“The villa, once beloved, was better left behind in all its tragedies.” You can try to escape a family curse, but in the end the sins of your past will always find you. A young woman named Sophie becomes a reluctant witness to just this sort of Gothic reckoning in The Villa, Once Beloved by Victor Manibo, which came out back in November. I loved Victor’s debut sci-fi thriller The Sleepless, so when I heard he was writing a Gothic novel set in his homeland of the Philippines, I knew I had to check it out! The Villa, Once Beloved does a beautiful job of blending classic Gothic tropes with Filipino folklore, a suffocating tropical setting, and the region’s dark history of colonialism and political corruption. Continue reading Review of The Villa, Once Beloved—Filipino Gothic
Category: Horror
Review of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter—Vampires in the Wild West
“What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.” Much blood was spilled forming the American West into what it is today, so perhaps it should be no surprise this setting would make such fertile ground for a vampire tale. When I heard that Stephen Graham Jones—who has quickly become one of my favorite horror authors (check out my reviews of The Only Good Indians, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and I Was a Teenage Slasher)—was coming out with a historical vampire novel, I knew it would be right up my alley. When The Buffalo Hunter Hunter came out last March, I went to a release event at The Strand in New York City and got a signed copy of the special edition with red sprayed edges. I savored the book slowly all through the fall until last week when I got to the point where I had to stay up until 1:00am to see how it would end. Though this is my very first book review of 2026, I can already tell that The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is going to end up on my favorites of the year list. Continue reading Review of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter—Vampires in the Wild West
Review of Spread Me—Erotic Horror
They say that fear and arousal are remarkably similar sensations. Sarah Gailey, the multi-talented author of alt-history adventure books like River of Teeth and more traditional horror such as Just Like Home, exploits this overlap in their recent erotic horror novella Spread Me, which came out back in September. Part re-imagining of John Carpenter’s classic 1982 film The Thing, part post-Pandemic fever dream, Spread Me is guaranteed to be quite unlike anything you’ve ever read. Continue reading Review of Spread Me—Erotic Horror
Review of Play Nice—Demons and Dysfunctional Families
Every family has their demons. But for the Barnes family, theirs are a little more literal… Rachel Harrison, best known for her monster stories Such Sharp Teeth and So Thirsty, tackles the haunted house and demonic possession genres in her latest horror novel, Play Nice, which came out back in September. If you like horror that centers on messy women and dysfunctional families, don’t miss this one! Continue reading Review of Play Nice—Demons and Dysfunctional Families
Review of How to Fake a Haunting
Here’s a recommendation for all of you looking for a good haunted house story this Halloween. What happens when a faux haunting becomes all too real? Christa Carmen (whose Poe-laced thriller Beneath the Poet’s House I reviewed earlier this year) explores this concept and more in her latest horror novel How to Fake a Haunting, which came out on October 7. Continue reading Review of How to Fake a Haunting
Review of The Bewitching—Witches of Folklore
“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches…” Is there a single element of horror fiction that Silvia Moreno-Garcia can’t write? She first hit it big when she blended traditional Gothic tropes with post-colonial mushroom horror in Mexican Gothic. She put a unique, multicultural noir spin on vampires in Certain Dark Things. And she mixed her love of old horror films with cults and curses in Silver Nitrate. And that’s not to mention the books of hers I haven’t gotten to yet, like The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, which reimagines the classic sci-fi horror tale by H. G. Wells. This prolific and multi-talented author tackles witches in her latest novel, The Bewitching, which came out last month. Continue reading Review of The Bewitching—Witches of Folklore
Review of The Eyes Are the Best Part
Satisfying. That’s the best way I can describe The Eyes Are the Best Part, a bizarrely lovely book about feminine rage and cannibalism. This debut horror novel from Monika Kim came out last summer and swept a whole bunch of awards and nominations, from the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel to being a Goodreads Choice Award nominee. It’s been on my TBR list for a while, and I finally got around to adding it to my plate. If you love stories about complicated and messy young women getting revenge, then The Eyes Are the Best Part is definitely worth savoring. Continue reading Review of The Eyes Are the Best Part
Review of The Library at Hellebore
When your school crest is composed of figs, wasps, and carnivorous deer, you know you’re in for an interesting school year… If anyone has the aesthetics of horror down, it’s Cassandra Khaw, who broke into the genre back in 2021 with Nothing But Blackened Teeth. I had the pleasure of interviewing Khaw before that book’s release to get their thoughts on hauntings and horror novellas. Now Khaw is trying their hand at dark academia with The Library at Hellebore, which came out just last week. If you’re craving more books about magically powerful young adults at deadly schools after finishing Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series, then you’ll definitely want to check this one out! Continue reading Review of The Library at Hellebore
Review of Staircase in the Woods—A House that Haunts
If you came across a mysterious set of stairs in the middle of a forest, would you climb them? Doing so might not be such a good idea, as a group of friends are quick to discover in Chuck Wendig’s latest horror novel, The Staircase in the Woods, which came out last month. This is some of the most chilling horror I’ve read so far this year, and it takes a truly unique approach to the concept of a haunted house. Continue reading Review of Staircase in the Woods—A House that Haunts
Review of They Bloom at Night—Algae Horror
You’ve heard of mushroom horror? Well, make room for its new cousin: algae horror. Anyone who has experienced the notorious “red tides” off of the United States’ southern coasts knows just how harmful, creepy, and off-putting large-scale algal blooms can be. But Trang Thahn Tran (author of She Is a Haunting) takes the red tide to new supernatural heights in their latest YA horror novel, They Bloom at Night, which came out earlier this month. Continue reading Review of They Bloom at Night—Algae Horror