10 Horror Books We’re Excited to Read This Year

Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released from prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted Serial Killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho.
Dark Mill South’s Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019, a Thursday. Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over.

Related: Real Life Horror Stories: When Crime Comes Alive

During the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father was 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 that 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 the 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 save 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.

Alma Katsu’s latest novel is set in an American Japanese internment camp during World War II. It promises thrills as the protagonist and her daughter investigate a mysterious illness affecting the camp and predations from a yokai once thought relegated to childrens’ stories.

Sometimes friendships can turn into nightmares. Paul Tremblay spins the tale of seventeen-year-old Art and his cool new friend who loves attending funerals, digging up the dead, and other terrifying, otherworldly things.

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The latest from award-winning author T. Kingfisher is a modern retelling of Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” casting Alex Easton, a retired soldier, as the formerly unnamed protagonist and setting the action in the remote countryside of Ruritania.

Dead Water is a gripping suspense set on a remote Scottish island descending into madness as a waterborne plague coincides with the sudden cutoff of phone service and access to the mainland. Expect dark secrets, a community ripped apart from the inside, a ticking survival clock, and shades of Midnight Mass in this novel.

Old Country follows former Marine Harry and his wife Sasha as they settle down off the grid in a picturesque Idaho valley. But their neighbors warn them about the malevolent spirit that haunts the land and visits changing, seasonal horrors on its inhabitants. I loved the Reddit thread and can’t wait to read the full novel.

Related: On Horror and the Creations That Shape Us

Looking for queer horror reminiscent of Silvia Moreno-Garcia? Meredith Strand returns home to Cape Disappointment with her young daughter in the wake of her divorce. Her mother is convinced that the local legends about the sea claiming the daughters of their family are true, and that the sea waits for the latest in their line to return.

From a rising star in the horror world comes a tale of a small town filled with secrets, a demonic book with a mad author (shades of Necronomicon!), and features eccentric, artistic sibling protagonists. Get ready for this tale of obsession, greed, and the shocking actions we’ll take to protect those we love.

If you’ve been waiting since 2017 for the next book in the John Dies at the End series as I have, I’ve got great news for you! The fourth book in the series drops just in time for spooky season, with Dave, John, and Amy taking on demonically possessed.

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