Tag: Horror Fiction

Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo is a haunting reimagining of Peter Pan that turns childhood fantasy into nightmare fuel

Mandy Webster

There’s something deeply unsettling about taking a story associated with innocence and wonder and revealing the horror that may have been lurking beneath it all along. It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo does exactly that, transforming the mythology of Peter Pan into a dark, grief-soaked horror novel that feels equally inspired by It and gothic fairy tales whispered to children who are already old enough to know monsters are real. Releasing June 9, 2026, the novel delivers both supernatural terror and an unexpectedly emotional exploration of trauma, manipulation, and survival.

Get your copy of It Came From Neverland today!

Set during World War I, the story follows Wendy Darling, now an adult working at a children’s home while also assisting wounded soldiers returned from the Western Front. One of the soldiers lies trapped in an unshakable sleep until he murmurs the words “Peter Pan,” forcing Wendy to confront memories she has spent years trying to bury. When a young girl under Wendy’s care disappears, the past comes roaring back. Wendy knows the truth no one else believes: Peter Pan is real, and he is not the whimsical boy immortalized in storybooks. He is a predator.

Continue reading “It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo is a haunting reimagining of Peter Pan that turns childhood fantasy into nightmare fuel” →
Author Interview

Inside the imagination of Laura Holt: Mythology, magic, and writing without limits

Mandy Webster

From gothic horror and tragic romance to epic fantasy and southern folklore, Laura Holt writes with a deep love for stories that blur the line between myth and reality. Holt is also featured in Beautiful and Terrifying: Tales and Visions from the Edge of the Uncanny with her short story “After Alice,” a fitting addition to a collection shaped by eerie beauty and unsettling imagination. In this interview, Holt reflects on the authors who shaped her creativity, the unexpected lessons she’s learned about storytelling and publishing, and the themes she returns to again and again in her work. She also discusses writing authentic stories in a trend-driven world, finding inspiration in mythology and folklore, and why coffee, cookies, and carefully curated playlists remain essential parts of her creative process.

Author Laura Holt discusses mythology, horror, storytelling, and her short story “After Alice,” featured in Beautiful and Terrifying.

Q: What/who were your early literary influences, and how do you think their writing has shaped you as a storyteller today?
A: Some of my earliest literary influences were authors like Roald Dahl, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, R. L. Stine, and J.R.R. Tolkien. For me, Dahl’s book The Witches was my gateway read to the fantasy genre, likeable villains, and morally gray characters, so he will always hold a special place in my heart. Poe and Shakespeare introduced me to poetry and short stories, as well as tragic love and darker subject matter, both of which play a big part in my writing today. And there is one author who has cracked the code on how to write the perfect story every time, it is Stine, so along with reading his books for a good scare, I study his writing style a lot.

Continue reading “Inside the imagination of Laura Holt: Mythology, magic, and writing without limits” →
Author Interview

Inside The Girl with a Thousand Faces: Sunyi Dean on Gothic horror, Chinese folklore, and morally complex characters

Mandy Webster

From the haunted corridors of Kowloon Walled City to the restless spirits woven through Chinese folklore, Sunyi Dean writes horror that unsettles as much as it mesmerizes. In this interview, Dean discusses the cultural history behind The Girl with a Thousand Faces, the challenges of balancing myth with historical inspiration, and why morally complicated characters fascinate her as a writer. She also reflects on grief, forgiveness, experimental narrative structure, and the Gothic and speculative authors who helped shape her distinct voice in contemporary horror fiction.

Sunyi Dean discusses Chinese folklore, Gothic horror, and the layered themes behind her haunting new novel, The Girl with a Thousand Faces.

Q: The Girl with a Thousand Faces blends Gothic horror with Chinese mythology and the real history of Kowloon Walled City. What drew you to that setting, and how did you approach balancing historical inspiration with the supernatural elements of the story?
A: Hong Kong is the place I grew up and learned Cantonese in (though I’ve since lost that language.) I have a complicated relationship with both the city itself, and my family ties there. It is a place of contrasts and contradictions, of extreme modernity and old traditions. I loved portraying it, and tried to keep the ‘important’ aspects of history as true as possible. A lot of trial and error was involved, and many rounds of edits. Whether the balance is right I will leave to the reader to decide!

