10 of our most anticipated horror books releasing in 2025

With 2024 coming to a close pretty soon, we're looking ahead to some of the exciting horror books on the horizon for next year. Popular horror authors like Stephen King, Catriona Ward, Eric LaRocca, and S.A. Barnes are among some of the big names releasing new novels and the following list highlights ten that we're most excited to read!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (Jan. 14)

The author of popular books like How to Sell a Haunted House and My Best Friend's Exorcism, Grady Hendrix, is back with a new book to start 2025 strong. This time, he's tackling witchcraft in a 1970s set story that follows four pregnant teens sent to a maternity home in St. Augustine, Florida. Trapped within, the girls feel hopeless until they learn about their latent magical abilities.

At Dark, I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca (Jan. 28)

Bram Stoker Award-nominated author Eric LaRocca returns with another disturbing tale bound to traumatize his readers. Ashley has been struggling to cope with his grief in the years since his wife passed away and his son subsequently disappeared. He takes some solace in someone named Jinx, who he believes could become a candidate for his planned ritual. The two men enter a relationship rife with painful secrets and dark desires.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (Mar. 18)

Another popular horror writer has a new book on the way next year, this time a historical novel set in the American West that hinges on the diary of a Lutheran priest. The diary, found years later inside a wall, depicts the story of a vampire hellbent on revenge after a terrible massacre occurred on a Blackfeet reservation. The priest recorded a series of interviews with the vampire throughout his life.

Blood on her Tongue by Johanna van Veen (Mar. 25)

Three words: Sapphic. Vampires. Gothic. Hooked yet? Van Veen's upcoming Netherlands-set novel takes place in 1887, following twin sisters Sarah and Lucy. When Sarah begins acting strange and develops an obsession with a centuries-old corpse, Lucy must figure out what's really happening to her twin before someone commits Sarah to an asylum for the rest of her life. But both sisters are harboring secrets from the other.

Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes (Apr. 8)

Well-known at this point for her riveting and sometimes claustrophobic space horror novels, S.A. Barnes is returning with another gripping story in the new year about a woman on the run from an interplanetary scandal that has made her a target across space. She seeks refuge in the barge where Earth keeps cryogenically frozen bodies, but being inside the ship feels like a graveyard, and she soon discovers her new situation might be harboring something even more horrific than what she ran from.

When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy (Apr. 22)

Mary and Nestlings author Nat Cassidy has an exciting new novel coming out in 2025 that his website describes as a "pop thriller" akin to Stephen King, inspired by Terminator 2. Needless to say, I'm intrigued. The story itself unfolds when a struggling actress, Jess, finds a runaway and helps him escape from his father, but no matter where they go, they cannot seem to escape acts of violence. Jess has no idea what kind of surreal truth she's really facing.

Never Flinch by Stephen King (May 27)

Horror master Stephen King is back with a tense new psychological book that sees the return of the popular character Holly Gibney. With dual narratives, Never Flinch revolves around an investigation into a killer's menacing promise to murder more than a dozen people in an act of retribution. They'll need all the help they can get to solve this case before he carries out his bloody threat.

The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw (Jul. 22)

Dark academia fans, listen up. Cassandra Khaw's next book is said to combine elements of dark academia with cosmic horror and appeal to fans of The Atlas Six. At an academy for the most powerful beings in the world, including Anti-Christs, a faculty rampage occurs, leaving only a few survivors behind who become locked in the school's library. The only way to stay alive is to offer a human sacrifice each night, lest the faculty kill everyone.

The Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin (Aug. 5)

Felker-Martin's previous books include Manhunt and Cuckoo, but her next novel sounds absolutely fascinating. It revolves around a woman who spends her days restoring archive footage in a 1980s New York office. When confronted with an exploitation film believed to have been destroyed during the Holocaust, she becomes obsessed with the haunted footage and is convinced that what happened might not have been fictional at all.

Nowhere Burning by Caitriona Ward (Aug. 19)

With her novels Little Eve, Sundial, and Looking Glass Sound, Catriona Ward has cemented herself as a "must buy" author for me. I cannot wait to get my hands on her next book, which has been teased as ideal for Riley Sager and Yellowjackets fans. Say no more! In the Rocky Mountains, Nowhere Burning follows a refuge for lost kids who might be home to something very evil.