Here’s a look at the horror novels hitting the market this month. There are an assortment of gems that will be arriving on shelves, including works from Richard Matheson, Robert Jackson Bennett, Guy Adams and Francis Knight.

Get ready for loads of hybrid work, as plenty of these novels incorporate some significant science fiction, fantasy and humorous elements. Either way, they should work to scare the pants right off of you, and keep you plenty entertained in their wide variety of topics!

Season of the Wolf by Jeffrey J. Mariotte

Release: Feb 26, 2013

Synopsis: “When Alex Converse, heir to a coal company fortune, visits Silver Gap, Colorado to make an environmentally themed documentary film, he’s hoping to change some minds and to soothe his own troubled conscience. But there’s more going on—in his mind, and in Silver Gap—than Alex knows. People are dying and women are disappearing. Some of the killers have fur, fangs, and claws—but some don’t. What is Alex’s connection to the missing women? Will anyone live long enough to find out? And what’s up with those wolves?

Season of the Wolf is a heart-stopping supernatural thriller about climate change, the human capacity for evil, and the epic struggle between a small town’s citizens and impossible creatures from the dawn of history.”

Stalking You Now by Jeff Strand

Release: Feb 26, 2013

Synopsis: “The reprehensible man sits in the restaurant. Laughing with his friends. Entertaining them with a story about his wretched behavior.

He doesn’t know that somebody at another table is watching him. Somebody filled with hatred. Somebody waiting for him to be alone. Somebody with duct tape and a gun.

It’s a night for vengeance. And a hell of a lot more.”

Exile: The First Book of the Seven Eyes by Betsy Dornbusch

Release: Available

Synopsis: “Draken vae Khellian, bastard cousin of the Monoean King, had risen far from his ignominious origins, becoming both a Bowrank Commander and a member of the Crown’s Black Guard. But when he is falsely condemned for the grisly murder of his beloved wife, he is banished from the kingdom and cast upon the distant shore of Akrasia, at the arse-end of the world.

Compared to civilized Monoea, Akrasia is a forbidding land of Moonlings, magic, and restless spirits. It is also a realm on the brink of a bloody revolution, as a sinister conspiracy plots against Akrasia’s embattled young queen–and malevolent banes possess the bodies of the living.

Consumed by grief, and branded a murderer, Draken lives only to clear his name and avenge his wife’s murder. But the fates may have bigger plans for him. Alone in a strange land, he soon finds himself sharing the bed of an enigmatic necromancer and a half-breed servant girl, while pressed into the service of a foreign queen whose life and land may well depend on the divided loyalties of an exiled warrior . . .

Exile is the beginning of an ambitious fantasy saga by an acclaimed new author.”

Afterworlds: the Book of Doom by Barry Hutchison

Release: February 28, 2013

Synopsis: “The second hilarious book in Barry’s AFTERWORLDS sequence – comic fantasy perfect for fans of Pratchett and Douglas Adams. There’s panic up in Heaven. They have mislaid the BOOK OF DOOM – the most important object in existence. Oopsy. They think Satan might have stolen it, the sneaky little devil, so to save the world – plus, you know, quite a lot of embarrassment, fifteen year old Zac and his angelic guide Angelo are sent to retrieve it. Sadly directions aren’t Angelo’s strong point and they soon find themselves just as lost as the book, wandering through Afterworlds such as Valhalla and Hades and encountering some colourful characters along the way…Can the hapless pair make it to Hell and back?”

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

Release: February 12, 2013

Synopsis: “Some places are too good to be true.

Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map.

In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things.

After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother’s home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother’s past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different …

From one of our most talented and original new literary voices comes the next great American supernatural novel: a work that explores the dark dimensions of the hometowns and the neighbors we thought we knew.”

Blood Oranges by Kathleen Tierney

Release: Available

Synopsis: “My name’s Quinn.

If you buy into my reputation, I’m the most notorious demon hunter in New England. But rumors of my badassery have been slightly exaggerated. Instead of having kung-fu skills and a closet full of medieval weapons, I’m an ex-junkie with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time. Or the right place at the wrong time. Or…whatever.

Wanted for crimes against inhumanity I (mostly) didn’t commit, I was nearly a midnight snack for a werewolf until I was “saved” by a vampire calling itself the Bride of Quiet. Already cursed by a werewolf bite, the vamp took a pint out of me too.

So now…now, well, you wouldn’t think it could get worse, but you’d be dead wrong.”

Countess Dracula (Hammer) by Guy Adams

Release: Available

Synopsis: “How far would you go to stay young and beautiful? A new, modern-day novelisation of the classic Hammer film, Countess Dracula.

