Holy crap, how is it March already? Spring is around the corner and I, for one, am ready for it. While it hasn't been a bad winter in Vi...


Holy crap, how is it March already?

Spring is around the corner and I, for one, am ready for it. While it hasn't been a bad winter in Virginia, I'm ready for green trees, later sunsets, and hitting the trails. And the best part of those long days is more time to read! 

 Get ready to pad your TBR, here are just a few of March's releases! 
If you've missed the previous lists for January and February, you can still check those out. And if you are looking for what's still to come, you can see the whole list for 2023 here.


If you have a book releasing this year and want to get on the list, click here and I'll get you added!

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My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron 

Expected publication: March 7, 2023 by Feiwel & Friends


In this gothic YA remix of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, a teen boy tries to discover the reason behind his best friend's disappearance—and the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic stranger—in misty Victorian London.


London, 1885. Gabriel Utterson, a 17-year-old law clerk, has returned to London for the first time since his life— and that of his dearest friend, Henry Jekyll—was derailed by a scandal that led to his and Henry's expuslion from the London Medical School. Whispers about the true nature of Gabriel and Henry's relationship have followed the boys for two years, and now Gabriel has a chance to start again.

But Gabriel doesn't want to move on, not without Henry. His friend has become distant and cold since the disastrous events of the prior spring, and now his letters have stopped altogether. Desperate to discover what's become of him, Gabriel takes to watching the Jekyll house.

In doing so, Gabriel meets Hyde, a a strangely familiar young man with white hair and a magnetic charisma. He claims to be friends with Henry, and Gabriel can't help but begin to grow jealous at their apparent closeness, especially as Henry continues to act like Gabriel means nothing to him.

But the secret behind Henry's apathy is only the first part of a deeper mystery that has begun to coalesce. Monsters of all kinds prowl within the London fog—and not all of them are out for blood.

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Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

Expected Publication: March 7, 2023 by Zando


Grieving mother Magos cuts out a piece of her deceased eleven-year-old son Santiago’s lung. Acting on fierce maternal instinct and the dubious logic of an old folktale, she nurtures the lung until it gains sentience, growing into the carnivorous little Monstrilio she keeps hidden within the walls of her family’s decaying Mexico City estate. Eventually, Monstrilio begins to resemble the Santiago he once was, but his innate impulses—though curbed by his biological and chosen family’s communal care—threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life.

A thought-provoking meditation on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty, Gerardo Sámano Córdova blends bold imagination and evocative prose with deep emotional rigor. Told in four acts that span the globe from Brooklyn to Berlin, Monstrilio offers, with uncanny clarity, a cathartic and precise portrait of being human.

A Man Among Ghosts By Steven Hopstaken 

Expected publication: March 7, 2023 by Flame Tree Press

After surviving a near-death experience, David finds himself haunted by ghosts in the old Victorian house he is renovating. These tortured souls beg for his help and offer him protection from a demonic presence that wants David dead for a crime he doesn’t remember committing. Even more surprising, he soon learns these are spirits of people who are not yet dead. Is this real, is he hallucinating, or is someone trying to drive him insane? As his paranoia ramps up, he discovers the truth is even more bizarre. The haunting won’t stop until he kills a man named “Fitz.”


Hell on High by Michael Clark

Expected publication: March 15, 2023 by Brigids Gate Press, LLC

Prepare for adventure as Juliana, a nineteen-year-old Brazilian, finds herself forced to run from an occult overlord, leaving her sister in peril. Temporarily safe, Juliana works to save money for Vilma’s rescue—and along the way, meets Patrick, a rich-boy mountain climber with friends in high places.

Angus Addison wants to see his corporate flag on the summit of Mount Everest—carried there by the first woman in history—but the Himalayas are no joke. Failure could cost both sisters their lives.

Juliana weighs the risks and rewards—for even if she raises the cash, she still must figure a way to free Vilma from the same man she ran from—a man known to his disciples as The Farmer.




Piñata by Leopoldo Gout 

Expected publication: March 14, 2023 by Tor Nightfire



A Head Full of Ghosts meets Hereditary in Piñata, a terrifying possession tale by author and artist Leopoldo Gout.

Carmen Sanchez is back in her home country of Mexico, overseeing the renovation of an ancient cathedral into a boutique hotel. Her teen daughters, Izel and Luna, are with her for the summer, and left to fill their afternoons unsupervised in a foreign city.

The locals treat the Sanchez women like outsiders, while Carmen's contractors openly defy and sabotage her work. After a disastrous accident at the construction site nearly injures Luna, Carmen's had enough. They're leaving.

