A Literary Apothecary

I’m not someone who typically kept up with book releases in the past. Most of my knowledge of when books released was based on what was new at my local bookstore, but as I’ve dived more into the book community on the internet and social media, I’ve felt the excitement to keep up with it all. I’ve been especially interested since I’ve started receiving ARCs in the last few years because I love reviewing new media and being part of the conversation before it’s drowned out by a sea of voices.

And so, to kick off this new era of actually keeping up with new releases, here are the new horror books coming out in June of 2026 that I will be placing on my TBR.

Grief Eater

Synopsis

When Kristina rises from her violent death, she’s not the same fragile woman her family once abandoned. She’s rageful, powerful, and hungry—for the blood of the ones who were supposed to love her. With a newfound craving to see vengeance and grief served, she launches into a once-in-an-undead-lifetime journey across blood-slicked highways to the scorched Australian bush and her hometown. As her body fails and her mind fractures, she’s left with one final question: Is she here to forgive, or to feed?

A transgressive, gory examination of queer identity and found family, GRIEF EATER sinks its teeth into trauma and what it means to be devoured by grief.

Why am I Interested?

Fun fact for those who are just getting to know me: I’m actually an Australian citizen! My mother is Australian, so I have Australian citizenship, even though I am very much American. So, of course, I was drawn to a book set in Australia. I don’t feel like I read very many of those.

Beyond that, I was also drawn to the idea of using cannibalism as a metaphor for grief. I’ve seen it often as a metaphor for love, but I’m intrigued to see where the author takes this thematic idea. I just recently added Hunger by Choi Jin-Young to my TBR, which I believe has a similar connection between grief and hunger, and I would be interested to see how these two books compare. Based on the description, I’m also expecting the symbolism to extend further into the idea of being an “other” based on sexuality but also based on being monstrous. Many classic monster tales can be taken as an allegory for one’s sexuality, and I hope this continues that tradition in an exciting way.

The cover also drew me in. These colors are gorgeous!

The Secret Attic

Synopsis

The past isn’t just haunting her—it’s hunting her.

Addison Lowe knew her mother-in-law despised her, but inheriting Barb’s massive estate after her death feels less like closure and more like a trap. Barb’s hoarded rooms aren’t just filled with clutter—they’re filled with secrets. And it’s Addison’s job to unearth them while Luke grieves the loss of the mother he could never let go of.

But Luke grows stranger with every box they open—restless, secretive, cruel in ways Addison has never seen. And the house itself seems to breathe with Barb’s presence. Ivy claws through the windows. A murder of crows drops trinkets at her feet. Dolls stare from the shadows, labeled with names Addison doesn’t recognize—until she does. One doll bears the name Cassidy Warren, a girl who vanished years ago. And the more Addison uncovers, the more Barb’s legacy seems tied to the streak of “bad luck” that has haunted Rockside Bay for decades.

The deeper Addison digs, the clearer it some secrets were meant to stay buried. And the husband she thought she knew may be hiding the darkest one of all…

Why am I Interested?

I love a Gothic story, and this sounds very Gothic. From haunted dolls to the creeping ivy, if this book is as atmospheric as the description, it sounds like it would be the perfect rainy day read. Luckily, we get a lot of rainy days in the summer in Florida.

There are quite a few mystery threads here to pick at, and my curiosity is thoroughly piqued. What happened to Cassidy Warren? Is Luke being possessed? Does Barb have some kind of power over the house after her death? And why did she give the house to Addison? This is a perfectly tantalizing mystery that I can’t wait to unwrap.

Bad Things Happen Here

Synopsis

In 2004 a group of six students, who have newly arrived at university and quickly become friends, are beset by supernatural forces, which seem to centre around a 5th floor room in an otherwise innocuous student hall of residence. So insidious and terrifying is their ordeal that one of the six commits suicide, an act which drives an irreparable wedge between the rest.

Twenty years later, the remaining five friends are all living very different lives. Hannah Prentice is a divorcee with two children, the youngest of whom is being badly bullied at school, and a mother who is showing the first signs of dementia; Jess Maple is a professional artist, who is just about to break into the big time; Steve Lazenby is a successful architect, whose eight-year-old daughter is suffering from delusions and nightmares; Max Bradshaw is a self-employed plumber, happily married with three children, whose fourteen-year-old son has fallen in with the wrong crowd; and Michael Vance, bohemian and charismatic at university, is now a drug-addicted vagrant, who harbours a terrible secret…

Although the five friends have not been in contact for almost two decades, they are gradually drawn back together when their lives begin to fall apart. What happened to them twenty years ago seems to be seeping back into the present, affecting not just them this time, but their children, their partners, their loved ones.

