We’re only halfway through 2026 and are already so well-fed when it comes to fantastic literature. From T. Kingfisher’s Wolf Worm, to Asian Gothic The Girl with a Thousand Faces, to physiological horror-meets-haunting You Did Nothing Wrong, to technological horror, Molka. It is a great time for diverse voices from around the world in horror literary fiction, and 2027 promises body horror, modern folk horror, monster love, demonic cults, and so much more.
Hell to Pay by Kylie Lee Baker
After her very recent back-to-back successes with Bat Eater and Japanese Gothic, both of which I devoured this year, Japanese/Korean/Irish writer Kylie Lee Baker has been blending her experiences as a mixed asian-american perfectly into her tales of horror. In Hell to Pay, she tells the darkly humorous tale of three struggling roommates in New York who see their burdens of survival increase when an intestine-eating demon enters their lives.
Beast // Warden by Andrew Joseph White
From the writer who gave us queer indigenous revenge horror with Hell Followed With Us comes a fresh monsterly love story in a world of Beastwardens. Not much is known yet, even the cover is yet to be revealed at the time of my writing, but regardless, I have this high on my anticipated for 2027 list.
Mothersucker by Kim Bohyun
I love good folk horror, especially one that grants women the power to level the playing field in heavily patriarchal societies. This is exactly the case in Mothersucker, where a grieving mother turns to vampirism and uses her new powers to hunt men who target South Korean women in the present, the past, and the future. On her tail is a female-led detective crew, but with all the injustice to women in the country, is this really a crime they want to solve?
A Devil of a Crime by T. Kingfisher
Last but not least, one of my favourite contemporary fantasy and horror literary fiction writers T. Kingfisher, has been pumping out hit after hit for my taste. From the Sworn Soldier saga, where mysterious eco-horror mushrooms infect dead bodies as parasites, to a creepy Sleeping Beauty retelling where a fairy is protecting us from the sleeping ‘girl in Thornhedge, and Gothic eco-horror with Wolf Worm. In her upcoming title, the premise almost sounds like a setup to a joke: A retired angel and a retired demon must work together to solve the murder of a priest in their hometown before the killer strikes again.
Catch some more of Rabia’s outstanding list work here.
