List
2021 Stoker Awards
Collection
The 2021 Bram Stoker Awards were announced this weekend at the Horror Writers of America annual convention, StokerCon. This award features a variety of categories of works of horror and dark fiction; any of the book nominees below would fulfill the Broader Bookshelf 2022 challenge prompt to "read a horror book"! The winners are:
Superior Achievement in a Novel - My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
Superior Achievement in a First Novel - Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper
Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel - The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters
Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel - The Inhabitant of the Lake by Alessandro Manzetti and Stefano Cardoselli
Superior Achievement in Long Fiction - “Twentieth Anniversary Screening” (Slice and Dice) by Jeff Strand
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction - “Permanent Damage” (Attack From the ’80s) by Lee Murray
Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection – In That Endlessness, Our End by Gemma Files
Superior Achievement in a Screenplay – Midnight Mass, Season 1, Episode 6: “Book VI: Acts of the Apostles” by Mike Flanagan; James Flanagan; and Jeff Howard
Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection - Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken. by Christina Sng; Angela Yuriko Smith; Lee Murray; and Geneve Flynn
Superior Achievement in an Anthology - When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson by Ellen Datlow
Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction - Writers Workshop of Horror 2 by Michael Knost
Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction - “Horror Writers: Architects of Hope” (The Sirens Call, Halloween 2021, Issue 55) by Angela Yuriko Smith
Antlers
Published in 2022
In a remote Oregon town, a middle-school teacher and her sheriff brother become entangled with her enigmatic student, whose dark secrets lead to horrifying encounters with a legendary ancestral creature who came before them.
Candyman
.
Published in 2021
Oscar® winner Jordan Peele and filmmaker Nia DaCosta unleash a fresh take on the blood-chilling urban legend: Candyman. For decades, the housing projects of Chicago's Cabrini-Green were terrorized by a ghost story about a supernatural, hook handed killer. In present day, an artist (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) begins to explore the macabre history of Candyman, not knowing it would unravel his sanity and unleash a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
All These Bodies
Published in 2021
"Summer 1958. A gruesome killer plagues the Midwest, leaving behind a trail of bodies completely drained of blood"-- Provided by publisher.
Goddess of Filth
Published in 2021
"One hot summer night, best friends Lourdes, Fernanda, Ana, Perla, and Pauline hold a séance. It's all fun and games at first, but their tipsy laughter turns to terror when the flames burn straight through their prayer candles and Fernanda starts crawling toward her friends and chanting in Nahuatl, the language of their Aztec ancestors. Over the next few weeks, shy, modest Fernanda starts acting strangely -- smearing herself in black makeup, shredding her hands on rose thorns, sucking sin out of the mouths of the guilty. The local priest is convinced it's a demon, but Lourdes begins to suspect it's something else -- something far more ancient and powerful." -- Amazon.
The Queen of the Cicadas = La Reina De Las Chicharras
Published in 2021
"When Belinda Alvarez returned to Texas for a friend's wedding, she didn't know it would be the site of the urban legend, La Reina de Las Chicharras--The Queen of The Cicadas. In life she was known as Milagros, a young farmworker who left her home in Mexico for the US in the 1950s to find work, only to be cruelly abused and horribly murdered. The town ignored the brutal crime, but the Aztec goddess of death heard her cries and allowed her to return to the land of the living to exact her terrible revenge. Now, decades later, as Belinda learns the truth about Milagros, she realizes the legend is all too real... and that she herself will soon play an important part in it"--Dust jacket flap.
When Things Get Dark
Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson
Published in 2021
Featuring contributions from some of today's best horror writers--including Paul Tremblay, Elizabeth Hand, and Joyce Carol Oates--this collection of new and exclusive short stories are inspired by and pay tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson.
Joker/Harley
Criminal Sanity
Published in 2021
"You've seen Harley Quinn obsess over The Joker. You just haven't seen it quite like this before. With its gritty portrayals of forensic science, death, and obsession, Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity represents a much darker foray into the DC Universe. In Gotham City, where heinous acts of violence are a daily occurrence, the GCPD relies on Harley Quinn, a young forensic psychiatrist and profiler, to consult on their toughest cases. But Harley is haunted by one case in particular-when she found herself at the center of a horrifying crime scene the night she discovered the body of her roommate, left with the signature of a notorious serial killer-The Joker. Years later, when a series of gruesome displays of murder appear throughout the city, the past and present collide as Harley's obsession with finding the depraved psychopath responsible leads her down a dangerous path. She must decide how far she is willing to go, and what lines she is willing to cross, to solve these cases once and for all."-- Provided by publisher.
