So, there we are. The longest day has been and gone, and the nights are closing in. We’re already into the second half of the year. But fear not, because this next six months also promises to offer us a wealth of new dark fiction.
Today, therefore, as I always do at the midway point of the year as well as at the start, I’ll be focussing on 30 new book titles - 10 CRIME, 10 THRILLERS and 10 HORRORS - due out between now and the end of December that I especially like the look of.
So, let’s do it ...
30 UPCOMING DARK FICTION CORKERS
First, be advised that I haven’t read all of these books yet, so what I’m not offering today are reviews. This is merely a showcase for those titles that have caught my eye. As usual, I’ll let the publishers do the talking by reprinting the blurb from the back of each book. So, please understand this: these are NOT Finch recommendations. I’m simply drawing your attention to a a bunch of forthcoming titles for the second half of 2026, in order of publication, that I will definitely be shelling out for.
It should go without saying that there’ll be multiple other titles like this also hitting the shops between now and Christmas, so if there are good-looking items not included among this lot, please feel free to post about them in the Comments.
And so, on with it ...
It should go without saying that there’ll be multiple other titles like this also hitting the shops between now and Christmas, so if there are good-looking items not included among this lot, please feel free to post about them in the Comments.
CRIME
It’s Detective Miller’s deadliest dance...
The Shadow Step: One taken simultaneously by a pair of dancers facing the same direction, one of them behind and slightly shifted leftwards (‘in the shadow’)
Typically, such a step perfectly demonstrates synchronized elegance. It showcases a couple in near telepathic harmony with one another. It does not normally end with someone stone-dead in a lake.
DS Declan Miller is a magnet for strange cases, but how can he catch a killer when the man confessing to the crime is clearly innocent? Things rapidly escalate when the murder that isn’t really a murder at all attracts the unwanted attention of a drugs Queenpin, a deranged ex-squaddie and a lovesick gangland enforcer. Then a student is kidnapped...
Throw in a wobbly dog, a pair of ceramic leopards and the distracting smell from a local biscuit factory, and – if he wants to save a young man’s life – Miller has little choice but to waltz all the way into the shadows.
by James Oswald – Jul 2
Festival season. The streets are filled to bursting with tourists, and Edinburgh is gripped by a stifling heatwave. Not the best time for one of the most violent murders the city has witnessed in years.
The victim of the murder cannot be identified; its brutal nature shocking both the public and the police. What could possibly have inflicted such gruesome injuries? Was it a wild animal on the loose, or the beginning of some horrific gang warfare?
Another body is found on Musselburgh Beach: naked, comatose . . . but this time still alive. DI Tony McLean can’t shake the feeling that there is a connection to the killing – but there are few leads for him and the team to run with.
The police are at a loss, and the city is on edge – will the killer strike again?
3. PUSHING UP THE DAISIES by Marnie Riches – Jul 16
Festival season. The streets are filled to bursting with tourists, and Edinburgh is gripped by a stifling heatwave. Not the best time for one of the most violent murders the city has witnessed in years.
The victim of the murder cannot be identified; its brutal nature shocking both the public and the police. What could possibly have inflicted such gruesome injuries? Was it a wild animal on the loose, or the beginning of some horrific gang warfare?
Another body is found on Musselburgh Beach: naked, comatose . . . but this time still alive. DI Tony McLean can’t shake the feeling that there is a connection to the killing – but there are few leads for him and the team to run with.
The police are at a loss, and the city is on edge – will the killer strike again?
The Bromley Botanists are getting down and dirty as they seek to dig up the truth.
Gill and her fellow Bromley Botanists are excited to take ownership of the Chequered Lawns Golf Club following their coveted Golden Trowel win.
Poised to convert the pristine, rich and fertile grounds into a flower farm, the gardening enthusiasts are suddenly derailed when a skeleton is uncovered.
As the site becomes a crime scene, The Gardeners’ Club once more turns its attention to identifying both victim and culprit. Otherwise, their dream of brightening Bromley will be over before it started.
It’s up to Gill and her friends to plough deep into the past to let their future bloom!
edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan – Jul 21
From the very beginning, the theme of revenge has been a major part of crime fiction. Whether it’s perceived slights, rifts within families or sibling rivalry, jealous lovers, business competitors or just good old-fashioned retribution, this anthology gathers together the very best – and most unique – tales of dark revenge. Curated by Paul Kane & Marie O’Regan and featuring some of the top names in crime writing alongside a handful of stories selected from open submissions, this is one book that will definitely make you think twice about wronging anyone ever again.
Featured Authors: Amanda Brittany, Joanie Brittingham, John Connolly, Helen Cooper, Terry Edge, Marcus Field, Helen Fields, Ikechukwu Henry, Susi Holliday, William Hussey, Jo Jakeman, Roxanne Kalinda, David Mark, Guy Morpuss, Victoria Selman, Ronnie Turner, Roz Watkins and Iris Yamashita.
5. THE KILLER’S MARK
From the very beginning, the theme of revenge has been a major part of crime fiction. Whether it’s perceived slights, rifts within families or sibling rivalry, jealous lovers, business competitors or just good old-fashioned retribution, this anthology gathers together the very best – and most unique – tales of dark revenge. Curated by Paul Kane & Marie O’Regan and featuring some of the top names in crime writing alongside a handful of stories selected from open submissions, this is one book that will definitely make you think twice about wronging anyone ever again.
Featured Authors: Amanda Brittany, Joanie Brittingham, John Connolly, Helen Cooper, Terry Edge, Marcus Field, Helen Fields, Ikechukwu Henry, Susi Holliday, William Hussey, Jo Jakeman, Roxanne Kalinda, David Mark, Guy Morpuss, Victoria Selman, Ronnie Turner, Roz Watkins and Iris Yamashita.
by MW Craven – Aug 13
A monster, a mother, a murder?
