Haunting the Backlist: The 2012 Edition

I’m already a huge fan of N.K Jemisin’s frequently horror-infused fantasy novels. I remember starting The Fifth Season for the first time and being amazed (and delighted!) at how dark it was. So of course I had to include The Killing Moon — which I haven’t had the pleasure of reading yet — on my list of 2012 backlist titles for this week. Set in yet another stunningly constructed fantasy world, this time inspired by ancient Egypt, The Killing Moon is about a group of people called the Gatherers, priests whose job it is to take magic from the sleeping minds of the populace. Magic they then use not just to heal, but also to judge and execute those citizens of Gujaareh that are deemed to be corrupt. Until the day Eihru, one of the Gatherers, discovers a conspiracy to use the Gatherers’ justice to murder innocent dreamers instead.

Scott Sigler’s specialty is combining action-driven horror with terrifying monsters to create stories that you’ll have a hard time putting down, and Nocturnal is no exception! Bryan is a San Francisco homicide detective who is stripped of his badge when he gets caught up in a shadowy conspiracy behind a string of recent murders. Unwilling to give up on the case, Bryan follows the threads of the conspiracy deep into the underground ruins beneath San Francisco and discovers a hidden world of monsters who feed upon the living. The closer he gets to the truth, the more Bryan learns about his connection to these strange creatures. It also becomes more and more evident that he may be the only one who can stop them.

Kendare Blake’s Anna duology is a fantastically creepy YA horror series, which begins with the well-known Anna Dressed in Blood and concludes in Girl of Nightmares. The series is about the vengeful ghost of a teenage girl, Anna, who becomes attached to a living boy — and ghost hunter — named Cas.

Spoilers follow in the blurb, so if you haven’t read Anna Dressed in Blood yet, continue at your own risk!

In the sequel, Girl of Nightmares, it’s been months since Anna vanished into Hell, leaving Cas behind to live his mortal life. But Cas still sees Anna everywhere he looks, asleep or awake. He knows that Anna is in trouble, and that whatever is happening to her in Hell is a gruesome fate she doesn’t deserve. Which means Cas has only one option: walk into Hell and get Anna back.

Another exciting series conclusion, Blackout brings Mira Grant’s zombie apocalypse series, Newsflesh, to a thrilling end. In Feed, a deadly virus infects the planet, wiping out society, and two bloggers try to get to the dark truth behind the infection. The story concludes in Blackout when, 27 years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy far larger than either of them could ever have imagined. Now the clock ticks down as they and the remaining staff face down an increasingly bizarre and dangerous barrage of obstacles, from mad scientists to the remnants of a government gone awry, in their ongoing quest to find the truth.