No most-anticipated-books-of-the-year list would be complete without some horror books to look forward to. 2025 is bringing the scares from different authors. This is out last, but most certainly not least, list of most anticipated books. Don’t forget to check out our sci-fi and fantasy round-ups.
Black Brane by Michael Cisco
Part a pain hallucination and part a wild ride in a suspicious institute, Michael Cisco’s new novel is packing a lot of weirdness. Seems like this book is going to introduce memorable characters and strange turns. Preliminary vibes indicate this might be a little Dark (2017-2020) aligned. “A man lying in a bed of pain flees from physical torment into his own memories, and into speculations about life and reality. He was, once, employed by the Temporary Institute for the Study of Holes, a think tank pursuing research that ranges from occult studies to advanced physics, including black holes—or, as they are known in string theory, black branes.
He meets and interacts with the various other members of the institute. Its founder, Dr. Marilyn Shitansky, a formerly homeless woman who claims to have a thinking hole in her brain; its resident occultist, the chain-smoking Daladara with his magic abacus; Ernie Allegre the engineer, who designed and built a decoherence reactor to power the institute; Dr. Liu, the string theorist; the linguist Dr. Corngholm, who can’t sit still; and Dr. Shitansky’s secretary, Renbrui, who seems to carry a mystery with her wherever she goes.” Source: Barnes & Noble
At Dark, I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca
Horror sweetheart Eric LaRocca has come back with another promising premise. LaRocca’s new book touches on grief, death, occult rituals, and the will to live a better life. “‘If you’re reading this, you’ve likely thought that the world would be a better place without you.’
A single line of text, glowing in the darkness of the internet. Written by Ashley Lutin, who has often thought the same—and worse—in the years since his wife died and his young son disappeared. But the peace of the grave is not for him—it’s for those he can help. Ashley has constructed a peculiar ritual for those whose desire to die is at war with their yearning to live a better life.
Struggling to overcome his own endless grief, one night Ashley finds connection with Jinx—a potential candidate for Ashley’s next ritual—who spins a tale both revolting and fascinating. Thus begins a relationship that traps the two men in an ever-tightening spiral of painful revelations, where long-hidden secrets are dragged, kicking and screaming, into the light.
Only through pain can we find healing. Only through death can we find new life.” Source: Blackstone
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Stephen Graham Jones has always delivered. This man always brings scares, devastating narratives, and unforgettable gore scenes. This time, Jones is tackling vampires in the Blackfeet reservation. Vampires and epistolary novels always go well in our humble opinion, so we cannot wait to read Jones’s novel. “A chilling historical horror novel set in the American west in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.
A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones.” Source: Simon & Schuster
And the Trees Stare Back by Gigi Griffis
Gigi Griffis’s upcoming novel has folk-horror vibes, witches, doppelgängers, and a mysterious entity living in the dark woods. To be quite honest, this checks most of the things we look for in a horror novel. “1989, Soviet Estonia. In sixteen-year-old Vik’s village—and the cursed forest that looms beyond—danger is everywhere. Soldiers threaten those who so much as dream of dissent. The villagers’ words are sharp with accusations of witchcraft. And deep in the heart of the wood, a lantern-eyed spirit lies in wait to disappear those who wander too far past the trees.
Vik knows because five years ago, she led her little sister Anna over that invisible line—and never saw her again.
The only thing Vik has wished for since then is her sister’s safe return. So when Anna stumbles back through the tree line on the anniversary of her disappearance, it’s a miracle… Or is it a lie?
As unsettling inconsistencies between this girl and the one who vanished reveal themselves, Vik starts to doubt whether this Anna is her Anna—or something else entirely. Whoever she is, one thing is clear: she was never meant to escape the trees. And unless Vik can uncover the secrets of the forest, it’s going to take her back.” Source: Gigi Griffis
Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Remember Manhunt? Well, Gretchen Felker-Martin is back with another harrowing and disturbing tale. Based on what’s known so far, this is giving Censor (2021) vibes. Blurring the line between fiction and reality, this novel is going to be mind-blowing, to say the least. “The Baroness, an infamous exploitation film long thought destroyed by Nazi fire, is discovered fifty years later. When lonely archivist Ellen Kramer—deeply closeted and pathologically repressed—begins restoring the hedonistic movie, it unspools dark desires from deep within her.
