novel

No Gods for Drowning update

As you might have seen on social media, Polis Books is closing down and its titles are going out of print. This includes No Gods for Drowning, my novel mixing dark fantasy, noir, and horror into a genre stew of serial killers, detectives, sea monsters, and bloodthirsty gods.

The audiobook from Dreamscape, narrated by the ever-talented Jodie Harris, will remain available.

There will also continue to be short stories set in the world of Aeon.

No Gods for Drowning will find a new home in time. Until then, thank you to everyone who’s taken the visit to the shores of Aeg.

cover reveal: All the Hearts You Eat

Posted on 2024-03-26 by Hailey Piper all the hearts you eat novel

I’m a day late but not a vampire short: yesterday Titan Books revealed the cover to my upcoming modern gothic coastal vampire novel, All the Hearts You Eat!

The sea wants blood, and Julia Lloyd’s gorgeous cover screams out its beastly thirst. It also shows a few kind words from Chuck Wendig:

“A dark and powerful undertow … it’ll pull you far, far out to sea.”

All the Hearts You Eat is up for pre-order at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, Bookshop, Libro.FM & more, and will wash ashore from Titan Books on October 15th.

What really happened to Cabrina Brite?

Ivory’s life changes irrevocably when she discovers the body of Cabrina Brite on the sands of Cape Morning, along with a mysterious poem. How did she die, and why does it seem she was trying to swim to Ghost Cat Island, the center of so many local mysteries?

Desperate to uncover the answers surrounding Cabrina’s death, and haunted by her discovery, Ivory begins to see the pale ghost of Cabrina, only to shake it off as a mere hallucination. But Ivory is not alone. Cabrina’s closest friends have also seen a similar apparition, and as they toy with occult possibilities, they begin to unravel the truth behind Cabrina’s death.

Because Cape Morning isn’t a ghost town, but a town filled with ghosts, and Ivory is about to discover just what happens when you let one in.

All the Hearts You Eat in Paste’s Most Anticipated 2024

Posted on 2024-01-12 by Hailey Piper a light most hateful all the hearts you eat novel queen of teeth

Happy New Year! We’re into 2024, which is going to be a big year for horror. I have four titles releasing this year, and the fourth had the good fortune to appear in Paste Magazine’s article, “The Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2024.”

Alongside exciting upcoming titles by Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Rachel Harrison, Johnny Compton, Josh Malerman (you don’t need me to list everyone, check the article!) comes All the Hearts You Eat, coming October 15th from Titan Books. From the article:

“Why We’re Excited: Hailey Piper will deliver several new books in 2024, but All the Hearts You Eat is the one that intrigues me most. Apart from the title, which might be the best Piper’s delivered so far (and that’s really saying something), there’s the promise of another tale of a small town full of mysteries and darkness, and the young woman at the center of it all who must dig for the truth. Throw in the Gothic touch of a ghost girl trying to point the way, and you’ve got a book I need in my hands right this second.”

Right now it can only be pre-ordered from UK retailers Waterstones & Forbidden Planet, but hopefully Titan will be expanding on that soon! And also soon, a cover reveal. Can’t wait!

Also, Queen of Teeth got a lovely mention in BookRiot’s “9 Horror Books with Romance at Heart.” I’ve said it before, so remember: horror and romance are lovers!

A Light Most Hateful also got a shout-out on The Line-Up’s “From the Haunted Stacks: 2023 Horror Book Highlights,” saying “If Neil Gaiman, Mary Shelley, and Shirley Jackson could birth a book baby, this stunning novel would be the outcome.”

A Light Most Hateful in Paste’s Best Horror Books 2023

Posted on 2023-12-18 by Hailey Piper a light most hateful novel

I keep thinking I’ve hit my last site update for the year, and then another thing will happen and I’m jumping back in here.

Paste Magazine today published their article “The Best Horror Books of 2023,” and among such recent titans as Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory and Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones is the storm of my most recent novel, A Light Most Hateful!

“One of the most imaginative horror authors in the game right now, Hailey Piper outdid even herself with A Light Most Hateful (link to Paste’s review), the story of a small Northeastern town transformed into a nightmarish dreamscape over the course of one fateful night.

The horror starts in the opening pages and never lets up, as Piper spools out fascinating image after fascinating image, weaving them all into an unforgettable tapestry of fear, beauty, and humanity.”

A Light Most Hateful in Library Journal Best Horror of 2023

Posted on 2023-12-05 by Hailey Piper a light most hateful novel

So jazzed to share that my recent Titan Books novel A Light Most Hateful landed on Library Journal’s Best Horror of 2023 list!

” If Neil Gaiman, Mary Shelley, and Shirley Jackson could collaborate, this stunning novel would be the result.”

It’s an honor to see my cosmic horror tale appear alongside brilliant work by Tananarive Due, Grady Hendrix, Stephen Graham Jones, Cassandra Khaw, Victor LaValle, Josh Malerman, Cynthia Pelayo, Jade Song, and Chuck Tingle.

This year was another incredible time to be a horror fan, and I can already tell 2024 is shaping up to be another beautiful storm.

