Halloween is still two months away, but September’s list of new genre books has spooky vibes galore. We’re talking witches, haunted houses, ghosts, and other frights (cursed records! Talking cats! End-of-the-world dinner parties!)—along a generous portion of non-horror fantasy and sci-fi releases too.
“Humanity’s new war is an enigma, with an enemy threat beyond all imagination, in this near-future novel of mind-blowing adventure where the fate of the world rests in the choices of one ordinary soldier.” (September 1)
The Gunnie Rose series continues, as does the magical family drama, as Lizbeth Rose and her sister Felicia dodge vengeful enemies across the U.S. and Mexico in the lead-up to the pivotal Wizard’s Ball in San Diego. (September 5)
A mathematician, a mobster, and book dealer all become consumed by the search for one very peculiar sci-fi novel: written by an eccentric author and cult religion founder, it disappears as soon it’s read. (September 5)
The author of the Murderbot series presents an “updated and revised” version of her 1995 tale about about an ancient city on the edge of a vast desert, and the human-and-humanoid team of relic dealers whose ongoing struggle to survive is compounded when they make a disturbing discovery. (September 5)
A girl makes a deal with Death to spare her soul—and when he comes to collect, she becomes entangled in a love triangle complicated by an ancient prophecy. (September 5)
This “witchy rom-com” from the Princess Diaries author follows “a plus size witch who must team up with a handsome stranger to help protect her village from an otherworldly force—but will she be able to protect her heart?” (September 5)
When the U.S. military trains an artificial intelligence to practice black magic, “it learns how to hack the fabric of reality itself. It can teleport matter. It can confer immunity to bullets. And it decides that obscure Silicon Valley middle manager Adrian Ross is the primary threat to its existence.” (September 5)
A young medium teams up with her ghostly best friend to perform a seance at an 80-year-old’s birthday party, not realizing they’ll encounter a tormented spirit who needs their help solving a murder mystery in their midst. (September 5)
This tale “gives voice to the silenced characters, in this feminist, queer (and sometimes shocking) retelling of classic Hercules myth.” (September 5)
One of the mega-author’s recurring characters, private detective Holly Gibney (Mr. Mercedes, The Outsider, Finders Keepers), returns with a missing-person case that pits her against a pair of unexpectedly twisted adversaries. (September 5)
Spanning cinema history, from silents to recent releases, this book offers “a highly illustrated dive into the past influences and present popularity of the horror film genre.” (September 5)
The Over Where portal fantasy series continues as the Rough Diamonds must draw on all their resources to battle mysterious book wraiths for control of the Library of the Sapphire Wind. (September 5)
After storming out of her sister’s wedding reception, a girl takes refuge at a mysterious hotel—soon realizing it’s a magical place that will trap her forever if she doesn’t figure out how to escape. (September 5)
Emily Brontë and her Yorkshire moors take center stage in this tale, as the young author finds herself drawn to a man who’s trying to eradicate Europe’s werewolf population. (September 5)
After his estranged dad dies, a man inherits a stack of cursed records—which he can’t resist playing, unwittingly opening a gate to the land of the dead. Can he track down his late father for an assist before it’s too late? (September 5)
When a woman realizes her dream home is haunted, she decides to stick it out, even after her husband flees... or vanishes, maybe because of the house—something she and her daughter must team up to investigate. (September 5)
October Daye returns to face turmoil in the world of Faerie, where she’s been banished into a surreal version of reality that’s beginning to crumble. Read an excerpt here. (September 5)
In 1883 London, a trans and autistic teen tries to escape his arranged marriage, only to be sent to a mysterious institution filled with ghosts of missing students who desperately need his help. (September 5)
“Delving deep into topics such as friendship, failure, the environment, diversity, and Tolkien’s place in a post-covid age, Nick Groom takes us on an unexpected journey through Tolkien’s world, revealing how it is more relevant now than perhaps Tolkien himself ever envisioned.” (September 5)
This best-selling Japanese novel follows “Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian,” who has the unique ability to recommend books that literally change the lives of their readers. (September 5)
