Recs if you like Carnalis...

queer horror books releasing in 2026 and beyond! my aim is to keep this list updated as new releases come out, so you can always check back here to see what’s queer and scary and coming soon!

recommendations welcome, but i’m only including titles when and if they are confirmed to have queer representation.

these books use (literal) hunger as a political tool to speak to women’s oppression, repression and desire, whether through overt cannibal metaphor, speculative dispatches, or more subtle nuances of appetite in literary fiction. these women are hungry for something more, whether they’re allowed to act on it or not.

recommendations welcome!

in the first edition of ‘the monstrous-feminine’, barbara creed challenges the dominant representation of women in horror films as victims, arguing that patriarchal ideology constructs women as monstrous because of their sexuality (or lack thereof).

later, creed reinterprets the monstrous-feminine as a being who embraces her body and reclaims her otherness. in line with this contemporary vision, these are books which use horror to redefine notions of ‘womanhood’.

recommendations welcome!

was curious, so did some research and found loads and loads!!! happy reading, folks!

Literature featuring indigenous authors from the Americas and Pacific. Fiction from across all genres by First Nations of Canada and the US, Māori, Aboriginal Australian, Samoan, Hawaiian, Papua New Guinean and other Pacific Island indigenous peoples. Any and all recommendations are more than welcome! Thank you 💜

A genre-inclusive and diverse list of horror releases coming in 2026. If I missed any or you have suggestions, please let me know. I will update periodically as new books are announced and release dates are solidified.

Source for a lot of the data for this list came from readjumpscares.com, which is a website you should absolutely check out. I’m sure data will come from other places along the way, as well.

me + sake on a Saturday night = this list lol idk what is happening or even what the requirements are, it's just a vibe? u kno?? 💖💖💖

Horror books to read just for the aesthetic

*or gothic and generally horror-adjacent. i have not read all of these! some self-published i think as well

If it has <35 ratings on Pagebound but you've read and are rabid about it, drop that shit in the comments!!!!

Horror/thriller/creepy queer books to Look Forward to in 2026

Wide definition of horror | story collections included if at least one was written by an Indigenous author | mostly authors from Turtle Island (North America)

Form the two short story collections- Never Whistle at Night and Never Whistle at Night II: Back for Blood here are some of the works by authors from these collections.

All sorts of stories about all sorts of women. Mostly litfic, some horror.

Books where over-indulgence and over-consumption are central themes.

books with female cannibals

I wish we could make communal lists, because this would be a helpful one to be able to ask others to contribute to

Deep, dark hunger for the cloying sweetness of a meat that will never satisfy. The inescapable temptation of taboo to distract from the underlining dissatisfaction of life. The dark analogy of emotional desire manifesting as a physical hunger for the other.

Ever wanted to eat some mystery meat? Take a bite of this list and you might come close enough to that feeling, whether it's literal or metaphorical. ~~ Credit to the incredible @mother.horror on instagram for the inspiration for this list!