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If you’re a fan of horror books, 2026 is already looking to be an amazing and eerie year full of a huge range of much anticipated horror books!
Whether you enjoy paranormal stories, gory slashers, revenge horror, unexplainable villains, or witchy tales, this list will give you lots of exciting new horror book releases to look forward to this coming year!
I’ll keep this list updated as the year goes on and new books are announced and released.
Read this list of the best new Horror book releases coming in 2026
January 2026 Horror book releases
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
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Release date: January 20 2026
Simone St. James, the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel, returns with her scariest, most shocking novel yet in this pulse-pounding story about siblings who return to the house they fled 18 years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request: Come home.
Fruit of the Flesh by I.V. Ophelia
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Release date: January 20 2026
Behind the glamour of Gilded Age New York, a marriage of convenience between an artisan and a ballerina masks their shared appetite for revenge in this darkly seductive gothic romance.
Humboldt Cut by Allison Mick
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Release date: January 27 2026
Jordan Peele and Jeff Vandermeer meet The Overstory in comedy writer Allison Mick’s darkly humorous debut eco-horror novel, as a Black woman returns home to the redwood forests of northern California, only to unearth the monsters that lurk among the trees…
On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield
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Release date: January 27 2026
In this sinister and surreal Southern Gothic debut, a woman escapes into the uncanny woods of southern Georgia and must contend with ghosts, haints, and most dangerous of all, the truth about herself.
February 2026 Horror book releases
The Bone Queen by Will Shindler
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Release date: February 3 2026
A chilling horror-thriller debut where a mother’s search for her missing daughter battles against the shadows of a historic, dangerous legend.
Cruelty Free by Caroline Glenn
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Release date: February 3 2026
A disgraced movie star returns to Hollywood 10 years after the kidnapping of her young daughter intent on seeking revenge, for fans of Monika Kim and Rachel Yoder.
The Fourth Princess by Janie Chang
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Release date: February 10 2026
From the internationally bestselling author of The Porcelain Moon comes a haunting Gothic novel set in 1911 China. Two young women living in a crumbling, once-grand Shanghai mansion face danger as secrets of their pasts come to light, even as the mansion’s own secret threatens the present.
The Body by Bethany C. Morrow
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Release date: February 10 2026
The Body is a pulse-pounding supernatural horror story from bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow, where one woman must survive a series of bizarre and escalating attacks on her marriage.
Warning Signs by Tracy Sierra
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Release date: February 10 2026
The heart-stopping second novel from the author of Nightwatching, in which a father-son ski weekend becomes a desperate fight for survival
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
Release date: February 10 2026
A “traditional wife” influencer allows a demonic creature to impregnate her in this unnerving horror novel, perfect for fans of Nightbitch and Mary, from the author of Serial Killer Support Group.
Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
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Release date: February 24 2026
Nowhere Burning is a harrowing tale of survival that places the dark fairy tale of Peter Pan and the ruthless dangers of Lord of the Flies into the unforgiving maw of the Colorado Rockies.
Dollface by Lindy Ryan
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Release date: February 24 2026
Barbie meets Scream with a 90s nostalgia twist in this horror romp from Bless Your Heart author Lindy Ryan.
March 2026 Horror book releases
Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran
Release date: March 10 2026
A thrilling gothic debut • The untimely death of a student at a girls’ boarding school marks the first in a haunting series of escalating supernatural events, and uncovers buried truths of teenage repression, queer desire, and the everyday horror of coming of age.
You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado
Release date: March 10 2026
Demons clash with inheritance claims as secrets unfold and violence is unleashed over twelve harrowing hours trapped in a house with the worst thing imaginable: family.
Only Spell Deep by Ava Morgyn
Release date: March 17 2026
Judeth Cole has always had certain uncanny abilities. But when she arrived at Solidago, her grandfather’s estate by the sea, she was forced to keep them secret. There she lived a harsh life under his rule and the haunting legacy of her late grandmother, Aurelia. Until the fateful day she ignited a fire with her magic. It was the last time she saw her family alive.
Mother Is Watching by Karma Brown
Release date: March 17 2026
The chilling horror debut from a #1 international bestselling author—an art conservator’s obsession with a mysterious painting spirals into a nightmarish descent, where the line between reality and the supernatural shatters, threatening both her sanity and her life
Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher
Release date: March 24 2026
Something darker than the devil stalks the North Carolina woods in Wolf Worm, a new gothic masterpiece from New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher
“I saw the devil in these woods.”
Dig by J.H. Markert
Release date: March 24 2026
The soil on Crow Island holds secrets, and they’re ready to be unearthed.
Eight years ago, a boy took up an axe and slaughtered a dozen people. That odd, troubled boy, Jericho Dodd, has been dead and buried in his father’s yard for years, but ever since that massacre, Crow Island has been a dark and unsettling place.
Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas
Release date: March 31 2026
The acclaimed author of the “disorienting, creepy, paranoia-inducing” (Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World) A History of Fear returns with a spine-tingling new thriller about a weight loss treatment with potentially murderous side effects.
The Fourth Wife by Linda Hamilton
Release date: March 31 2026
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas meets “Sister Wives” in a deliciously chilling, darkly romantic, historical gothic horror with a feminist slant, as a young Mormon woman is haunted by a malevolent presence in the decrepit Salt Lake City mansion she shares with her new husband and his other wives…
April 2026 Horror book releases
We Call Them Witches by India-Rose Bower
Release date: April 7 2026
For fans of The Watchers and T. Kingfisher comes a queer, post-apocalyptic horror following one woman’s journey across a merciless wasteland to save her brother and confront the dark truth behind the monsters that ravaged the world – with the help of a woman she’s not sure she can trust but can’t help falling for.
Shy Girl by Mia Ballard
Release date: April 7 2026
An unapologetic, visceral revenge horror novel about a woman in captivity who blurs the line between human and beast in order to survive, perfect for fans of Nightbitch and Mona Awad.
SIT. SPEAK. STAY.
The Counting Game by Sinéad Nolan
Release date: April 7 2026
Into the woods.
Count to ten.
Only one of us comes home again.
When a teenager disappears from her small Irish town and a therapist is brought in to break the silence of the only witness, old wounds are opened in a search that becomes a race against time—perfect for fans of God of the Woods and The Witch Elm.
Blood Trail by Matt Query & Harrison Query
Release date: April 7 2026
A poacher-turned-game-warden is on the hunt for a bloodthirsty cult in this unnerving thriller from the authors of the “artful chiller” (Lincoln Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Wilderness Reform.
Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman
Release date: April 7 2026
At sixty-six years old, Winston Kemper has always been a nonentity. No one notices him. His simple existence barely registers for those who come into contact with him. Some call him feeble-minded. He is a janitor at the local church, a groundskeeper by default, and that’s it. No friends, no family. When he’s done with work, he returns home—a remote, single room apartment located above a garage—and that is where his true work begins.
The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own by Gwendolyn Kiste
Release date: April 14 2026
Celebrated author Gwendolyn Kiste cordially invites you to explore The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own. Enter a world possessed by recriminations from bygone eras, where the regrets and malice of years past still reverberate and shape our doom. Here, morally complex women and queer antiheroines swim against the current of a social structure that serves as a spectral prison in these layered stories of the weird and the Other.
The Hive by Ronald Malfi
Release date: April 14 2026
The residents of Mariner’s Cove are changing…
In the aftermath of a violent storm, a collective obsession is rapidly developing among the people of this quaint suburban neighborhood. Random, everyday items left scattered upon the lawns, the streets, and the shoreline all seem to call out to them. There is an item for almost everyone, and each item has a certain hold over the person who finds it—a hold that soon turns into unwavering infatuation. They hide their items from each other, obsess over them, and they will do anything—anything—to protect them.
Morsel by Carter Keane
Release date: April 14 2026
Carter Keane’s Morsel is a delicious folk horror debut about learning to bite back when the world is determined to eat you alive.
Lou did what the children of parents with backbreaking, poorly paying jobs are supposed to do: pulled up her bootstraps, went to college, and got an office gig with coworkers who won’t stop talking about their multilevel marketing scheme disguised as self-betterment.
Wife Shaped Bodies by Laura Cranehill
Release date: April 14 2026
Sorrowland meets Manhunt in this literary horror debut in which an isolated newlywed—covered in mushroom growths like all the other wives in her community—strikes a precarious balance between following her husband’s strict rules and pursuing an intense connection with a woman who makes her question everything.
May the Dead Keep You by Jill Baguchinsky
Release date: April 21 2026
Perfect for fans of Don’t Let the Forest In and Wuthering Heights, this gothic horror novel is about the pasts that haunt us and the stories we decide to make for ourselves.
There’s nowhere Catie East would rather be than the redwood forest that surrounds her family’s unusual historic home, the Heights.
Witch Queen Rising by Savannah Stephens
Release date: April 21 2026
A reclusive witch who fled the burden of her bloodline rises to be the greatest among them in this lush and haunting fantasy debut.
For New Orleans witchkin, there is no greater honor than to become the Prime—chosen to rule. But the title is meant to pass between two rival Houses of magic, not to the wayward daughter of the former Prime who died under mysterious circumstances.
The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
Release date: April 21 2026
Follow the Rites…
Nothing less than the survival of humanity is at stake.
From Marcus Kliewer, a new “titan of the macabre and unsettling” (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), comes a supernatural horror about a young woman who accepts a caretaking job from Craigslist, only to discover the position has consequences far greater—and more dangerous—than she ever could have imagined.