When Vice Admiral Boyer, RN (retd) died without leaving a will, his estranged daughter inherited his not inconsiderable estate. Called home to sort through his belongings, she found an AegisBox – a tamper proof safe within a safe designed to self-destruct if anyone without the code attempts to open it. Faced with the choice of walking away or opening it, she opted for knowledge over silence and uncovered something so horrifying it launched the biggest investigation in the National Crime Agency's history. Five years later, Washington Poe is unwittingly, and unwillingly, sucked into its gravity well...
Finally able to escape the authority they once railed against, Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are enjoying their new jobs as private detectives or – as the sign on their door says – ‘Gumshoes for Hire’. When a teenage girl walks into their office, looking for the mother she has long believed to be dead, they agree to take the case. As Poe and Tilly investigate the girl’s claims, they find themselves drawn into a murky world of trafficking, pornography and prostitution. Will they be able to help the girl find her mother or will the dark forces at work, who will stop at nothing to protect themselves, get there first...
6. THEY SAY A GIRL DIED HERE
A monster, a mother, a murder?
When Vice Admiral Boyer, RN (retd) died without leaving a will, his estranged daughter inherited his not inconsiderable estate. Called home to sort through his belongings, she found an AegisBox – a tamper proof safe within a safe designed to self-destruct if anyone without the code attempts to open it. Faced with the choice of walking away or opening it, she opted for knowledge over silence and uncovered something so horrifying it launched the biggest investigation in the National Crime Agency's history. Five years later, Washington Poe is unwittingly, and unwillingly, sucked into its gravity well...
Finally able to escape the authority they once railed against, Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are enjoying their new jobs as private detectives or – as the sign on their door says – ‘Gumshoes for Hire’. When a teenage girl walks into their office, looking for the mother she has long believed to be dead, they agree to take the case. As Poe and Tilly investigate the girl’s claims, they find themselves drawn into a murky world of trafficking, pornography and prostitution. Will they be able to help the girl find her mother or will the dark forces at work, who will stop at nothing to protect themselves, get there first...
by Sarah Pinborough – Aug 27
Anna Maybourne dropped out of university to move to the farming town of Harper’s Creek with her mother, sister and grandmother. They don’t talk about why.
They hoped being back home might help Grandma’s dementia – but it only descends deeper – while Anna becomes obsessed with the murder of two local girls, exactly three years apart.
The case was closed, but as the next three-year anniversary looms – and the town suffers a drought – people pray, people worry, and people wait.
But Anna believes that the killer is watching and that Grandma somehow knows more than she should. They say both are, in their own ways, mad.
Because when Grandma speaks, only Anna understands that instead of being over, the mystery seems like it’s starting again ...
7. MURDER AT THE GRAND ALPINE HOTEL
Anna Maybourne dropped out of university to move to the farming town of Harper’s Creek with her mother, sister and grandmother. They don’t talk about why.
They hoped being back home might help Grandma’s dementia – but it only descends deeper – while Anna becomes obsessed with the murder of two local girls, exactly three years apart.
The case was closed, but as the next three-year anniversary looms – and the town suffers a drought – people pray, people worry, and people wait.
But Anna believes that the killer is watching and that Grandma somehow knows more than she should. They say both are, in their own ways, mad.
Because when Grandma speaks, only Anna understands that instead of being over, the mystery seems like it’s starting again ...
by Lucy Foley – Sept 22
High in the Swiss Alps, with glorious mountain views and exclusive access to powdery slopes, the Grand Alpine Hotel draws guests from far and wide.
The notorious actress
The high-flying politician
The inscrutable political wife
The reckless friend
The shrewd doctor
But when a guest enters a gondola alive, only to be found dead at the top of the mountain, it’s clear there’s a killer in their midst.
As tensions rise, and old grudges emerge like cracks in the ice, someone watches from the shadows. An unassuming woman with an extraordinary mind: Miss Marple.
She suspects everyone in the hotel, and she’s right to. For it isn’t just a question of who has a motive, but who’s next…
8. SUFFER IN SILENCE
High in the Swiss Alps, with glorious mountain views and exclusive access to powdery slopes, the Grand Alpine Hotel draws guests from far and wide.
The notorious actress
The high-flying politician
The inscrutable political wife
The reckless friend
The shrewd doctor
But when a guest enters a gondola alive, only to be found dead at the top of the mountain, it’s clear there’s a killer in their midst.
As tensions rise, and old grudges emerge like cracks in the ice, someone watches from the shadows. An unassuming woman with an extraordinary mind: Miss Marple.
She suspects everyone in the hotel, and she’s right to. For it isn’t just a question of who has a motive, but who’s next…
by Graham Masterton – Oct 8
Revenge waits patiently for the wicked.
In Cork, the young female employees of the glamorous cosmetics counter at Green Matthews are too scared to report what happens during their ‘training sessions’ with the wealthy owner. But when two of them vanish and are later found dead, their bodies marked with strange burns, DS Katie Maguire discovers a secret room and an unseen occupant with disturbing appetites.
Meanwhile, a faceless predator is making money on the dark web by filming acts so depraved they shake Katie’s entire team.
When an abduction makes this case personal, the countdown to find answers begins. But vengeance doesn’t always strike where you expect – and a devastating reckoning is waiting for Katie too…
9. DEAD IN THREE TWO ONE by Peter James – Oct 20
Revenge waits patiently for the wicked.
