Published August 1, 2025 by Savage Realms Press Seeking to understand the recent deaths and disappearances in their town, a disgraced hom...
Feature Fiction || Cedar Mills by Dylan James
Published February 13th 2024 by Tor Nightfire T he follow-up to T. Kingfisher’s bestselling gothic novella, What Moves the Dead ...
Review || What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher (Sworn Soldier #2)
T. Kingfisher returns to the eerie world of gothic horror with What Feasts at Night, the second novella in her Sworn Soldier series following the acclaimed What Moves the Dead. This novella once again follows Alex Easton, a gender non-binary former soldier with a dry sense of humor, a haunted past, and a knack for running into things that go bump in the night.
This time, Easton heads to their family's old hunting lodge in Gallacia in search of some rest. Naturally, rest is the one thing they don’t get. The lodge is falling apart, the caretaker has died under bizarre circumstances, and the quiet feels wrong. The longer they stay, the more the atmosphere closes in: disturbing dreams, strange local legends, and plenty of superstition. Familiar faces return, including the ever-delightful Miss Potter, a no-nonsense mycologist who continues to steal every scene with her fungal fanaticism. New faces charm as well, like the sharp-eyed Widow Botezatu with her baleful looks and no-nonsense ways.
While What Feasts at Night trades some of the first book’s energy for a slower, more reflective pace, it still delivers plenty of dread. The horror here is quieter, more psychological, and steeped in folklore and PTSD. Kingfisher’s uniquely dry humor is still present, with sharp, witty banter and Easton's internal dialogue. Easton’s internal battle adds emotional depth to the creeping horror, and the camaraderie between characters brings just enough warmth to offset the gloom.
While it’s not as fast-paced as What Moves the Dead, What Feasts at Night is haunting in its own way: moody, thoughtful, and quietly chilling. It’s another strong entry in Kingfisher’s growing collection of uniquely strange horror stories.
Published February 20, 2024 by Wednesday Books E >nemies-to-lovers doesn't get more high stakes than a witch and a witch hunter fall...
Review || Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
Published February 20, 2024 by Wednesday Books
On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe - a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution - who she can't help but find herself falling for.
Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?
Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to The Crimson Moth duology, a romantic fantasy series where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch...is falling in love.

Published May 2, 2023 by Entangled: Teen M y twin sister is the true queen of Aryd. She survives, hiding and clinging to life in the...
Review || The Stolen Throne by Abigail Owen
My twin sister is the true queen of Aryd. She survives, hiding and clinging to life in the desert, while I reign as the false queen alongside the monstrous King Eidolon. There’s only one escape from this gilded prison: Reven. My Shadowraith. My heart. Only the shadows that he struggles to control are growing more sinister, more powerful.
It’s just a matter of time before they turn on him…and on me.
Even escape doesn't mean true freedom, though, when we're still on the run from Eidolon’s unstoppable armies. And when we discover there’s a traitor among us, I have no choice…I must become the queen I was never meant to be.
Because as one evil hunts me, the other loves me more than himself.
And my fate lies with both.
It’s just a matter of time before they turn on him…and on me.
Even escape doesn't mean true freedom, though, when we're still on the run from Eidolon’s unstoppable armies. And when we discover there’s a traitor among us, I have no choice…I must become the queen I was never meant to be.
Because as one evil hunts me, the other loves me more than himself.
And my fate lies with both.
Abigail Owen turns up the heat in this darker, emotionally intense sequel. The Stolen Throne picks up right where The Liar’s Crown left off, with Meren caught between who she was raised to be and who she needs to become. The stakes are higher, the danger sharper, and the emotional force between the main characters even more devastating. I'm always concerned that I won't remember enough to pick up additional books in a series to follow along, but Owen does a fantastic job of catching you up.
Meren's personality continues to shine. Her struggle with identity, especially as someone who was born to be a placeholder for her twin sister, feels real and unpretentious. She's done hiding. She's making impossible choices, stepping into danger, and claiming a destiny that no one ever showed her. Her entire life has been about pretending to be someone else, so watching her come into her own is super satisfying. And Reven, our brooding shadow wraith? He remains a doozy, so full of angsty feelings. He’s torn by loyalty, by love, by the past, and that quiet control of his starts to unravel. Their chemistry is just as electric as it was in book one, maybe even desperately so now that secrets are unraveling and the stakes are climbing higher and higher.
There's an urgency to book two that wasn't there for The Liar's Crown. The pacing is tight, with plenty of action and suspense, but what really stands out is how Owen balances that with quieter, softer moments. There are moments of vulnerability that hit just as hard as the big twists. With a lot of moving pieces to keep track of in this story, as well as more twists and higher stakes, it's nice that Owen finds the time to let things pause before the next hit comes.
The Stolen Throne leaves everything behind, carrying us towards book three, The Shadows Rule All. This YA fantasy takes no prisoners. Do I want a happy ending eventually? Sure. But only after they’ve been torn apart, emotionally flayed, and stitched back together by choosing each other, through the wreckage.
Published June 10, 2025 by Rowan Prose Publishing, LLC; Sapphire Imprint To believe in that other world, she must first learn to believ...
Feature Fiction || Straw Girl by Brigid Barry
Published June 10, 2025 by Rowan Prose Publishing, LLC; Sapphire Imprint
Published January 23, 2024 by Page Street Kids L abyrinth meets folk horror in this darkly romantic tale of a girl who wishes her baby broth...
