#horrorbooks

What would you do with a house capable of making the dead disappear? The House That Eats the Dead takes that question and runs somewhere increasingly dark with it.

The House That Eats the Dead by Max Doty is a supernatural horror thriller releasing August 18, 2026, from Bantam. Claire and her family believe they have found their dream home, but shortly after moving in, strange things begin disappearing. They eventually discover that the house is hungry, and what it consumes is forgotten by everyone except its owners.

I read this in a single day because it hooked me almost immediately. It isn’t particularly scary or disturbing, but it is fast, entertaining, and built around a genuinely fun horror concept. The house feels less like a traditionally evil presence and more like an animal acting according to its own nature. It has preferences, forms attachments, and responds to the people living inside it, but even they never fully understand why it exists or everything it may be capable of.

I also liked Claire and could relate to many of her choices, even as the house began pulling something darker out of her. The premise creates some surprisingly complicated moral questions about grief, temptation, and what people might justify if they knew all evidence and memory of their actions could disappear.

I would have happily read more about the house and its history, but I’m also fine with some of it remaining unexplained. The ending felt slightly abrupt and left me wanting to know what happens next, even though it doesn’t necessarily suggest that another book is coming. If there ever is a sequel, I’m absolutely reading it.

One of my favorite additions was the collection of character playlists at the end. I didn’t agree with every musical choice, but they were fun to go through and added personality to the characters after the story ended.

This was a clever, compulsively readable horror thriller that delivered exactly what its wonderfully blunt title promised while still giving me something to think about. I really liked it, flew through it, and would easily recommend it.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

It just had to be Liverpool. Modern horror stories in books and on screen are set in Victorian England, circulating around London (Ripper street, Whitechapel, Penny Dreadful etc) or isolated mansions in fictional villages and towns modelled on the home counties of southern England. While the classics explore the South West (Hardy) and industrial towns and cities in the midlands and the north (Bennett, Gaskell, Bronte, Eliot), there are still lots of stories to tell in Liverpool!...

https://hannadelaneyauthor.com/?p=864

#horrorbooks #booksandcoffee #horror #gothichorror

There are places where music never truly dies.

Saint Virelia Ballet Academy is one of them.

Deep within the northern mountains, behind forests drowned in mist, an old academy waits.

Its mirrors remember.

Its walls breathe.

Its piano plays without hands.

Its dancers move with impossible perfection.

And beneath the academy lies an unfinished score that demands to be completed.

Elara Vass came to dance.

She may have been invited for something else.

“The Crimson Rehearsal” The Crimson Horror Series — Book Three

A gothic horror novel of ballet, haunted music, forbidden secrets, supernatural terror, and an academy that does not want its past forgotten.

Now available worldwide.

Shorts

No Spoilers Book Review Some horror stories find their way back to the exact fears that unsettled you as a child. The Residency gave me that wonderfully creepy, familiar feeling while still creating a mystery entirely its own.

The Residency by C.D. Major is being promoted as a Gothic horror novel set on a remote Scottish island. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Sarah Cullum, which was released on August 6, 2026. I could definitely feel the Gothic influence in the old wood, the classic-style house, and the unsettling history surrounding the residency. It just did not feel particularly Victorian, if that is what you imagine when you hear Gothic. The overall atmosphere felt much more like isolated-island folk horror, with a small community that clearly knows more than it is willing to say and an outsider slowly realizing she has stepped into something much bigger than she understands.

Ginny is a struggling artist and single mother whose career never became what she once imagined. When she is unexpectedly accepted into an all-expenses-paid artist residency, it feels like the opportunity she has been waiting for. She and her daughter travel to the remote island, but the strange rules, unsettling property, and locals who refuse to give her clear answers quickly make it obvious that the invitation may not be as generous as it first appeared.

The isolated community reminded me of The Wicker Man and the village scenes in An American Werewolf in London. Ginny is entering a place where everyone else seems to understand what is happening, but nobody is willing to explain it to her. The locals are withholding information, old secrets are being protected, and there is a constant feeling that the entire community has quietly accepted something dangerous.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere C.D. Major created. The story has a strange, visual creepiness that reminded me of the stories that genuinely frightened me as a kid. Some of the imagery brought back the same uneasy feeling I had watching The Witches when I was younger. It felt familiar in that sense, but the author still created her own mystery around art, isolation, and the secrets surrounding the residency.

The audiobook narration worked well with the setting and helped create that feeling of being cut off from the mainland with no clear idea who could be trusted. The mystery kept me interested, and the horror elements were disturbing without making the story unnecessarily complicated.

There were a few stretches where the pacing dragged slightly, but they never lasted long enough for me to lose interest. I could see where parts of the story were heading, but the way everything came together still felt satisfying. The writing was strong, the concept was effective, and the story delivered a genuinely spooky experience.

The Residency is a great choice for readers who enjoy isolated communities, sinister artwork, suspicious locals, dark secrets, and small towns where everyone knows something they are not telling you. It was eerie, engaging, and unsettling in a way that felt both familiar and fresh.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

🩸 “クリムゾン・ヴェール”, The Japanese Edition of Gothic Horror Novel, “The Crimson Veil” Is Now Available Worldwide

An isolated European art academy.

Paintings that bleed.

Secrets beneath every canvas.

“クリムゾン・ヴェール”, the Japanese edition of “The Crimson Veil” is now available worldwide.

English version (Amazon)

Shorts

Thank you.

Stephen King remains my all-time favorite author, and not just for the jump scares. From haunted hotels to the human condition, his stories shaped my lifelong love for horror.