You can do anything in Hollywood and be forgiven, anything except grow old…

It’s 1930 and cinema stands at the dawn of a new age, the silent era is all but dead, talkies are here and Technicolor is on its way. The whole world loves movie icons Frank Nayland and Elizabeth Sasdy, lapping up each new picture and following their romantic life story both on and off the screen. But all is not as perfect as it appears.

Not only has the advent of talkies meant torturous sessions with a vocal coach to try and remove Sasdy’s Hungarian accent but she’s starting to spot the first few grey hairs, and the lines on her face get deeper every day. If she loses her looks she’ll lose everything, but even a woman as powerful as Elizabeth Sasdy can’t fight nature. Can she? A chance accident reveals the solution but just how far is the Queen of Hollywood prepared to go to stay beautiful forever?”

Cry Wolf (Alpha And Omega) by Patricia Briggs

Release: Available

Synopsis: “Anna never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack…and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’s learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. Then Charles Cornick, the enforcer—and son—of the leader of the North American werewolves, came into her life.

Charles insists that not only is Anna his mate, but she is also a rare and valued Omega wolf. And it is Anna’s inner strength and calming presence that will prove invaluable as she and Charles go on the hunt in search of a rogue werewolf—a creature bound in magic so dark that it could threaten all the pack…”

Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore

Release: Available

Synopsis: “Necromancer is such an ugly word, but it’s a title Eric Carter is stuck with.

He sees ghosts, talks to the dead. He’s turned it into a lucrative career putting troublesome spirits to rest, sometimes taking on even more dangerous things. For a fee, of course.

When he left LA fifteen years ago, he thought he’d never go back. Too many bad memories. Too many people trying to kill him.

But now his sister’s been brutally murdered and Carter wants to find out why.

Was it the gangster looking to settle a score? The ghost of a mage he killed the night he left town? Maybe it’s the patrion saint of violent death herself, Santa Muerte, who’s taken an unusually keen interest in him.

Carter’s going to find out who did it, and he’s going to make them pay.

As long as they don’t kill him first.”

Domino Falls: A Novel by Tananarive Due & Steven Barnes

Release: February 19, 2013

Synopsis: “It began on Freak Day—that day no one could explain, when strangers and family members alike went crazy and started biting one another. Some thought the outbreak was caused by a flu shot, others that it was a diet drug gone terribly wrong. All anyone knew is that once you were bitten and went to sleep, you woke up a freak.”

Eve of Chaos (Marked) by Sylvia Day & S.J. Day

Release: February 26, 2013

Synopsis: “When Evangeline Hollis spent a night of passion with the darkly seductive Alec Cain, she had no idea that she’d be punished for it years later. Branded with the Mark of Cain, Eve was thrust into a life of hunting demons as penance.

Living with the Mark—and the two sexy brothers who come with it—was trouble enough. But then Eve ran over Satan’s hellhound during training. Now Satan, incensed at the loss of his pet, has put a bounty on Eve’s head, and every demon in the country wants to be the one to deliver her.

Meanwhile, Eve’s formerly insatiable one-night stand is acting distant. Cain says he still wants Eve, and she believes him, but scorching hot sex isn’t enough. Not after knowing what it was like to have more.

As Cain’s role in Eve’s life becomes more and more uncertain, Abel doesn’t hesitate to step in.”

Age of Voodoo by James Lovegrove

Release: February 26, 2013

Synopsis: “Lex Dove thought he was done with the killing game. Then a call comes. One last mission: to lead a black ops team into a disused Cold War bunker on a remote island. One hundred feet below ground they face the fruits of an experiment in science and voodoo witchcraft gone wrong. As if barely human monsters weren’t bad enough, a clock is ticking. Little do they know that deeper in the bowels of the earth, a god is waiting.

Lex Dove thought he was done with the killing game. A retired British wetwork specialist, he’s living the quiet life in the Caribbean, minding his own business.

Then a call comes. One last mission: to lead an American black ops team into a disused Cold War bunker on a remote island. The money’s good, which means the risks are high.

How high, Dove doesn’t discover until he and his team are a hundred feet below ground, facing the fruits of an experiment in science and voodoo witchcraft gone wrong. As if barely human monsters weren’t bad enough, a clock is ticking. Deep in the bowels of the earth, a god is waiting. And his anger, if roused, will be fearsome indeed.”

Fade to Black (A Rojan Dizon Novel) by Francis Knight

Release: February 26, 2013

Synopsis: “It’s a city built upwards, not across – where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.