Release day: A Light Most Hateful + 100th short story

Posted on 2023-10-10 by Hailey Piper a light most hateful New release novel short story

Hear that thunder crash and boom—A Light Most Hateful is here!

Released today by Titan Books, with cover art by Julia Lloyd, my new novel is also my tenth book, a twisting story of small-town survival horror set against a summer storm of monsters, madness, and the breaking of reality and friendship.

“An ambitious, genre-shredding novel that takes big swings and, improbably, lands every one.”

– Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A stunning novel that purposefully plays with genre conventions and centers love, even as it actively terrifies readers to their core.”

– Library Journal (starred review)

Available from Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Amazon, Penguin Random House, LibroFM

Mona Awad’s Bunny meets Stranger Things in this mind-bending and terrifying examination of female friendship and the lengths we’ll go to protect the ones we love, from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth.

Three years after running away from home, Olivia is stuck with a dead-end job in nowhere town Chapel Hill, Pennsylvania. At least she has her best friend, Sunflower.

Olivia figures she’ll die in Chapel Hill, if not from boredom, then the summer night storm which crashes into town with a mind-bending monster in tow.

If Olivia’s going to escape Chapel Hill and someday reconcile with her parents, she’ll need to dodge residents enslaved by the storm’s otherworldly powers and find Sunflower.

But as the night strains friendships and reality itself, Olivia suspects the storm, and its monster, may have its eyes on Sunflower and everything she loves.

Including Olivia.

ALSO out today, my 100th published short story, “Scratch-Off Universe,” appears in Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, a beautiful anthology celebrating the 100th anniversary of Weird Tales, featuring essays, poetry, stories from magazine issues of yesteryear, as well as new work.

I’m honored to be part of this piece of weird horror history, especially with my milestone tale about a group desperate to change the world in the parking lot outside a small-town baseball field and what they discover in scratching away layers of the known to find the unknown.

Out now: La Reina Dentada

Posted on 2023-10-02 by Hailey Piper New release novel queen of teeth translation

It’s release day for La Reina Dentada, the Spanish edition of my Bram Stoker Award-winning novel Queen of Teeth!

Dilatando Mentes Editorial has done another amazing job both in translating the tale of Yaya, Doc, and the vagina monster Magenta, and in the presentation, with a beautiful cover by Raúl Ruiz, as well as lots of tentacled sweetness inside the book.

Imagina que, un buen día, te levantas y haces un descubrimiento sobre tu cuerpo, uno tan sorprendente, que provocaría que tu vida cambiase drásticamente; imagina descubrir que tienes dientes en partes de tu cuerpo donde no deberían estar. Eso es lo que le sucede a Yaya Betancourt, una mujer que padece una rara afección genética causada por unos experimentos llevados a cabo hace décadas por la Farmacéutica AlfaBeta, cuando ella, y miles de personas más, a las que se les denomina quimeras, aún estaban en el útero de sus respectivas madres. Lo que no puede imaginar Yaya, es el alcance y las repercusiones que tendrá su descubrimiento y la metamorfosis que este acarrea, no solo en su vida, sino en la del resto de la humanidad.

«Una historia de terror tan poderosa como hermosa». (Kirkus Reviews)

Cruel Angels Past Sundown, now in audio!

Posted on 2023-09-22 by Hailey Piper audiobook cruel angels past sundown novel

It’s release day for the audiobook of Cruel Angels Past Sundown!

A couple months ago, paperback and ebook readers met Annette Klein in 1880s New Mexico in this queer Biblical horror Splatter Western, and now audiobook fans can sink into this night from hell too. Jenn Lee’s voice will be familiar to anyone who’s listened to Queen of Teeth, and she’s just as stellar here, delivering a gripping read of Annette, Gloria, Balthazar, and everyone involved in the bloody clash at Low’s Bend.

Available on LibroFM, Audible, Barnes & Noble, and everywhere else audiobooks are sold!

Cover reveal: La Reina Dentada

Posted on 2023-09-09 by Hailey Piper novel queen of teeth translation

I’m so pleased to share the cover to La Reina Dentada, the Spanish edition of Bram Stoker Award-winning novel Queen of Teeth, coming from Dilatando Mentes Editorial this fall!

Dilatando Mentes also published the Spanish edition of The Worm and His Kings last year, El Gusano y Sus Reyes. It’s a beautiful book through and through, and having seen their edition of Queen of Teeth, it’s just as gorgeous inside (and full of tentacles). The cover art is by Raúl Ruiz is so beautiful and striking (and also full of tentacles).

New articles in CrimeReads and Writer’s Digest

Posted on 2023-08-18 by Hailey Piper article cruel angels past sundown novel

I have a new article up on CrimeReads! With my new novel Cruel Angels Past Sundown having recently released and being a mix of religion and horror, my new article includes seven recommendations for other books/stories on the subject. Check it out here!

And for writers, I also have a new article up on Writer’s Digest: “5 Tips for Adding Otherworldly Elements Into Your Novel.” I use Cruel Angels Past Sundown as an example in a few steps for addressing and incorporating speculative elements. Remember, the weirder, the better!