Gransden (Anemogram) brings together 14 surreal and eerie stories mining scares from technology, domestic life, and the natural world. In the wonderfully bizarre opener, “Turducken: Confirm Humanity,” a turducken comes to life, waddles from its roasting pan, and discovers the wonders and horrors of the internet. The lines between video games and reality blur in “Fuck It Cat and the Mod Hex from Hell,” while the protagonist of “ReWipe” is driven to an act of violence by the realization that he can no longer “like” anything on social media. Other stories offer more intimate horrors: an abusive mother drugs her teenage son in “Seeping Willow,” leading to strange hallucinations; and in “Pageant,” teen beauty queens turn violent against their controlling mothers. “The Disco Rice Club,” one of the standouts, delves into body horror after a heist attempted by a trio of garbage men goes horribly wrong (the “disco rice” of the title refers to maggots). The high-concept title story serves as a finale, following the exploits of Happy Bunny, a character who exists in a liminal grey room between calls to perform his part in the real world. Several of these tales take abrupt violent turns that successfully shock but feel somewhat unmotivated. Still, the inventive concepts and haunting, dreamlike imagery will appeal to horror fans. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

With this dreamy and slow-moving science fiction romance, Olson (Android Author) embarks on a timely philosophical exploration of the nature of consciousness and artificial intelligence. The story reinvents a classic premise: the crew of the Ascension awakens from cryosleep to find that the AI controlling the spaceship, named Nova Starlight, has apparently gone mad. But, Olson asks, has she truly lost her sanity, or are the crew’s attempts to dismiss her feelings misogynistic? Nova shows the crew of six and their captain, Sally Arden, that Earth has been destroyed while they slumbered. Not sure if she can trust Nova, Sally decides to continue with their mission to paint the ashes of a billionaire across the NASA space probe Voyager 2. As they travel, Sally and Nova share simple yet delightful stories of their childhoods and grow tantalizingly close, but their budding romance is shattered once they reach Voyager, when a shocking betrayal drives them apart. Their subsequent return voyage to discover what remains of Earth is often claustrophobic and horrifying, but builds to an ultimately hopeful ending. Full of vivid dream sequences, sapphic longing, and insightful philosophizing, this genre-bending adventure offers much to chew on. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this sprawling series opener, Bishop (the Black Jewels series) crafts an entertaining and sometimes brutal tale of magic, mystery, and mischief. Shortly after Junior Detective Beth Fahey is assigned to the Penwych police’s 13th precinct special investigations team, she’s tapped for an unusual case involving a magical gun. The inquiry sends her across the Fate River to the Isle of Wyrd to search for answers with the Arcana, the Isle’s enigmatic, fae-like inhabitants who believe that bargains are sacrosanct, intentions have power, and nothing comes free. Swiftly entangled in the doings of the mythical and mysterious, Beth discovers her presence among the Arcana is no accident, and her destiny rests in the hands of their Sorcerer King, Lucas Frost. Meanwhile, a series of intertwined disappearances and deaths create tension between the Arcana and their human visitors, building to a crisis point. Over multiple perspectives, Bishop dwells on themes of escaping abuse, finding freedom, and determining one’s destiny. There’s a fairy tale morality at play: those who embrace cruelty or ignore warnings tend to experience horrible fates, while those seeking peace or safety are offered opportunities for healing and sanctuary. Subtle in its magic if not its messaging, this is a thought-provoking work. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Koja’s dizzyingly ambitious third Dark Factory novel finds the marriage between immersive experience producer Ari Regon and genius musician Felix Perez straining under the pressure of celebrity. No longer a scrappy young club kid, Ari has reluctantly partnered with venture capitalist Tom Hae to build a new platform that will showcase Felix’s music to the world. Ari feels torn in many directions by those vying for his attention, among them Bunny Graves, a big pharma heiress turned punk dominatrix, who is willing to resort to mercenary measures to insert herself into Ari and Felix’s relationship. The result is a game of psychological cat and mouse dressed up in cyberpunk rave gear and studded with blistering insights into the art world. Meanwhile, in a somewhat siloed subplot, “reality artist” Max Caspar meets “chaos scholar” Charmian Duglass within the virtual world of Birds of Prey and learns her theory that the real world is ending. There are a symphony’s worth of themes at play—from music theory to the nature of identity—and Koja is, for the most part, a confident conductor. It can, however, be difficult to parse her careening prose, which often takes the form of run-on sentences laden with names, places, and references to past events. Even so, this is impressive to behold. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

The fascinating if disjointed debut novel from short story writer Garcia (The Girl Who Cried Diamonds) charts the life of Alma Ata, a young Jewish Mexican woman living in Ottawa. Told in the first person through a collection of fragmentary flashbacks, the narrative begins with adult Alma headed to a party, then jarringly shifts to her as a child at her grandmother’s funeral. After a hateful, scissor-wielding aunt attacks her, Alma runs away—right into teenage neighbor Oliver Jentsch, who shows her a grotesque perpetual-motion machine in the shape of a human hand crafted by his mysterious mother. Alma then switches gears again to introduce her older sister, Marnie, who, unlike Alma, is white-passing. Marnie invites a now 14-year-old Alma to visit her at college in Montreal but insists Alma not reveal that they’re siblings. Devastated, Alma seeks out Oliver and the pair get into a car crash in which Oliver dies and Alma loses an arm. Angry and depressed, she drops out of high school. Meanwhile, Oliver’s mother copes with grief by crafting a new, much stranger invention. The prose is lovely, and Garcia has a knack for capturing the surreality of loss, but the many splintering plotlines raise more questions than they answer. There’s lots here to hold readers’ interest, but it’s a challenge to sort through. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