Rojan Dizon doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, because he’s got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can’t hide for ever.

Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan – this is going to hurt.”

Farside by Ben Bova

Release: February 12, 2013

Synopsis: “Farside, the side of the Moon that never faces Earth, is the ideal location for an astronomical observatory. It is also the setting for a tangled web of politics, personal ambition, love, jealousy, and murder.

Telescopes on Earth have detected an Earth-sized planet circling a star some thirty light-years away. Now the race is on to get pictures of that distant world, photographs and spectra that will show whether or not the planet is truly like Earth, and if it bears life.

Farside will include the largest optical telescope in the solar system as well as a vast array of radio antennas, the most sensitive radio telescope possible, insulated from the interference of Earth’s radio chatter by a thousand kilometers of the Moon’s solid body.

Building the Farside observatory is a complex, often dangerous task. On the airless surface of the Moon, under constant bombardment of hard radiation and infalling micrometeoroids, builders must work in cumbersome spacesuits and use robotic machines as much as possible. Breakdowns—mechanical and emotional—are commonplace. Accidents happen, some of them fatal.

What they find stuns everyone, and the human race will never be the same.”

Gideon’s Angel by Clifford Beal

Release: February 26, 2013

Synposis: “He came back to kill a tyrant. He found the Devil instead. An amazing historical novel with a supernatural twist set after the English Civil War. This is the stunning debut from Clifford Beal.

He came back to kill a tyrant. He found the Devil instead.

1653: The long and bloody English Civil War is at an end. King Charles is dead and Oliver Cromwell rules the land as king in all but name. Richard Treadwell, an exiled royalist officer and soldier-for-hire to the King of France and his all-powerful advisor, the wily Cardinal Mazarin, burns with revenge for those who deprived him of his family and fortune. He decides upon a self-appointed mission to return to England in secret and assassinate the new Lord Protector. Once back on English soil however, he learns that his is not the only plot in motion.

A secret army run by a deluded Puritan is bent on the same quest, guided by the Devil’s hand. When demonic entities are summoned, Treadwell finds himself in a desperate turnaround: he must save Cromwell to save England from a literal descent into Hell. But first he has to contend with a wife he left in Devon who believes she’s a widow, and a furious Paris mistress who has trailed him to England, jeopardising everything. Treadwell needs allies fast. Can he convince the man sent to forcibly drag him back to Cardinal Mazarin? A young king’s musketeer named d’Artagnan.

Black dogs and demons; religion and magic; Freemasons and Ranters. It’s a dangerous new Republic for an old cavalier coming home again.”

House Rules: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel by Chloe Neill

Release: Available

Synopsis: “In a city full of vampires, trouble never sleeps.

At the tender age of twenty-seven, Merit became a sword-wielding vampire. Since then, she’s become the protector of her House, watched Chicago nearly burn to the ground, and seen her Master fall and rise. Now she’ll see her mettle—and her metal—tested like never before.

It started with two . . . Two rogues vanishing without a trace. Someone is targeting Chicago’s vampires, and anyone could be next. With their house in peril, Merit and her Master, the centuries-old Ethan Sullivan, must race to stop the disappearances. But as they untangle a web of secret alliances and ancient evils, they realize their foe is more familiar, and more powerful, than they could have ever imagined.”

Last Train to Jubilee Bay: A Tor.Com Original by Kali Wallace

Release: Available

Synopsis: “After the sickness and quarantine almost destroyed the city, the traders arrived creeping out from the sea to live off the memories of those people left behind; getting them addicted to the serum these strange creatures manufacture in return. But now it’s been more than five days since they have come for their daily visit. And Lucy is determined to find out why.”

Lives We Lost,The (Fallen World trilogy, The) by Megan Crewe

Release: February 12, 2013

Synopsis: “First, the virus took Kaelyn’s friends. Then, her family. Now it’s taken away her home.

But she can’t look back–the life she once had is gone forever.

A deadly virus has destroyed Kaelyn’s small island community and spread beyond the quarantine. No one is safe. But when Kaelyn finds samples of a vaccine in her father’s abandoned lab, she knows there must be someone, somewhere, who can replicate it. As Kaelyn and her friends head to the mainland, they encounter a world beyond recognition. It’s not only the “friendly flu” that’s a killer–there are people who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the vaccine. How much will Kaelyn risk for an unproven cure, when the search could either destroy those she loves or save the human race?

Megan Crewe’s second volume in the Fallen World trilogy is an action-packed journey that explores the resilience of friendship, the ache of lost love, and Kaelyn’s enduring hope in the face of the sacrifices she must make to stay alive.”