As the terrifying visions, the violence and the madness escalate, they must mobilise forces and once again confront the horror in Room 55.

Why am I Interested?

Have you ever heard of the game Corpse Party? It was a survival horror game originally created in the RPG Maker engine that had its first release in 1998. It has a bit of a weird history of rereleases and sequels and all that, but the basic story of a group of students entering a haunted school and being hunted by supernatural beings really fascinates me. Reading this synopsis immediately gave me the same vibes!

My book club also semi-recently read The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig, and that also seems like a reasonable comp. A group of teenagers sees something supernatural that they can’t explain, one of them is lost in this past, and many years later the rest of the group returns to try to solve the mystery. These kinds of stories have the opportunity to really deeply explore the characters, and based on this blurb, I hope this book will do the same.

The House of Dust and Shadows

Synopsis

We are but dust and shadows is the motto on the sundial in the garden at Blackthorn Manor. The past haunts the family living there.

When Robert Landimor, a famous painter, dies suddenly, he leaves his estate, including Blackthorn Manor, to his housekeeper, Mary, disinheriting his three daughters, Lucia, Izzy, and Sara in the process. No one understands why.

Sara attempts to find answers, but only uncovers buried secrets about their father and his family instead. Then, the body of a woman is discovered in the lake on the Manor’s grounds, leaving Sara and her sisters to face terrible danger.

Ghosts and the past may not be the only things haunting their family.

Why am I Interested?

This one is very intriguing to me because I think it’s the only book I’ve ever seen on Goodreads with literally zero ratings. Even books that I get as ARCs, I’m typically not the first person to read or review them. Not only does this book have no ratings, it also has very little information listed on Goodreads: no genre, no page count, nothing. The publishing house is very new. As far as I can tell, they’ve existed since around 2023-2024, and they are very indie.

I’ve been interested in getting into more indie books. There are so many books out there, and traditional publishing is only a sliver of what’s available. It does mean that I’m likely to have a harder time getting a book like this at the library, so it might be waiting on my TBR for a long time.

But that’s all the meta stuff; the actual description of the story is interesting to me as well. I’m an artist, if you didn’t know, and just about every piece of art you see on this website was designed by me. I’m always interested in reading about fellow artists, and an artist in a spooky haunted house? Plus an inheritance dispute? Sign me up.

Vervain Hollow

Synopsis

Two years ago, Laura was in a cult. But when the sprawling house in the hollow burned down with Vervain, their strikingly handsome and magnetic leader, trapped inside, Laura had nowhere to go but home. Brokenhearted, she finds herself longing for their lost leader—despite the trauma of that strange and terrifying year, she knows the power he promised her was real. But when her estranged friend, Aliyah, calls to tell her that Daniel, one of the other acolytes, has been lured back to the hollow by a message from Vervain, Laura only hears one He’s still there. As Laura and Aliyah venture back to the house of their nightmares to find the truth, Laura soon realizes that not everything she remembers can be trusted—and that the darkness will do anything to get her back.

Why am I Interested?

I’ve actually already read Vervain Hollow thanks to an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley and Union Square & Co., so a big thank you to them! What initially drew me to this novel was the cult. I absolutely love a cult story. I find the dynamics at play to be extremely interesting and an excellent way to interrogate power structures. The author can take the idea of a cult and move it in so many directions: a confrontation of religion, an exploration of parenthood, or a metaphor for a toxic relationship.

I think Vervain Hollow followed through on creating a deeper level to the idea of the cult, and I enjoyed the direction the characters and story went in. On top of that, the writing was descriptive, the vibes were immaculate, and the cover is gorgeous. This is one book on the list that I can definitely recommend.

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Check out my advanced review of Vervain Hollow here!

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Tillinghast

Synopsis

Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he’s allowed himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and has always ended in a shallow grave in his cellar. There’s a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it is simple enough that he has his needs, and that when they become unbearable, he fulfils them. In his long and lonely life, he has met only one other like him—the woman he still yearns for, the one who made him what he is.

Then a girl arrives, searching for him. She has his last name, and bears an uncanny resemblance to that woman, awakening memories Tillinghast had long suppressed; the connection he feels for her is immediate and overwhelming. She’s also sick, very sick, with symptoms Tillinghast recognizes all too well…and only he knows how to cure her.

