Horror Novels from Black authors in 2026
This is as of 12/30/2025. More releases may be announced in the coming months. This is collated from various other early 2026 announcement releases and may be missing smaller or indie publishers. I've included publishing dates, so please consider adding reminders in your lil hello kitty calendar apps to pick up a copy, if you're not preordering! Also these are adult oriented, not YA genre!
Feel free to add on ONLY Black authors if I've missed any or have been announced in the mean time.
Sauúti Terrors Short Stories edited by Eugen Bacon, Stephen Embleton, Cheryl S. Ntumy Jan 20, 2026 A powerful dark science fiction collection in a stunning edition, bringing back the revolutionary Afrocentric Sauútiverse. Co-editors Eugen Bacon, Stephen Embleton and Cheryl S. Ntumy bring us a powerful and haunting collection of short stories from the groundbreaking Sauútiverse, following the success of Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology. Sauúti Terrors tells of the doomed, the damned, the shunned, the cunning, the destroyers, the noxious, and more, in the worlds of the living, the in-between and the dead. Unravel the darkest stories in the deepest parts of the Sauúti five-planet system with its two suns, and orbiting a binary star. Bringing together African and African diaspora writers, the collection features five-time Bram Stoker Award winner and recipient of the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award Linda D. Addison and other prominent speculative fiction authors, including T.L. Huchu, Xan van Rooyen, Jamal Hodge, Ishola Abdulwasiu Ayodele, Wole Talabi, Mazi Nwonwu, Kofi Nyameye, D.S. Falowo, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, J. Umeh, Moustapha Mbacké Diop, Miguel O. Mitchell, DaVaun Sanders and Nerine Dorman.
On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield [Black american author] January 27, 2026 “A ferociously talented writer. Scholfield writes with insight, beauty, and the wildness of real art.” —Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women In this sinister and surreal Southern Gothic debut, a woman escapes into the uncanny woods of southern Georgia and must contend with ghosts, haints, and most dangerous of all, the truth about herself. When Judith Rice fled her childhood home, she thought she’d severed her abusive mother’s hold on her. She didn’t have a plan or destination, just a desperate need to escape. Drawn to the forests of southern Georgia, Jude finds shelter in a house as haunted by its violent history as she is by her own. Jude embraces the eccentricities of the dilapidated house, soothing its ghosts and haints, honoring its blood-soaked land. And over the next thirteen years, Jude blossoms from her bitter beginnings into a wisewoman, a healer. But her hard-won peace is threatened when an enigmatic woman shows up on her doorstep. The woman is beautiful but unsettling, captivating but uncanny. Ensnared by her desire for this stranger, Jude is caught off guard by brutal urges suddenly simmering beneath her skin. As the woman stirs up memories of her escape years ago, Jude must confront the calls of violence rooted in her bloodline. Haunting and thought-provoking, On Sunday She Picked Flowers explores retribution, family trauma, and the power of building oneself back up after breaking down.
Dead First by Johnny Compton [Black american man] Feb 10, 2026 From the Bram Stoker award-nominated author of The Spite House comes a bone-chilling new novel about a private investigator hired by a mysterious billionaire to discover why he can’t die. When private investigator Shyla Sinclair is invited to the looming mansion of eccentric billionaire Saxton Braith, she’s more than a little suspicious. The last thing she expects to see that night is Braith’s assistant driving an iron rod straight through the back of his skull. Scratch that—the last thing she expects to see is Braith’s resurrection afterward. Braith can’t die, it turns out, but he has no explanation for his immortality, and very few intact memories of his past. Which is why he wants to pay Shyla millions to investigate him, and bring his long-buried history to light. Shyla can’t help but be intrigued, but she’s also trapped by the offer. Braith has made it clear that he knows she’s the only person he can trust with his secret, because he knows all about hers. Bold, atmospheric, and utterly frightening, Johnny Compton’s Dead First is spine-chilling supernatural horror about the pursuit of power and the undying need for reckoning.
The Body by Bethany C. Morrow [Black american woman] Feb 10, 2026 The Body is a pulse-pounding supernatural horror story from bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow, where one woman must survive a series of bizarre and escalating attacks on her marriage. Mavis broke from her parents’ congregation years ago, but she still hasn’t recovered. Their impossible expectations and soul-shredding critiques have dug deep into her mind, and she’s taunted by the knowledge that even when she’s done nothing wrong, she’ll never be right. Now Mavis is afraid she’s about to lose the only thing she has: her husband, Jerrod. The man she’s always known was too good to be true. No one thinks she deserves him—not even after surviving the serial cheater they wanted her to stick by—and soon they’ll all find out they were right. Mavis is already unraveling when a brush with death shows her what real fear looks like. Soon, she’s under constant attack from all directions. As the assaults turn increasingly vicious and bizarre, Mavis realizes that Hell isn’t reserved for the afterlife. And sinner or not, no one is coming to save her.
