novel

Cover reveal: La Reina Dentada

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

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!

Starred PW review for A Light Most Hateful

I’m still jittery with this exciting news, but I’m bravely typing anyway! My upcoming small-town survival horror novel A Light Most Hateful has received a STARRED REVIEW from Publishers Weekly!

I could not be more thrilled right now.

“Piper’s prose crackles with energy and wit as it ties the novel’s wilder excesses together into a story at once comfortingly familiar in its themes and cosmically alien in its execution. The story twists reader expectations into knots, flipping genre conventions and connecting unlikely elements to make something truly singular.”

A Light Most Hateful releases October 10th from Titan Books!

Cruel Angels Past Sundown release day

It’s release day!

Overjoyed that my new novel Cruel Angels Past Sundown is out at last from Death’s Head Press and flashing that amazing Justin T. Coons cover art like its Splatter Western fellows.

It’s out in paperback and ebook today, which can be ordered at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, and soon enough the audiobook will be out, narrated by Jenn Lee, whom you might have heard on the audiobook for Queen of Teeth.

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 house 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.

One of Paste Magazine’s “15 Horror Books We Can’t Wait to Read in Summer 2023

Cruel Angels Past Sundown is a gorgeous, bloody, surreal nightmare with a palpable, pulsing heart. Piper’s innovative prose is tactile and immersive. It binds you to Annette’s soul and the people of Low’s Bend and makes you want to fight for them. Long live queer horror in the face of those who would call us blasphemous. Thank you, Hailey, for this battle cry in the darkness. This book is a treasure.”

– Suzan Palumbo, Nebula Finalist, author of Skin Thief

“From its unforgettable opening image through to its furious, apocalyptic-in-the-original-meaning-of-the-word climax, Cruel Angels Past Sundown moves with the implacable dread of a nightmare. But the slashes it leaves in your gut, and the hardpan dust it rubs in the wounds, are all too real.”

– Nat Cassidy, author of Mary: An Awakening in Terror

Novel announcement: All the Hearts You Eat

Exciting news—I have a new book coming from Titan, publisher of my still-upcoming novel A Light Most Hateful.
All the Hearts You Eat is a monstrous vampire novel about a dead girl, a haunted coast, an ancient curse, and a thirst for blood, and it will release in October 2024! This will be my fifth novel after the two still releasing this year. It’s gutting and harsh and personal, but also a bloody beastly time.
Halloween season 2024 and its vampires are still a long ways off, but we’re getting the word out early as this book is a chunky monster, and I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

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

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.

Cruel Angels Past Sundown in Paste Magazine

Jazzed to see that my upcoming Splatter Western novel Cruel Angels Past Sundown in Paste Magazine’s hot article “The 15 Horror Books We Can’t Wait to Read In Summer 2023.”

There are a bunch of incredible books coming out, some I’ve read early, some I can’t wait to read! Check it out and these other books too!

Cruel Angels Past Sundown releases on July 25th from Death’s Head Press!

Locus Awards; Cruel Angels release date

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.

Cover reveal: Cruel Angels Past Sundown

It’s a cover reveal-loaded month!

Earlier this week, Rue Morgue revealed the covers to the next three upcoming books in the infamous Splatter Western series from Death’s Head Press, including Cruel Angels Past Sundown, my upcoming short novel entry.

The art is by series regular Justin T. Coons, who lovingly painted this magnificent, colorful display featuring some of the book’s primary characters and the harsh landscape in which they find themselves.

Cruel Angels Past Sundown will release this summer. Release date and pre-order info to come!

Cover reveal: A Light Most Hateful

It’s cover reveal day! I’m pleased to share the cover art for my upcoming small-town survival horror novel A Light Most Hateful.

The striking art is by Julia Lloyd, with a lovely quote from Rachel Harrison, author of The Return and Such Sharp Teeth.

A Light Most Hateful will release from Titan Books on October 10th, 2023 and is up for pre-order at all major book retailers!