The Staircase in the Woods (2025) Chuck Wendig "A searching portrait of four friends trying to find the things we all tend to lose as we grow older: faith, direction, hope, happiness, purpose . . . That's the heart of Chuck Wendig's work in these pages, and to read a book that illuminates such profound human truths is very rare indeed."
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng (2025) Kylie Lee Baker "Stylish, propulsive, occasionally shocking, and fueled by a great big beating heart for its characters, Kylie Lee Baker's Bat Eater is a ghost story that exists in its own glorious phylum."
Memorials (2024) Richard Chizmar "Memorials is scary as hell, and it'll redline your fear meter. But it's also as much an ode to that time in our lives where we're no longer children yet not quite adults, when the road ahead of us was just beginning to clarify. Chizmar's writing has the power to take you back to that point in your own life and hold you there awhile, spellbound."
William (2024) Mason Coile "From its first page all the way to its jaw-dropping ending, William had me hooked. I mainlined this book in one sitting, loving the tragically endearing protagonist Coile had created while marveling at the whip-smart plotting."
The Drowning House (2024) Cherie Priest "Cherie's Priest's The Drowning House is a haunted house tale of a totally unique order. I consider myself a hard reader to surprise. Priest's thrilling and heartfelt novel managed to do just that."
We Used to Live Here (2024) Marcus Kliewer "There is a feeling that a small number of books conjure. It can be distilled to: Oh god, something ain't right here. Their hallmark is a creeping, unaccountable, jangly dread that seeps into their pages until you almost wish you could stop reading-but of course, it's too late. You're in its grip. We Used to Live Here is one of those rare books."
Cold (2024) Drew Hayden Taylor "The myth of the Wendigo has shaped narratives from Pet Semetary to Shadow Country to The Hunger--but never in my reading has it been so cleverly and relevantly employed as it is in Drew Hayden Taylor's serpentine and haunting new novel, Cold."
My Darling Girl (2023) Jennifer McMahon "Twisty, propulsive, character-driven, and hair-raisingly scary novels are true rarities, but Jennifer McMahon manages this singular feat with My Darling Girl."
Boys in the Valley (2023) Philip Fracassi "This is not only a smart and deftly-written tale instilled with the kind of creeping, claustrophobic horror that I enjoy-Fracassi's got real love for his characters: you truly care about his motley band of boys, and their fates."
Dead Eleven (2023) Jimmy Juliano "I could tell you that Jimmy Juliano ripped a hole in my head and dumped in a gallon of nightmare juice, but that would be underselling all this book's got to offer. Dead Eleven is a work of uncommon craft, mood, and above all, heart. If an author doesn't make you care about their characters, a reader won't care what becomes of them. And man, this book will make you care."
Natural Beauty (2023) Ling Ling Huang "A modern-day Picture of Dorian Gray shot through a Cronenbergian lens, Ling Ling Huang's Natural Beauty has big things to say about art, society, and the obsessive pursuit of youth. Huang's writing is as austere as a flawless arpeggio, but there is great warmth in Huang's portrayal of her characters."
Echo (2022) Thomas Olde Heuvelt "Thomas Olde Huevelt has outdone himself with ECHO. The climbing sequences are Jon Krakauer-esque, and the narrative evokes the terror of a vintage Dan Simmons or Peter Straub novel. Thrilling, horrifying, supremely confident storytelling."
Bad Man (2018) Dathan Auerbach "Bad Man blew a big dark hole right through my chest. Spellbindingly terrifying stuff. Dathan Auerbach writes high-test, 151-proof horror."
Only the Devil Is Here (2018) Stephen Michell "I burnt through Only the Devil Is Here in one fevered night. Stephen Michell is the real, raw deal: a fierce young writer with chops and heart."
In the River (2017) Jeremy Robert Johnson "Reading Johnson, you feel you are in the grip of an immensely powerful, possibly malevolent, but fiercely intelligent mind."
Within These Walls (2015) Ania Ahlborn "A monstrous Russian nesting doll of a book, holding secrets within secrets; the plot barrels headlong toward one of the most shocking climaxes you’re ever likely to read. This one’s going to wreck you."