Back in New York, Luna begins acting strange, and only Izel notices the chilling changes happening to her younger sister. But it might be too late for the Sanchez family to escape what's been awakened...

Piñata is a bone-chilling story about how the sinister repercussions of our past can return to haunt us.







The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney

Expected publication: March 14, 2023 by Razorbill


A teenage girl must save her town from a memory-devouring monster in this piercing exploration of grief, trauma, and memory, from the author of The Valley and the Flood.
For generations, a monster called the Memory Eater has lived in the caves of Whistler Beach, Maine, surviving off the unhappy memories of those who want to forget. And for generations, the Harlows have been in charge of keeping her locked up—and keeping her fed.
After her grandmother dies, seventeen-year-old Alana Harlow inherits the family business. But there’s something Alana doesn’t know: the strange gaps in her memory aren’t from an accident. Her memories have been taken—eaten. And with them, she’s lost the knowledge of how to keep the monster contained.

Now the Memory Eater is loose. Alana’s mistake could cost Whistler Beach everything—unless she can figure out how to retrieve her own memories and recapture the monster. But as Alana delves deeper into her family’s magic and the history of her town, she discovers a shocking secret at the center of the Harlow family business and learns that tampering with memories never comes without a price.



Suburban Monsters by Christopher Hawkins

Expected publication: March 15, 2023 by Coronis Publishing


The house at the end of the block with the overgrown lawn. The darkened store window in a forgotten corner of the shopping mall. The colorful characters of a children's TV show. What dark secrets do they hide?

From award-winning author Christopher Hawkins come thirteen tales of the horrors lurking right next door.

* A shut-in sets out to make a new life for himself by losing weight at the point of a scalpel.
* A store clerk with a mannequin obsession hides a macabre and tragic secret.
* A master thief tries for one last score in a house that doesn't want him to leave.
* Two friends learn the hard way that having superpowers doesn't always make you a hero. It might just make you a monster.
* A lonely painter finds freedom with the help of something lurking beneath the ocean waves.

At turns whimsical and somber but always unsettling, this debut collection of short horror stories is essential reading from a rising voice in dark literary fiction.







Muckross Abbey and Other Stories by Sabina Murray

Expected publication: March 21, 2023 by Grove Press


Sabina Murray has long been celebrated for her mastery of the gothic. Now in Muckross Abbey and Other Stories, she returns to the genre, bringing readers to haunted sites from a West Australian convent school to the moors of England to the shores of Cape Cod in ten strange tales that are layered, meta, and unforgettable. From a twisted recasting of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, to an actor who dies for his art only to haunt his mother's house, to the titular "Muckross Abbey," an Irish chieftain burial site cursed by the specter of a flesh-eating groom--in this collection Murray gives us painters, writers, historians, and nuns all confronting the otherworldly in fantastically creepy ways. With notes of Wharton and James, Stoker and Shelley, now drawn into the present, these macabre stories are sure to captivate and chill.






Lone Women by Victor LaValle 

Expected publication: March 28, 2023 by One World


Blue skies, empty land—and enough room to hide away a horrifying secret. Or is there? Discover a haunting new vision of the American West from the award-winning author of The Changeling.

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk is opened, people around her start to disappear...

The year is 1914, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, and forced her to flee her hometown of Redondo, California, in a hellfire rush, ready to make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will be one of the "lone women" taking advantage of the government's offer of free land for those who can cultivate it—except that Adelaide isn't alone. And the secret she's tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing keeping her alive.

Told in Victor LaValle's signature style, blending historical fiction, shimmering prose, and inventive horror, Lone Women is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—and a portrait of early twentieth-century America like you've never seen.



  




The Seething by Ben Monroe 

Expected publication: March 23, 2023 by Brigids Gate Press, LLC


A family's relocation looked like a chance to relax and regroup—but as they settle into their new home,
teenage Kimmie Barnes’ special senses make her the target of something primordial,
evil, and utterly malign.

Darkness…

Golden Oaks, California is a sleepy town on the shores of Oro Lake,
and the residents have no idea what horrors lurk below the glittering waters.

Beneath the waves…

One by one, as people begin to disappear,
the once quiet town is soon in the grips of a waking nightmare.
An unimaginable horror consuming everything before it.

Hungry…

All while echoes of an ancient evil spread out like malignant spider webs,
like dead hands reaching, grasping…

SEETHING…


A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Expected publication: March 28, 2023 by Tor Nightfire



A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.







