By KEVIN HOOVER
There are only two places to be during a summer heatwave: either roasting like tanned leather on a tourist-cramped beach or reveling in the cool confines of your local bookstore. Whichever destination is due north on your compass this July, be sure to bring along some of the season’s hottest new releases—including a RUE MORGUE writer’s deep dive into the witch’s evolution across entertainment and a serial killer double-header from Stephen Graham Jones.
Come Knocking
Mike Bockoven
Skyhorse
July 1st – Pre-order Now
When Come Knocking came to Los Angeles, the interactive theater production that took over six floors of an abandoned building was met with raves, lines for tickets and reviews calling it the “must-see experience of a generation.” After dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured during one bloody night of chaos during the show’s run, the nation was captured by one inescapable question: How could this happen?
My Ex, the Antichrist
Craig DiLouie
Run For It
July 1st – Pre-order Now
A story of prophecy, death and apocalypse. A story about love found and love lost. A story about the antichrist. Maybe it’s all true. Maybe none if it is.
Killer on the Road / The Babysitter Lives
Stephen Graham Jones
S&S/Saga Press
July 15th – Pre-order Now
The Babysitter Lives
Charlotte’s last babysitting gig almost ended in tragedy when her young charge sleepwalked unnoticed into the middle of the street, only to be found unharmed by Charlotte’s mother. Charlotte vows to be extra careful this time. But the house is filled with mysterious noises and secrets that only the twins understand, echoes of horrors that Charlotte gradually realizes took place in the house eleven years ago. Soon Charlotte has to admit that every babysitter’s worse nightmare has come true: they’re not alone in the house.
The Killer on the Road
Sixteen-year-old Harper has decided to run away from home after she has another blow-out argument with her mother. However, her two best friends, little sister and ex-boyfriend all stop her from hitchhiking her way up Route 80 in Wyoming by joining her on an intervention disguised as a road trip. What they don’t realize is that Harper has been marked by a very unique serial killer who’s been trolling the highway for the past three years, and now the killer is after all of them in this fast-paced and deadly chase novel that will have your heart racing well above the speed limit as the interstate becomes a graveyard.
That Very Witch: Fear, Feminism, and the American Witch Film
Payton McCarty-Simas
Luna Press Publishing
July 22nd – Pre-order Now
That Very Witch explores the cyclical rise and fall of the cinematic witch in American culture and her relationship to feminist movements over time.
Through historical analysis and dozens of case studies, Payton McCarty-Simas demonstrates how the cinematic witch’s evolution across decades reflects major shifts in how feminism is perceived politically and interpreted (counter-)culturally in America. From Mia Farrow to the Moral Majority, from the Satanic Panic to Riot Grrrl, from #MeToo to the 2024 election, the witch can be found at the heart of the zeitgeist. What can we learn from her presence?
Another
Paul Tremblay
Quill Tree Books
July 22nd – Pre-order Now
When Casey Wilson’s parents tell him that his friend is coming for a sleepover, he has no idea who that might be. Ever since the Zoom Incident, everyone treats him like a pariah, and his tics are worse than ever.
When Morel appears, he’s not like any friend Casey has ever met. His skin is like clay, and he doesn’t speak. But Casey’s parents are charmed by the strange kid, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to besides his sister, Ally, who is away at college. As his normally loving parents grow distant from Casey, they gush and fawn over Morel. Casey knows something is wrong—but with no end in sight to the sleepover, he’s exhausted. And in the dark, out of the corner of his eye, Morel doesn’t look like a kid at all …
*Purchases made through any included links will directly benefit independent bookstores and could result in compensation for RUE MORGUE. Release dates are subject to change.
