novel

August is here!

Posted on 2025-08-01 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow aeg no gods for drowning novel

And with the new month, a few cool updates (despite the monstrous heat)

Firstly, it’s release month for A Game in Yellow, and Little District Books is hosting the launch event! If you’re in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area, stop on by. Starts at 7pm on August 12th!

A Game in Yellow also got to appear in BookRiot‘s “August Horror Books to Keep the Scares Going for the Rest of Summer” among other amazing horror books coming this month.

I’m also thrilled to share that the audiobook will be narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker, who you may remember from the audiobooks of A Light Most Hateful and among the cast of All the Hearts You Eat.

And in a break from Carcosa news, off to another world: the new edition of No Gods for Drowning has a release date. Whether returning to Aeg or visiting for the first time, Bad Hand Books will be bringing Lilac and the others back to print on March 3, 2026. Can’t wait!

Fangoria interview, A Game in Yellow

Posted on 2025-07-17 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow interview novel

I could not be more excited to share this new interview about A Game in Yellow.

And it’s in friggin Fangoria!

Matthew Jackson kindly interviewed me about my upcoming novel, its ties with the legacy of The King in Yellow, and even earlier influences, also cosmic horror in general and my own legacy of writing the subgenre. It was a blast, and I’m so excited to share it.

A Game in Yellow also appeared on Reactor’s “30 More SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2025.” My new novel will be out in less than a month, on August 12th, so not much longer to wait!

“A Hollow Where the Screams Have Gone” in You, Human vol 2

Posted on 2025-07-07 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow novel novelette short story

I have a new novelette out this month!

“A Hollow Where the Screams Have Gone” appears in volume 2 of You, Human, a dark sci-fi anthology, among stories by Eugen Bacon, Josh Malerman, and more!

My tale involves experiments within a secret facility, where consciousnesses swap bodies, uncovering secrets about the monsters we know, the ones we become, and the ones we serve.

Also today, I’m excited to share that A Game in Yellow appears in Cinema Chords as one of “25 Horror Novels to Haunt Your Last 25 Weeks of 2025” and in CrimeReads as part of “25 New and Upcoming Horror Novels to Look Out for This Summer (and Beyond).”

I’m also delighted to share that Jeremy Carlisle Parker, who narrated A Light Most Hateful and was part of the cast for All the Hearts You Eat, will be giving voice to the A Game in Yellow audiobook, which releases August 12! She’s the perfect narrator to take on this descent into Carcosa.

cover reveal: No Gods for Drowning

Posted on 2025-06-24 by Hailey Piper aeg no gods for drowning novel

It’s a joy to share the new cover to No Gods for Drowning!

After years out of print, my dark fantasy novel is returning thanks to Bad Hand Books, now with this glorious art by Anna Chiara Stagi, beautifully blending elements of the book into this eerie seaborne radiance of the nine-pointed star and the prostration toward a bloodthirsty goddess.

I can’t wait to bring new readers to this noir-inspired world where they can meet god-descended Lilac in her desperate determination, the haunted yet gentle flood fighter Arcadia, private detectives Alex and Cecil on the trail of a murderer, and everyone else trying to survive at all costs in the drowning city of Valentine.

Right now Bad Hand Books has limited signed pre-orders up while they last.

The tide rolls in, early 2026.

A Game in Yellow in Library Journal

Posted on 2025-06-02 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow novel

Pleased to share that A Game in Yellow has also received a starred review from Library Journal!

This joins its starred review from last week in Publishers Weekly. I’m delighted Carmen, Blanca, and Smoke are drawing people into their tangled erotic web cast by The King in Yellow. It was fun to develop my own vision of the infamous cursed play, and I hope we keep seeing more Yellow Mythos stories for years to come.

A Game in Yellow releases August 12 from Simon and Schuster, only a couple months away!

A Game in Yellow in PW, CrimeReads

Posted on 2025-05-28 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow novel

Two spotlights on A Game in Yellow!

Publishers Weekly took a look at my queer cosmic horror novel coming from Saga on August 12 and gave it a starred review, calling it “masterful” and “a dreamlike but still utterly absorbing page-turner.” I’m thrilled to see it, and to see the relationships in the book given center stage.

Also wonderful, CrimeReads included it in their article “The Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of Summer 2025,” gathering up 80 mysteries, thrillers, and horror books coming in the hottest season of the year.

We’re less than three months away from A Game in Yellow’s release. I can’t wait for the cursed play to draw you in.

No Gods for Drowning returns in 2026

Posted on 2025-05-21 by Hailey Piper no gods for drowning novel

I have fantastic news to share! After a couple of years of being out of print, my dark fantasy/crime/horror novel No Gods for Drowning is coming back into publication.

Bad Hand Books, the wonderful publisher behind so much excellent dark fiction, including my 2024 supernatural crime novella Cranberry Cove, is giving the novel a loving new home and a fresh coat of paint, with new cover art and interior art.

Right now Bad Hand is running a limited pre-order for a signed bookplate edition ahead of release, which is looking to be early 2026.

We’ll have more specifics on the release date and cover art as the year goes on, but I’m thrilled the book is coming back! This was my baby, the story I became a writer for in hopes that I would eventually have the skill to tell it. Seeing it fall out of print was crushing, and so seeing its return is a joy. I can’t wait to share the new edition with you all and see Lilac and the others invite readers new and old into this world.

A Game in Yellow: final cover

Posted on 2025-05-12 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow novel

With exactly three months to go until the release of my new novel A Game in Yellow, I’m thrilled to share the final front cover, with immensely kind words for the book from Christopher Golden and Eric LaRocca.

A Game in Yellow brings the madness on August 12th from Simon and Schuster!

March update

Posted on 2025-03-01 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow even the worm will turn novel novella song of the tyrant worm the worm and his kings your mind is a terrible thing

Hi all! I might be setting myself up for inaccuracy with “March update” as if there will only be one, but it’s good enough to start the month. Two bits of news for right now, good and bad.

The good news: my upcoming psychosexual cosmic horror novel A Game in Yellow appeared in Men’s Health magazine’s “The 25 Most Anticipated and Best Horror Books of 2025.” It’s there with so much amazing horror both coming out this year and already released for our reading pleasure.

So now the bad news: Off Limits Press will be closing their doors within the next couple months, meaning The Worm and His Kings trilogy and Your Mind is a Terrible Thing will all be going out of print. Their audiobooks will remain available from the usual places, and I’m hopeful the paperback and ebook versions will find new homes soon, but it’s still unfortunate to see them go alongside the many wonderful books by other authors Off Limits Press has helped usher into print over the years. It was a good home for them and will be missed.

February update

Posted on 2025-02-14 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow all the hearts you eat novel podcast

A quick update!

First, I had the pleasure of joining Agatha Andrews on the She Wore Black podcast, where we talked about All the Hearts You Eat, A Game in Yellow, and recommendations for Gothic fantasy. Check it out here!

And, Den of Geek featured A Game in Yellow in their article “The Biggest Horror Books of 2025.” It’s with some stunning company on its way to the August 12th release!