Paprika by Yasutaka Tsutsui

Release: February 12, 2013

Synopsis: “Widely acknowledged as Yasutaka Tsutsui’s masterpiece, Paprika unites his surreal, quirky imagination with a mind-bending narrative about a psychiatric institute that has developed the technology to invade people’s dreams.

When prototype models of a dream-invading device go missing at the Institute for Psychiatric Research, it transpires that someone is using them to drive people insane. Threatened both personally and professionally, brilliant psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba has to journey into the world of fantasy to fight her mysterious opponents. As she delves ever deeper into the imagination, the borderline between dream and reality becomes increasingly blurred, and nightmares begin to leak into the everyday realm. The scene is set for a final showdown between the dream detective and her enemies, with the subconscious as their battleground, and the future of the waking world at stake.”

Prophet of the Dead: Brotherhood of the Griffon, Book V by Richard Lee Byers

Release: Available

Synopsis: “The anticipated climax to a series that has been building in popularity, Richard Lee Byers is at his best working with tales of the undead. Prophet of the Dead fulfills on the promise of the title, giving fans a satisfying end to the current threats facing the Brotherhood of the Griffon.”

Shadow on the Sun by Richard Matheson

Release: February 26, 2013

Synopsis: “Southwest Arizona, a century ago. An uneasy true exists between the remote frontier community of Picture City and the neighboring Apaches. That delicate peace is shredded when the bodies of two white men are found hideously mutilated. The angry townspeople are certain the “savages” have broken the treaty, but Billjohn Finley, the local Indian agent, fears that darker, more unholy forces may be at work. There’s a tall, dark stranger in town, who rode in wearing the dead men’s clothes. A stranger who may not be entirely human.”

Shards and Ashes by Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong & Veronica Roth & Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl & Rachel Caine & Carrie Ryan & Nancy Holder & Beth Revis

Release: February 19, 2013

Synopsis: “The world is gone, destroyed by human, ecological, or supernatural causes. Survivors dodge chemical warfare and cruel gods; they travel the reaches of space and inhabit underground caverns. Their enemies are disease, corrupt corporations, and one another; their resources are few and their courage is tested.

Powerful original dystopian tales from nine bestselling authors offer bleak insight, prophetic visions, and precious glimmers of light among the shards and ashes of a ruined world.

Stories from:

Kelley Armstrong

Rachel Caine

Kami Garcia

Nancy Holder

Melissa Marr

Beth Revis

Veronica Roth

Carrie Ryan

Margaret Stohl”

The Apes of Wrath edited by Rick Klaw

Release: Available

Synopsis: “From the jungles of Tarzan to outer space and beyond, the apes in these remarkable tales boldly go where humans dare not. Provocative and fantastical, this clever anthology delves into the cultural fascination with—and dread of—humanity’s simian cousins. In “Evil Robot Monkey,” a disgruntled chimp receives an implant that makes him more cunning than his cohort and humans alike; and a murder mystery unravels with the discovery of a hair that does not appear quite human in the classic Poe tale, “Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Merging steampunk with slapstick, “The Ape-Box Affair” has a not-so-ordinary orangutan landing on Earth in a spherical flying ship—where he is promptly mistaken for an alien; and Joe R. Lansdale has King Kong setting a terrible example with booze and Barbie dolls in “Godzilla’s Twelve-Step Program.” Intertwining beloved classics with inventive new writings, this collection explores the lighter and darker sides of these furry primates and holds a mirror to man’s deepest anxieties and desires.”

The Golden Age of Death (A Calliope Reaper-Jones Novel) by Amber Benson

Release: February 26, 2013

Synopsis: “My name is Calliope Reaper-Jones (Callie to my friends). I’m Death’s Daughter and—as of very recently—the (reluctant) head of my father’s company, Death, Inc.

I was gradually learning how to be a businesswoman. Had the power suits and shoes down, though the day to day was slow going. Then I was blindsided by Enemies Unknown and sent off to I-don’t-know-where. Not a good thing.

Now not only must my friends and family be frantic, but without a CEO, Death, Inc., can’t function. With the newly deceased left free to roam the Earth, it’s the zombie apocalypse come true.

