Tag Archives: Horror

Exclusive Cover Reveal: We Were Never Here by Sophia Hannan

Today on the site I’m delighted to welcome Sophia Hannan to reveal the cover of her debut, We Were Never Here, a lesbian YA Horror releasing July 28, 2026 from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers! Here’s the story:

In July, Georgia Perry and Jules Park—secret girlfriends, covert art thieves, and cohosts of a popular YouTube ghost hunting show—step into a haunted house to steal a priceless painting. A few short hours later, there’s a knife in Jules’s chest and Georgia is waking up in a pool of blood with no memory of how she got there.

Now it’s October, and Georgia is underwater. She hasn’t been to class in weeks, she’s avoiding her old crew and only friends like the plague. But when the three remaining thieves get a call from the man who paid a hefty sum to keep them out of jail, demanding that they return to finish the job, Georgia has no choice but to return to her old life.

As the estranged friends scramble to steal the painting with no cover story and no leader, they quickly realize that something is very, very wrong, and it’s not just the suffocating memory of Jules or the prying eyes of their viewers. Between the strange shadows that begin to trail them and the nightmares plaguing Georgia’s sleep, only one thing is certain: Something followed them home from De Lys manor, and it will do anything to keep them from going back.

And here’s the gorgeously chilling cover, designed by Laura Eckes with art by Elizabeth Wakou!

A painting with a golden frame of a girl sitting in front of old teal wallpaper. Half of her face is blank and dead, with black hair and a black dress, and the other half is alive with dyed green hair, a white sweater, and a scared expression. She holds a bouquet of half-dead flowers.

Buy it: Bookshop | B&N | Amazon | Indigo | S&S

Jackie Hall Photography

Sophia Hannan is a Canadian author of YA fiction. When she’s not writing about ghosts and the girls they haunt, she can be found studying English literature and forcing her friends to watch horror movies with her. We Were Never Here is her debut novel.

Fave Five: New Queer YA Horror, 2025 Edition

Surprise, it’s actually six! I do what I want.

For 2024 titles, click here.

If We Survive This by Racquel Marie

The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala

Hollow by Taylor Grothe

Empty Heaven by Freddie Kölsch 

Season of Fear by Emily Cooper

He’s So Possessed with Me by Corey Liu

Fave Five: New Queer YA Horror, 2024 Edition

Yeah, so there are eight; sue me. It’s a great year for queer YA Horror!

So Witches We Became by Jill Baguchinsky

Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews

The Dark We Know by Wen-Yi Lee

Come Out, Come Out by Natalie C. Parker

Trespass Against Us by Leon Kemp

They Thought They Buried Us by NoNieqa Ramos

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould

Rest in Peaches by Alex Brown

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Hall of Shadows by Mariah Stillbrook

Today on the site, I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Hall of Shadows by Mariah Stillbrook, a YA Horror releasing November 19, 2024 from Creative James Media! Here’s the story:

In the quiet life of Tess Moreau lies a remarkable power—her touch revives ashes, defying nature’s laws. When she uncovers a mysterious book linked to her grandmother and a witch’s coven, her journey begins. Guided by a cursed deck of oracle cards, Tess delves into the Hall of Shadows, a realm crafted by her ancestors. With each dimension traversed, she uncovers her true lineage—a descendant of mythical beings.

As Tess’s humanity wanes, her destiny beckons. She embraces her heritage, becoming the mistress of shadows and the bringer of life from death. At journey’s end, she faces a choice: preserve or destroy the hall. But Tess knows confronting one’s demons is the path to mastery. In a tale of magic and identity, Tess’s odyssey may end, but her legacy is just beginning—a testament to the power within us all.

And here’s the chilling cover by Diana TC from Triumph Covers!

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Mariah Stillbrook, originally from Iowa, lives in Colorado with her white German shepherd, husband, and little girl. She spends most of her days writing, reading, and enjoying the occasional hike. In her late twenties she realized that her writing was missing something, magic. She now focuses her writing on urban fantasy and horror in both adult and young adult genres. As a pansexual woman, most of her works have LGBTQ rep.

Author of In the Pines and The Lost Erwain. Hall of Shadows releases November 2024.

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Haunting Melody by Chloe Spencer

Today on the site, I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Haunting Melody by Chloe Spencer, an f/f YA fantasy/horror/mystery releasing October 1, 2024 from Tiny Ghost Press! Here’s the story:

Failure is a sinister song. One that Melody Myere is all too familiar with.

The only child of an acclaimed ghost hunter couple, Melody’s First Sacred Hunt should have been a walk in the park. All she needed to do was catch a ghost, like she’s done all her life. But when an unexpected wraith showed up causing havoc, Melody was left scarred and embarrassed.

Suffering from depression and PTSD post-hunt, Melody relocates to the sleepy island town of Murkmore, where her parents have been tasked with capturing the ghost responsible for a series of grisly deaths. Determined to prove herself, and despite her parents’ protests, Melody sets out to capture the specter on her own.

When a haunting song lures Melody to an abandoned theater, she encounters a recently deceased musical prodigy by the name of Cyrus. All signs point to Cyrus being the killer, but Melody isn’t so sure, suspecting something more discordant is afoot.

Haunted by more than just a sinister song, Melody must learn to trust her instincts to catch the killer and prove herself before it’s time to face the music.

And here’s the appropriately haunting cover, illustrated by Alex Moore!

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Minnesota native Chloe Spencer is an award winning writer, indie gamedev, and filmmaker. She is the author of Monstersona, Duality, and the upcoming 2024 paranormal mystery-romance Haunting Melody. In her spare time she enjoys playing video games, trying her best at Pilates, and cuddling with her cats. She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon and an MFA in Film and Television from SCAD Atlanta. You can find more about her on www.chloespenceronline.com.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Yes, I made up an excuse to post about a whole bunch of Spooky Season-appropriate books at once. Sue me. 

Middle Grade

Gallowgate by K.R. Alexander

60758294Sebastian Wight is cursed. As a boy with the forbidden ability to traverse the lands of the dead, he must not only harness his newfound powers to fight the monster that stalks him, but also to navigate a creepy world of hunting ghosts and ghouls with his eccentric classmates.

And that’s only the start of his concerns.

There’s also the tangled on a boy who barely looks at him twice… and the deadly family history that brought him to the halls of Gallowgate Academy in the first place.

For Sebastian Wight, fighting the dead might be hard… but it’s dealing with the living that may bring him down.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

Continue reading Happy Friday the 13th!