Dark Is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce
Release date: April 28 2026
Unrelentingly scary and thrilling, Dark Is When the Devil Comes is an ambitious and chilling novel from acclaimed horror author Daisy Pearce.
The woods are known as the place to avoid. What goes in, doesn’t come out.
Hex House by Amy Jane Stewart
Release date: April 28 2026
A feverishly told, dark and unsettling Scotland-set fairy-tale about a safe haven for women which transforms them into vessels of revenge, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, A. G Slatter and Julia Armfield
Molka by Monika Kim
Release date: April 28 2026
Molka: an abbreviation of molrae-kamera, a “sneaky camera” hidden to capture covert images and videos for voyeurs.
In an unassuming Seoul workplace, IT technician Junyoung’s network reaches throughout the entire building. He sees every entrance. Every lobby. Every bathroom. The women in this building may be cold and dismissive, but he can always pull up his favorite images of them and remember who holds the real power. Until one, Dahye, sets herself apart from the rest.
May 2026 Horror book releases
She Waits Where Shadows Gather by Michelle Tang
Release date: May 5 2026
Parents should pass down stories, not spirits…
Avery and Carlos Tam have built their lives on logic, not legends. Carlos, the host of a hit reality show that exposes paranormal hoaxes, has made a name disproving the supernatural.
The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
Release date: May 5 2026
When Mercy Chan washes up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, the only refuge she finds is the infamous, ghost-infested slum of Kowloon Walled City. Since then, she has rebuilt her life, working for the local triad as a ghost talker and dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt the district. The filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon have become her home.
Body Count by Codie Crowley
Release date: May 5 2026
Seven years ago, Sundae Valentine made a deal with a monster she met at the bottom of a motel pool. She didn’t know the wishes he offered had a price—or that the third wish, the one she still hasn’t made, will cost her life.
Back then, she barely escaped Wildwood alive. Now, the cheerleaders and football players are headed to the Jersey Shore for prom weekend—leaving Sundae no choice but to return to the scene of her sun-bleached nightmares.
Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka
Release date: May 5 2026
When documentary filmmaker turned stay-at-home mom Tennessee Cherish moves into the the dream house her husband bought for her, a brighter future seems to be on the horizon. Even if her husband is frustratingly absent due to his new high-paying job. Even if their two young children begin acting out in strange ways. Even if she feels lonelier than ever.
Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey
Release date: May 12 2026
An exclusive invitation.
A remote island infamous for its miraculous ecology.
A once-in-a-lifetime chance to fix everything that’s broken.
But sometimes growth requires sacrifice….
WELCOME TO KINDRED COVE.
The Bone Door by Frances White
Release date: May 12 2026
How far will you go to open The Bone Door?
When Hop awakens in an ancient labyrinth, he has no memory of his life, or how he got here. He does not recognise the mysterious girl trapped with him. And he certainly cannot identify the shadowy figure stalking him, whispering terrible things…
Until Death by Mary Berman
Release date: May 19 2026
If Ophelia Cohen learned one thing from her parents, it’s that getting married is a bad idea. But if she’s learning anything from her widowed mother’s dementia, it’s that dying alone is worse. So when she meets Luke—the man of her mother’s dreams—marriage suddenly doesn’t seem so crazy.
Filth Eaters by Ito Romo
Release date: May 19 2026
Granada, 1849. After centuries of scrounging in the shadows, the vampire Radamés discovers an ancient Aztec codex that reveals the vampires of the “New World” live a more “human” life—they marry, they give birth. Spurred on by tantalizing promise of a fuller existence, Radamés glamours and schemes his way onto a ship headed for Mexico. There, in the underbelly of the forgotten city of Teotihuacán, the Andalusian vampire falls in love with a member of this ancient sect of vampires who call themselves Filth Eaters. From their union, the mestizo vampire Doro is born.
House of Margins by Tlotlo Tsamaase
Release date: May 26 2026
Anaya Sebeya is missing.
Before her disappearance, Anaya was a brilliant writer: a rising star. Invited to a prestigious writing residency at Günter Huis, an eerie colonial mansion on the slopes of Devil’s Peak, Anaya was supposed to craft the next great African literary masterpiece—and so were four other young, emerging writers, all competing for the grand prize. But Anaya never made it home.
The Hollow One by Corinne Westbrook
Release date: May 26 2026
In the quiet of a rundown house at the edge of town, a young girl named Ellie carries more than any child should. With a mother who is barely present and a baby brother who depends on her for everything, Ellie survives by staying small, silent, and unseen.
But something has started to knock at the window.
Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen
Release date: May 26 2026
The year is 1635.
Sister Ursula, a young nun fleeing the ruins of her convent, and Elsebeth, a sharp-witted peasant, escape a band of marauding soldiers and disappear into the Bavarian forest. War scorches the land, and no one survives it alone. Amid the devastation, they find something in the arms of a dying man: the gilded skull of a saint.
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