In Cork, the young female employees of the glamorous cosmetics counter at Green Matthews are too scared to report what happens during their ‘training sessions’ with the wealthy owner. But when two of them vanish and are later found dead, their bodies marked with strange burns, DS Katie Maguire discovers a secret room and an unseen occupant with disturbing appetites.
Meanwhile, a faceless predator is making money on the dark web by filming acts so depraved they shake Katie’s entire team.
When an abduction makes this case personal, the countdown to find answers begins. But vengeance doesn’t always strike where you expect – and a devastating reckoning is waiting for Katie too…
Brighton is celebrating. A killer is waiting. And Roy Grace is the target . . .
Brighton Pride is the biggest date on the city’s calendar with half a million people lost in the party. But behind the opulent façade of the Royal Courteney Hotel, a nightmare is checking in.
Dritan Dervishi, the cold-blooded consigliere for Albanian mob boss Roel Albazi, has arrived with a beautiful woman on his arm and a lethal secret in his suitcase. He has specifically requested Room 321 – a room with a perfect view of the sea, and a deadly proximity to a target he’s been dreaming of for years.
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is already pushed to the limit, coordinating the city’s massive security operation amid whispers of a potential terrorist attack. But the threat is more personal than he could ever imagine. Back in a prison cell, his old nemesis Albazi is counting down the seconds to a revenge that will not just take Roy’s life, but erase his entire bloodline.
And as Roy and his wife Cleo prepare for a night of celebration at the Royal Courteney, they have no idea that they are stepping into a deadly trap.
As the relentless countdown nears zero, Roy must outsmart an invisible enemy and protect his loved ones before their time finally runs out . . .
by Helen Fields – Oct 22
Fourteen empty houses. No suspects. No clues…
When a snowstorm cuts off the remote Scottish village of Cape Wrath, Sammy arrives home at New Year to find her mother dead and every other house eerily silent. There are no signs of forced entry, no surviving witnesses, and no clear murder weapon. Everyone in the village is gone.
As Luc Callanach and Ava Turner race to piece together the final moments of the dead, they uncover a chilling truth: the killer knew the village, knew the storm was coming, and planned every step. With the snow swallowing evidence and fear spreading far beyond the Highlands, one question remains: if no one was left alive… who walked away? And what will they do next?
1. HELPLESS
Fourteen empty houses. No suspects. No clues…
When a snowstorm cuts off the remote Scottish village of Cape Wrath, Sammy arrives home at New Year to find her mother dead and every other house eerily silent. There are no signs of forced entry, no surviving witnesses, and no clear murder weapon. Everyone in the village is gone.
As Luc Callanach and Ava Turner race to piece together the final moments of the dead, they uncover a chilling truth: the killer knew the village, knew the storm was coming, and planned every step. With the snow swallowing evidence and fear spreading far beyond the Highlands, one question remains: if no one was left alive… who walked away? And what will they do next?
THRILLER
by Jessica Knoll – Jul 7
Faye Heron has it all: beauty, a glittering Hollywood career and a powerhouse marriage to her producer husband. Her life is the kind most people can only dream of.
When a beloved former college professor suddenly passes away, Faye is drawn back to campus, and back to Henry Spalding, the man she’s spent twelve years trying to forget.
Henry was her first love, her most intense love. Their love was the kind that consumed… and that Faye chose to walk away from. Their reunion should be nothing more than a polite nod to the past. Instead, it awakens something dangerous.
Henry is full of apologies for how they ended. But as Faye is pulled deeper into his orbit, she begins to wonder if she’s walking into something that she won’t be able to escape from this time.
What starts as an innocent chance to reconnect unravels into a sinister game of obsession and control, one that forces Faye to confront the truth about their past and uncover a sprawling, years-old mystery.
Because Henry isn’t just one of a kind. He’s the kind who doesn’t let go.
2. RED SHEET by James Ellroy – Jul 16
Faye Heron has it all: beauty, a glittering Hollywood career and a powerhouse marriage to her producer husband. Her life is the kind most people can only dream of.
When a beloved former college professor suddenly passes away, Faye is drawn back to campus, and back to Henry Spalding, the man she’s spent twelve years trying to forget.
Henry was her first love, her most intense love. Their love was the kind that consumed… and that Faye chose to walk away from. Their reunion should be nothing more than a polite nod to the past. Instead, it awakens something dangerous.
Henry is full of apologies for how they ended. But as Faye is pulled deeper into his orbit, she begins to wonder if she’s walking into something that she won’t be able to escape from this time.
What starts as an innocent chance to reconnect unravels into a sinister game of obsession and control, one that forces Faye to confront the truth about their past and uncover a sprawling, years-old mystery.
Because Henry isn’t just one of a kind. He’s the kind who doesn’t let go.
It’s late October 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis has just concluded. The Russkies blinked and pulled their ICBMs out of Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy fears reprisals from seething commies. He orders a red probe and puts the LAPD on the job.
Freddy Otash is injudiciously named the lead investigating officer. He’s a stone-cold criminal with police sanction and a harrowing dope habit. He homes in on a red-front trade union. There’s a murder on Halloween night. It may link to ex-VP and current gubernatorial candidate Richard Nixon and two commie snuffs from eight years back. Freddy’s overworked and overamped. He’s running the probe, and Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman―Tricky Dick Nixon’s head goons―have hired him to keep Nixon away from the smear-minded press.
L.A. is coming unglued. Ex-cop/lawyer Tom Bradley is running for a city council seat and pushing the Rumford Fair Housing Act, while Playboy kingpin Hugh Hefner is along for the ride, out to exploit racial tension and peddle untold copies of his smut rag.
James Ellroy’s most crazed kamikaze run and a daring, subversive work of fiction.
by Riley Sager – Aug 4
In 1926, five women disappeared from a remote island in Vermont. Now, one hundred years later, it's happening again . . .
Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She’s even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a week-long research trip to that very spot.
Because New Avalon isn’t your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums-until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman . . .
Some locals say they simply left. Others think they were murdered. But the prevailing opinion, thanks to a diary left behind by one of the vanished, a young woman named Daisy Rue, is that a séance gone wrong conjured something supernatural that took them all one by one.
Not long after arriving, Marin and her castmates, including legendary actress Violet Wright and white-hot director Ronan Peters, begin to realise all is not right with New Avalon. They hear strange noises in the night and notice mysterious symbols left behind by the island’s previous occupants. And after a sudden health emergency leaves Marin, Ronan, and the other actors stranded on the island, the disappearances begin again.
Is it the work of someone trying to derail the movie? Or is the island’s alleged supernatural past catching up with the present? As fear and suspicion mount, Marin turns to Daisy’s diary, hoping it holds the key to figuring out what really happened to the women of New Avalon – and how to keep the island’s terrible history from repeating itself.
4. HEART OF GLASS by Jennifer Hillier – Aug 25
In 1926, five women disappeared from a remote island in Vermont. Now, one hundred years later, it's happening again . . .
Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She’s even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a week-long research trip to that very spot.
Because New Avalon isn’t your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums-until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman . . .
Some locals say they simply left. Others think they were murdered. But the prevailing opinion, thanks to a diary left behind by one of the vanished, a young woman named Daisy Rue, is that a séance gone wrong conjured something supernatural that took them all one by one.
Not long after arriving, Marin and her castmates, including legendary actress Violet Wright and white-hot director Ronan Peters, begin to realise all is not right with New Avalon. They hear strange noises in the night and notice mysterious symbols left behind by the island’s previous occupants. And after a sudden health emergency leaves Marin, Ronan, and the other actors stranded on the island, the disappearances begin again.
Is it the work of someone trying to derail the movie? Or is the island’s alleged supernatural past catching up with the present? As fear and suspicion mount, Marin turns to Daisy’s diary, hoping it holds the key to figuring out what really happened to the women of New Avalon – and how to keep the island’s terrible history from repeating itself.
Some lies can save you. Some lies can break you...
Twenty-five years ago in a small beachside town, a charming drifter met three inseparable teenage girls, Barb, Lorelai and Nicolette, at Wonderland, the local amusement park. Days later, Lorelai was found dead, her body surfacing in a flooded bog near where she was murdered.
Now, Wonderland – the infamous site of murders by the serial killer dubbed The Carnival Killer – is about to reopen, revitalizing the dying town. With their past safely behind them, Barb and Nicolette have moved on with their lives. But when the Carnival Killer recants his confession about killing a high school girl, and a new body of a young woman washes ashore, the truth about what happened to Lorelei all those years ago – and what is happening now – threatens the very fabric of the town itself.
When a renowned disease expert and Russian defector dies mysteriously during a global affairs conference in Purity, Maine, the tight-knit band of former spies in the Martini Club once again sees their quiet coastal retirement interrupted by international intrigue. And when a waitress at the conference hotel is found murdered, Ingrid Slocum sees chilling links to a disastrous mission that nearly killed her three decades ago.
Desperate to uncover the truth, Ingrid is drawn back into the game by a magnetic ex-CIA colleague―and former lover―who was with her on the long-ago doomed mission. He convinces her to join him, and together they head to Amsterdam to track down her would-be killer.
Ingrid’s frantic husband Lloyd and Maggie Bird are close behind, but a clandestine network of assassins is intent on stopping them. Forced to question every allegiance, the Martini Club must rely on the skills they tried to leave behind. Because in this game of revenge and deception, the past never dies – it just hides in the shadows.
by CJ Tudor – Sept 10
Welcome to Serenity Falls – the most idyllic, and safest, town in the US – a place to grow up, grow your family and grow old together. For Dan and his daughter, Sadie, it’s the perfect relocation option. A fresh start, thousands of miles from their troubled past in the UK.
But their idyll is shattered when they find a dead body in the swimming pool of their new house – a house Dan’s late mother kept secret from him all his life.
It’s just the start of a series of disturbing discoveries. Abandoned houses where people have seemingly just upped and left. The strange woman Sadie sees around town putting up ‘missing’ posters for a child who drowned almost thirty years ago. An ice cream van that drives around at night making sure residents are asleep...
As plans gear up to celebrate Serenity Falls’ fiftieth anniversary, something is stirring beneath the surface of the blissful façade. Is Serenity Falls really the perfect town or is it founded on something far darker? And is someone so desperate to keep its secrets that they’d resort to anything to preserve them?
Welcome to Serenity Falls.
Once you’re here, you’re here to stay.
7. DID YOU GET THE PACKAGE? by John Harrison – Oct 20
Welcome to Serenity Falls – the most idyllic, and safest, town in the US – a place to grow up, grow your family and grow old together. For Dan and his daughter, Sadie, it’s the perfect relocation option. A fresh start, thousands of miles from their troubled past in the UK.
But their idyll is shattered when they find a dead body in the swimming pool of their new house – a house Dan’s late mother kept secret from him all his life.
It’s just the start of a series of disturbing discoveries. Abandoned houses where people have seemingly just upped and left. The strange woman Sadie sees around town putting up ‘missing’ posters for a child who drowned almost thirty years ago. An ice cream van that drives around at night making sure residents are asleep...
As plans gear up to celebrate Serenity Falls’ fiftieth anniversary, something is stirring beneath the surface of the blissful façade. Is Serenity Falls really the perfect town or is it founded on something far darker? And is someone so desperate to keep its secrets that they’d resort to anything to preserve them?
Welcome to Serenity Falls.
