The Chill Quill: Love Bites and Dark Delights That Will Haunt You This February

3 weeks ago 19

Contributor: Lindy RyanFebruary 11, 20252 min read

Vampiric appetites. Spectral kisses. Unhinged desires. From historical horrors to ghostly thrillers, dark fantasies, and terrifying shorts, February’s new releases make even the darkest hearts beat with six chilling new titles to fall in love with this month.

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

(Zando, Feb 18)

When a carriage accident brings a mysterious woman into Lenore’s life, the terrible secret haunting her marriage awakens, uncovering a darkness in her household set on destroying her. Dunn’s newest reclaims the lesbian vampire trope against the backdrop of the voracious appetite of the Industrial Revolution.

The Vengeful Dead by Darcy Coates

(Poisoned Pen Press, Feb 18)

A grave keeper’s ability to help ghosts move on from the mortal world has made her a threat to a powerful corporation intent on trapping the dead for profit. Coates brings her shivery series to its ghostly conclusion as the group of friends attempt to survive a direct strike deep into the corporation’s base … and the certain death awaiting them there.

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

(Liveright Publishing Corporation, Feb 4)

Christmas is coming, and Winifred has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Feito’s sophomore novel plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.

The Crimson Road by A.G. Slatter Chapman

(Titan, Feb 11)

When Hedrek Zennor dies, Violet thinks she’s free — until she learns her father planned to send her into the Darklands. After assassins attempt to slaughter her, it becomes clear that Violet must clean up the mess her father made in Slatter’s sinister and compelling fantasy world.

The Pink Agave Hotel by V. Castro

(Clash, Feb 11)

Unhinged imaginations are unlocked at the Pink Agave Motel, where brutality and intimacy ooze across stories that to carve a dangerous path of lust and violence. Influenced by Mexican folklore, Castro illuminates a deeper view of how unrequited love affects every type of being alike.

The Poorly Made & Other Things by Sam Rebelein

(William Morrow, Feb 11)

There’s something wrong in Renfield County, and whatever it is, its driving the residents mad. Rebelein plays with the uncanny to explore themes of loneliness and grief as he reminds his readers that, for those living in Renfield ,the nightmare is far from over.

The Chill Quill is a monthly roundup of thriller, horror, mystery, and dark fantasy titles released each month by Lindy Ryan. Read previous editions here.

Lindy Ryan

Lindy Miller Ryan is a Bram Stoker Awards®-nominated and Silver Falchion Award-winning editor, author, short-film director, and professor whose books have received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal. She is the current author-in-residence at Rue Morgue, the world’s leading horror culture and entertainment brand, and a columnist at BookTrib. Her guest articles and features include NPR, BBC Culture, Irish Times, Daily Mail, and more. Ryan is the founder and president of Black Spot Books, an independent press focused on amplifying underrepresented voices in horror. She served from 2020 to 2022 on the Board of Directors for the Independent Book Publishers Association and was named a Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree in 2020. In 2022, Ryan was named one of horror's most masterful anthology curators, alongside Ellen Datlow and Christopher Golden, and has been declared a "champion for women's voices in horror" by Shelf Awareness (2023). Her animated short film, TRICK OR TREAT, ALISTAIR GRAY, based on her children's book of the same name, won the Grand Prix Award at the 2022 ANMTN Awards. Ryan grew up cutting her teeth on Goosebumps and universal monsters. She has published numerous academic texts and also writes clean, seasonal romance under the name Lindy Miller, where her books have been adapted for screen.