New year, new nightmares. From ghost-haunted towns to snowbound streets whispering ancient secrets, this month’s horror lineup explores the dark threads of grief, inheritance, and transformation. Whether you’re craving short stories or queer Southern Gothic, January kicks off the year with fresh chills that linger well past the final page.
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
When three estranged siblings are lured home by the sudden reappearance of their missing brother, they must confront the ghosts of their past—some literal, some not—before the ghosts of Fell consume them all.
Eminence Front by Rebecca Rowland
A brutal winter storm awakens an ancient malevolence buried beneath a quiet New England street. As the snow falls, the residents hear the storm whisper through their darkest regrets—and not everyone will survive its call.
Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno
A woman returns to her family’s crumbling forest cabin to confront the addition and ancestral rot still lurking there. The wilderness creeps in and her body begins to change in this haunting tale of transformation, inheritance, and monstrous rebirth.
Ballad of the Bone Road by A.C. Wise
In ghost-drenched Port Astor, two haunted investigators uncover a supernatural conspiracy that links a demon, a cursed hotel and a long-vanished fae queen. A lush, eerie blend of queer love, doomed glamour and dangerous magic that refuses to be forgotten.
On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield
In this feral Southern Gothic debut, a woman builds a haunted life of healing in the Georgia woods—until a mysterious stranger arrives and awakens the violence she thought she’d buried. A tale of ghosts, trauma and transformation rooted in blood and blooming with vengeance.
We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone by Ronald Malfi
Twenty eerie tales where grief, addiction and unsettling encounters peel back reality’s skin to reveal the horrors beneath. From Halloween revelations to shark-infested getaways, this collection proves that the darkness inside us is always the most terrifying.
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.