Greymist Fair by Francesca Zappia

Expected publication: March 28, 2023 by Harper Collins



The people of Greymist Fair know that the woods are a dangerous and magical place, and that they should never set foot off the road. But when a young tailor discovers a body on the road, her search for the culprit reveals even more strange and dark happenings around her town. From acclaimed author Francesca Zappia, Greymist Fair is a suspenseful and inventive murder-mystery inspired by the lesser-known fairytales of the Brothers Grimm. Greymist Fair will bewitch readers of Rachel Vincent’s Red Wolf, Liz Braswell’s A Twisted Tale series, and fans of Into the Woods.

Features chapter decorations by the author throughout, as well as a map.

Two roads lead into a dark forest. They meet at Greymist Fair, the village hidden in the trees, a place kept alive by the families that never leave. The people of Greymist Fair know the woods are a dangerous and magical place, and to set foot off the road is to invite trouble.

When Heike, the village’s young tailor, discovers a body on the road, she goes looking for who is responsible. But her quest only leads to more strange happenings around Greymist Fair.

Inspired by the original, bloody, lesser-known fairytales of the Brothers Grimm, acclaimed author Francesca Zappia crafts an enthralling murder-mystery that will keep readers turning the pages. Told from multiple points of view, with each narrative building on the crime discovered by Heike, Greymist Fair examines the themes of childhood fears, growing into adult responsibilities, and finding a place to call home amid the trials of life and death.

In Nightfall by Suzanne Young 

Expected publication: March 28, 2023 by Delacorte Press



In the quaint town of Nightfall, Oregon, it isn't the dark you should be afraid of—it's the girls. The Lost Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this propulsive novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Treatment.

Theo and her brother, Marco, threw the biggest party of the year. And got caught. Their punishment? Leave Arizona to spend the summer with their grandmother in the rainy beachside town of Nightfall, Oregon—population 846 souls.

The small town is cute, when it’s not raining, but their grandmother is superstitious and strangely antisocial. Upon their arrival she lays out the one house rule: always be home before dark. But Theo and Marco are determined to make the most of their summer, and on their first day they meet the enigmatic Minnow and her friends. Beautiful and charismatic, the girls have a magnetic pull that Theo and her brother can't resist.

But Minnow and her friends are far from what they appear.
And that one rule? Theo quickly realizes she should have listened to her grandmother. Because after dark, something emerges in Nightfall. And it doesn’t plan to let her leave.


White Cat, Black Dog: Stories By Kelly Link

Expected publication: March 28, 2023 by Random House



Seven ingeniously reinvented fairy tales that play out with astonishing consequences in the modern world, from one of today's finest short story writers--MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellow Kelly Link, bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Get in Trouble

Finding seeds of inspiration in the Brothers Grimm, seventeenth-century French lore, and Scottish ballads, Kelly Link spins classic fairy tales into utterly original stories of seekers--characters on the hunt for love, connection, revenge, or their own sense of purpose.

In "The White Cat's Divorce," an aging billionaire sends his three sons on a series of absurd goose chases to decide which will become his heir. In "The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear," a professor with a delicate health condition becomes stranded for days in an airport hotel after a conference, desperate to get home to her wife and young daughter, and in acute danger of being late for an appointment that cannot be missed. In "Skinder's Veil," a young man agrees to take over a remote house-sitting gig for a friend. But what should be a chance to focus on his long-avoided dissertation instead becomes a wildly unexpected journey, as the house seems to be a portal for otherworldly travelers--or perhaps a door into his own mysterious psyche.

Twisting and winding in astonishing ways, expertly blending realism and the speculative, witty, empathetic, and never predictable--these stories remind us once again of why Kelly Link is incomparable in the art of short fiction.

Published  September 17, 2015 by Inklings Publishing In Twisted Reveries, suspense author Meg Hafdahl introduces us to thirteen unforgettabl...


Published September 17, 2015 by Inklings Publishing

In Twisted Reveries, suspense author Meg Hafdahl introduces us to thirteen unforgettable women. They include a grieving mother, a librarian living on the edge of fantasy, and a pyromaniac motel manager. In all thirteen spine-tingling tales these women are faced with their deepest fears, as they are forced to become the hero or villain of their own story. The Rochester Post Bulletin describes, "Everything is not as it seems in the short, 'Twilight Zone' like tales Hafdahl writes." Packed with twists and intrigue, Twisted Reveries will satisfy fans of horror, suspense, and captivating female protagonists. As Amanda walks home alone in the eerie town of Willoughby, she is unsettled by a malevolent stalker in close pursuit, who is somehow familiar... Louise is kidnapped off a snowy, rural road when she is distracted by A Flash of Orange. When a twist of fate allows her escape, her true horrifying test begins... A group of strangers, including fearful Kelly, are trapped in the infusion ward of a hospital, and something hungry is targeting their weaknesses. Will Kelly dig deep and find her Guts? When Hannah Goes Home she brings her fiancee to the squalid reality of her childhood. But she is determined to keep one, awful truth from surfacing... Immerse yourself in the dark, pulse-pounding landscapes of Twisted Reveries: Thirteen Tales of the Macabre.