Bloodfire, Baby by Eirinie Carson [Black british woman] Feb 17, 2026 A maternal gothic tale of new motherhood and the torment of a centuries-old haunting Before the shadow appeared, Sofia thought mothering would be all sun-drenched light and white linen sheets, as seen advertised by the momfluencers of Instagram. In her gorgeous home anchored in a posh suburb, far removed from her origins, Sofia revels in her success. Motherhood seems like the natural next step, but when her husband travels for a work trip, leaving Sofia all alone with their unnamed three-week-old baby, she can’t quite square how mothering falls solely in her lap. Nobody seems able or willing to help her: not her husband, not her best friend, and certainly not the zealot mother she cut off long ago. Her postpartum reality is overtaken by an ominous figure. Sleep-deprivation collides with a darkness that creeps in and begins to spread, threatening to consume her entirely. As her grip on reality slips away, Sofia learns of an insidious haunting that has plagued the eldest daughters in her family for generations. With her baby’s safety on the line, Sofia realizes she must confront her murky history or risk losing more than just the veneer of perfection.
The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson [Black american woman] Mar 31, 2026 We Need to Talk about Kevin as if written by Jason Reynolds and Tananarive Due meets Model Home by Rivers Solomon in an innovative twist on the haunted house novel: about a mother desperate to protect her sons from the twin specters of gun violence and otherworldly menace in their public housing project. Nona McKinley raised three boys in the Hester Gardens section of Medford, Michigan, an impoverished community divided by those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate. Her second son Marcus is on the right path. He's a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school. He can get out. But then, strange things start happening to Nona and other residents: mysterious footsteps are heard when she’s alone, people have phantom encounters in the streets, unattended appliances go off at all hours. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, is hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus becomes moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a different person entirely. Nona has her secrets too. Her affair with the married church pastor has been weighing on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone—or something— is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price.
Witch Queen Rising by Savannah Stephens [Black american woman] April 21, 2026 There’s no greater honor for a New Orleans witchkin than to become the Prime, a witch chosen to rule. Meant to pass between two rival Houses of magic, this title is not meant for the wayward daughter of a former Prime who died under mysterious circumstances. Seraphine was titled the Tick Witch for her ability to feed on magic and make it her own, a powerful outcast who is not only feared but misunderstood. Now, she must earn the respect of her people, the politics of the paranormal, and heal her broken heart from her werewolf ex as she navigates power-hungry vampires and the skeletons in her family’s closet.
Honey by Imani Thompson [Black Jamaicain british woman] Expected 5 May 26? A wickedly funny, adrenaline-rush of a novel about a graduate student who murders bad men and justifies it in the name of feminism, by a bold new voice in fiction Yrsa is in a funk. She’s bored of her PhD program, bored of her research on Afropessimism, bored of the entitled undergrads she has to cater to. But most of all, she’s bored of the men in her life—especially the bad ones. When her best friend, Nina, confesses to having an affair with her professor, and that he’s stolen her research, Yrsa is mad. On the quad, Yrsa bumps into the professor and witnesses his an unfortunate incident involving his San Pellegrino and a bee allergy. What she sees that afternoon awakens something in a taste for murder. Emboldened, Yrsa decides to chase that high, and soon, no sexist, misbehaving man within commuting distance is safe. With each murder, Yrsa feels a greater sense of meaning and purpose—finally, her doctoral research feels useful. But how long can killing in the name of feminist and racial solidarity justify her actions? Will her rampage ever assuage her feelings of rage and revenge? And how long until her actions—and buried family secrets—come back to haunt her?
Muntu by Eugen Bacon [Black Australian woman] May 12, 2026 ONE MAN. TWIN SOULS. AN UNQUENCHABLE BEAST. It is a muntu—a trapped spirit in the island of the dead. This creature of legend becomes a deadly reality when a killer strikes the heart of Sydney. The victims seem unconnected, yet Investigating Officer Ivory Tembo is convinced the killings are anything but random. The case soon leads Ivory into places she never imagined. In order to stop the killings and save the life of the man she loves, she must reach deep into her past, uncover secrets of her heritage, break a demon’s curse, and somehow unify two worlds.
House of Margins by Tlotlo Tsamaase [Black south African woman] May 26, 2026 Serial the podcast meets The Other Black Girl in a haunted house, as young African author disappears after being invited to an exclusive writing residency, and her sister is left only with a true crime podcast to help her uncover the truth about what really happened… Anaya Sebeya is missing. Before her disappearance, Anaya was a brilliant writer: a rising star. Invited to a prestigious writing residency at Günter Huis, an eerie colonial mansion on the slopes of Devil’s Peak, Anaya was supposed to craft the next great African literary masterpiece—and so were four other young, emerging writers, all competing for the grand prize. But Anaya never made it home. When a sensationalized true crime podcast about Anaya emerges, claiming to reveal everything that happened at Günter Huis, her sister Ranewa is both skeptical and furious. But with each surreal episode, Ranewa begins to piece together a truth worse than she ever could have imagined… At Günter Huis, Anaya’s nightmares consume her. Time slips away from her. Günter Huis inflicts distorted visions and terrible supernatural visitations, pushing Anaya to tell a story no one dares. But exorcising the house’s endless cycle of evil requires a sacrifice that neither Anaya nor her fellows are ready to make. In House of Margins, award-winning Motswana author Tlotlo Tsamaase delivers a mesmerizing story of a young generation facing colonialism’s cultural legacy in Africa.