I’ve got to get back—for my sake and the sake of, oh, all humanity…”

The Monkey’s Other Paw: Revived Classic Stories of Dread and the Dead edited by Luis Ortiz

Release: February 28, 2013

Synopsis: “Several of the best modern horror writers are brought together in this collection of new stories that are all revivals of classic dark tales. From sequels and prequels to retellings and homages, these pieces continually elude expectations and are full of surprising twists and turns. The literary endeavors include Gay Terry, Carol Emshwiller, and Don Webb each tackling some of H. P. Lovecraft’s writings from alternative points of view, the graphic artist Martos illustrating what becomes of the painting of Dorian Gray after the death of its subject, and Paul di Filippo riffing on Dylan Thomas’s ghost story “The Followers.” Embracing and expanding upon themes explored in classic horror, this anthology injects a new dose of dread into the genre.”



The Queen Is Dead (The Immortal Empire) by Kate Locke

Release: Available

Synopsis: “When her brother Val gets in over his head in an investigation of Half-Blood disappearances and goes missing himself, it’s up to Xandra, newly crowned Goblin Queen, to get him back and bring the atrocities to light. Xandra must frequent the seediest parts of London, while also coping with what she is, the political factions vying for her favor, and the all too-close scrutiny of Queen Victoria, who wants her head. Add this to a being a suspect in a murder investigation, a werewolf boyfriend with demands of his own, and a mother hell bent on destroying the monarchy, and Xandra barely knows which way is up. One thing she does know is that she’s already lost one sibling, she’s not about to lose another.

Xandra Varden is the newly crowned Goblin Queen of England. But her complicated life is by no means over.

There are the political factions vying for her favor, and the all too-close scrutiny of Queen Victoria, who for some reason wants her head. Not to mention her werewolf boyfriend with demands of his own, and a mother hell bent on destroying the monarchy. Now she’s the suspect in a murder investigation — and Xandra barely knows which way is up.

What she does know is that nothing lasts forever—and immortality isn’t all its cracked up to be.”

Trickster by Jeff Somers

Release: February 26, 2013

Synopsis: “Magic uses blood—a lot of it. The more that’s used, the more powerful the effect, so mages find “volunteers” to fuel their spells. Lem, however, is different. Long ago he set up a rule that lets him sleep at night: never use anyone’s blood but your own. He’s grifting through life as a Trickster, performing only small Glamours like turning one-dollar bills into twenties. He and his sidekick, Mags, aren’t doing well, but they’re getting by.

That is, until they find young Claire Mannice— bound and gagged, imprisoned in a car’s trunk, and covered with invisible rune tattoos. Lem turns to his estranged mentor for help, but what they’ve uncovered is more terrifying than anybody could have imagined. Mika Renar, the most dangerous Archmage in the world, is preparing to use an ocean of blood to cast her dreams into reality— and Lem just got in her way.”

The Fair Grounds by Tobias Seamon

Release: February 2013

Synopsis: “”The Fair Grounds” features Francis North, acclaimed designer of graveyards. Rising from a dismal childhood in the historic village of Kaaterskill, which helped inspire Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” North becomes celebrated for his outlandish reinvention of cemetery design. But his most controversial achievement is the Fair Grounds, constructed at Kaaterskill. Emblazoned with the words “All’s Fair under the Valley of the Shadow of Love,” the cemetery is a series of exhibits out of North’s embittered past. A primrose maze spells the memento mori, a barrow called “The Cairn” represents that bank that foreclosed on North’s family farm, and reigning supreme is a monstrous bronze of the Headless Horseman. Obsessed with the cemetery, North haunts the grounds like a hunchbacked exhibit himself until trouble stirs. The town becomes concerned over rumors of ghosts, while North’s wife will leave him unless he abandons his deranged creation. Everything reaches a head during a Halloween carnival when the cemetery transforms into a spectral stalking ground. Filled with nods to Irving’s original, “The Fair Grounds” is a fabulist examination of the funereal, where the living and the dead alike are ruled by the baleful spirit of the Horseman.”

Dogs With Their Eyes Shut by Paul Meloy

Release: February 2013

Synopsis: “When dogs sleep, they dream. And the way dogs sleep and the way they dream is very similar to the way humans sleep and dream. It’s all about the eyes, and how they see things. We have a very similar design of eye. When I found Bix, the connection was made and from that day on, when Bix dreamed, I shared those dreams with him and I could go to the Quays.

And so the War with the Autoscopes continues, raging across dreams and drawing the remaining Firmament Surgeons together. Unaware of his spectacular lineage, the narrator of this story enjoys, for a short, sweet time, the delight of lucid dreams through which he follows the adventures of a beautiful girl named Lesley and her battles with the baroque Uproar Contraptions.

Only when he is told that what he thinks are dreams are more than just his imagination, his complacency is shattered and he realizes he has to find a way to gain access to the Quays and rescue Lesley from the horrors of the ancient Autoscope they call The Flyblown Man.”