In 2025, I read 100 Horror Books that were published in 2025, and this is a list of those titles with direct links to my reviews. Can I hit 100 new books in 2026? I don’t know, but I’m going to try!
The Salvage by Anbara Salam is a gothic, feminist, folk horror, haunted ship, Sapphic love story with elements of Cold War hysteria and an increasingly unreliable narrator - and it was totally engaging.
It’s 1962, and Marta Khoury’s young marriage is over, in part due to her affair with and the accidental drowning of her husband (and boss)’s friend Lewis, on a remote Scottish island where he was from. Soon after, Marta, a marine archaeologist, has a chance to salvage a ship from the 1800s off the coast of that same island, Cairnroch, to recover the remains and effects of “Auld James”, ancestor of the Purdies, who own or control most of the town.
One of my favorite things about buying used books is finding the little things left behind, from inscriptions and annotations to bookmarks, receipts, and sticky notes, and I am ready for my own (less murder-y) adventure to start from a secret note beneath an endpaper.
Candy Cain Kills Again by Brian McAuley picks up immediately after the last page of the first book. Emergency crew is on scene, bodies are still smoking, and an eye still has a candy cane ornament sticking out of it.
Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan is an atmospheric mystery that would be perfect for fans of Tana French or shows like Broadchurch - which means it was perfect for me.
The first wave of an alien invasion coincides with a New Years Eve party in a Welsh valley.
A group of friends take refuge in an island hotel decorated for New Year's. The problem is, it's early summer, and soon enough, even the walls themselves are striking out against them.
During a live punk-rock New Year's Eve TV programme, the presenter gets a phone call from a psycho calling himself "Evil" saying that when New Year's strikes in each US time zone, he will murder someone.
A group of three friends on a snowmobiling trip find themselves stranded at an abandoned lodge isolated in the mountains. They discover that an old woman resides in the hotel, along with an evil entity that she is keeping in the basement.
Six young adults struggle with their personal demons while staying at a secluded mansion during a dark and stormy night where a seemingly innocent game of 'taboo' brings out their inter-most secrets which soon leads to murder.
The 2026 Women's Writing Symposium (presented by "Scares That Care!") is a two-day event for women in the speculative fiction field.
A three-day charity event focusing on some of the best and brightest authors in the business.
