October 2025 | Fantasy-Hive
BlogFeaturesHorrorLists| Fantasy-Hive
Welcome to another Ask the Author – Spooky Edition! To celebrate To celebrate Halloween, we thought we’d treat you by rounding up a whole host of fantastic horrors authors and asking them how they’d celebrate the season with their characters. We have three of these posts sprinkled through the month for you to enjoy, so settle in and enjoy our second one – hopefully we’ve featured your favourite writers, or maybe you’re new favourite writers… Read the first week here Whi...| Fantasy-Hive
MONSTROUS TALES: HAUNTING ENCOUNTERS WITH BRITAIN’S MYTHOLOGICAL BEASTS is a magical anthology coming soon from Raven Books. To celebrate the upcoming release, and because we thought it would be fun for the Halloween season, we invited some of the anthology’s authors to a roundtable interview. Let’s find out more about Monstrous Tales first: This isle is full of noises… From the finfolk of the beaches of Orkney to the plague monsters of the Welsh mountains, and the giant slugs of the ...| Fantasy-Hive
‘Paradise tastes of Nothing,’ Here and Only Here, is a tale riddled with teenage angst, desperation, anxiety and the absolute terror of going to high school. Dabos perfectly packages the teenage experience into a novel, complete with apparent popularity, fake friends, embarrassing emotions, terrible toilet experiences, familiar rituals, riddles and rumour mills as well as the ‘rules’ every school seems to adhere to simultaneously. Whilst I have it on good authority that Dabos dep...| Fantasy-Hive
“Ghosts were supposed to visit by night, weren’t they? Why was that? Did they envy the peaceful rest of the living?” When Wilfred Bainbridge’s father passes away, he inherits the Bridge Manor. His pregnant wife, Belinda and their five year old son Freddy are to join him in what is to be their new home. Little do they know what already resides there. The silent companions, wooden life-like figures that have been in the Bainbridge family for centuries, wait patiently for the new owners ...| Fantasy-Hive
‘There was something about the way the dancers inhabited their bodies and the music and the stage all at once, as if they too had a skin of constraint which began at the backdrop and ended at the footlights, and they wanted nothing more than to be a frenzied and beautiful haunting of the space between. It hurt exquisitevly to witness this without a body of her own. It hurt and it was perfect.’ I picked up Cinder House because firstly, I love fairytale retellings – even ones done as oft...| Fantasy-Hive
Our celebratation of the spooky season continues today with this perfect guest post from Jennifer Kennedy, celebrating her love for the Gothic. We’re excited to be taking part in Angry Robot’s blog tour for Jennifer’s own Gothic novel, OUR GIFTED HEARTS – which is out today! Before we hand you over to Jennifer, let’s find out more about Our Gifted Hearts: Fortune Blyth suffered the loss of a secret child when she was sixteen and vowed never to let another man touch her. Ten year...| Fantasy-Hive
A revenge plot sets sparks flying in this screwball paranormal romantic comedy of enemies-to-lovers, chaotic supernatural friend groups, and scorching chemistry from debut author Lucy Lehane. Charlie needs to revamp his career. Writing advice columns was hard enough before the whole internet was dying to know how to date the undead – but Charlie’s as human as they come. And he has no idea how to answer the messages flooding his inbox, like My Workplace Slack Is Haunted; Should I Cross D...| Fantasy-Hive
Beth and Nils were super lucky to be sent an advanced copy of The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow – being one of their favourite authors, they of course had to buddy read this one together. The Everlasting is a particularly twisty book, so they’ve done their best to make this review spoiler-free… Before we dive into their review, here’s the official blurb – so we can establish what is and isn’t known! A legend. A lie. A love story. A lady-knight whose legend built a nation meet...| Fantasy-Hive
Spooky season is upon us! And here at the Hive, we thought we’d treat you by rounding up a whole host of fantastic horrors authors and asking them how they’d celebrate the season with their characters. We have three of these posts sprinkled through the month for you to enjoy, so settle in an enjoy – hopefully we’ve featured your favourite writers, or maybe you’re new favourite writers… Which of your characters would you take to a Halloween party and why? Malinalli bec...| Fantasy-Hive
This week our Monster Botherer is getting ready for Halloween with Sarah Spade's ultra smutty monster romance ultra smutty TRICK OR BEAST: "well written, funny and very spicy... It’s not a trick, it’s a treat."| Fantasy-Hive
Vinay reviews Nicholas Binge's time travelling police procedural EXTREMITY: "searingly unputdownable and is easily in the running for best novella of the year"| Fantasy-Hive
