By Collection Management Librarian Dontaná
The time of ghouls, ghosts, and otherworldly creatures is upon us! Are you ready to have the stuffing scared out of you? Dig into these new tales of slasher and bizarro horror, featuring the two reigning kings of the genre, and a local favorite.
Terrifying tales
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Why you should try it: Just how many final girls are there? Enough that a new slasher is out to make sure there are no more.
Description: A real-life “final girl”—the one girl always left standing at the end of a horror movie, Lynette Tarkington, who survived a massacre 22 years ago, along with five other final girls, works to overcome her past until someone becomes determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
Why you should try it: Can a house be haunted by the living? Yes, if the inhabitants are a man, who may or may not have kidnapped someone, his daughter, who is not allowed outside, and a cat that reads the Bible.
Description: When a neighbor moves in next door, a family of three—a teenage girl who isn't allowed outside, a man with memory loss, and a house cat who reads the bible—are terrified that the unspeakable secret that binds them together will be exposed.
Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
Why you should try it: Short and fast, this twisted tale will have you looking at mannequins differently.
Description: A contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: Is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both?
Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper
Why you should try it: Vagina dentata. That's it. That's the hook.
Description: Within 48 hours, Yaya Betancourt will go from discovering teeth between her thighs to being hunted by one of the most powerful corporations in America. She assumes the vagina dentata is a side effect of a rare genetic condition caused by AlphaBeta Pharmaceutical, decades ago. But, when ABP corporate goons upend her life, Yaya's condition worsens. On the run and transforming, Yaya may be either ABP's greatest success, or the deadliest failure science has ever created.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca
Why you should try it: This book is why we shouldn't reveal personal details to strangers on the internet.
Description: Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death. A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s—a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires. What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
Reprieve by James Han Mattson
Why you should try it: A horror novel that is all the more terrifying, because of its realistic social commentary.
Description: A chilling and blisteringly relevant literary novel of social horror centered around a brutal killing that takes place in a full-contact haunted escape room—a provocative exploration of capitalism, hate politics, racial fetishism, and our obsession with fear as entertainment.
Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo
Why you should try it: A new gothic novel, which means it has atmosphere, malevolent spirits, and takes place at the end of a sweltering summer.
Description: When his best friend dies of an apparent suicide, Andrew uncovers lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death.
The Indifference of Heaven by Michael Allen Rose
Why you should try it: A bizarro novel of bars, ever-changing bathroom graffiti, and maybe murder? If you're lucky, you might find the author at one of the service desks at the Main Library.
Description: George has owned the bar for years, and it's mostly been the same old thing—serve the drinks, keep the locals happy, clean up the mess. Of particular note is the graffiti that some joker keeps leaving behind in the stall of the restroom. It doesn't seem like anything until George notices that one morning, it reads more like a murder confession than the random dirty jokes and vulgar rhymes that he's used to.
About Dontaná
Dontaná is a Collection Management Librarian who was born with an unending reading list. She is almost always reading two books simultaneously and is easily distracted by cool covers.