The Haunted House in Horror Literature

by meg hafdahl



With the recent success of Grady Hendrix’s (My Best Friend’s Exorcism, The Final Girl Support Group) newest novel, How To Sell A Haunted House, I naturally started thinking about this well-loved trope of a house bursting with ghosts. It’s also been on my mind as my co-author and I have been crossing the USA, documenting haunted places for our travel book coming in 2024. I don’t need to tell you that haunted houses are abundantly used as settings in the horror genre, and they share many similarities. You know; the drafty rooms, mysterious corridors, spider-webbed attics, and, most vital of all, the ghosts. These are often apparitions of the former owners, often people who were murdered or died with the always popular “unfinished business.” They can be invisible, or maybe show themselves, dressed in the clothes of their era.  The haunted house is certainly not a new idea, like the boogeyman himself, it is borne of our natural, human fears. Home is where we should feel safe. No matter the indignities of life outside, we should all have a safe place in which to retreat. When this is disturbed, it immediately brings horror to the characters, and their readers. 

My favorite haunted house story is Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. I’m not alone, as it has inspired many films and works, as recently as Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series. Written at a time when women were grappling with their place in the home (on the cusp of the sixties) Jackson uses the conventions of a haunted house to point to the destruction of the female in forced domesticity. Home, to Jackson, is inherently female, as well as maternal. When Stephen King created ghosts in The Shining (okay a hotel, but close enough) he used the tropes of the haunted house to further a story about a man haunted by his own past, as well as his ever-present addiction. And we know Edgar Allan Poe meditated on the nature of guilt and grief through some of the first American haunted dwellings. Perhaps what makes a haunted house so prolific in horror literature, is that it is an enticing template on which authors can inject their own fears. Isn’t that what we do when we enter a Halloween haunted house? As we traverse the slim corridors and actors jump out at us, we are individually dreading all the things that could happen. For some its our fear of something crawling on our neck, for others it’s a bloodthirsty ghost of that person we killed! Oops! 

As a horror fiction writer I am not immune to this trope. Ghosts creeping around houses are just plain scary, it’s something as humans we’ve collectively agreed gives us goosebumps. It also delves into what little we know about an afterlife. In my novel Daughters of Darkness, I introduced a ghost who speaks to a child through an air vent. This juxtaposition of the scary and the mundane is another aspect, I think, that makes haunted houses so appealing. 

    Books are not the only reason we share a collective understanding of the haunted house. They are alive and well in films from every decade, like the Vincent Price starring The House on Haunted Hill in 1959 to the vividly gothic Crimson Peak in 2015. Let us not forget the chairs moving in formation in Poltergeist, and that clown toy hiding in the shadows that still gives me nightmares…

    However you like your haunted house there’s one for you.

    Here’s some recommendations of some of my favorites if want to explore some haunted houses on your own (what could go wrong?) 

Books: The Good House by Tananarive Due, Hell House by Richard Matheson, The Hacienda by Isabel Canas, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Movies: The Grudge, The Changeling, 1408, The Others, The Innocents




Horror and suspense author Meg Hafdahl is the creator of numerous stories and books. Her fiction has appeared in anthologies such as Eve’s Requiem: Tales of Women, Mystery and Horror and Eclectically Criminal. Her work has been produced for audio by The Wicked Library and The Lift, and she is the author of two popular short story collections including Twisted Reveries: Thirteen Tales of the Macabre. Meg is also the author of the two novels; Daughters of Darkness and Her Dark Inheritance called “an intricate tale of betrayal, murder, and small town intrigue” by Horror Addicts and “every bit as page turning as any King novel” by RW Magazine. Meg, also the co-host of the podcast Horror Rewind and co-author of The Science of Monsters, The Science of Women in Horror, The Science of Stephen King and upcoming The Science of Serial Killers, lives in the snowy bluffs of Minnesota.

Published September 6, 2022 by Skyhorse A scientific discovery of witches in fiction—Chilled Adventures of Sabrina, Sleeping Beauty, Wicked ...



Published September 6, 2022 by Skyhorse

A scientific discovery of witches in fiction—Chilled Adventures of Sabrina, Sleeping Beauty, Wicked and so many more!