Once you’re here, you’re here to stay.
Mira and Kieran Carpenter are moving into their first home together, a run-down fixer-upper in a historic Pittsburgh neighborhood. To parents and friends, the building is a horror. To Mira, an architect, and Kieran, an accomplished musician, it represents the opportunity to forget the betrayals of the past and restore their marriage along with this new home.
Until ...
A strange delivery is left by the front door. Neither Mira nor Kieran remember ordering it. There is no gift card. No sender. No acknowledgment of its origin. Inside the package is an old wooden box. Just a simple, scarred wooden case with nothing to suggest any real value. An old jewellery case, or a memento chest? A family heirloom, perhaps?
No one they know admits sending it, and soon the two of them are too preoccupied with their careers and house renovations to care where it came from. But then, the messages start arriving.
Anonymous texts, late-night phone calls, and distorted voicemails:
“Did you get the package?”
Things start to go wrong. Around their new house. At work. In their personal relationships. Colleagues become difficult. Friends fall away. Even their own relationship starts to fray. Is it the box? Has it brought a curse into their home?
And the messages keep coming . . .
“Did you get the package?”
Are they victims of some kind of horrific prank? Are they being tormented because of something they’ve done? Or, are they gaslighting themselves into some kind of psychosis?
Whatever it is, it won’t end well.?
8. WATCH THE QUIET SNOW
Anonymous texts, late-night phone calls, and distorted voicemails:
“Did you get the package?”
Things start to go wrong. Around their new house. At work. In their personal relationships. Colleagues become difficult. Friends fall away. Even their own relationship starts to fray. Is it the box? Has it brought a curse into their home?
And the messages keep coming . . .
“Did you get the package?”
Are they victims of some kind of horrific prank? Are they being tormented because of something they’ve done? Or, are they gaslighting themselves into some kind of psychosis?
Whatever it is, it won’t end well.?
by Mick Heron – Oct 22
At last in one volume: the collected Slough House spy novellas, perfect for fans of the #1 bestselling Slough House series.
Espionage. Blackmail. Revenge. Cunning. Secrets.
From the troubled recruitment of a new MI5 informant to the buried secrets of the Cold War, Herron’s novellas capture the drama, humour, and high stakes of everyday life in the world of spycraft. A world rife with both legends and secrets, where thrill-seeking and loneliness are ubiquitous and deadly, and where the lines between friends, enemies, and lovers are perpetually blurred by circumstance and subterfuge.
Watch The Quiet Snow is an excellent introduction to the wider world of Mick Herron’s Slough House. The collection includes: The List, The Drop, The Catch, The Last Dead Letter, and Standing by the Wall.
9. HIDE AND SEEK
At last in one volume: the collected Slough House spy novellas, perfect for fans of the #1 bestselling Slough House series.
Espionage. Blackmail. Revenge. Cunning. Secrets.
From the troubled recruitment of a new MI5 informant to the buried secrets of the Cold War, Herron’s novellas capture the drama, humour, and high stakes of everyday life in the world of spycraft. A world rife with both legends and secrets, where thrill-seeking and loneliness are ubiquitous and deadly, and where the lines between friends, enemies, and lovers are perpetually blurred by circumstance and subterfuge.
Watch The Quiet Snow is an excellent introduction to the wider world of Mick Herron’s Slough House. The collection includes: The List, The Drop, The Catch, The Last Dead Letter, and Standing by the Wall.
by Søren Sveistrup – Nov 5
Count to one, count to two…
On a cold night in Copenhagen, Silje is on her way home when strange messages start appearing on her phone.
Count to three, count to four…
It starts as an innocent nursery rhyme – but when the texts turn sinister, Silje fears she’s in terrible danger.
Count to six, right after five. Will little Silje make it home alive?
When Silje disappears, Detectives Naia Thulin and Mark Hess are tasked with finding her. Thulin and Hess quickly uncover links to a decades-old case – one that started with that same rhyme, and ended in murder…
Count to seven, count to eight. Will you find me, before it’s too late?
10. NO ONE IS SAFE by Simon Kernick – Nov 5
Count to one, count to two…
On a cold night in Copenhagen, Silje is on her way home when strange messages start appearing on her phone.
Count to three, count to four…
It starts as an innocent nursery rhyme – but when the texts turn sinister, Silje fears she’s in terrible danger.
Count to six, right after five. Will little Silje make it home alive?
When Silje disappears, Detectives Naia Thulin and Mark Hess are tasked with finding her. Thulin and Hess quickly uncover links to a decades-old case – one that started with that same rhyme, and ended in murder…
Count to seven, count to eight. Will you find me, before it’s too late?
They have your wife and son. What would you do to save them?
Luke Jones, his wife Sofia and beloved son Max are hiking in a remote Scottish forest when they stumble across the body of a murdered woman. They’re even more terrified when the killers reappear, guns in hand.
Managing to flee, they each get separated in the dense woods – with Luke stumbling and knocking himself unconscious. When he wakes, there’s no sign of Sofia and Max. But when his phone starts ringing, the nightmare really begins...
Luke will do anything to save his wife and son. But, as a pawn in a deadly game which drags up his buried past, can he even save himself?
HORROR
by Sara Hinkley – Jul 7
Paris, 1869. The Théâtre Saint-Siméon is the place to be, if you can get in. The black slips of paper that guarantee entry are rare and highly desired, and given only to certain persons. The actors on stage are magnetic and ageless, performing only at midnight and never seen during the day…
Arnault and his clan of vampires have survived for as long as they have by observing a rigid set of rules. At night, they perform on stage at the Théâtre Saint-Siméon, picking off just enough people in the audience to survive. But they understand the city, and how to live in it without being noticed.
