2021 YA Horror Releases by Women

From the author of last year’s chilling The Silence of the Bones comes a new book about families, secrets, and deception. Hwani’s family and life have fallen apart ever since she and her younger sister vanished and were found unconscious in the forest on the edge of a crime scene. Though the family fled their small village to escape the incident, some histories are not so easily banished. Years later Hwani’s father, Detective Min, is drawn back to their hometown by the unsolved cases of 13 other girls who recently vanished under similar circumstances as his own daughters. But when he returns to investigate, he too vanishes, leaving Hwani to follow in his footsteps in an attempt to find her father and finally put an end to the mystery that tore her family apart.

So if you’ve ever seen the 2017 British psychological thriller Beast, you might know why the synopsis of Mark of the Wicked caught my eye: a young woman, infatuated with the mysterious new boy in her town, finds herself suddenly surrounded by death and violence on all sides. The guilty party seems obvious, but are things really as simple as they seem? Matilda has always been told that her magic is to be used only when necessary. But Matilda isn’t a good witch – she wants more from her life. She wants privilege and power. She wants vengeance, and conquest without consequences. When a spell gone wrong brings Oliver into her life, everything changes. As they grow closer, darkness piles up on either side and when a young girl dies all fingers point to Matilda. Matilda swears she isn’t responsible! At least… not that she can remember.

BEES. Erin Craig has been promising horror bees on her Twitter feed ever since this book was announced and I need it. The Blackspire Mountain range is comprised of five sharp peaks bordered by a nearly impenetrable forest. And nestled amidst the Blackspires is the little town of Amity Falls. Visitors are rare and the wood is full of devils. This is Ellerie Downing’s home, and the quiet life she’s always known. But a sudden disappearance raises fears that the monsters the villagers once fought for survival may have returned, bringing with them honeyed promises of desires fulfilled. Asking only the smallest favors in return. Which, by the way, makes the hair on my arms stand up because oh my god do NOT strike deals with unknown creatures in the woods. Every nerve I have is screaming that this is some fair folk level nonsense. Of course I am excited.

Blackwood had me at “Jane Eyre retelling”, because there is no version of this reality in which I am not obsessed with that novel. Entirely. Which is why I am absolutely dying to get my hands on Within These Wicked Walls. A debtera is an exorcist who is hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. So Andromeda, as a debtera, is familiar with the shadowy corners of reality. Still, when Magnus Rochester hires her to cleanse his castle of the evil that haunts it, Andromeda soon realizes that she is up to her neck in horror far beyond what she has been trained for. But despite the risk to her life, Andromeda cannot leave Magnus to face down this evil alone.

Here comes Jessica again with her obsession with sea-themed horror and dark fantasy, but in my defense I offer: highly suspect mer folk who want your children for unspecified reasons. Or at least unspecified in the synopsis – I’m curious to find out what the real reason ends up being that the Mer asked for one child of each generation in return for granting the O’Malley’s the guaranteed safety of their ships upon the sea. Of course that was many years ago, and by the time Miren O’Malley came along her family had been unable to keep their side of the bargain and their fortunes had long since fallen. But Miren’s grandmother will do anything it takes to regain the favor of Mer, even if it is Merin who may end up paying the price. Briefly I refer you back to my statement about making deals with unknown entities in forests and extend that to ocean dwelling somethings as well.