Fiction Five: Scary good reads

Dearest by Jacquie Walters

Flora is a new mom, navigating parenthood alone while her husband is deployed. As sleeplessness and loneliness take hold, the edges of Flora’s reality begin to blur.

Just as Flora becomes convinced she is losing her mind, an unexpected guest shows up – her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken in years. Can they mend their relationship? Are there things Flora’s mother isn’t telling her about the events that led to their estrangement?

As stranger and scarier events unfold, Flora begins to fear her mother’s secrets have allowed something truly evil into her home. She must decide if her hold on reality is slipping dangerously away. Or is she the only thing standing between a terrifying visitor and her baby?

“A truly terrifying exploration of maternal instinct, mental health, and the complex bonds between mothers and daughters. Jacquie Walters is a horror writer to watch.” ― Robyn Harding, author of The Drowning Woman

Midwestern Gothic by Scott Thomas

Coffeyville native Scott Thomas returns with a collection of four novellas that explore the frights of one Kansas town.

From a woman who creepily watches the apartments of her neighbors, to a young boy forced to survive a night in a summer camp infected with evil, Scott Thomas exposes the dark side of the American heartland.

“Midwestern Gothic roots its dread down deep into the region . . . every howl could be the wind or a scream.” —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters

“Grabs you by the face. Grim and brutal.” — Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

In September 1913 a young Pole suffering from tuberculosis arrives at a health resort in the Silesian mountains. Every evening the residents gather to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur and debate the great issues of the day. Meanwhile, disturbing things are happening in the guesthouse and the surrounding hills. Someone — or something — seems to be watching, attempting to infiltrate this cloistered world. Little does the newcomer realize, as he tries to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, they have already chosen their next target.

“The Polish Nobel winner ladles up a deliciously creepy revenge tale in this satirical spin on Thomas Mann’s 100-year-old masterpiece The Magic Mountain.” — The Guardian

William by Mason Coile

Henry is a brilliant engineer who, after untold hours in his home lab, has achieved the breakthrough of his career — he’s created an artificially intelligent consciousness. He calls the half-formed robot William.

No one knows about William. Henry’s agoraphobia keeps him inside the house and his fixation on his project keeps him away from everyone including his pregnant wife, Lily.

When Lily’s coworkers show up to finally meet Henry and see the new house — the smartest of smart homes — Henry decides to introduce them to William. Things go from strange to much worse. Soon Henry and Lily discover the security upgrades intended to keep danger out of the house are even better at locking it in.

"From its first page all the way to its jaw-dropping ending, William had me hooked. I mainlined this book in one sitting, loving the tragically endearing protagonist Coile had created while marveling at the whip-smart plotting." — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

Alfred Smettle is not your average Hitchcock fan. He is the founder, owner and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a Victorian house dedicated to the master of suspense. Alfred offers his guests round-the-clock film screenings, movie props and memorabilia in every room, plus an aviary with 50 crows.

To celebrate the hotel’s first anniversary, he invites his former best friends from his college Film Club for a reunion. He hasn’t spoken to any of them in 16 years, not after what happened.

But who better than them to appreciate Alfred’s creation? And to help him finish it.

After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a body.

“A slow burn of suspense, secrets, and lies that—in true Hitchcockian fashion—explodes into a series of twists, each more jaw-dropping than the last.” — Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of Middle of the Night