Their peace is shattered first with a visit from Béatrice, a witch who forms a strange connection to Arnault; then with the arrival of Victor de Rouvray and his sister Françoise, vampires from a very different world. And, as Arnault grows closer and closer to the beautiful, enigmatic Victor, he risks becoming distracted from the constant bickering of his immortal friends, from the daily running of the theatre, and worse, from the premonitions of blood, death and starvation that he receives at night.
For a terrible change is on the horizon, revolt and revolution are brewing in the streets and soon, the city, and Arnault will never be the same again.
2. LOVECRAFT’S BROOD: NINETEEN TALES OF COSMIC HORROR
Paris, 1869. The Théâtre Saint-Siméon is the place to be, if you can get in. The black slips of paper that guarantee entry are rare and highly desired, and given only to certain persons. The actors on stage are magnetic and ageless, performing only at midnight and never seen during the day…
Arnault and his clan of vampires have survived for as long as they have by observing a rigid set of rules. At night, they perform on stage at the Théâtre Saint-Siméon, picking off just enough people in the audience to survive. But they understand the city, and how to live in it without being noticed.
Their peace is shattered first with a visit from Béatrice, a witch who forms a strange connection to Arnault; then with the arrival of Victor de Rouvray and his sister Françoise, vampires from a very different world. And, as Arnault grows closer and closer to the beautiful, enigmatic Victor, he risks becoming distracted from the constant bickering of his immortal friends, from the daily running of the theatre, and worse, from the premonitions of blood, death and starvation that he receives at night.
For a terrible change is on the horizon, revolt and revolution are brewing in the streets and soon, the city, and Arnault will never be the same again.
edited by Ellen Datlow – Jul 21
A prison guard and a convict have an affair fuelled by the hallucinations of fungal spores. Squatters arrive in a weird train station, where they unearth a strange idol. Researchers discover skin thieves instead of normal turtles. A mezcal-tasting tour turns utterly terrifying. An old woman stitches a portal that is disrupted by a nameless cat…
Discover the Mythos as you’ve never experienced it before. These dizzying new spins on classic Lovecraftian themes will leave you disoriented, but sane (we hope—we make no promises).
3. ALL HALLOWS’ EVE
A prison guard and a convict have an affair fuelled by the hallucinations of fungal spores. Squatters arrive in a weird train station, where they unearth a strange idol. Researchers discover skin thieves instead of normal turtles. A mezcal-tasting tour turns utterly terrifying. An old woman stitches a portal that is disrupted by a nameless cat…
Discover the Mythos as you’ve never experienced it before. These dizzying new spins on classic Lovecraftian themes will leave you disoriented, but sane (we hope—we make no promises).
edited by Ellen Datlow – Sept 8
Halloween, Samhain, Día de los Muertos—festivals across the world where we can commune with those we have lost, when spirits can cross over, and when the boundary between the living and the dead is far, far too thin.
A young boy encounters a woman with an ancient and terrifying link to the holiday, a group of college students attend a Halloween party to die for, and a troubled girl exploits a local urban legend to try and turn her life around.
From America to New Zealand via the rural Romanian wilderness, this anthology explores our worldwide obsession with the spookiest season of the year, when the veil is lifted and the spirits come alive. Featuring 19 original stories from bestselling and award-winning masters of the genre, and from Hugo, World Fantasy, Locus, Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson award-winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, this anthology invites you to carve a pumpkin, light the lanterns and welcome in trick or treaters from across the world.
With stories by: Josh Malerman, Lee Murray, Rich Larson, Clay McLeod Chapman, Livia Llewellyn, Michael Marshall Smith, Stephen Graham Jones, Linda D. Addison, Christopher Golden, Alma Katsu, Brian Evenson, Siobhan Carroll, Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ, Theresa DeLucci, Garth Nix, Jeffrey Ford, Richard Kadrey, Nathan Ballingrud, John Langan.
4. PICTURES OF YOU
Halloween, Samhain, Día de los Muertos—festivals across the world where we can commune with those we have lost, when spirits can cross over, and when the boundary between the living and the dead is far, far too thin.
A young boy encounters a woman with an ancient and terrifying link to the holiday, a group of college students attend a Halloween party to die for, and a troubled girl exploits a local urban legend to try and turn her life around.
From America to New Zealand via the rural Romanian wilderness, this anthology explores our worldwide obsession with the spookiest season of the year, when the veil is lifted and the spirits come alive. Featuring 19 original stories from bestselling and award-winning masters of the genre, and from Hugo, World Fantasy, Locus, Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson award-winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, this anthology invites you to carve a pumpkin, light the lanterns and welcome in trick or treaters from across the world.
With stories by: Josh Malerman, Lee Murray, Rich Larson, Clay McLeod Chapman, Livia Llewellyn, Michael Marshall Smith, Stephen Graham Jones, Linda D. Addison, Christopher Golden, Alma Katsu, Brian Evenson, Siobhan Carroll, Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ, Theresa DeLucci, Garth Nix, Jeffrey Ford, Richard Kadrey, Nathan Ballingrud, John Langan.
by Josh Malerman – Sept 10
After a magical night out on the town with her fiancée Jack, Emily wakes alone in a huge bed situated in a beautiful, well-lit room. But the pink ceiling, the mauve walls, and the deep, dark corners are nothing like the hotel she and Jack rented. More worrisome yet: Emily has no memory of this place from the night before.
A woman’s voice directs her to remain in bed. And beyond the end of the bed, a picture frame upon an easel – a frame with no canvas, no painting, no art. Only . . . there is the silhouette of a person Emily does not recognise. A person emanating demand, danger, evil. And the way the woman talks . . . She’s acting as if Emily herself is the painting. The still life. The art.