The Final Girl Support Group
Published in 2021
"A fast-paced, thrilling horror novel that follows a group of heroines to die for, from the brilliant New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. In horror movies, the final girl is the one who's left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious, a victim and a hero. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her? Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she's not alone. For more than a decade she's been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette's worst fears are realized-someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again. But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife . . . they will never, ever give up"-- Provided by publisher.
My Heart is a Chainsaw
Published in 2021
"You won't find a more hardcore eighties slasher fan than high school senior Jade Daniels. And you won't find a place less supportive of girls who wear torn T-shirts and too much eyeliner than Proofrock, nestled eight thousand feet up the mountain in Idaho, situated in Pleasant Valley right alongside Indian Lake, home to both Camp Blood -- site of a massacre fifty years ago --and, as of this summer, Terra Nova, a second-home celebrity Camelot being carved out of a national forest. That's not the only thing that's getting carved up, though -- this, Jade knows, is the start of a slasher. But what kind? Who's wearing the mask? Jade's got an encyclopedic recall of very horror movie on the shelf, but. . . will that help her survive? Can she get a final girl trained enough to stop all this from happening? Does she even want to?"--Book jacket flap.
Nothing but Blackened Teeth
Published in 2021
"Cassandra Khaw's Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists. A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company. It's the perfect venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends, brought back together to celebrate a wedding. A night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare as secrets get dragged out and relationships are tested. But the house has secrets too. Lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart. And she gets lonely down there in the dirt. Effortlessly taking the classic haunted house story and turning it on its head, Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a sharp and devastating exploration of grief, the parasitic nature of relationships, and the consequences of our actions"-- Provided by publisher.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
Published in 2021
Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death. A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s -- a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires. What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
Bad Witch Burning
Published in 2021
Sixteen-year-old Katrell uses her witchy powers to talk to the dead and escape her home life, but when she disregards the dead's warnings to stop, dark forces begin to close in forcing Katrell to make some hard decisions.
When the Reckoning Comes
A Novel
Published in 2021
More than a decade ago, Mira fled her segregated hometown of Kipsen, leaving behind her best friend, the white Celine, and Woodsman Plantation - rumored to be haunted by the spirits of slaves. Now, Mira is back in Kipsen for Celine's wedding weekend at that same plantation. Mira hopes to reconnect with her old friends, especially Jesse, the boy she secretly loved. Woodsman remains a monument to its racist history and the darkest elements of the plantation's past - that slaves were tortured mercilessly - have been carefully erased. As the weekend unfolds, Mira, Celine, and Jesse are forced to acknowledge their history together and to save themselves from what it to come.
Rabbits
A Novel
Published in 2021
"Conspiracies abound in this surreal and yet all-too-real technothriller, detailing an underground alternate reality game, set in the same world as the popular Rabbits podcast. Rabbits is a secret, dangerous, and occasionally fatal underground alternate reality game, where the prizes are unclear but may involve vast sums of money, NSA or CIA recruitment, or perhaps even the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe itself. Since the game first started in 1959, ten iterations have appeared and nine winners have been declared. No one knows the true identity of these winners--just their now-famous user names. And everyone is waiting for the eleventh round to begin. K is an expert on the game, although he's never played it himself. He runs information sessions for amateurs at an historic, grungy arcade. But when he is approached by billionaire Alan Scarpio--the alleged winner of the sixth iteration--his world is turned upside down. Because Scarpio wants his help fixing the game, which he claims has become corrupted. And if the eleventh iteration begins before the game is repaired, he claims, all hell will break loose. Soon K is in way over his head, chasing down a myserious rabbit hole that is getting stranger and twistier and more perilous by the day. Because, as it happens, he blows the deadline, Eleven begins...and suddenly there is far more than just his own life at risk..."-- Provided by publisher.
