no gods for drowning

No Gods for Drowning is back

No Gods for Drowning is back in print at last!

My noir-inspired dark fantasy horror crime novel has been unavailable in paperback and audio for years, but it’s returned from Bad Hand Books who previously published my haunted hotel novella Cranberry Cove.

This book was my baby, the story I became a writer to tell, growing in me over many years. I’m elated new readers can meet Lilac, Arcadia, Alex, Cecil, and everyone else in the drowning city of Valentine.

Available from: Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Politics & Prose, Amazon , Libro.fm, Audiobooks.com

Locus Award Finalist 2022, Dragon Award Finalist 2022

IN THE BEGINNING, MAN WAS PREY. WITHOUT THE GODS, THEY’LL BE PREY AGAIN.

The old gods have fled, and the monsters they had kept at bay for centuries now threaten to drown the city of Valentine, hunting mankind as in ancient times. In the midst of the chaos, a serial killer has begun ritually sacrificing victims, their bodies strewn throughout the city.

Lilac Antonis wants to stop the impending destruction of her city by summoning her mother, a blood god—even if she has to slit a few throats to do it. But evading her lover Arcadia and her friends means sneaking, lying, and even spilling the blood of people she loves.

Alex and Cecil of Ace Investigations have been tasked with hunting down the killer, but as they close in—not knowing they’re hunting their close friend Lilac—the detectives realize the gods may not have left willingly.

As flooding drags this city of cars and neon screaming into the jaws of sea demons and Arcadia struggles to save the people as captain of the evacuation team, Lilac’s ritual killings at last bear fruit, only to reveal her as a small piece in a larger plan. The gods’ protection costs far more than anyone has ever known, and Alex and Cecil are running out of time to discover the true culprit behind the gods’ disappearance before an ancient divine murder plot destroys them all.

NO GODS FOR DROWNING is part hunt for a serial killer, part noir detective story, and unlike anything you’ve ever read before.

“Glorious and visceral, No Gods For Drowning drips with evocative prose and proves Hailey Piper to be a storyteller with wonderfully sharp teeth. This book sang to me, and if you let it, it will sing to you, too.” – Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents

“Wrathful gods, drowning cities, and an ancient, bloody mystery—Piper’s novel had me from the jump. No Gods For Drowning is a superior offering.” – Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase

“Piper, a rising star in horror, is announcing her intentions to break through onto a larger stage with this confident and compelling tale that is as fun as it is thought-provoking.” – Library Journal

“If you only know Hailey Piper from contemporary horror, you’ll want to see what fantasy inventions she has up her sleeve, because this is a whole other side of one of our finest genre writers.” – Bloody Disgusting

“A roller coaster of tension! I was desperate to read on, yet terrified. A truly addictive read.” – Hannah Lynn, award-winning author of Athena’s Child

“Incredibly atmospheric detective horror. This mythology is now resident in my brain.” – Maya Deane, author of Wrath Goddess Sing

“Strange and wonderful … Look, if I have to put on a ceremonial robe and make a sacrifice to Hailey Piper to get more books like this, so be it.” – Dea Poirier, author of The Girls in the Fire

“an audacious novel, a mind-bending blend of noir, mythology, urban fantasy, apocalypse story, and murder mystery … Fans of the unclassifiable and the weird should not skip this one.” – Vulture

“a genre-blending story that’s unlike anything you’ve read.” – The Lineup

Bloody Disgusting’s Best Books, Onward to 2026

Posted on 2025-12-29 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow collection no gods for drowning novel teenage girls can be demons this movie doesn't end the way we want

One last post for 2025!

I’m so excited to share that A Game in Yellow is back in Bloody Disgusting, this time for “The Best Horror Books of 2025”, joining a fantastic assembly of new horror from this year, some of them favorites of mine, others I’m still eager to read.

“Perhaps the gutsiest conceptual leap from a major horror writer this year, Hailey Piper’s latest novel is a riff on Robert W. Chambers’ revered collection The King in Yellow, a foundational weird fiction book that gets an unexpected expansion through A Game in Yellow. The book follows a lesbian couple in a BDSM relationship whose limits are tested when they read pages from a mysterious play that’s said to drive you mad, and even beyond the ties to cosmic horror history, it’s a phenomenal showcase in character study from one of the best horror writers working right now.”

And that’s a wrap on 2025 for me. 2026 is shaping up to be a busy new year, with lots of events, and more releases to come.

January 23-25: MystiCon in Roanoke, VA

February 3: Teenage Girls Can Be Demons releases in audiobook

March 3: No Gods for Drowning returns to print from Bad Hand Books

June 4-7: StokerCon in Pittsburgh

September 15: This Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want releases from Titan Books

October: … it hasn’t been announced yet, but there will be another book coming. Stay tuned!

Have a Happy New Year!

Late October 2025 Update

Posted on 2025-10-22 by Hailey Piper a game in yellow benny rose the cannibal king collection convention no gods for drowning novel podcast short story teenage girls can be demons

We’re racing toward the end of Halloween month, but thankfully around here, horror fiction is a year-round event. But for in-person events, that’s a wrap on this year! Next place you’ll find me is MystiCon in late January.