Emily is as confused as she is scared. But it’s immediately clear that she is trapped – and that Jack’s life is on the line along with her own.
The clock is ticking . . .
For Emily.
For Jack.
For being forever trapped.
5. UNEARTHED: NEW HORROR OF ANCIENT RUINS
After a magical night out on the town with her fiancée Jack, Emily wakes alone in a huge bed situated in a beautiful, well-lit room. But the pink ceiling, the mauve walls, and the deep, dark corners are nothing like the hotel she and Jack rented. More worrisome yet: Emily has no memory of this place from the night before.
A woman’s voice directs her to remain in bed. And beyond the end of the bed, a picture frame upon an easel – a frame with no canvas, no painting, no art. Only . . . there is the silhouette of a person Emily does not recognise. A person emanating demand, danger, evil. And the way the woman talks . . . She’s acting as if Emily herself is the painting. The still life. The art.
Emily is as confused as she is scared. But it’s immediately clear that she is trapped – and that Jack’s life is on the line along with her own.
The clock is ticking . . .
For Emily.
For Jack.
For being forever trapped.
edited by Dan Coxon – Sept 15
Nineteen original horror stories exploring ancient sites, uncovering forgotten histories and prising open the tombs of the past.
Unearthed digs beneath these crumbling structures to reveal their archaic pasts, and their darkest secrets. Featuring the best modern writers of horror and dark fantasy, these stories explore the caverns and the catacombs, the ruined temples and the monoliths – and drag an ancient evil back into the light.
Featuring stories from: Tananarive Due, Christopher Golden, Josh Malerman, Tim Lebbon, Eric LaRocca, A.M. Shine, Jonathan Maberry, Hildur Knútsdóttir, Ai Jiang, A. G. Slatter, Mark Chadbourn, Priya Sharma, Benjamin Percy, V. Castro, Gemma Amor, Cavan Scott, Premee Mohamed, Hache Pueyo, Steve Toase.
6. BEASTS OF ENGLAND: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MONSTER STORIES
Nineteen original horror stories exploring ancient sites, uncovering forgotten histories and prising open the tombs of the past.
Unearthed digs beneath these crumbling structures to reveal their archaic pasts, and their darkest secrets. Featuring the best modern writers of horror and dark fantasy, these stories explore the caverns and the catacombs, the ruined temples and the monoliths – and drag an ancient evil back into the light.
Featuring stories from: Tananarive Due, Christopher Golden, Josh Malerman, Tim Lebbon, Eric LaRocca, A.M. Shine, Jonathan Maberry, Hildur Knútsdóttir, Ai Jiang, A. G. Slatter, Mark Chadbourn, Priya Sharma, Benjamin Percy, V. Castro, Gemma Amor, Cavan Scott, Premee Mohamed, Hache Pueyo, Steve Toase.
edited by Nathan Connolly – Sept 17
From time immemorial, the landscapes of England have stoked the flames of imagination, in which new and evolving terrors have been forged. For the Romans, England was a fog-bound half-mythical island at the edge of the world, a land of terrifying wonders. For Geoffrey of Monmouth it was a place in which giants resided. Glidas saw a sinful island abandoned by God and ravaged by divine judgement, whilst Bede saw a chosen land of miracles and divine intervention.
Covering all four corners of this green and unpleasant land, these ten short stories explore the rich mythology, folklore and urban legend that flourishes here. From ancient forests and the things that lurk in their shadows, to desolate moorland, lakes and cities, these authors will take you on a journey of discovery and introduce you to creatures that will haunt your steps eternally.
From time immemorial, the landscapes of England have stoked the flames of imagination, in which new and evolving terrors have been forged. For the Romans, England was a fog-bound half-mythical island at the edge of the world, a land of terrifying wonders. For Geoffrey of Monmouth it was a place in which giants resided. Glidas saw a sinful island abandoned by God and ravaged by divine judgement, whilst Bede saw a chosen land of miracles and divine intervention.
Covering all four corners of this green and unpleasant land, these ten short stories explore the rich mythology, folklore and urban legend that flourishes here. From ancient forests and the things that lurk in their shadows, to desolate moorland, lakes and cities, these authors will take you on a journey of discovery and introduce you to creatures that will haunt your steps eternally.
Lucy Rose, Ramsey Campbell, Leigh Radford, Tobi Coventry, Matt Hill, Dan Coxon, Matt Wesolowki, and others …
7. SILENT NIGHTMARES: HAUNTING STORIES TO BE TOLD ON THE LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR
edited by Chuck Palahniuk and Michael Bailey – Sept 29
A chilling anthology of tales centred around the longest nights of the year, paying homage to the time-honoured Victorian tradition of ghost stories, edited by Chuck Palahniuk and Michael Bailey.
Great writers of centuries past like Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton and Bram Stoker understood that darkness is always hiding amid the holiday cold and cheer, revealing sinister secrets. That in the stillness of winter, when the world is wrapped in a blanket of snow, the festive spirit masks the lurking horrors that dwell beneath the surface.
From haunted halls to malevolent delights, from vengeful spirits of the past to creatures lurking in the shadows, expect to encounter beings that celebrate the season in frightful ways in this Victorian-inspired horror anthology.
Join Chuck Palahniuk, Michael Bailey, Josh Malerman, Joe R. Lansdale, Alma Katsu, Ramsey Campbell, Cynthia Pelayo, Gabino Iglesias, and more, for stories that promise nostalgia and dread, reminding us that sometimes the most silent nights can be the deadliest.
by Christopher Golden – Sept 26
Maggie Wise will take your eyes.
