Review: Hollow Folk by Andrew K. Clark

Hollow Folk by Andrew K. Clark
Quill & Crow Publishing House (September 29, 2026)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor 

Set in the summer of 1993, Hollow Folk follows Ethan Ray, who books a job as a night auditor at the Holloway Mountain Resort. When Ethan finds himself trapped in the hotel alongside two other staff members, Kal and Teresa, ominous events unfold, including red lights hovering over the Appalachian Mountains, clocks that stop at 3 a.m., and the sinister, violent visions of “the Gray Man.” The hotel isn’t just old; it’s alive and preying on the three of them. As they search for ways to unfreeze time and escape, a romance blossoms between Ethan and Teresa. But soon, the three employees discover that someone in the hotel cannot be trusted. Continue Reading

Review: An Immaculate Deception by Isabela Livino

An Immaculate Deception by Isabela Livino 
Dutton (September 2026) 
Reviewed by Haley Newlin 

I could come up with a dozen comp titles for Isabela Livino’s An Immaculate Deception, including Mexican Gothic, Rebecca, Rosemary’s Baby, The Hacienda, Psycho, Blood on Her Tongue, Carrie, and The Woman in Black. That doesn’t mean this story isn’t original; rather, there’s something here for every gothic fiction and horror fan. There’s black magic, ritualistic practices, the overbearing and controlling mother trope, and a box full of ghastly, bloody secrets. Continue Reading

Review: Anna So Knows Ya by Todd Brown

Anna So Knows ‘Ya by Todd Brown 
Robbins Publishing (October 13, 2026)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

What’s with that title? It throws the reader for a loop as they try to figure out what the heck it means, but Todd Brown knows how to mess with his audience. In his second novel, this quickly rising author knocks it out of the park. The subject of mental illness can be tricky in horror and thrillers, but when done well, as in Shutter Island or A Head Full of Ghosts, the result is a mind-screw that rewards the reader with a story that leaves a scar.Continue Reading

Review: Traps and Specters: Stories by Philip Fracassi

Traps and Specters: Stories by Philip Fracassi
Shortwave Publishing (September 2026)
Reviewed by Abby Wolf

Traps and Specters: Stories is a collection of macabre tales that proves horror can be both vicious and deeply human. Philip Fracassi (USA Today bestselling author of The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre) arrives with fourteen stories that include themes such as haunted objects, the restless dead, body horror, possession, and the ways technology can turn against us. The appeal of Traps and Specters is not only its variety. It is also the confidence with which Fracassi moves between these modes, finding fresh ways to make familiar fears feel all the more dangerous.Continue Reading

Review: The Witching House by John Everson

The Witching House by John Everson
Flame Tree Publishing (October 20, 2026)
Reviewed by W.D. Gagliani

Making a sharp U-turn from his last two giallo-inspired thrillers, veteran author John Everson (Covenant, NightWhere, Voodoo Heart, Siren, The Devil’s Equinox, Five Deaths for Seven Songbirds, The Bloodstained Doll, and numerous others) returns to the supernatural with his new novel, The Witching House. And it’s a quick ride down the slippery slope of grievance and resulting despair, spiced with sweet revenge. As in most tales of vengeance, it’s a case of the joy of serving that “cold dish,” blended seamlessly with a healthy serving of “be careful what you wish for.”Continue Reading

Review: Octobertown by Mia Dalia

Octobertown by Mia Dalia
Earthling Publications (October 31, 2026) 
Reviewed by Dave Simms

The best month of the year is now here. With that turn of the calendar, readers awaiting Earthling Publications’ Halloween Series are in for a treat. 

Octobertown takes place on Halloween, which is the best thing ever, but if one is familiar with Earthling, one thing is certain: no entry is cliché, no story is a boring retread of tired tropes.

Enter Mia Dalia, one of the best talents in the business, a writer who can immerse herself in many styles and genres with ease. She set the novel in a real town in New Jersey, where neighbors on an idyllic street compete to design the best Halloween decorations in the most suburban way possible. Continue Reading

Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss

American Crow by Ryan Burruss
Counterpoint (October 6, 2026)
Reviewed by Janelle Janson

American Crow was such an interesting read, even if it didn’t completely hold me all the way through.