Review || My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino

My Throat an Open Grave is a exploration of folklore, guilt, and the complexities of good and evil in small-town America. Set in Winston, Pennsylvania, the story follows 17-year-old Leah, who, after wishing her baby brother Owen away, must confront the Lord of the Wood—a mythical figure who has taken children for generations.
Drawing comparisons to Labyrinth might be unfair. Yes, she wished the child away, and has to journey to get him back, but there is no jewelry-crazed Hoggle, tricksy labyrinth, or singing fireys swapping limbs and heads in this story. Nothing as fantastical as the world in which Sarah finds herself. Instead, Leah has to cross the river, find the terrifying Lord of the Wood and trade something of meaning to get her brother back.
Leah's inner voice takes center stage often. She speaks to and about herself with a level of cruelty that’s difficult to stomach at times. Throughout the story, she repeats the idea that she’s broken, bad, or unlovable, and this negative self-talk becomes a major lens through which we see her experiences. Leah's self talk becomes a way to unravel not just who she is, but how others have defined her. It's heavy (and sometimes annoying). Leah's journey isn’t just about confronting the Lord of the Wood—it’s also about confronting the narrative she’s been forced to believe about herself.
Published October 17, 2023 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) A bloodstained tale of a girl torn between her vows and her heart, where...
Review || Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone
Unholy Terrors is a breathtaking descent into a world of ruined faith, cursed forests, and forbidden love. It’s the kind of gothic fantasy that is full of blood and bone-deep magic and decayed beauty.
Clipstone’s writing is lush and immersive, filled with grief, rage, longing, and desire woven through every scene. The worldbuilding is gorgeous: ancient cathedrals slowly sliding into rot and ruin, magic that’s as much curse as blessing, and monsters that speak in riddles and memory. There’s an almost reverence for decay and ruin, making the setting feel like a living character in its own right.
The relationship between Everline and Ravel is at the heart of the novel, with their growing connection adding emotional depth to the story. It’s everything a gothic love story should be—slow-burning, feral, and dangerous. Everline and Ravel’s bond is rooted in shared pain and the brutal process of unlearning everything they’ve been taught about good and evil. Their connection is intense, yet tender, and never simple. Their dynamic is layered and complicated, exploring how love, loyalty, and betrayal intertwine in a world filled with secrets.
Published March 28, 2023 by Tor Nightfire A contemporary Southern Gothic from award-winning master of modern horror, T. Kingfisher. A House...
Review || A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Published March 28, 2023 by Tor Nightfire
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher is what happens when Southern hospitality meets creeping dread—and then both sit down for a very awkward family dinner. The story follows Sam, a refreshingly snarky archaeologist and bug enthusiast, who returns to her childhood home only to find her usually vibrant mother behaving like a polite, nervous stranger. The usually eccentric house is too clean, too white, the air too still and the garden? Let’s just say it has… opinions. Things go from “Hmm, that’s odd” to “Holy freaking ladybugs” in the best, weirdest way possible.
Kingfisher blends unsettling horror with laugh-out-loud moments in a way only she can. One minute you’re creeped out, the next you’re snorting at Sam’s deadpan commentary. It’s not a scream-fest, but it is eerie and absurd and deeply weird in the way only Kingfisher does. One minute you're reading about ghostly whispers and oppressive vibes, the next you're laughing at Sam's sarcastic inner monologue or her casual conversations about bugs. The horror here is more unsettling than terrifying, but it sticks with you—and there's a wonderfully grotesque twist that really delivers.
The novel spends a lot of time carefully layering tension, hinting at deep-rooted family trauma, strange supernatural forces, and an ominous legacy tied to the grandmother’s influence. But when the horror finally arrives, it feels a bit rushed and underdeveloped. It’s not a bad ending by any means, it’s quirky, bold, and in line with the novel’s tone but compared to the expansiveness of the first two-thirds, it feels like it wrapped up too quickly. Despite that, Kingfisher remains on the must-read list for me.
Published May 2, 2023 by Tor Nightfire From USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy , a razor-shar...
Review || The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
Published May 2, 2023 by Tor Nightfire
You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.
On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three 'saints' who control them.
The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.
Cassandra Khaw’s The Salt Grows Heavy is a grim, lyrical horror-fantasy that begins with the mermaid's children having just eaten her prince. Albeit, he wasn't a very nice one. Khaw takes the familiar mermaid myth and completely capsizes it, crafting a story that’s brutal, surreal, and, beneath all the blood and bone, surprisingly tender. It's a novella that defies clear classification — a hybrid of gothic fairy tale, body horror, and lushly poetic prose.
The story kicks off with the merchildren eating their way through the kingdom. Striking a weird companionship are the murderous mermaid and a plague doctor. She’s a predator, archaic and uncaring, but also deeply introspective. (Of course, she'd have to be since her husband recently cut out her tongue.) The peculiar plague doctor is enigmatic yet witty. The two strike up a friendship and almost coy flirtation.
I've said before that Khaw's writing is not for everyone. It's dense, with each morsel needing to be chewed carefully before being consumed. It’s the kind of language that turns violence into poetry and transforms body horror into something oddly exquisite. It’s brutal and beautiful, grotesque and captivating. For readers who enjoy language that leans into the stylized and surreal, it’s an enjoyable experience. For many others, it may be a barrier to reading any of Khaw's writing.
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