Tony Jones rounds up five new YA horror novels for August 2026. Cynthia Murphy’s Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls leads the pack as a top recommendation for schools, while Vincent Ralph’s Bleak Haven Quartet ends on a minor high. Melinda Salisbury and Jacqueline West deliver Folk Horror and small town chills.
horror novels
An Interview with Susan McCauley: Gothic Horror and the Unraveling of Sanity
Susan McCauley talks about her forthcoming gothic horror novel The Raven, the York ghost story that inspired it, and why she keeps returning to themes of loss and madness. She also discusses writing from multiple points of view and the role of atmosphere in horror fiction.