Half of the fun of being a book addict is getting excited for new releases. Fun fact: a large amount of the profit authors make from book sales comes from preorders. Below is my list of my most anticipated upcoming releases, in no particular order (that’s a lie; I saved the best one for last).
- The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas (August 2025)
I read The Hacienda last year and devoured the entire thing in two days. Isabel Cañas blew me away with her dread, her atmosphere, the way she could make me feel like someone just dropped an ice cube down my shirt. Her characters were interesting and vivid, and I loved what she had to say about being an independent woman, especially in that time and place. Her second book, Vampires of el Norte, has been on my shelf for, like, ever. But if she can bring even a fraction of the beauty and atmosphere she had in The Hacienda, Alba Díaz will surely be a top release of 2025 for me. As you can tell by my current project, discussed here, I’m always down for a possession story.
- Another by Paul Tremblay (July 2025)
Mr. Tremblay did unspeakable things to my psyche with Horror Movie, so much so that I’ve got two copies of it and I’ve listened to the audiobook. The way Tremblay understands exactly how to move his audience through narrative while building tension before your eyes makes me give him my full faith in a YA horror endeavor. I think YA horror can be discounted too easily; one of my top books of this year so far was a YA horror, which I will mention below. Not only is Tremblay a great writer but also a crazy rad guy, and I’m excited to support each release from him.
- The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley (June 2025)
Leila Mottley gained an instant fan in me with her debut Nightcrawling, which is some of the best literary fiction I’ve read in years. The family dynamic was touching and heartbreaking, and the story was a very important one that needed to be told. Mottley’s unflinching mission to tell gritty, beautiful stories about womanhood and its realities will surely shine through in her second novel.
- Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake (October 2025)
With the exception of the Atlas series, I love everything I’ve read from this chick. Our love affair began with Alone With You in the Ether, which made me look at love from a completely new angle, then continued to grow as I made my way through Masters of Death and One For My Enemy (my favorite). Blake may sometimes get abstract with her narrative, but in a way that’s so indescribably beautiful. While I’m not a prose snob, I know good stuff when I see it, and Blake absolutely has it. She makes me cry and laugh and burn and while this release’s premise makes me a bit nervous after not enjoying similar books (Bunny, Natural Beauty), she’s got my full trust. If anybody can make me like the cannibal sorority trend, it’ll be my lady Olivie.
- We Are Always Tender with Our Dead by Eric LaRocca (September 2025)
Eric LaRocca speaks my language. I am always struggling to find horror that goes there without forsaking writing quality. I love the twisted, the fucked-up, the shit you’d hesitate to put even in an R rated movie (think Leone’s Terrifier), and Eric just gets it. I talk about this all the time, but the reason we all love King so much is because his scariest monsters are real human beings that could be your next-door-neighbor. As such, the scariest part of an Eric LaRocca isn’t the eldritch god-being in your basement enslaving your neighbors, but the brutal, detailed rape scene in a hotel room. What LaRocca does with a small-town narrative is surely going to be a treat for us freaks.
- We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune (April 2026)
Shit, y’all. This one is going to hurt. I can already tell. TJ knows exactly what buttons to push to destroy me and leave me curled up on the couch covered in snot. Just reading the synopsis made my eyes sting. I’ve read all of his Tor releases (except book two forward of Green Creek) and not a single one of them ended with my face dry. Even the happy endings. No, strike that. Especially the happy endings. This one I’ll reserve for a weekend with no social plans, where nobody will judge my puffy face and incoherent whining.
- You Did Nothing Wrong by CG Drews (March 2026)
CG Drews is my new best friend. Don’t Let the Forest In is on the bracket for Best Book Read in 2025 for me. I learned so much about writing an effective slow-burn romance from this book. My goal for Father Cruz is to write a romance exactly like this- filled with so much yearning it hurts your chest, so addictive that you accidentally binge the whole thing in two days. So now you’re telling me they’re releasing an adult horror next year? For fans of The Haunting of Hill House?? Readers, I nearly sprained my thumb preordering this thing from Bookshop.
- The Hive by Ronald Malfi (April 2026)
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If you’re a King fan, you’re also a Malfi fan. Trust me on that. Have you ever wished Stephen King would release some of those trunk novels he wrote in the 80’s because you just thirst for a new story written in that long-passed frame of mind? Don’t get me wrong, King’s always been good in every decade, but something about the likes of his classics (Pet Sematary, IT, Salem’s Lot, etc) is just special. Well, Ronald Malfi’s got you, babe. Take The Narrows, for instance. Did you love IT, The Outsider, and Salem’s Lot and wish they’d just kiss already? Malfi gets it. He gets us. The Hive seems to promise a bastard child parented by some stellar favorites- Needful Things and The Tommyknockers (I’m not even gonna start that argument right now).
Preorder link not available yet
- The End of the World as We Know It by Various (August 2025)
If your favorite part of The Stand was the first half, hold onto your boots. This short story anthology set on the level of the Tower where Captain Tripps decimated 99% of the human population will be like sweet nectar in your veins. Not only does the cover design pay beautiful tribute to the cover style of King’s classics, but the star-studded list of contributors is something to drool over. To list just a few: Poppy Z Brite, Nat Cassidy, Richard Chizmar, Tananarive Due, Josh Malerman, Ronald Malfi, and Paul Tremblay. Anyone else need to change their pants?
Preordering books is a great way to support authors and show your enthusiasm for their upcoming works. Please consider supporting the authors I mentioned by preordering with the Bookshop links provided after each section. No part of this post was sponsored; I just want to support authors!
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