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Review: Unsettled Score by Rebecca Rowland

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 9, 2026ReviewsDave Simms, Rebecca Rowland, ReviewsLeave a comment

Unsettled Score: A Mix Tape of Arthouse Horror by Rebecca Rowland
Lethe Press (June 2026)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Unsettled Score by Rebecca Rowland

Anyone who’s been paying attention to short horror fiction in the past decade is familiar with Rebecca Rowland. Yes, her novel, Eminence Front, was awesome, and it signals a productive path for the author, but it’s her shorter work that hits the deepest, darkest parts of the heart. Her collections rival the best in the genre, but her connection to the themes makes her something special, from editing Generation X and American Cannibal to the stellar White Trash and Other Recycled Nightmares. A Shirley Jackson Award finalist and Bram Stoker Award nominee, she knows how to bring the darkness, both in atmosphere and characters who color outside the lines and bathe in the gray.

Review: Doe by Rebecca Barrow

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 6, 2026ReviewsChandra Claypool, Rebecca Barrow, ReviewsLeave a comment

Doe by Rebecca Barrow
Minotaur Books (June 2026)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool

Doe by Rebecca Yarrow

Meet Maris. She is the captain of the West Eaton High cheer team, who has an unstable home life. As such, she loves the power that she wields over her team…until Genevieve shows up. Genevieve is a force to be reckoned with and, as an elite gymnast, threatens the very life Maris holds dear. This rivalry quickly ramps up as Maris begins dreaming of a supernatural beast, Doe, who promises her a way to defeat her nemesis. But at what cost?

Interview: David Simmons on Fetty on the Switches

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 4, 2026June 4, 2026InterviewsAdam Allen, David Simmons, InterviewsLeave a comment

David Simmons is a horror writer based in Baltimore, Maryland. Simmons’ work blends graphic, surreal horror with real-life social issues and laugh-out-loud humor.

He is the author of the novel Eradicator, about a woman who works in the maternity ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital but moonlights as a serial killer, and his first short story collection, Fetty on the Switches.

David Simmons author of Fetty on the Switches — David Simmons

Review: Fetty on the Switches by David Simmons

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 2, 2026June 2, 2026ReviewsAdam Allen, David Simmons, ReviewsLeave a comment

Fetty on the Switches by David Simmons
Clash Books (June 30, 2026) Fetty on the Switches by David Simmons
Reviewed by Adam Allen

David Simmons is a rising star in horror fiction, and in Fetty on the Switches, Simmons shows readers the wide range of emotions, fears, and humanity he is capable of conjuring in his stories. This is an incendiary, disturbing, funny, and raw collection that you will not leave unscathed. And if you’re like me, you will put this book down as a newly minted David Simmons fan. This is not easy to digest; it will gross you out, make you think, and make you laugh, sometimes all on the same page.Continue Reading

Review: Muñeca by Cynthia Gomez

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 29, 2026June 2, 2026ReviewsAdam Allen, Cynthia Gomez, ReviewsLeave a comment

Muñeca by Cynthia Gomez
G.P. Putnam’s Sons (June 2, 2026)

Reviewed by Adam Allen

Muñeca, the new novel by Cynthia Gomez is a masterclass in socially conscious gothic horror. Weaving in the historical injustices committed both by Spanish and American colonizers, Gomez creates a story that is frightening, shocking, and even romantic.

Interview: Johanna Van Veen on Bone of My Bone and the Convergence of Religious, Historical, and Folk Horror

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 27, 2026InterviewsHaley Newlin, Interviews, Johanna Van VeenLeave a comment

Johanna Van Veen’s debut Gothic horror novel, My Darling Dreadful Thing, was a Bram Stoker Award nominee, and her sophomore novel, Blood on Her Tongue, became an instant USA Today Bestseller. Both journey into historical settings, as does her latest release, Bone of My Bone, set in Germany during the ruthless Thirty Years’ War. It explores the convergence of three horror subgenres: folk, historical, and religious. As well as the effects of war on everyday people.

Author Johanna Van Veen — Johanna Van Veen

Johanna Van Veen sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss her new release, Bone of My Bone.

Review: Bone of My Bone by Johanna Van Veen

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 26, 2026May 26, 2026ReviewsHaley Newlin, Johanna Van Veen, ReviewsLeave a comment

Bone of My Bone by Johanna Van Veen
Poisoned Pen Press (May 26, 2026)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin Bone of My Bone by Johanna Van Veen

One saint. One sinner. One skull.

Horror readers, rejoice. Bram Stoker Award-nominee and USA Today bestseller Johanna Van Veen is back with another haunting, sapphic, and terrifically terrifying tale of wickedry in Bone of My Bone. For fans of Robert Eggers’ The Witch and Cassandra Khaw’s The Salt Grows Heavy, Bone of My Bone unveils the brutality of the Thirty Years’ War and the demented depravity of man. Sister Ursula, a young nun fleeing the ruins of her convent, and Elsebeth, a headstrong and scrappy farmhand, form an alliance and move through the Bavarian forest in hopes of appeasing the spirit of a saint contained within a fragile holy relic they carry—a skull. A dying man tells the women of its secret: reunite the skull with the saint’s body, and a wish will be granted.

