Books
10 Upcoming Horror Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2024
It’s shaping up to be one massive year for horror already. Beyond a plethora of horror movies already on the horizon, the literary world is teeming with spine-tingling short story collections, novels, and more to keep you busy through 2024. So, here’s a starter guide for upcoming horror literature ready to deliver chills and thrills, from bloodthirsty slashers to body horror and beyond. Even cooler? Horror fans seem to dominate the horror protagonist space so far.
Here are just ten upcoming horror books we can’t wait to read.
The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland – January 30
Zara Jones will do anything it takes to bring her sister back from the dead in this witchy thriller, including dabbling in the black arts. She’s not the only one motivated by the occult. A serial killer on the loose connects Zara with Emer and Jude, two fellow witches with problems and traumas of their own. Together, the trio’s quest for answers and retribution lead them on a journey of body horror, witchcraft, and murder. It all sounds like a recipe for unexpected genre fun.
Murder Road by Simone St. James – March 5
Newlywed couple April and Eddie get lost on the drive to their honeymoon destination. They spot a woman on the road in the middle of nowhere, late at night, gravely injured and bleeding. When the mysterious woman dies at the hospital, April and Eddie become the prime suspects, prompting a personal quest to solve the woman’s murder. The deeper they wade into their investigation, the more they uncover buried secrets with a supernatural twist. Expect a gripping page turner with St. James, and an eerie horror twist to the murder mystery format.
The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones – March 26
The final installment of Jones’ Indian Lake trilogy arrives, and it’s all but guaranteed to be an epic bloodbath for the ages. One of the toughest Final Girls of all time, Jade Daniels, has endured so much already in her young life, frequently taking the blame for the slaughter despite being Proofrock’s savior. But Jade’s love of horror keeps her mentally prepared to take on the worst Proofrock has to offer, including the curse of the Lake Witch. It’ll be bittersweet to say goodbye to one of horror lit’s greatest characters, but Jones will ensure the conclusion is every bit as satisfying and worthy of his Final Girl as fans of the saga are hoping for.
Stitches by Hirokatsu Kihara and illustrator Junji Ito – March 26
Horror master Junji Ito teams up with author Hirokatsu Kihara for a new scary story collection sure to bring the nightmare fuel. The collection will include nine stories and a bonus manga story, from weird to macabre. Weird shapes terrorizing beach goers, tumors with a mind of their own, and more.
The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry – May 14
This horror tale follows a single mother working in the gothic mansion of a reclusive horror movie director who discovers the house is full of terrifying secrets. And those secrets want to be let out. Good thing the single mother, Harry Adams, happens to be a massive horror fan. Horror fan protagonists are an easy sell; who’s more prepared to tackle supernatural terror than a savvy fan? Throw one into a sprawling haunted mansion and this has all the makings of a gripping summer read.
Horror Movie: A Novel by Paul Tremblay – June 11
The author behind The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts gives his spin on the cursed film concept. An ode to horror movies from a horror fan, the plot centers around a cursed movie made by guerilla filmmakers in 1993. Cut to the present, where Hollywood’s eager to tackle a big budget reboot. But the only surviving cast member knows that some movies and its dark secrets are better left buried. Don’t expect a conventional path for this cursed film tale; Tremblay’s the king of ambiguity and head trips when it comes to horror lit.
Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman – June 25
An eerie new tale from the author behind Bird Box: A Novel. Incidents Around the House will tell of a family tormented by a sinister entity, told from the perspective of a young child who refers to this entity as “Other Mommy.” And Other Mommy is only getting stronger. As Coraline already demonstrated, Other Mothers tend to be quite scary. When framed from the perspective of a young child, the potential for a bone-chilling story increases tenfold.
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones – July 16
Good news for those sad to reach the conclusion of Jones’ Indian Lake trilogy this year: the author is back at it already with the ’80s set I Was a Teenage Slasher. Tolly Driver was a good kid from a small Texas town until he was cursed to kill for revenge. Whereas Jones delivered a Final Girl for the ages with his Indian Lake trilogy, this one offers a summer set slasher from the perspective of the killer as Tolly writes his own murderous autobiography. Even better? Here’s a sneak peek novel excerpt to hold you over until the book is published.
Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo by Adam Cesare – August 20
Frendo the clown is back to terrorize and slaughter once more! Cesare applied retro slasher vibes to the modern world in the first novel, capturing the current landscape of unrest with an unflinching eye and a savage lust for blood. All set in a small town with a creepy clown mascot and badly behaved grown ups. The author upped the ante in the second novel, drawing from different influences for a much more insane and violent effort. Look for Cesare to flip the script for the third book in the series. Cesare previously teased, “There’s some weirdness with a capital W. And some 70s revenge/road movie vibes.”
The Queen: A Novel by Nick Cutter – August 28
The author behind the disturbing body horror novel The Troop and unsettling aquatic horror The Deep is back, this time with a sci-fi horror twist to teen horror. Lifelong best friends Margaret and Charity are so close that they share everything and know each other well, save for one dark secret that Charity withheld: she happens to have been a subjected to a gene manipulation experiment that’s altered her DNA. When that mutation triggers at a high school party, well, bloodshed and terror ensue. With Cutter behind this tale, expect things to get gruesome.
Books
‘Halloween: Illustrated’ Review: Original Novelization of John Carpenter’s Classic Gets an Upgrade
Film novelizations have existed for over 100 years, dating back to the silent era, but they peaked in popularity in the ’70s and ’80s, following the advent of the modern blockbuster but prior to the rise of home video. Despite many beloved properties receiving novelizations upon release, a perceived lack of interest have left a majority of them out of print for decades, with desirable titles attracting three figures on the secondary market.
Once such highly sought-after novelization is that of Halloween by Richard Curtis (under the pen name Curtis Richards), based on the screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. Originally published in 1979 by Bantam Books, the mass market paperback was reissued in the early ’80s but has been out of print for over 40 years.
But even in book form, you can’t kill the boogeyman. While a simple reprint would have satisfied the fanbase, boutique publisher Printed in Blood has gone above and beyond by turning the Halloween novelization into a coffee table book. Curtis’ unabridged original text is accompanied by nearly 100 new pieces of artwork by Orlando Arocena to create Halloween: Illustrated.
One of the reasons that The Shape is so scary is because he is, as Dr. Loomis eloquently puts it, “purely and simply evil.” Like the film sequels that would follow, the novelization attempts to give reason to the malevolence. More ambiguous than his sister or a cult, Curtis’ prologue ties Michael’s preternatural abilities to an ancient Celtic curse.
Jumping to 1963, the first few chapters delve into Michael’s childhood. Curtis hints at a familial history of evil by introducing a dogmatic grandmother, a concerned mother, and a 6-year-old boy plagued by violent nightmares and voices. The author also provides glimpses at Michael’s trial and his time at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, which not only strengthens Loomis’ motivation for keeping him institutionalized but also provides a more concrete theory on how Michael learned to drive.
Aside from a handful of minor discrepancies, including Laurie stabbing Michael in his manhood, the rest of the book essentially follows the film’s depiction of that fateful Halloween night in 1978 beat for beat. Some of the writing is dated — like a smutty fixation on every female character’s breasts and a casual use of the R-word — but it otherwise possesses a timelessness similar to its film counterpart. The written version benefits from expanded detail and enriched characters.
The addition of Arocena’s stunning illustrations, some of which are integrated into the text, creates a unique reading experience. The artwork has a painterly quality to it but is made digitally using vectors. He faithfully reproduces many of Halloween‘s most memorable moments, down to actor likeness, but his more expressionistic pieces are particularly striking.
The 224-page hardcover tome also includes an introduction by Curtis — who details the challenges of translating a script into a novel and explains the reasoning behind his decisions to occasionally subvert the source material — and a brief afterword from Arocena.
Novelizations allow readers to revisit worlds they love from a different perspective. It’s impossible to divorce Halloween from the film’s iconography — Carpenter’s atmospheric direction and score, Dean Cundey’s anamorphic cinematography, Michael’s expressionless mask, Jamie Lee Curtis’ star-making performance — but Halloween: Illustrated paints a vivid picture in the mind’s eye through Curtis’ writing and Arocena’s artwork.
Halloween: Illustrated is available now.
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