Inspired by the real events of the New England vampire panic of the nineteenth century, Tillinghast is a novel to sink your teeth at once a gripping, atmospheric horror that turns the classic monster narrative on its head; a literary work of exceptional prose about giving into–or resisting–our impulses; and a remarkably moving father-daughter story that will leave you unexpectedly hopeful—and rooting, despite your every instinct, for the killers.

Why am I Interested?

It’s funny how many vampire stories exist, and yet they’re still fascinating to readers. I love vampire stories, and I’ve read quite a few of them. I appreciate that while this does appear to be a vampire novel, it’s not doing the more classic “I’ve just been turned” story. Tillinghast is an experienced vampire, so the book will have more of an opportunity to explore the relationship with his daughter. That sounds like the emotional core of the book.

I’m also so intrigued by this being based on a real event! I have never heard of the New England vampire panic before, and I would absolutely like to learn more. I just recently read We Are the Beasts by Gigi Griffis and learned about the Beast of Gévaudan, and I found that I really enjoyed the fictionalized take on this real event. I am definitely going to look into both of these events sometime in the future.

Carrion Crow

Synopsis

Marguerite has been locked in the attic of her family home, a disintegrating Chelsea house overlooking the stench of the Thames. For company she a sewing machine, a copy of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management and trays of congealing food carried up to her with little regularity. Marguerite has been confined by her mother, Cécile, who is concerned about her engagement to an older, near-penniless solicitor, Mr Lewis, and wishes to educate her daughter on ‘proper’ married conduct – lest she drag the family’s good name into disrepute. But why is Marguerite pursuing the aged Mr Lewis in the first place? Why are her mother’s visits seemingly becoming less frequent? And just how much time has passed since the lock closed on the attic’s hatch?

Why am I Interested?

Ah, one of my favorite subgenres: the horror of being a woman in society. I think this works especially well in historical novels, like this one, because there are higher expectations and higher levels of punishment for shirking those expectations. I’m curious about Marguerite’s motivations, and if she’s possibly going to fall more into that “feral woman” evolution I see in fiction. Or is her mother really the true villain here?

I’m also curious how the story is going to manage the setting of the locked room. If I had to guess, the story will be told in alternating timelines between the past and present, but I don’t know that, of course. It’s a compelling mystery, and I hope it’s told in a compelling way.

I should say that from what I understand, the initial release of Carrion Crow was a while ago, and this is the paperback release. So, if you can’t wait to get your hands on this book, you absolutely can get the hardcover or e-book. If you’ve already finished it, was it good? Let me know!

Going to the Six

Synopsis

When acclaimed documentary filmmaker Owen Wheeler leads a four–person crew aboard a Michigan DNR research vessel to investigate the wreck of the Keuka—a floating speakeasy long lost beneath the cold, black waters of Lake Superior—he believes he’s chasing history. What they bring back instead is something far stranger.

Told through fragmented footage, blog journals, news clippings, and Owen’s own testimony from inside a psychiatric facility, this haunting novel unfolds across two the ill-fated expedition, and the haunted present. Just as the record fractures, so too does Owen’s grip on what truly happened aboard the vessel.

Locals whisper of an old superstition—six signs that come before a person loses their mind. Did the crew uncover a secret buried with the Keuka? Or are Owen’s memories a labyrinth of guilt, grief, and madness?

A story of truth versus memory, the collapse of time, and the thin seam between reality and delusion, Going to the Six drags the reader down into the depths—where silence presses in, light cannot reach, and dread waits patiently in the dark.

Why am I Interested?

This is the most indie book on this list by a wide margin. I believe that Going to the Six is self-published through Kindle and is only available as an e-book on that platform. This is another one that will likely sit on my TBR for quite a while, which is a shame because I love the premise.

I don’t typically like haunted house stories because, in the back of my mind, I’m always thinking, “just leave the house.” However, having your haunting take place on a boat completely supersedes that complaint, and you get the additional bonus in atmosphere. Waves crashing, fog rolling in, storms brewing… suddenly there’s a lot of built-in danger.

I also really like the idea of the story being told through multiple formats. I’m interested to see how much experimentation there is with the traditional structure of a novel because, as an indie project, Going to the Six has a lot of freedom. Part of what really drew me to this book were the similarities to From Below by Darcy Coates. That book also followed a group of documentarians finding a haunted ship, and I adored that book. One of my favorite reads in the last few years, so I’m hoping this one will give me similar vibes.

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And that’s it! These are the eight horror books releasing in June that I will be adding to my TBR. I’m mostly someone who reads from the library, so it might take some time for me to get my hands on these books and get reviews on this blog. Keep an eye out for future articles.

Are you interested in any of these books? Let me know!