I'll Watch Your Baby by Neena Viel [Black american woman] May 26, 2026 A suffocating and sharp narrative horror novel for fans of Victor LaValle and The Reformatory from "addictive" (s Weekly) horror author Neena Viel, I’ll Watch Your Baby is a haunting reimagining of Linda Taylor--known as the original Welfare Queen—pursued, scrutinized, celebrated and vilified, and the impact her image has had for generations.
1974. Lottie Turner is already infamous. Running a wheel of schemes and scams, she’s willing to work for what she wants in…creative ways. But no business is more lucrative than desperate families looking to adopt a child—and there’s only one way to procure children quickly. And the only way to take what’s owed you is to cross the line no one else is willing to cross.
1994. Bless has finally found the family she deserved. After suffocating slowly with lackluster parents and a non-starter past, she’s found the friends that means everything to her. That she’d live and die for. As they make their way across the country, one smash and grab at a time, Bless is used to acting fast and thinking on her feet. But someone is playing a long game. Someone has unfinished business. Soon Bless is trapped in a web of horrors past and present, where the only escape hatch is a path only she can walk, if she finds the courage to take it.
Our Sister's Keeper by Jasmine Holmes [Black american woman] Jun 9, 2026 Mississippi, 1927. The groanings are coming. No town is perfect, but East Cobb comes close. It's a wealthy all-Black Free Town--untouched by white oppression--where ambitious Thea Elliot and her husband plan to make good on their big dreams. Little do they know that the idyllic town teems with ghoulish, walking nightmares . . . that only the women can see. Marah knows the groanings well. She is one of the carriers--women with the ability to pull traumatic memories from men. Populated by men entirely freed of their pain, East Cobb has flourished, even as the remnants of their memories haunt the town's women. When an unexpected death drives Marah to discover more about her own power, Thea's and Marah's worlds collide. The sisters must confront the rotten core at the heart of East Cobb's prosperity and choose what--and who--will survive the reckoning. A gripping blend of historical fiction and Southern gothic psychological horror, Our Sister's Keeper is a fierce exploration of Black sisterhood, rage, and resistance.
EDIT TO ADD!
Traverse by E. J. Meyers [Black american man] Released February 18th 2026
A riveting, unsettling, and deliciously bleak horror yarn..." - Kirkus Reviews A forgotten massacre. A mental patient who believes he's lost in time. A terrifying truth hidden beyond nightmares. Cyrus "Cy" Warren, a postgraduate administrator at Drayman Mental Hospital, has long dismissed his terrifying visions of an alien world as trauma-induced nightmares. But when Wilcox Jennings, a patient claiming to be a 19th-century butler from Bellecliff, a notorious mansion perched ominously at a cliff's edge, arrives vividly describing the same alien realm from Cy's dreams, Cy must question everything he believes.Now a luxury hotel, Bellecliff was the site of a grisly massacre during the same era Wilcox claims as his own. As Cy is swept deeper into conspiracy and terror, the line between nightmare and reality blurs. Something sinister connects Bellecliff's blood-soaked past to Cy's visions, something unspeakable and fiercely guarded by forces determined to keep it hidden.Blending horror and science fiction, Traverse is a gripping debut from author E.J. Meyers. It is a chilling exploration of terror beyond imagination
Bloodfire, Baby by Eirinie Carson [Black american / british woman] Published February A maternal gothic tale of new motherhood and the torment of a centuries-old haunting Before the shadow appeared, Sofia thought mothering would be all sun-drenched light and white linen sheets, as seen advertised by the momfluencers of Instagram. In her gorgeous home anchored in a posh suburb, far removed from her origins, Sofia revels in her success. Motherhood seems like the natural next step, but when her husband travels for a work trip, leaving Sofia all alone with their unnamed three-week-old baby, she can’t quite square how mothering falls solely in her lap. Nobody seems able or willing to help her: not her husband, not her best friend, and certainly not the zealot mother she cut off long ago. Her postpartum reality is overtaken by an ominous figure. Sleep-deprivation collides with a darkness that creeps in and begins to spread, threatening to consume her entirely. As her grip on reality slips away, Sofia learns of an insidious haunting that has plagued the eldest daughters in her family for generations. With her baby’s safety on the line, Sofia realizes she must confront her murky history or risk losing more than just the veneer of perfection.