When Malcolm was growing up, the local kids made up that chant about his mother, claiming she was a witch. He and his siblings did their best to ignore it. Now, Maggie is dying, and those same siblings have left Malcolm and his sister-in-law Violet to hold a vigil at her bedside.
But they're not as alone as they think they are. A dark figure waits and watches from beneath the willow tree across the street. Hundreds of miles away, an ancient evil stirs in its burrow under a farmer's cornfield. Across the country, other buried things begin to dream in anticipation of Maggie's demise. On her deathbed, the old woman elicits a promise from Malcolm, her youngest child―when she dies, he and Violet must return her body to her birthplace in Shediak, Maine.
From the moment she takes her last breath, before her remains are even loaded aboard the baggage car of the Imperial Limited, there are forces trying to stop Malcolm from fulfilling that promise. Violence erupts on the train, evil preys on its passengers, and once the sun goes down, those long-buried things are coming to make Maggie Wise pay for her past. God help anyone who stands in their way.
9. GHOST LIGHTS
Maggie Wise will take your eyes.
When Malcolm was growing up, the local kids made up that chant about his mother, claiming she was a witch. He and his siblings did their best to ignore it. Now, Maggie is dying, and those same siblings have left Malcolm and his sister-in-law Violet to hold a vigil at her bedside.
But they're not as alone as they think they are. A dark figure waits and watches from beneath the willow tree across the street. Hundreds of miles away, an ancient evil stirs in its burrow under a farmer's cornfield. Across the country, other buried things begin to dream in anticipation of Maggie's demise. On her deathbed, the old woman elicits a promise from Malcolm, her youngest child―when she dies, he and Violet must return her body to her birthplace in Shediak, Maine.
From the moment she takes her last breath, before her remains are even loaded aboard the baggage car of the Imperial Limited, there are forces trying to stop Malcolm from fulfilling that promise. Violence erupts on the train, evil preys on its passengers, and once the sun goes down, those long-buried things are coming to make Maggie Wise pay for her past. God help anyone who stands in their way.
edited by Mark Morris – Oct 20
The seventh volume in this non-themed horror series of original stories, showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer.
This new anthology contains 20 original horror stories, 15 of which have been commissioned from some of the top names in horror, and five selected from the hundreds of stories sent to Flame Tree during a short open submissions window. A delicious feast of the familiar and the new, the established and the emerging.
Previous titles in the series, all still in print, are: After Sundown, Beyond the Veil, Close to Midnight, Darkness Beckons, Elemental Forces and Fever Dreams.
Contents List: Breakup Song by Rachel Harrison, Hellish Night by Stephen Volk, Home Exterminators by Montanna Rayne Harling, Leg Stretch by Josh Malerman, The Woman in the Box by Mo Perkins, A Cold Moon in December by Christa Carmen, The Apiary by Eric LaRocca, Monster in the Water by Stephen D. Koester, Waterloo Teeth by Laura Purcell, The Passing Places by Ally Wilkes, The Ghosts We Create by David Farrow, The Final Slide by Ramsey Campbell, The Man Will Creep by Angela Sylvaine, The Linnhe Queen by Sally Hughes, Closed Circuit by Eliza Clark, Loon Voices by Michael Rowe, Blurred and Frozen by Carl Tait, The Balcony by Robert Shearman, Kittens by Keith Rosson, Blood Moon by CJ Tudor.
10. ANCESTRAL
This new anthology contains 20 original horror stories, 15 of which have been commissioned from some of the top names in horror, and five selected from the hundreds of stories sent to Flame Tree during a short open submissions window. A delicious feast of the familiar and the new, the established and the emerging.
Previous titles in the series, all still in print, are: After Sundown, Beyond the Veil, Close to Midnight, Darkness Beckons, Elemental Forces and Fever Dreams.
Contents List: Breakup Song by Rachel Harrison, Hellish Night by Stephen Volk, Home Exterminators by Montanna Rayne Harling, Leg Stretch by Josh Malerman, The Woman in the Box by Mo Perkins, A Cold Moon in December by Christa Carmen, The Apiary by Eric LaRocca, Monster in the Water by Stephen D. Koester, Waterloo Teeth by Laura Purcell, The Passing Places by Ally Wilkes, The Ghosts We Create by David Farrow, The Final Slide by Ramsey Campbell, The Man Will Creep by Angela Sylvaine, The Linnhe Queen by Sally Hughes, Closed Circuit by Eliza Clark, Loon Voices by Michael Rowe, Blurred and Frozen by Carl Tait, The Balcony by Robert Shearman, Kittens by Keith Rosson, Blood Moon by CJ Tudor.
by Ramsey Campbell – Nov 17
Long ago the Bystone and Stanton families were enemies – nobody remembers why. Lou Stanton and Ray Bystone are married with a young son Tim. It’s his choice to spend a holiday visiting places the families seem to remember although they’ve never been there: the dauntingly dark Boggart’s Grot, Umbrage Cove, where the ocean turns voracious, Fay Woods, which birds have good reason to avoid, Stalking Edge, where the fog feels as solid as flesh…
If he’s driven by inherited memories, what is he bringing home?
If the ancestors who summoned what the sites hid couldn’t control them, can anyone?
Long ago the Bystone and Stanton families were enemies – nobody remembers why. Lou Stanton and Ray Bystone are married with a young son Tim. It’s his choice to spend a holiday visiting places the families seem to remember although they’ve never been there: the dauntingly dark Boggart’s Grot, Umbrage Cove, where the ocean turns voracious, Fay Woods, which birds have good reason to avoid, Stalking Edge, where the fog feels as solid as flesh…
If he’s driven by inherited memories, what is he bringing home?
If the ancestors who summoned what the sites hid couldn’t control them, can anyone?