SPINE-TINGLING
10 horror novels that amp up the fear factor for your summer reading list
BOOKS
Some people crave sunny skies and sand between their toes. Others would rather crawl back under the blanket until summer is over. Luckily, there's no shortage of horror novels out there to keep us busy until the days grow darker and the nights longer.
Here are 10 titles to look forward to that bend genres, conjure the atmosphere we crave and fill the void that's left by Halloween every year.
'I KNOW A PLACE: REST STOP AND OTHER DARK DETOURS'
By Nat Cassidy (Shortwave Publishing)
This first collection of short stories from Cassidy comes with an introduction by Stephen King — need we say more? The collection features the acclaimed novella "rest stop" along with 12 other pieces that detail locations filled with doom and gloom.
'THE CARETAKER'
By Marcus Kliewer (Simon & Schuster)
We've read it before: a woman takes a caretaking job that turns out to be far different from what she expected. Except this time, Kliewer delivers a unique take and draws readers into the waking nightmare main character Macy must now undertake, and she might just save the world while doing so. Follow the rites and save humanity? Count us in for "The Caretaker."
'THE DORIANS'
By Nick Cutter (Simon & Schuster)
If you could restore your youth, would you? That's the question Cutter — the pen name of author Craig Davidson — asks in this novel that pays homage to Oscar Wilde's classic "The Picture of dorian Gray." "The Dorians" follows five elderly volunteers as they undergo an experiment in the Canadian wilderness to stop the clock, but at what price?
'JAPANESE GOTHIC'
By Kylie Lee Baker (Harper Collins)
"Japanese Gothic" follows college student Lee and exiled samurai Sen as they discover a door in the same house linking them despite living more than a century apart. Baker finds a way to reinvent and combine the dual-timeline and haunted house tropes.
'THE SUFFERING'
By David Sodergren (Paperbacks and Pugs)
The Scottish author is a fan-favorite, especially when it comes to gore, and his latest proves why. Diving into the religious and historical horror subgenres, "The suffering" takes place in a creepy Italian convent and rapidly dissolves into bloody madness.
'BONE OF MY BONE'
By Johanna van Veen (Sourcebooks)
After making waves with "My darling dreadful Thing" and "Blood on her Tongue," van Veen returns with her third Sapphic gothic novel, "Bone of My Bone." The paths of a nun, a peasant and a necromancer become intertwined as they journey through a Bavarian forest in the midst of the Thirty years' War with the intention of reuniting a saint's skull with its body. What could go wrong?
'HEADLIGHTS'
By C.J. Leede (Tor Nightfire)
If you've read either of Leede's other novels, "Maeve Fly" or "American rapture," you already know you're in for a wild ride regardless of the subject matter. As a special agent makes his way back to Colorado to chase after a serial killer, he'll have to deal with his past.
'DEAD BUT DREAMING OF ELECTRIC SHEEP'
By Paul Tremblay (Harper Collins)
Drawing inspiration from Philip K. dick's "do androids dream of electric sheep?," Tremblay's latest bends sci-fiinto horror. Bernie's in a coma, or is he? he needs to figure out where that white rabbit tattoo came from. And Julia is moving his body across the country with a video game controller for her tech tycoon mother. Yeah, it's confusing, but we're here for it. (June 30)
'FABULOUS BODIES'
By Chuck Tingle (Tor Nightfire)
Poppy is a fashion influencer and a grave robber. she's been hired to steal the body of a rockstar and queer icon, but well, he just woke up. Travel with her as carnage and camp spill out across Palm springs in the latest from Tingle. (July 7)
'LIGHTS! CAMERAS! FRENDO!'
By Adam Cesare (Harper Collins)
Our favorite clown (shh, don't tell Pennywise) is back in the fourth installment of Cesare's "Clown in a Cornfield" series, and this time, Frendo is ready for his close-up. The series reads exactly like a horror film, but now it's actually about a horror film being made about the infamous Kettle springs Massacre. (Aug. 18)
