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.
This month is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and I didn’t want to let May get away from me entirely without taking time to celebrate some of the amazing AAPI writers of the horror genre. And when I say “some,” I definitely mean some! Because just in the last few years alone there have been so many incredible, terrifying horror books published by AAPI authors that this newsletter cannot possible contain them all. So I’ve picked a few of my favorites, and I hope you’ll love them too.
But before we get started: Not content with the amount of bookish content to your life? Have a void in your soul that cries out for more of the latest news and recommendations? Try First Edition, Book Riot newest podcast offering! First Edition includes interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more, featuring people who know and love books. You can subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.
Bookish Goods
Scary Sharks Book Sleeve by MapleLeafStitching
Does anyone else get that first taste of summer sunshine and instantly begin craving shark and ocean horror films? I mean, in my apartment, marathoning the entire Jaws series and/or all the questionable shark horror films available on my various streaming options is a start-of-summer tradition. And hey, Jaws started out as a book, right? So it counts. Also, come on. This fabric is too cute. And it comes in three possible sizes so you can order the right fit for your preferred reading medium. It’s the perfect protection for all your summer beach reads!
$18+
New Releases
This World Belongs to Us: An Anthology of Horror Stories about Bugs, Edited by Michael W. Phillips
Happy terrifying bug anthology day! Tomorrow, This World Belongs to Us hits shelves, ready to fulfill all your worst, leggy, too-many-eyes-having nightmares. And, if the allure of a whole anthology of bug-filled horror is not enough to entice you to hit that preorder button, these stories are written by some of the most exciting and talented voices in the horror community, including Cynthia Pelayo, V. Castro, Paula D. Ashe, Laurel Hightower, Bitter Karella, and many more! So grab a can of bug killer, just in case, and get ready to feel your skin crawl.
Attack of the Killer Tumbleweeds by Antonia Rachel Ward
Sometimes, you just want your horror to come with a dose of humor. A laugh or two (or several) to punctuate all that darkness and violence. And Antonia Rachel Ward’s new horror comedy novella, Attack of the Killer Tumbleweeds, sounds like it’s going to offer plenty of both! Between the gorgeously pulpy cover and the plot description of what is obviously a loving tribute to the best of early B-horror monster films, I’m sold. Set in 1958, Attack of the Killer Tumbleweeds is about former showgirl Glitter and defunct Hollywood actor Dean Valentine, who set out to seduce a pair of Vegas newlyweds only to find themselves in the midst of an invasion of marauding, malicous tumbleweeds bent on destruction!
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap
If short fiction is your horror form of choice, this week’s first pick is for you! I love this debut collection from Isabel Yap. I know I’m a sucker for collections in general, but this one really was an instant favorite. I’m pretty sure that “Good Girls,” which kicks off the whole collection with a horrifying bang, has imprinted itself on my brain permanently. The 13 stories of Never Have I Ever, inspired both by urban legends and the folklore of the Philippines, span the whole range of speculative genres, from sci-fi to horror to fantasy, to form a haunting, surreal collection that you won’t soon forget.
Fairest Flesh by K.P. Kulski
Y’all know I love horror retellings of the Countess Bathory legend. What can I say: I see a beautiful, evil monster woman and I fall in love. Now, obviously I know that legend is not history, and that the real Bathory was more maligned than malicious, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying books like Kulski’s Fairest Flesh, which marries the Bathory legend with the kind of bloodshed and dark magic that only the most brutal (and therefore the best) of Grimm’s fairy tales can provide. If you’re looking for a stunner of a debut novel that takes a well known horror story and actually manages to make it even more horrifying, Fairest Flesh is the one for you!
Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken. by Lee Murray, Geneve Flynn, Christina Sng, Angela Yuriko Smith
Intended as an expansion on the theme of “otherness” the began in the Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women anthology, Tortured Willows is a companion poetry anthology featuring the work of four Southeast Asian horror writers. The anthology focuses specifically on exploring the symbolism of the willow, and its associations with femininity, desire, death and rebirth. If you enjoyed Black Cranes, and the follow-up nonfiction collection, Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, I highly recommend picking up this next installment.
She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
This is the most recent title on this week’s list, and if you haven’t added She is a Haunting to your TBR yet, I highly recommend that you do! When Jade agreed to return to Vietnam to visit with her estranged father in hopes of persuading him to release the college funds that he promised her, she thought the hardest part would be pretending to enjoy herself while pretending to be someone she’s not. Just five weeks playing happy family at the house he’s restoring, and she’ll be able to walk away with her education funded. But there’s something undeniably wrong with the house — the strange noises, the alarming number of creepy bugs, the beautiful ghost that keeps trying to warn her not to eat. And if Jade can’t uncover the house’s secrets in time, this family vacation might be her last.
As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.