Review: Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 22, 2026May 22, 2026ReviewsBriana Morgan, Reviews, Saratoga SchaeferLeave a comment

Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
Crooked Lane (February 2026)
Reviewed by Briana Morgan

There is no shortage of trad wife books in the world now. It’s no surprise that Yesteryear, a more literary-leaning title, has made such a splash in publishing—but some veritable trad wife treasures can also be found in the horror genre. Take Saratoga Schaefer’s Trad Wife for instance. Like its colleagues, this novel delves into the day-to-day life of a trad wife influencer… but with some Rosemary’s Baby thrown in.

Review: Witch’s Inheritance by Paige Hender

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 21, 2026May 21, 2026Reviews, The Comic VaultJoshua Gage, Paige Hender, Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

Witch’s Inheritance by Paige Hender
Henry Holt and Co. – BYR Paperbacks (July 2026)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Home is where the monsters are…

Paige Hender is a Canadian-born, Louisiana-raised cartoonist with a degree in comic art from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She currently lives in Shreveport, Louisiana, with her cat, Chaplin. Witch’s Inheritance is her debut young adult graphic novel.

Review: It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 18, 2026ReviewsCynthia Pelayo, Dave Simms, It Came From Neverland, ReviewsLeave a comment

It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo
Crooked Lane (June 9, 2026)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

There’s one thing that Cynthia Pelayo does extremely well: twist fairytales into something unique and lovely. Her stories are horrific, too, but her writing is so well executed that the reader just strolls along for the ride.

Review: Dopefoot by Joshua Millican

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 15, 2026ReviewsAbby Wolf, Dopefoot, Joshua Millican, ReviewsLeave a comment

Dopefoot by Joshua Millican
Mad Axe Media (June 2026)
Reviewed by Abby Wolf

Dopefoot by Joshua Millican (Teleportasm, Deeper Than Hell) is a novel that felt feral in my hands, in the best ways. It resists polish and easy categorization. Instead, it burrows into something raw and deeply human. What initially reads as pure chaos, in characters, in language, and in structure, reveals itself to be deliberate. I might go as far as saying it is precise in how it disorients the reader. Dopefoot wants you off-balance.

Review: Marion by Leah Rowan

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 13, 2026May 11, 2026ReviewsDave Simms, Leah Rowan, Marion, ReviewsLeave a comment

Marion by Leah Rowan
St. Martin’s Press (June 2026)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Norman was her first…

The “what if” premise is such a cool idea for modern takes on classic tales – if done well. Marion is a great example of how this can be done, with fun storytelling and wickedly sharp, witty writing. Leah Rowan tackles the idea of Robert Bloch’s Psycho, but from Marion’s viewpoint, the victim of the infamous and bloody shower scene. But what would happen if she fought back and killed Norman?

Review: Molka by Monika Kim

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 11, 2026May 11, 2026ReviewsBriana Morgan, Molka, Monika Kim, ReviewsLeave a comment

Molka by Monika Kim
Erewhon Books (February 2026)
Reviewed by Briana Morgan

Book cover, Molka by Monika Kim

Molka by Monika Kim is a visceral, slow-burn feminist horror novel about the dangers of molka (“secret cameras”) in South Korea. The book follows two characters, Dahye and Junyoung, and their vastly different experiences with secret camera footage. Dahye is a troubled young woman who works in an office during the day and goes out with her wealthy boyfriend at night. Junyoung works in the same office but enjoys darker extracurricular fare—like hiding cameras in the women’s bathroom.

Review: Killer Summer by Wendy Dalrymple

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 8, 2026May 21, 2026ReviewsAdam Allen, Killer Summer, Reviews, Wendy DalrympleLeave a comment

Killer Summer by Wendy Dalrymple Killer Summer by Wendy Dalrymple. Slasher book
Mad Axe Media (May 12, 2026)
Reviewed by Adam Allen

2026 is the year of slashers written by women, and pink horror pioneer Wendy Dalrymple is here to get the party started right with Killer Summer. In this fast-paced and gloriously gruesome novel, we follow Dani as she survives attack after attack from a stalking killer. In Dani, Dalrymple delivers a final girl worthy of the title and then some, and there are multiple moments that will have you cheering as she refuses to play the role of victim to the circumstances around her.

Review: Neon Moon by Grace R. Reynolds

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 6, 2026May 11, 2026ReviewsElizabeth Broadbent, Grace R. Reynolds, Neon Moon, ReviewsLeave a comment

Neon Moon by Grace R. Reynolds
Dark Matter Ink (May 4, 2026)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

A feminist Texas Chainsaw Massacre in a country music bar—that’s a heck of a pitch, and Grace R. Reynolds delivers with her novella Neon Moon. Everyone loves a bloody horror show of a slasher, amiright? But this one’s more than that. Reynolds’ novella might share its DNA with slasher and survivalist books, but Neon Moon is a true-blue Southern Gothic.

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