Hey there horror fans, I’m Jessica Avery and I’ll be delivering your weekly brief of all that’s ghastly and grim in the world of Horror. Whether you’re looking for a backlist book that will give you the willies, a terrifying new release, or the latest in horror community news, you’ll find it here in The Fright Stuff.
Welcome all to this, the last full week in November, if you can believe it, and very nearly the end of another year. It’s wild to think how time has somehow both flown by, and dragged on for an eternity. I checked the title page of Echo the other day, because I was sure it had come out at least a year ago. It was published in February…and that’s like the second time that’s happened in the last week.
So before time slips away from us entirely, let’s have some fun! This week’s Fright Stuff theme is horror in translation, so I’ve got some exciting recommendations for you there, as well as a new release from author Jessica McHugh, and something to bring a little light to those of you currently experiencing dark winter nights (and everyone else who just likes fire).
Bookish Goods
Horror Story Candle by NovellyYours
I think we all probably knew that, sooner or later, I would give in and offer you a candle for your weekly bookish good. In my defense, I come from a long line of candle-obsessed women, so I come by my enjoyment of scented wax rightly. And the best part about candles these days is that if you can even imagine a smell, you can find a candle to match. Not to mention that there are themed candles for pretty much all your favorite books and movies. This Horror Story candle is described as smelling like dark woods, cranberry, and blood orange (the “dark woods” smell is seemingly made up of pine and cedar), and would be a lovely accompaniment to a long night of reading scary stories.
$20
New Releases
Hares in the Hedgerow by Jessica McHugh
McHugh’s newest book is the long awaited sequel to her novel Rabbits in the Garden, about 12 year old Avery Norton who makes a gruesome discovery in the basement of her family home and winds up incarcerated in an asylum, at the mercy of the Norton family’s darkest secrets. In Hares in the Hedgerow, Sophie Francis is a 16 year old singer/songwriter who feels adrift in the world, disconnected from those around her. She falls in with a group of misfits who call themselves the Choir of the Lamb, and ends up falling down the same rabbit hole of danger and secrets that once ensnared Avery Norton. The deeper Sophie digs into her own past, the more she reveals the grim truths at the heart of her family tree, and the generational trauma that has trickled down through its roots.
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Hybrid Child by Mariko Ōhara, translated by Jodie Beck
This is a profoundly weird, body horror-heavy sci-fi novel by Japanese author Mariko Ōhara. In it, Sample B #3, an escaped cyborg who was designed to adapt to his environment by assuming the form of whatever creature he digests a part of, takes refuge in an AI-controlled house that is possessed by the spirit of a murdered child named Jonah. When the house is besieged with Sample B trapped inside, he finds Jonah’s dead body beneath the house and knows there’s only one way out. He consumes Jonah, and the two become one being, undying, that is more than human and more than cyborg.
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, translated by Megan McDowell
Argentinian author Mariana Enríquez’s collection The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, recently translated into English for Hogarth Press, is a phenomenal collection of horror stories with a sharp sociopolitical edge, all set in contemporary Argentina. Her stories feature witches, ghosts, preternatural obsessions, undead babies, and more. They turn the terrifying and fictional into a commentary on everything from illness, to the way we treat and police female bodies, to the depths of darkness that only the humans can create.
Darkness by Ratnakar Matkari, translated by Vikrant Pande
Translated into English for the first time, this collection of horror stories from Marathi writer Ratnakar Matkari is perfect for fans of terrifying short fiction. with a new horror on every page — and everything from tormented ghosts, to killer imaginary friends, and an undying woman who cheats death itself, Darkness is meant to keep you up at night, clinging to the light. And if the stories don’t haunt your dreams, that cover might, because it is genuinely creepy! That’s a “shelve it so you can’t see it watching you” cover.
I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, translated by Philip Roughton
TW: Suicide mention
Best known for her mystery series about the cases of attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir shows off her horror skills in I Remember You, a terrifying ghost story often compared to the works of Stephen King or John Ajvide Lindqvist. Three friends undertake the renovation of an isolated old house, only to realize that they aren’t as alone in their remote location as they might have believed. There is something in the house with them, and it does not want them there. Nearby, an elderly woman commits suicide and, to the shock of the doctor investigating the death, the woman was apparently obsessed with his missing son. Two seemingly unrelated incidents may have more to do with each other than it would first appear.
Fresh From the Skeleton’s Mouth
I love this conversation over at Tor Nightfire between M. Rickert (Lucky Girl: How I Became a Horror Writer, a Krampus Story) and Stephanie Feldman (Saturnalia) about holiday horror, folklore, the Gothic, and the tradition of adding a little fright to your winter festivities.
Kelsey Ford put together a fantastic list of haunting Native American horror books for the Powell’s blog.
As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.