Survive the Night by Riley Sager
Type: NovelPublisher: DuttonRelease date: June 29 Den of Geek says: Thriller bestseller Sager returns with the pop scares of the summer. Publisher’s summary: It’s November 1991. Nirvana’s in the tape deck, George H. W. Bush is in the White House, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer. Buy Survive the Night by Riley Sager.
Shutter by Melissa Larsen
Type: NovelPublisher: BerkleyRelease date: June 15 Den of Geek says: Moviemaking on a remote island sounds like a logistics nightmare already. It turns into a nightmare of a different kind when the new star’s sense of the difference between reality and the world of the film starts to blur. Publisher’s summary: In the wake of her father’s death, Betty Roux doesn’t allow herself to mourn. Instead, she pushes away her mother, breaks up with her boyfriend, and leaves everything behind to move to New York City. She doesn’t know what she wants, except to run. When she’s offered the chance to play the leading role in mysterious indie filmmaker Anthony Marino’s new project, she jumps at the opportunity. For a month Betty will live in a cabin on a private island off the coast of Maine, with a five-person cast and crew. Her mother warns against it, but Betty is too drawn to the charismatic Anthony to say no. Buy Shutter by Melissa Larsen.
The Bridge by J.S. Breukelaar
Type: NovelPublisher: Meerkat PressRelease date: June 22 Den of Geek says: The Bridge is a bit of a gamble, since we’re not too familiar with the small press from which it comes. However, the author’s credentials (Lightspeed, Women Writing the Weird, and a finalist spot for the Shirley Jackson Award) look good for an audience who also likes geeky stuff in general, as does the plot and vibes of this dark fantasy. Publisher’s summary: Meera and her twin sister Kai are among thousands of hybrid women—called Mades—bred by the Father in his Blood Temple cult. Meera is rescued by a mysterious healer and storyteller, Narn, but her sister, Kai, does not survive the Father’s “unmaking.” Years later, when the cult is discovered and abolished, Meera, still racked with guilt and grief, enrolls in college to take advantage of a generous new Redress Program. When Narn’s conjure stories buy Meera a free ride to a notorious horror reading series, she is soon the darling of the lit set, feted by the other students, finally whole, finally free of the idea that she should have died instead of her sister. But college is not all it seems—Narn has lost a sister too, and Meera agrees to try and find her if Narn will keep feeding Meera the stories that are opening her up to memories she’s never acknowledged, secrets she’s never wanted to know, about Narn’s and the Father’s connection to a violent campus stalker.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca
Type: NovellaPublisher: Weirdpunk BooksRelease date: June 1 Den of Geek says: As someone who grew up on the internet in the early 2000s, I’m instantly intrigued by the way “locked room” horror can also take place in a chat room. This looks like it angles toward the bloodier, more disturbing side of things. Publisher’s summary: Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death. A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s — a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires. What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
