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Goodbye 2020: 13 horror reads to usher out the worst year ever




Are you a horror fan? Do you need some new horror to get you through the last months of 2020? I know I do! So I've tracked down 13 horror and horror-adjacent books you need to put on your to-read list that will be released in October, November and December of this year.


I tend to gravitate towards weird and obscure horror. Some of these titles have gotten a lot of press, but some of these you probably haven't heard of yet. Make sure you check them out so the authors get some deserved recognition! Also, the December horror bookshelf is looking kind of bleak - let me know if I missed a December title you are looking forward to?


I've included links to the titles in Goodreads, the U.S. release date and the reason I am looking forward to them. The books are in order of release date.


Are you looking forward to any of these? What else needs to be on my list? Tell me #allthebooks you want to read!


Oct - Dec 2020



October 1, 2020


The true story of an ordinary young housewife in London in 1938 who finds herself a victim of a poltergeist. Her case is investigated by Nandor Fodor, Jewish-Hungarian refugee, British and American parapsychologist, psychoanalyst, author and journalist. How have I never heard of this?



Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker

October 6, 2020


"Writing as A. Deborah Baker, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Seanan McGuire (a.k.a. Mira Grant) introduces readers to a world of talking trees and sarcastic owls, of dangerous mermaids and captivating queens in Over the Woodward Wall, an exceptional tale for readers who are young at heart." Yes, please! I've only read Feed by Mira Grant, but have a number of McGuire's books sitting on to-read piles. This book seems like just the thing to get me out of my early autumn funk and one I need to pick up sooner rather than later.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

October 6, 2020


I read Twisted Ones earlier this year, and now I'm super excited to read this new title by Kingfisher (a.k.a Ursula Vernon). In The Hollow Places, a young woman, who is newly divorced and has moved back home, finds out the holes in her uncle's house are portals to alternate realities. What?




October 20, 2020


Did you know that there are dozens of books bound in human skin in famous libraries and museums? I did not. And I can tell you I am looking forward to this non-fiction book about this book that "exhumes their origins and brings to life the doctors, murderers, innocents, and indigents whose lives are sewn together in this disquieting collection."


Don’t Move by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth

October 20, 2020


I love love love creature horror. It has been my favorite thing to read this year. (Have you read Hunter Shea yet?) Don't Move is about a prehistoric spider that attacks a church group on a camping trip. Fabulous!





Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

October 20, 2020


I've seen this book everywhere on social media, and the book seems to be living up to its hype. It's being billed as a horror-comedy that mashes up The Favourite and The Haunting of Hill House. I love both of those things. I am warily looking forward to reading this one.




The Witch Hunter by Max Seeck

(Jessica Niemi #1)

October 27, 2020


In this first in the Jessica Niemi series, Finnish author Max Seeck delivers an occult mystery/thriller about an author's wife who dies a grisly death that imitates one in his bestselling novel. Is it a deranged psychopath or a cult of "believers in a sinister form of witchcraft"? I am always happy to try international authors finally available in the U.S., so this has been on my to-read for a while.

The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey

November 5, 2020


Disney's Pinocchio always scared me. Like, weirdly terrified me. This retelling of the story from Gepetto's viewpoint may be just the thing to get me over my puppet fear - or not.


"I am writing this account, in another man's book, by candlelight, inside the belly of a fish. I have been eaten. I have been eaten, yet I am living still."


Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer

November 10, 2020


I love Christmas as much as I love horror books. Set in the 80s, and featuring a prank gone-wrong and a cursed secret santa gift, this mashup of two of my favorite things sounds fantastic!


If you're looking for holiday horror to tide you over until this title is released, check out Hark! The Herald Angel Screams. A short story collection, edited by Christopher Golden, full of Christmas horror you won't be able to get out of your head.

Eartheater by Dolores Reyes

November 17, 2020


First, let me say how beautiful this cover is. I am an absolute sucker for a pretty book cover and it will get me to purchase a book every time. Here's the Goodreads blurb for this: "Electrifying and provocative, visceral and profound, a powerful literary debut novel about a young woman whose compulsion to eat earth gives her visions of murdered and missing people—an imaginative synthesis of mystery and magical realism that explores the dark tragedies of ordinary lives."

Ink by Jonathan Maberry

November 17, 2020


Supernatural thriller about tattoos from Jonathan Maberry. Enough said. Right?






This Is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes

November 17, 2020


I've rediscovered my love of and reading a lot of #gothichorror this year. This story of a teen with an easy house-sitting gig that turns into something else is described as American Horror Story meets There's Someone Inside Your House. Ok!





The Blade Between by Sam J. Miller

December 1, 2020


I do not usually seek out eco-horror. I hear enough about it in real life, I don't need to read horror about it. Yikes. But the descriptions about this book and hype surrounding it have convinced me to give it a try. A gay photographer, sick parents, small hometown, childhood friends, evil developers and demons. I'll give it a try. Also, let me know if there's some good eco-horror books that I'm missing out on?


These are all sitting on my shelves right now or in the mail on their way to me. So, follow me on social media or visit often to see my reviews of these as I read them. Thanks to all the publishers who have sent advanced reader's copies (ARCs) of the above mentioned books!


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