s surprise casting of Isobel, Cleo’s not-so-former crush. But as the worsening snow traps cast and crew in the house overnight, the strange shadows escalate into horrifying, dangerous specters. While the rest of her friends fight to find a way out of this nightmare, Cleo can’t help but be drawn to the ghosts she captures in her viewfinder—just as she can’t help noticing how similar their story is to her own past…
My Review, Ed’s Review, Bill’s Review
In When the Devil, Libby finds salvation in a new sapphic partner, homebrewed poison, and facing a God she no longer believes in.
“Raw, compelling, and painfully honest, When the Devil hits like a punch to the gut. Between the gorgeous prose, vivid setting, and characters that jump off the page, I found this novelette impossible to put down.”
—Kelsea Yu, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of Bound Feet
My Review, Josh’s Review, George’s Review
Beyond the smoke-choked skies of an apocalyptic United States, a woman travels the desolate railroad tracks of a small town in search of revenge and a quiet place to settle. Her only companion is an undead fox: animated with backwoods herbal magic and the soul of a middle-aged father who died before the world fell into darkness.
Undead Folk is a short, harrowing tale of sacrifice, loss, and damnation.
The Last of Us meets Bird Box in Sunny Moraine’s Your Shadow Half Remains, a post-apocalyptic tale where eye contact causes people to spiral into a deadly, violent rage.
ONE LOOK CAN KILL.
Riley has not seen a single human face in longer than she can reckon. No faces, no eyes. Not if you want to survive.
But when a new neighbor moves in down the road, Riley’s overwhelming need for human contact makes her throw caution to the wind. Somehow, in this world where other people can mean a gruesome, bloody death, Ellis makes her feel safe. As they grow closer, Riley’s grip on reality begins to slip and she can no longer fight her deepest desires.
All Riley wants to do is look.
Having just graduated from college, Jason and Eddie are ready to let loose and embark on a cross-country road trip. After some killer partying at a rock music festival in Nevada, they head out into the desert with girls and adventure on their minds. Their situation takes a dark turn, however, when they lose direction and find themselves at the entrance of a ghost town in the bowels of the sprawling desert. The residents turn out to be . . . a little off.
Meanwhile, Carrie has just found herself in the depths of a murky lair. Quick reflexes aid in her concealment, but she soon discovers the utter horrors that lurk within the dark recesses. Survival ultimately depends on her strength and cunning.
Tensions escalate as Jason, Eddie, and Carrie come to grips with their new chilling realities. All the while, a dark evil begins to reveal itself. For within this stretch of desolate landscape exists a cannibal death cult, and they have an insatiable lust for blood.
It’s kill or be killed—and as the bloodshed intensifies, so does the fierce will to live.
Death Cult has graphic scenes of gore and violence.
The instant USA Today bestseller from CJ Leede, author of Maeve Fly—a scorching and sweeping new novel about the end of the world as we know it.
“A blistering, feverish ride through a uniquely American apocalypse.”—Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author
Named one of the Best Horror Books of 2024 (Esquire, Vulture, Paste, ScreenRant, and Literary Hub) • A GoodReads and Publishers Weekly Editors’ Pick • An Indie Next Pick • A Splatterpunk Award Finalist!
A virus is spreading across America, transforming the infected and making them feral with lust.
Sophie, a good Catholic girl, must traverse the hellscape of the midwest to try to find her family while the world around her burns. Along the way she discovers there are far worse fates than dying a virgin…
The end times are coming.
My Review, George’s Review, Josh’s Review
Trust No One. Especially Your Neighbors.
Rachel Drake is on the run from the man who killed her husband. She never leaves her safe haven in an anonymous doorman building, until one night a phone call sends her running. On her way to the garage, she is murdered in the elevator. But her story doesn’t end there.
She finds herself in the afterlife, tethered to her death spot, her reach tied to the adjacent apartments. As she rides the elevator up and down, the lives of the residents intertwine. Every one of them has a dark secret. An aging trophy wife whose husband strays. A surgeon guarding a locked room. A TV medium who may be a fraud. An ordinary man with a mysterious hobby.
Compelled to spend eternity observing her neighbors, she realizes that any one of them could be her killer.
My Review (Includes a review of her other novel, Phantom, too!)
All of these were novels that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you’ll check some of them out, and happy Women in Horror month!
*It is in no way my intention to mislabel or misrepresent anyone with this post. If you are not comfortable being labeled here, reach out, and I will remove you with no fanfare.*
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