January Horror Round-Up

As we head into 2024, we actually are continuing to pile through the best horror from 2023. Books are not the same as movies or music, it takes time to find, read, and consider a book, which means that you really can’t give a perfect “best of” list until you’re well into the following year. There are some exciting titles on our list for 2024, but most are still on their way, so instead this list covers four books from late last year.

Edenville: A Novel - Sam Rebelein (William Morrow)

This month’s special pick was actually a highlight from late last year that should have been on 2023’s must read list. A rather fun take on Upstate New York cosmic horror (which really is a genre all its own) from relative newcomer Sam Rebelein, whose short work has been a staple of some of the horror community’s favorite magazines and publications. This is his first novel and, because of this, this may be his first step into the larger literary world, and this accessible and infinitely relatable horror-comedy is a pitch perfect way to build an audience beyond horror die-hards. The story follows a middling writer who becomes a character in the Lovecraftian novel he wrote, while his girlfriend works through the trauma of a missing friend and a distant partner. The book keeps up its pace, doesn’t let the laughs outpace the more terrifying elements, and actually takes a relatively arcane series of genre tropes into a digestible direction. I expect this to become a Netflix movie before the decade is over.

Two Graves Vol 1.  - Genevieve Valentine, Ming Doyle, and Annie Wu (Image Comics)

This dark parable about death reads as a much more in depth and mature concept than its “young adult” presentation might indicate, and while it left a lot of basic plot elements shrouded in mystery, it certainly did pique enough interest to come back next time. All three of the creative talents in here should be commended for bringing together a strong narrative streak to their mythos building and it will be interesting to see how these elemental creatures shape up when they come into focus in the second volume.

Weird Horror: Issue 7 (Undertow Publications)

This is the last issue of Undertow Publication’s 2023 releases (for Fall) and it is one of their best. It keeps up the same diverse range of published literary horror, always choosing quality over easy gimmicks. The best story in the bunch may be Stuart Arthur’s “Devil’s Acre,” but there a number of great pieces as well as an interesting essay hashing out what this idea of “weird horror” even is. Undertow Publications is positioning themselves as a primary entity to help define what this genre is to be over the coming years.

Blood from the Air - Gemma Files (Grimscribe Press)

This new collection from prolific horror short storyist Gemma Files is perhaps her most satisfying so far. Files is a staple of the literary horror world and is a favorite for cosmic horror themed anthologies, and because of that you can see the influence of New Lovecraftian on many of the stories included here. Blood from the Air features a range in story types, but the existential angst and folk horror elements are where it sits the strongest. Stories like “Grave Goods,” which I have read in a few different venues, deserves a re-read, and stories like “Every Hole in the Earth We Will Claim As Our Won” and “Harrow” are a perfect entrypoint for Lovecraftian fan readers. It's worth noting that Files is not exactly an easy author to jump into, her prose is complicated and often jumbled, filled with fast-paced dialogue and subtle detailing, all of which means that it can be easy to get lost. This is simply a reminder that taking your time reading pays dividends, particularly in her more nuanced stories, like the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari-inspired “Caligarism,” which takes on the chaotic dreamstate that German impressionism so classically rendered on screen. It’s also nice seeing Files commitment to small press publishing, which speaks to the fact that deeply written literary genre writing is often still a bit of distance from where mainstream publishing is at. If you are a Files fan, or if you read a lot of anthologies, horror magazines, or Ellen Datlow books, then you will likely have already encountered several of these stories, but the presentation really encourages a return since many of these tales are destined to become classics. (It’s also interesting to note this is not available on Kindle, perhaps part of its independence.)