Set in 1952 in Brookshire, Maryland, the story follows a newly built suburb full of World War II veterans and their families. On the surface, it’s the postwar American dream: new houses, families, stability, and a chance to start over. Underneath all of that are people carrying trauma, anger, nightmares, violence, and things they’d much rather keep buried.Continue Reading

Review: This B Just Won’t Die! by Tanya Pell

This B Just Won’t Die!  by Tanya Pell 
Gallery Books (October 13th, 2026)
Reviewed by Adam Allen

Tanya Pell has established herself as a brilliant writer of different types of horror, and with This B Just Won’t Die!, she showcases her mastery of the slasher. This book works as a classic slasher, following the familiar beats but still has twists and surprises that will keep veterans and new readers alike shocked and delighted. Some truly gnarly kills, an iconic villain, and some fantastic set pieces make this an instant classic of the subgenre.Continue Reading

Review: American Nightmare by Kelly McWilliams

American Nightmare by Kelly McWilliams 
Crown (September 15, 2026) 
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Kelly McWilliams has disrupted my prematurely curated list of top reads of the year. In fact, American Nightmare is in the running for the number-one spot, alongside Markus Redmond’s Blood Slaves, Tamika Thompson’s The Curse of Hester Gardens, and Del Sandeen’s These Walls Remember. Continue Reading

Review: Incarnate by Alma Katsu

Incarnate by Alma Katsu
G.P. Putnam’s (Sept. 2026)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

AI – there’s no bigger concept in publishing right now, and the evils of it keep growing. Writers are having their work stolen, chewed up, and spit out something terrible. Leave it to Alma Katsu to spin a tale that absorbs the current issue and births something unique, yet still relevant to the classics.

Incarnate combines body horror with AI along with the wondrously saccharine world of influencers. What makes a Katsu novel different is that she never writes in the same realm twice (well, other than her dark fantasy/horror trilogy that jump-started her career). Continue Reading

Bev Vincent explores Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

I See What You Did There

There’s an old saying that goes like this: “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.” It’s also the thematic statement used by the British documentary series that began with Seven Up!

While we know some things about Jack Sawyer from when he was seven, we first really got to know him when he was twelve, in 1981. We spent a few exciting months with him that fall/winter, ending with his thirteenth birthday.

Continue Reading

Review: How to Escape a Tiger Cult by Briana Morgan

How to Escape a Tiger Cult by Briana Morgan
Independently Published (October 6, 2026)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool

Remember all the rage of Tiger King during the pandemic? I certainly watched it and was fascinated by the entirety of this weird industry. Then I learned about Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, a figure from Tiger King who ended up with his own documentary because of his isolated, manipulative, cult-like tendencies at his wildlife park. Obviously, when given the opportunity to read How to Escape a Tiger Cult, it was an automatic YES.  Plus, it is Briana Morgan, and I’ve loved her other work so win-win!
Continue Reading

Review: Worry Box by Chris Panatier

Worry Box by Chris Panatier
Angry Robot (September 2026)
Reviewed by Abby Wolf

There is something notably cruel about a haunted house story when the house is not the only thing the characters have to fear. Chris Panatier’s (Daytide, The Redemption of Morgan Bright) Worry Box shows us that the scariest monsters don’t always break down the door. Sometimes they live inside your head. Sometimes they are the things you are afraid you might do. And, maybe, the place you call home is listening.Continue Reading

Review: Nightjars by Michael Wehunt

Nightjars by Michael Wehunt
St. Martin’s Press (September 29, 2026)
Reviewed by Briana Morgan

“Does the nightjar remember the night?”

Michael Wehunt has become an auto-buy author for me. Fans of his previous release, The October Film Haunt, will be thrilled to hear that Nightjars also features found-footage elements, this time in the form of terrifying photographs.Continue Reading

Review: Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm

Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm 
Tor Nightfire (September 22nd, 2026)
Reviewed by Adam Allen

Our Cut of Salt marks the debut of a fierce new voice in literary horror. This is not only one of the best horror novels of the year, but one of the best books you’ll ever read. It is haunting, tragic, very entertaining, and it will make you do the most important things a book can do: think and feel. Horror is the genre that looks at the world and asks why, digs deeper, and doesn’t turn away from the darkness. Deena Helm’s debut is a brilliant example of how much can be accomplished by a horror novel.Continue Reading