But virtually, I had the pleasure of returning to the Books in the Freezer podcast. This is one of the best places for book recs, and I had a blast chatting with Stephanie about my recent collection Teenage Girls Can Be Demons along with talking about books and movies that fit the theme, coming-of-rage.

And with another release inbound March 3rd from Bad Hand Books, it only made sense to come back to The Bad Signal to talk about the upcoming return to print of my noir/horror/dark fantasy novel No Gods for Drowning, along with chatting about the new cover by Anna Chiara Stagi, and my recent releases A Game in Yellow and Teenage Girls Can Be Demons. Three very different books, so it was fun getting to hop between them in one discussion!

Also, my 2022 story “Hollywood Werewolf Conspiracy” was recently read aloud on Cool Zone Media Book Club, so give it a listen!

Lastly, A Game in Yellow made the Men’s Health article “The 52 Best Horror Books of 2025” alongside works by Jenny Kiefer, Cynthia Pelayo, Gretchen Felker-Martin, Isabel Canas, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, and more. It’s been another beautiful year for horror, and it’s lovely seeing my strange erotic cosmic novel among these.

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!

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.

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.

No Gods for Drowning update

Posted on 2024-04-16 by Hailey Piper aeg no gods for drowning novel

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.

“She Tasted of Good Fortune” in We’re Here + more

Posted on 2023-06-15 by Hailey Piper flash fiction no gods for drowning novelette short story

I’m heading to StokerCon in Pittsburgh this afternoon, but a quick update before hitting the road on two new stories.

We’re Here: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Horror is out today in ebook! All stories by queer authors, and all proceeds go to the Trevor Project, and with it releasing during Pride Month, what could be more perfect?

I have a novelette inside, “She Tasted of Good Fortune,” which takes place in the world of No Gods for Drowning and tells of curses, criminals, and a sultry deal to find a fortune teller before the night is done. It’s a standalone tale, so whether this is your first dive into the No Gods for Drowning world or you’re returning from reading the book, you’re good to go.

I’ve added a hub page for No Gods for Drowning as a series/setting, where you’ll be able to find links to the current book and novelette, as well as future books and stories as they’re announced/released.

Also if you’re attending StokerCon, I have a flash fic in the new souvenir book, The Monsters That Made Us, which isn’t available beyond the con. “The Black Lagoons of Our Eyes” is my queer love letter to The Creature from the Black Lagoon and series, and how I see myself in its titular creature. I’m delighted it can appear with many top-notch essays and stories of horror origins.

Locus Awards; Cruel Angels release date

Posted on 2023-05-01 by Hailey Piper award cruel angels past sundown no gods for drowning novel

Award news: It’s an incredible honor to learn my noir horror dark fantasy novel No Gods for Drowning is a 2023 Locus Award Finalist.

No Gods for Drowning released last year from Polis Books, and it appears alongside fantastic novels by Sarah Gailey, Gabino Iglesias, Catriona Ward, Paul Tremblay, Richard Chizmar, Stephen King, Alma Katsu, Christopher Golden, Stephanie Feldman, T. Kingfisher, and Thomas Olde Heuvelt, all nominated for the Locus Award in Best Horror Novel from 2022.

Thank you to everyone who’s supported it! 2023 Locus Awards winners will be announced in mid-June (shortly after StokerCon).

In news a little further into the summer, my upcoming Splatter Western Cruel Angels Past Sundown has a release date: July 25, 2023! The book summary has been released too, and paperback pre-orders are up at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. There’s also a synopsis of the heaven and hell awaiting within:

New Mexico Territory, 1882: She comes to the Klein ranch at sunset, a strange naked pregnant woman dragging a cavalry saber. Annette Klein and her husband have built peace between their marriage and secret relations beyond, but their serenity dies in bloodshed tonight through a cannibalistic demon and a mad preacher.

Annette barely escapes the bloodbath to the nearby town of Low’ s Bend, where she might find safety with a shotgun-toting barkeep, two no-nonsense boarding room ladies, and the gunslinging bounty hunter who’ s captured Annette’ s heart.

But hell is at her heels. If she’ s going to survive until dawn, she’ ll have to forget everything she knows about peace and mercy, and face a hollow malevolence more ancient and ruthless than she’ s ever imagined.

“Queen of the Cloven Heart,” novel mentions

Posted on 2023-02-15 by Hailey Piper no gods for drowning novel queen of teeth short story

Out now from Dark Matter Ink, it’s Zero Dark Thirty, an anthology gathering 30 of the darkest stories from Dark Matter Magazine’s first year. The stories are dark sci-fi and horror, and among them you’ll find my medieval vampire tale “Queen of the Cloven Heart.”

Also in regal news, Queen of Teeth had the pleasure of appearing on Sara Tantlinger’s LitReactor horror romance article “Horrormance Titles for a Macabre Valentine’s Day,” and on Lindy Ryan’s LitReactor article “Eat Your Heart Out.”

Lastly, No Gods for Drowning had the honor of appearing on the Locus Recommended Reading List alongside a marvelous curation of speculative work from 2022.