Chilling reads for chillier days
By Audrey Swartz, Reader’s Advisory Librarian
It’s cold. Like the arctic cold. Bone-deep cold, as my grandfather used to say.
It’s the kind of cold where this Michigan girl breaks out her long, heavy winter coat and tall, furry mukluks. In the almost 9 years I’ve lived in Kansas, this is one of the first winters that has been like this.
There are varying ideas why, but they all end up with the same conclusion: stay inside and stay warm. In my house, there are a few things we do when we are stuck inside. If it’s up to my 7-year-old, we play endless rounds of Uno (yes, you can stack Draw 2s). If it’s up to my 11-year-old, we are hiding in our rooms reading. If it’s up to me…well, there are several options: reading, movie marathon, or LEGO.
As I’ve already written a LEGO article and Uno is a house-rules game, here are some chilling reads sure to make your blood boil.
New in 2025 from our adult horror collection we have the following books:
“Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” by Grady Hendrix: “Set in Florida in the 1970s, Grady Hendrix’s newest novel follows five young women in a home for unwed mothers who find a guide to witchcraft. They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened. Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who. Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid — and it’s usually paid in blood.”
“Wake Up and Open Your Eyes” by Clay McLeod Chapman: “Noah has been losing his polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the ‘Great Reawakening’ is here, he assumes it’s related to one of her many conspiracy theories. But when his phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles and his parents locked in a terrifying trancelike state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it. Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him. But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart — literally — as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend glued to a screen. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn — but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?”
“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones: “A chilling historical horror novel set in the American west in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice. A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones.”
“But Not Too Bold” by Hache Pueyo: “The old keeper of the keys is dead, and the creature who ate her is the volatile Lady of the Capricious House — Anatema, an enormous humanoid spider with a taste for laudanum and human brides. Dalia, the old keeper’s protegee, must take up her duties, locking and unlocking the little drawers in which Anatema keeps her memories. And if she can unravel the crime that led to her predecessor’s death, Dalia might just be able to survive long enough to grow into her new role. But there’s a gaping hole in Dalia’s plan that she refuses to see: Anatema cannot resist a beautiful woman, and she eventually devours every single bride that crosses her path.”
It is early in the year, but these horror books are sure to keep you warm over the chilly days and nights we have coming. Keep an eye out for more new items by browsing our New Book section located on the first floor.
There is something for everyone, and I am sure you will discover a great read!
Audrey Swartz is the adult services and readers’ advisory librarian at Manhattan Public Library
It’s almost 2025; when you read this, it will be. The new year is an encouragement to make change, pick up new habits, new hobbies, be a better version of yourself, and for some to grow through and over trauma. For others, the new year is a reason to celebrate with friends, partake in excess, and perhaps enjoy a kiss at midnight. This librarian sees it as a chance to learn from what has happened and move on. To start planning the January birthday parties and the summer vacation travels, to make realistic goals and snuggle my kiddos a little closer. To be a better version of myself, not a new version, and to fill my to-be -read list (TBR) with new books!