Proctor Valley Road. Issue 1
Published in 2021
Perfect for fans of Paper Girls and Die, visionary writer Grant Morrison (Klaus), Alex Child (BBC's Holby City) and Naomi Franquiz (Tales from Harrow County) present a chilling new horror series about the mysterious monsters that haunt Proctor Valley Road - and the four misfit teenagers who must stop them. August, Rylee, Cora & Jennie have organized a "Spook Tour" with their classmates on the most haunted, demon-infested stretch of road in America to fund attending the concert of their dreams. When their visit turns deadly, these four friends race to rescue the missing students...before the town tears them limb from limb. Now they must slay the evils roaming Proctor Valley Road...along with the monsters lurking in the hearts of 1970s America. For Mature Readers.
Children of Chicago
Published in 2021
"When Detective Lauren Medina sees the calling card at a murder scene in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood, she knows the Pied Piper has returned. When another teenager is brutally murdered at the same lagoon where her sister's body was found floating years before, she is certain that the Pied Piper is not just back, he's looking for payment he's owed from her. Lauren's torn between protecting the city she has sworn to keep safe, and keeping a promise she made long ago with her sister's murderer. She may have to ruin her life by exposing her secrets and lies to stop the Pied Piper before he collects."--Publisher.
Queen of Teeth.
Published in 2021
"Within forty-eight hours, Yaya Betancourt will go from discovering teeth between her thighs to being hunted by one of the most powerful corporations in America. She assumes the vagina dentata is a side effect of a rare genetic condition caused by AlphaBeta Pharmaceutical, decades ago, when she and several thousand others were still in the womb. But, when ABP corporate goons upend her life, she realizes her secondary teeth might be evidence of a new experiment for which she's the most advanced test tube . . . a situation worsened when Yaya's condition sprouts horns, tentacles, and a mind of its own. On the run and transforming, Yaya may be either ABP's greatest success, or the deadliest failure science has ever created."--Back cover.
House of Hollow
Published in 2021
"Iris and Vivi work to uncover their dark, dangerous, and possibly magical past when their older sister Grey goes missing"-- Provided by publisher.
The River Has Teeth
Published in 2021
When her sister goes missing on the Bend, becoming the second girl to disappear from the wildlife preserve, Natasha turns to a local girl rumored to be a witch to find her.
The Book of Accidents
A Novel
Published in 2021
"A new masterpiece of literary horror by the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers about a family returning to their hometown--and to the dark past that haunts them still. Long ago, Nathan Graves lived in a house in the country with his abusive father--and has never told his family what happened in that house. Long ago, Maddie Graves was a little girl making dolls in her bedroom when she saw something she shouldn't--and is trying to remember that lost trauma by making haunting sculptures. Long ago, something sinister, something hungry, walked in the tunnels and the mountains and the coal mines of their hometown in rural Pennsylvania. Now Nate and Maddie are married, and they have moved back to their hometown with their son, Oliver. And now what happened long ago is happening again . . . and it is happening to Oliver. He meets a strange boy who becomes his best friend, a boy with secrets of his own, and a taste for dark magic. This dark magic puts them at the heart of a battle of good versus evil and a fight for the soul of the family--and perhaps for all of the world. But the Graves family has a secret weapon in this fight: their love for each other"-- Provided by publisher.
Tidepool.
Published in 2021
If ye give not willingly, the Lords will rise...In 1913, Henry Hamilton disappears while on a business trip, and his sister, Sorrow, won't rest until she finds him. Defying her father's orders to remain at home, she travels to Tidepool, the last place Henry visited. Residents of the small, shabby oceanside town can't quite meet Sorrow's eyes when she questions them about Henry. When corpses wash up on shore looking as if they've been torn apart by something not quite human, Sorrow is ready to return to Baltimore and let her father send in the professional detectives. Then, she meets Mrs. Ada Oliver, a widow whose black silk dresses and elegant manners set her apart from other Tidepool residents. After a terrifying encounter involving Mrs. Oliver, Sorrow discovers Tidepool's dark, deadly secret, and the town's denizens -- human and otherwise -- are hell-bent on making sure she never leaves. Atmospheric, riveting, and frightening, Tidepool is a must-read Lovecraftian dark fantasy for those who pursue the truth no matter the personal cost. -- Back cover.