Continue reading “Inside The Girl with a Thousand Faces: Sunyi Dean on Gothic horror, Chinese folklore, and morally complex characters” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

The Children by Melissa Albert is a haunting story about the danger of becoming someone else’s myth

Mandy Webster

There’s something deeply unsettling about the idea of growing up inside a story that never really belonged to you. In The Children by Melissa Albert, releasing June 2, 2026, childhood becomes both a performance and a prison as two siblings struggle to survive the legacy their mother built from their lives. The result is a darkly hypnotic literary fantasy that feels as though it’s flickering between reality and nightmare the entire time you’re reading it.

Get your copy of The Children today!

Guinevere and Ennis Sharpe grew up as the unwilling inspirations for their mother Edith’s wildly beloved Ninth City fantasy novels. To the world, they were magical children adventuring through an enchanted realm. In reality, they were neglected kids growing up isolated in rural Vermont, half-feral and largely abandoned while their mother disappeared into the mythology she was creating around them. Albert builds both timelines—the children’s traumatic upbringing and adult Guin’s unraveling in the present day—with a sense of inevitable catastrophe. Every chapter feels like a countdown toward something terrible waiting just beyond the firelight.

Continue reading “The Children by Melissa Albert is a haunting story about the danger of becoming someone else’s myth” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen is a haunting folk horror novel about faith, fear, and the stories people choose to believe

Mandy Webster

War turns people into monsters long before anything supernatural enters the picture, and Bone of My Bone understands that better than most horror novels. Set during the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War, Johanna van Veen’s latest is brutal, atmospheric, and deeply philosophical, blending folk horror with theological questions about morality, sainthood, and the terrifying power of blind faith.

Get your copy of Bone of My Bone from my independent online bookstore today!

The novel follows Sister Ursula, a young nun fleeing the destruction of her convent, and Elsebeth, a sharp-witted peasant woman trying to survive a countryside ravaged by soldiers, starvation, and death. After escaping a violent attack, the two women come into possession of a skull believed to belong to a saint. Legend says reuniting the skull with the saint’s body will grant a wish, and the pair set off across the Bavarian wilderness hoping salvation might still exist somewhere in the ruins of the world.

Continue reading “Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen is a haunting folk horror novel about faith, fear, and the stories people choose to believe” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Salomé by Leslie Baird is a hypnotic literary thriller that turns a dreamy French escape into something far darker

Mandy Webster

There’s a particular kind of danger attached to reinvention, especially when it happens far from home. In Salomé by Leslie Baird, that danger arrives wrapped in heat-soaked French afternoons, magnetic attraction, conspiracy, and the seductive promise that maybe death itself can be outwitted. Releasing May 19, 2026, this gothic-tinged literary thriller moves like a fever dream, gradually tightening from atmospheric travel fantasy into something deeply unsettling.

Get your copy of Salomé from my independent online bookstore today!

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its setting. Baird captures northwestern France so vividly that even the oppressive heat and lack of air conditioning somehow feel intoxicating. The small-town atmosphere is lush, languid, and quietly claustrophobic, creating the perfect backdrop for Courtney’s growing obsession with Salomé and her family. The relationship between Courtney and Salomé mirrors that setting beautifully at first—warm, inviting, almost innocent in its intensity. Their connection feels youthful and sincere, the kind of intimacy that blooms quickly when you’re untethered from your ordinary life.

Continue reading “Salomé by Leslie Baird is a hypnotic literary thriller that turns a dreamy French escape into something far darker” →
Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Until Death by Mary Berman is a darkly funny horror novel about how easily love can become a trap

Mandy Webster

There’s a moment in Until Death when it becomes clear that the real horror isn’t just the eerie chapel, the controlling future in-laws, or the increasingly sinister wedding planning. It’s the realization that Ophelia has slowly stopped trusting her own instincts. That loss of self feels far more unsettling than any supernatural element lurking in the background, and it’s what gives Mary Berman’s debut its sharpest edge.

Get your copy of Until Death from my independent online bookstore today!

The novel follows Ophelia Cohen, a woman who never intended to get married after watching her parents’ relationship sour her on the entire institution. But as her mother’s dementia worsens, Ophelia becomes consumed by the fear of ending up alone. When she meets Luke—a man who seems almost custom-built to satisfy both her emotional vulnerabilities and her mother’s wishes—marriage suddenly feels less impossible. From there, the story spirals into a chaotic blend of wedding horror, psychological manipulation, family pressure, and increasingly alarming red flags.

Continue reading “Until Death by Mary Berman is a darkly funny horror novel about how easily love can become a trap” →