As Ellen is consumed by visions and voices, she becomes convinced the movie is real, and is happening to her—and that frame by frame, she is unleashing its occult horrors on the world. Her life quickly begins to spiral out of control.
Until it all fades to black, and all that remains is a voice asking a question Ellen can’t answer but can’t get out of her mind. Do you want it? More than anything?” Source: Macmillan
8114 by Joshua Hull
Joshua Hull’s upcoming novel blends childhood memories, trauma, and small-town hell. The protagonist is a podcast host, so it’ll be interesting to see how podcasting and writing come together in this book. “After returning to his hometown, Paul, the beleaguered host of a small-time podcast, discovers a longtime friend committed suicide in the dilapidated ruins of Paul’s childhood home. Desperate to find answers, Paul interviews friends and locals hoping to find closure. He finds himself in a chilling downward spiral of his memories and the land he grew up on. Has his past caught up with him or is there something far more sinister at play?” Source: Barnes & Noble
Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner
Wendy N. Wagner has been a household name in horror for a while now. Her newest book falls in the eco-horror category and deals mostly with a missing persons case with an added mystery, because missing people are rarely simple cases. “Erin’s brother Bryan has been missing for five years.
It was as if he simply walked into the forests of the Pacific Northwest and vanished. Determined to uncover the truth, Erin heads to the foothills of Mt. Hood where Bryan was last seen alive. He isn’t the first hiker to go missing in this area, and their cases go unsolved.
When she discovers the corpse of a local woman in a creek, Erin unknowingly puts herself in the crosshairs of very powerful forces—from this world and beyond—hell-bent on keeping their secrets buried.” Source: Macmillan
Little Horn by Gemma Files
Very little is known about Gemma Files’s upcoming short story collection. According to Shortwave Publishing, it includes fourteen short stories and novelettes, including illustrated title pages by the author. If Files’s previous work is anything to go by, these collection will surely be chilling, intriguing, and a fantastic read.
Requiem by John Palisano
Sci-fi horror is one of our favorite mixes here at MetaStellar. Specially if it includes a cosmic entity like the one John Palisano promises in his newest novel. What’s horror without a little grief and a little madness? “Ava must fight an entity locked in on taking out the crew of the Eden, a moon-sized cemetery in space, as it brings back the souls of the dead buried aboard. One such soul is Ava’s lost love, Roland.
The spirits of the interred on the Eden haunt those aboard, including a visiting musician is tasked with writing a new song for the dead. Her Requiem calls a cosmic entity that illuminates their darkest fears and secrets. One by one, they’re driven mad. Ava fights her grief and must rise up before they’re lost and the entity reaches Earth.” Source: Flame Tree Publishing
The Vengeful Dead by Darcy Coates
The fifth installment in Darcy Coates’s Gravekeeper series, The Vengeful Dead keeps the ghosts coming. Introducing an evil corporation into the mix is surely going to shake things up and raise the stakes. “Keira is caught in a deadly battle. Her ability to help ghosts move on from the mortal world has made her a threat to Artec, a powerful corporation intent on trapping the tortured dead for profit. They’ve been tracking her for years and now, finally, there’s nowhere left for her to run.
Artec fears Keira and everything she’s capable of. They will stop at nothing to eliminate her—including sending armed men after everyone she holds dear.
Desperate and quickly running out of time, Keira races to hone her abilities as she searches for a way to destroy the twisted organization for good. But at least now she’s no longer alone. Her friends have offered to follow wherever she leads, even if that means a direct strike deep into the heart of Artec’s central base…and to the certain death waiting for them there.” Source: Barnes & Noble
Adriana Acevedo is an editor, writer, and sleep paralysis demon. She's been published in magazines like samfiftyfour and Impostor. She's bilingual and living in the monstrous Mexico City. Whenever she's not reading horror stories or watching horror movies, she's baking sourdough bread. Read more of her writing here.