4 Terrifying New Releases from Indie and Small Presses in February 2026

In the summer of 1816, Mehrunissa Begum leaves India to deliver her brother's letter of inheritance in London. Unfortunately, unable to find her brother anywhere, she's left with no money to return home.

Finding the city hostile and with nowhere to go, Mehr's only choice is to seek shelter in a boardinghouse for Indian maids. If she must, she'll find work as a maid until she can save enough money to return home.

It's not long before Mehr finds herself at Mary and Percy Shelley's English estate, where the artists of rising fame hideaway from their own secrets. As Mary takes a liking to her new maid, she invites her along to Lake Geneva for the summer.

Here Mehr can't help but notice peculiar, ghostly events around the villa. Throughout tumultuous weather, the walls seem to breathe, portraits move, and phantoms pop up and refuse to leave.

As Mary Shelley picks up her pen to write her seminal Frankenstein, the rest of the villa's inhabitants spiral into madness.

This book available now from Hell's Hundred!

In this gripping pink horror novel, Baby finds that being a sugar baby isn't as glamorous as it sounds.

Trapped in Florida with a failed art career and a bust of a relationship, she's staying afloat by dating for cash and hocking stolen goods. Still, no matter how hard she hustles, there never seems to be enough money.

Things get worse when, after a bad date with her sugar daddy, Baby is attacked by a mysterious woman. Exhausted and distraught, Baby retreats to her bed to rot.

Literally.

Each day Baby's health gets worse and worse, taking odd and horrific turns. Clearly the woman who assaulted her did something to cause this.

In order to reclaim her life and beauty, Baby must track down her attacker and finally get her life together.

This book is now available for pre-order, and will be released on February 10th by Quill & Crow Publishing House!

Camille Deming is a trad wife influencer who, between posting for her devoted followers, spends all of her time cooking and housekeeping. But there's one thing the other social media tradwives have that she doesn't: a baby.

While her life looks picture-perfect online, things with her husband Graham have been troubled. And the pressure from her followers has her worrying that both her relationship and social media career will fail without a child.

Stumbling upon a strange, rundown well in the wheat field behind her house, Camille makes a desperate wish for a baby. After a series of bizarre experiences, she's visited one night by a strange creature.

And then her wish comes true.

Online engagement pours in with Camille's pregnancy announcement, even if Graham's reaction to the news is tepid. But her pregnancy is progressing unusually fast, and she's got a sudden craving for raw meat.

Surely it's all worth it, though…

This book is now available for pre-order, and will be released on February 10th by Crooked Lane Books!

After his wife's sudden death, Sam Everett never expected to end up in a town surrounded by a living cemetery. But that's exactly what the tight-knit southern community of Maylene's Hollow is.

The Hollow has a secret, though: it won't let its dead rest. Those who have passed away have been forced to wander the earth for hundreds of years, and they have finally reached their limits.

Aided by an enigmatic widow (who may or may not be a murderer), the town's magically talented matriarch, and a grumpy giant who sides with the deceased, Sam must learn to live by finally letting go of the dead.

This book is now available for pre-order, and will be released on February 17th from Nefarious Bat Press!