A ruthless faerie bounty hunter finally gets a shot at revenge in this rewarding quest fantasy, Swift’s debut. Lyssa Carnifex—aka the Butcher—has devoted her life to hunting deadly faerie creations known as Hounds, though she’s never been able to track down and slay the Beast of Buxton Fields, the Hound who killed her brother. When the eccentric and extremely wealthy Lord Alderic Casimir de Laurent hires her to kill the Beast, Lyssa jumps at the job. Two things complicate this quest: first, the Beast can only be killed with a sword forged from items owned by its victims; and second, Lyssa’s witch ally, Ragnhild, foretells that Lyssa will only be successful if she and Alderic work together. The pair form an unlikely but banter-filled alliance, as they collect ingredients and dodge the faerie-loving Hound-wardens. The final twist will come as no surprise to any seasoned fantasy reader, but the predictable ending still delivers hefty emotional payoff. Lyssa is a stellar protagonist and readers will find it easy to invest in her story. Meanwhile, the colorful side characters, especially Ragnhild, do their best to steal the show. With a well-drawn cast and a charming fairy tale quality, this should win Swift plenty of fans. Agent: Valerie Noble, Donaghy Literary. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Bram Stoker Award winner Gifune (God Machine) serves up a lean, mean supernatural thriller that moves at a breakneck speed and doesn’t let up. It opens at a mental institution, where an unnamed man recuperates after surviving a horrific incident. The tale then flashes back to find depressed divorcee Truck having recently relocated to a patch of desolate land in the middle of winter. When he hears strange beasts circling his property one night, he calls up his friends in a panic. In response, his old crew—Mike, Elliot, Javon, Bart, and Dizzy—come to check in on their despondent friend. They believe their buddy is having a breakdown—until the sources of the strange noises make themselves all too clear. What follows is a pulpy and entertaining fight for survival that plays out over the course of a single night. Gifune doesn’t waste too much time on backstories, which keeps the pace up but makes the relationships between the men feel somewhat sketchy, especially as their banter grows repetitive. Still, the deaths land and a twist ending shocks. It’s a solid diversion for horror fans. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

With nods to “The Little Mermaid,” Ehrlich’s lovely sophomore outing (after Animal Wife) again probes themes of womanhood and monstrosity. Ceto, a siren and hunter of men, yearns to break the cycle of hunger and satiation that defines her life and so slices her tail to give herself legs and live among humans. She even marries a human man and gives birth to a human child. Fifteen years later, having left her husband, she and her daughter, Naia, live in Sirenland, a tourist attraction that Ceto has created to be a haven for women, who can find shelter and a job working at Sirenland’s famed mermaid burlesque, where performers put on fake tales and lounge in human-size tanks. Conflict arises when Naia, repeating the cycle started by her mother, starts longing for a life outside of Sirenland—and then worsens when someone turns up dead. Ehrlich raises the question of what makes a “good” mother with alternating narration from Ceto and Naia. There’s not much new brought to this familiar thematic exploration of mother as monster, but the dazzling specifics of Sirenland captivate. Fans of feminist fabulism should take note. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment meets All Creatures Great and Small in this quirky novella from Nebula and Hugo award winner Kingfisher (Hemlock & Silver), originally self-published in 2013. The Nineteenth Infantry of the Goblin Army, also called the Whinin’ Niners, are not exactly a crack team. Led by Sergeant Nessilka, their slogan is, “Too dumb to desert. Too smart to die.” When they face off with a wizard mid-battle, he transports the squadron deep behind enemy lines. The hapless band aren’t well equipped to make it back to Goblinhome without being caught—especially not when one of them is kidnapped by perpetually exhausted elf Sings-to-Trees, a magical animal veterinarian. Elves and goblins are technically at war with each other, and with humans, but Sings-to-Trees is more interested in tending to trolls than fighting. Meanwhile, all the humans (and their farm animals) in the area are mysteriously absent, having followed a strange siren call, the source of which the Whinin’ Niners and Sings-to-Trees must band together to defeat before it gets them too. Though the uneven pacing marks this as one of Kingfisher’s early works, her trademark humor is on full display. Fans will have fun delving into the archive. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 10/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Bram Stoker Award winner Piper (A Game in Yellow) collects 13 sharp-fanged horror shorts highlighting the dangers posed both to and by teenage girls. In the tone-setting opener, “Why We Keep Exploding,” misogynistic language hurled at a college freshman has a direct and surreal physical impact. Other stories explore dangers close to home, like “Unkindly Girls,” about a girl whose father goes to horrifying extremes to protect her from growing up, and “Thagomizer,” in which a young mother is haunted by her late son. Most stirring are the tales that show their heroines fighting back against oppression and abuse: the protagonist of “Last Leaf of an Ursine Tree” finds her power through an unexpected deal with a bear, while “The Many Sins of Clara Greenstone” ends with a righteous act of arson. The final and longest tale, “Benny Rose the Cannibal King,” is the standout, flipping a typical slasher plot on its head to create an adrenaline-filled final girl story that avoids falling into a predictable formula. The diverse cast of heroines and genuinely chilling scares make this a winner for anyone looking for feminist horror that is weird, surreal, and driven by more than a touch of rebellion. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/10/2025 | Details & Permalink