New Horror Books to Keep You Up At Night

Kick May off with this gothic horror/mystery novel from Christina Li. Vivian Yin was the first Chinese actress to ever win an Oscar. Now she’s dead, and her family members have gathered at her Southern California estate for the reading of her will. But as they start to learn the truth about Vivian’s life and the last summer they all spent together in that crumbling mansion, the family comes to understand that they are all deeply haunted.

Mira Grant’s latest novel Overgrowth is being compared to Annihilation and Day of the Triffids. Ever since she was three, Anastasia Miller has told anyone who would listen that she is an alien from another planet, and no one ever believed her. But now that there is an alien signal being broadcast around the world, Anastasia knows her family is finally coming to get her and bring her home. If only the world had listened to her, they might have heeded her warnings.

Ling Ling Huang’s follow-up to 2023’s Natural Beauty focuses on the obsessive friendship between Enka and Mathilde, who meet in art school. But when Mathilde’s art career takes off, Enka is willing to do anything to remain close to her friend—even if it means investing in a controversial new technology that allows a person to inhabit another person’s mind, absorbing their emotions, experiences, and traumas.

This debut novel about a haunted mansion is giving Mexican Gothic meets The Shining. Three years after a tragic fall that killed her mother, Antonia is plagued by disturbing dreams that call her back to her childhood home—La Casona, a mansion overlooking the Salto del Tequendama waterfall. Exploring her mother’s cryptic journal entries and her own fragmented memories, Antonia tries to get to the truth of what really went on in that haunted place.

Feeders looks at what happens when influencer fame comes with a heavy cost. When Kylie Bennington hears about a viral video that shows the brutal murder of one of her classmates, Kylie can’t help but want to check it out. But seeking out the video leads her to a troubling social media app called MonoLife. To participate in MonoLife, one must sign the user agreement, which includes some troubling rules. And as Kylie falls deeper and deeper into the world of MonoLife, she discovers just how far she’s willing to go for internet fame.

May also brings us the latest from Caitlin Starling, author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence. In this sapphic medieval horror novel, Aymar Castle descends into hedonistic chaos following the arrival of divine figures who have come to “save” them, all while the castle is surrounded by a massive army. Only three women—a war hero, a nun-turned-sorceress, and a serving girl—can see what’s really going on all around them. But that doesn’t mean they are immune to temptation.

Sarah Pinborough is the queen of twisty thrillers, so expect lots of shocks in this upcoming horror novel. When Emily and her husband Freddie move to a country house called Larkin Lodge, right away she feels a strange presence coming from the third floor. But nobody else notices anything, and strange things only seem to happen when she’s in the house by herself. Is she hallucinating? Or is their house truly haunted?