Kelly Florence and Meg Hafdahl, authors of The Science of Women in Horror and co-hosts of the Horror Rewind podcast called “the best horror film podcast out there” by Film Daddy, present a guide to the history of witchcraft through the stories and characters we all know and love. Reveal the spellbinding science behind the legends and lore surrounding fiction’s most iconic witches, answering such questions as:
What is the science behind divination and spellcraft?
When did witchcraft begin to show up in literature and media?
Has science made it possible to uncover the truth behind the powers of necromancy and employing familiars?
How has witchcraft been thought of throughout the world?

Through interviews, film and literary analysis, and bone-chilling discoveries, join Kelly and Meg as they learn about the complicated and rich science of witchcraft throughout the centuries and discover why now is the season of the witch!





The Horror and Humanity of The Last of Us

By Kelly Florence



HBO’s latest hit, The Last of Us (2023-), based on the video game by the same name, has taken the world by storm. On Sunday, January 29th the third episode of the series premiered and became the social media buzz and water cooler talk of the week. How could a post-apocalyptic show about mushroom zombies cause so many people to openly weep? Acclaimed horror writer and director Mike Flanagan even declared it to be “one of the best episodes of television I’ve ever seen.” 1 This earnest and beautiful hour of television explores not only how life changes after an outbreak that infects the world but also how love, and the things we fight for, matter throughout our time on this Earth.


Light spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched the series! The videogame “The Last of Us” was released in 2013 and follows the characters Joel and Ellie as they navigate their way through the United States which has been overrun by “the Infected.” HBO’s version deviates from the game by exploring stories and perspectives that broaden the world and emotional understanding of the characters. “One More Good Day,” the third episode of the series, focuses on two men Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), and their relationship over a period of years. Creator Craig Mazin said, “I think the Bill and Frank relationship ultimately functioned as this interesting, thematic core where you can see every relationship between two people in the show…It keeps circling what it means to be somebody that loves outward and somebody who loves inward, what it means to protect and what it means to risk. It just felt like it was a good chance to do that stuff and to do it in a place where we wouldn’t be breaking anything from the game. It just felt safe.” 2 


In the study of communications, we often discuss the different types of love that exist and how we show that love to others. Gary Chapman coined and wrote about “The Five Love Languages” in his 1992 book by the same name after working as a marriage counselor for over twenty years. Relationship experts have been using this system of understanding love to help couples better communicate and understand one another. The five love languages are words of affirmation, acts of service, gifts, quality time, and physical touch. According to Chapman, we each like to show our love for others in a specific way and we prefer to receive our love from others in one of these love languages. It’s important to note that they may be different. For example, you may like to receive gifts, but you would rather show your love through words of affirmation. Your partner may prefer receiving love by spending quality time with you while you would like to have physical touch to feel loved and appreciated. Understanding these facets about ourselves and others helps us to strengthen our relationships and become better communicators. 


Bill and Frank’s love languages become apparent throughout the episode in a variety of touching moments I won’t spoil for you here! The actors’ sincere portrayals, the writer’s heartbreaking dialogue, the beautiful direction, and the haunting score all culminate to become one of my favorite episodes of television ever and I, too, was a sobbing wreck by the conclusion! This proves that the genre of horror can have an impact on us as readers and viewers far more than some people imagine. Horror can induce empathy, show complicated and rich relationships, and have us experience worlds and circumstances we didn’t think possible. After hearing others talk about their reactions to this episode during the week, it seems many of us came to the same conclusion: spend time with the ones you love. Show them that you care. Tell them that you love them. We don’t know how much time we’ll have with the ones that matter most to us so it’s important to act now before it’s too late. And don’t forget to watch more in the horror genre, too!


1 Flanagan, Mike. (January 29, 2023) “#TheLastofUsHBO.” Twitter.com. 

2 Dyer, James. (January 30, 2023) “The Last of Us: Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann on How Episode 3 Explores ‘What it Means to Protect, and What it Means to Risk.’” Empire.






Kelly Florence teaches communication at Lake Superior College in Duluth, MN and is the creator of the Be a Better Communicator podcast. She received her BA in theatre from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and her MA in communicating arts from the University of Wisconsin-Superior. She has written, directed, produced, choreographed, and stage managed for dozens of productions in Minnesota including Carrie: The Musical through Rubber Chicken Theatre and Treasure Island for Wise Fool Theater. She is passionate about female representation in all media and particularly the horror genre.
 
She is the co-author of The Science of Monsters, The Science of Women in Horror, The Science of Stephen King, The Science of Serial Killers, and The Science of Witchcraft with Meg Hafdahl. They co-host the Horror Rewind podcast and write and produce horror projects together. Kelly is repped by Stacey Kondla (Literary Agent) at The Rights Factory and Karmen Wells (TV/Film Agent) at The Rights Factory.

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