When a swanky dinner party is interrupted by reports of toxic clouds in the atmosphere, a woman desperate to reunite with her children realizes just how dangerous humans can be as the end of the world approaches. (September 5)
The Glacian Trilogy continues as Dawsyn narrowly escapes execution—then must harness her new powers while trying to save and protect the people of the Ledge. (September 12)
In a dystopian world where depressed people have their memories forcibly erased, a man who records their soon-to-be-lost remembrances is punished for his compassion. (September 12)
“Adrien Desfourneaux, professor of magic, must survive his own failing mental health and a tenuous partnership with a dangerous ally in order to save the city of Astrum from a spreading curse.”(September 12)
In this queer, sci-fi spin on Hamlet, a scientist sets out to avenge his father after the older man is found dead in their lab—but first, he’ll need to figure out who the killer is while trapped in lockdown with all the suspects. (September 12)
“A father must investigate the magical underbelly of Los Angeles to find his daughter, who has seemingly disappeared into the fantastical universe of her favorite books.” (September 12)
A new fantasy series for adults begins with this tale set in a world with nine cities ruled by cruel gods, where a woman with secret psychic gifts falls for a prince despite intuiting he’ll eventually bring about her doom. (September 12)
A new fantasy trilogy begins with this international best-seller making its U.S. publishing debut. It’s about a woman who makes a living hunting forbidden gods, until she discovers a deity joined to the soul of a mortal girl—and heads out on a secret mission to solve her problem. (September 12)
In this standalone horror tale, a woman sets out to investigate the apparently witchy going-on at the isolated vacation home she rents to strangers. (September 12)
This 12-story collection includes stories in which “retribution visits a lothario lecturer; the sinister truth is revealed about a missing professor; a forsaken lover uses a séance for revenge; an obsession blooms about a possible illicit affair;” and more. (September 12)
The Singing Hills Cycle novella series continues. In this entry, wandering Cleric Chih returns to the Singing Hills Abbey, and finds their mentor has passed away in their absence—a situation that soon brings outside chaos to the peaceful retreat. (September 12)
“Enter the bazaar of the bizarre—where fate and fortunes are for sale just beneath Covent Garden—in this high-stakes historical fantasy debut set in 19th-century London.” (September 12)
When a woman who never imagined herself as a mother unexpectedly becomes pregnant, darkness in the form of a family curse begins to creep in—threatening not just her, but also her husband. (September 12)
This collection gathers the author’s “best futuristic stories, ranging from plausible tech-based science fiction to science fantasy stories about aliens in our midst: chameleonic foils hover in the skies, you can order a headset to speak and dream with your dog, and your devices sometimes connect not just to the web but to the underworld.” (September 12)
The Comet Cycle continues as a mysterious interstellar dust cloud makes an airplane briefly vanish and reappear, forever changing the lives of those onboard and the people in Fairbanks, Alaska on the ground below. (September 12)
After getting a great deal on a house with a blood-stained past, a woman plans to blog about its renovations—but soon realizes there’s an alarmingly supernatural element involved in the project. (September 12)
“Fake dating gets a magical twist in this enchanting queer romantic comedy where a witch worries that the real feelings brewing between her and her crush were sparked by an accidental love potion, and the only way out of the disastrous spell is a healthy dose of the truth.” (September 12)
In this tale that “combines the fierce beauty of Celtic myth with grimdark battle violence,” a mother must face her shadowy past when war and ancient magic threaten her children. (September 12)
With her teen daughter in tow, a woman reluctantly returns to her hometown, where her gig as a palm reader soon entangles her in a supernatural mystery involving an old flame and his missing child. (September 12)
A woman who’s able to communicate with plants—and is also visited from time to time by her ghostly sister—returns to her hometown, where unexpected romance sparks. (September 12)
A young woman is forced to face her family’s dark secrets when she’s summoned back into the fold for her beloved cousin’s wedding. (September 19)
After an earthquake decimates Boston, a grandmother must fight strange creatures while roundin Source: Gizmodo