Today, TO reviews Claire North's upcoming space opera SLOW GODS: "North gives us a wide-ranging enthralling, resonant and cathartic fable of our own world’s predicament but anchors it with individual characters, both participants and witnesses to events, that we can connect with"| Fantasy-Hive
Jonathan reviews Lucy Rose's debut folk horror THE LAMB: "a remarkable work of art... an all-time horror classic, one we will be talking about for decades to come"| Fantasy-Hive
Nils returns to Heather Fawcett's world of Light Academia for the final instalment in her Emily Wilde trilogy, EMILY WILDE'S COMPENDIUM OF LOST TALES: "an enchanting romantic light academia which swept me through hidden doors to magical realms"| Fantasy-Hive
Beth reviews T. Kingfisher's upcoming Sleeping Beauty retelling, the spellbinding THORNHEDGE: "This is clearly an author well versed in the laws of this tradition who is able to wield them with confidence to tell an achingly beautiful story you won’t expect"| Fantasy-Hive
To celebrate the release of his epic fantasy THE LAST VIGILANT, Mark A. Latham joins our Nils for an interview: "Top of the list was “Miss Marple and Richard Sharpe go on adventures in Westeros”, and that [rather glib] one-liner stayed at the top of my mood board for quite some time."| Fantasy-Hive
Jonathan review A. Rushby's dark historical fantasy with twists of horror SLASHED BEAUTIES: "the perfect mix of old school horror chills and thoughtful social commentary, all delivered through compelling characters and unforgettable monsters."| Fantasy-Hive
Beth reviews S. T. Gibson's newly released dark academia AN EDUCATION IN MALICE: "You will find yourself enmeshed in the obsession that pounds these pages as Gibson grasps you by the hand and leads you into the dark."| Fantasy-Hive
We managed to catch some authors between classes for a roundtable interview on their contributions to IN THESE HALLOWED HALLS, a Dark Academia Anthology edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane| Fantasy-Hive
Today we're thrilled to welcome to the Hive authors from upcoming Dark Academia anthology THESE DREAMING SPIRES to discuss what the genre means to them!| Fantasy-Hive
Jonathan reviews Daniela Catrileo's debut novel CHILCO, translated into English by Jacob Edelstein: "a remarkable work of near-future speculative fiction that grapples with the legacy of colonialism and the collapse of capitalism"| Fantasy-Hive
Today our resident Monster Botherer has side-stepped into Dark Romantasy with Liv Zander's FEATHERS SO VICIOUS: "It’s not an easy fun read but it’s kind of hard to tear your eyes away from the pages when things get interesting"| Fantasy-Hive
Nils reviews the first instalment in Mark A. Latham's new epic fantasy trilogy THE LAST VIGILANT: "a tale where classic fantasy meets a puzzling mystery and delivers an unputdownable read. This book was a true hidden gem."| Fantasy-Hive
Jonathan reviews Rowe Irvin's debut psychological folk horror LIFE CYCLE OF A MOTH: "deeply moving and utterly compelling. It heralds Irvin as an exciting new voice in the literary Weird."| Fantasy-Hive
Beth reviews T. Kingfisher's latest fairy tale retelling HEMLOCK & SILVER, out now from Tor: "displays a skilful fusion of refreshing worldbuilding, imaginative retelling, and unique storytelling"| Fantasy-Hive
Jonathan reviews Bitter Karella's fungal body horror BITTER KARELLA, the debut novel of Orbit's new horror imprint Run For It!| Fantasy-Hive
TO Munro reviews Adrian Tchaikovsky's fantasy quest SPIDERLIGHT, publishing in the UK this September by Tor!| Fantasy-Hive
Today, we're thrilled to be taking part in the cover reveal for Emily Paxman's upcoming standalone post-apocalyptic romance, ALL WE HAVE LEFT! Cover artist: Natasha MacKenzie| Fantasy-Hive
Beth reviews S. T. Gibson's upcoming dark folkloric fantasy romance SAVAGE BLOOMS: "a decadent feast of deceit and desire in a gorgeously realised and atmospheric setting"| Fantasy-Hive
Today, Cat reviews the first in a brand new #romantasy series from bestselling author S. A. Maclean - VOIDWALKER! Out now from Gollancz: "excellent, sassy and genuine characters... a truly entertaining book"| Fantasy-Hive
We can't have a Monster Romance section without a tentacle romance and our Monster Botherer has delivered with Ava Hall's THE KING IN RED: "forced proximity, only one bed, us against the world vibes"| Fantasy-Hive
As we reach the end of another month, it's time we round up our contributors and hear what their top reads of the month were for July's #TopPicks| Fantasy-Hive
This week our Monster Botherer Emma is bothering with Lola Glass' reality TV inspired fae mating romance LUST AND LOLLIPOPS (SURVIVAL OF THE MATED): "It, like the TV show it was inspired by, was just pure escapism"| Fantasy-Hive
Today we're thrilled to be featuring another cover reveal for Titan Books - this time, Amy Jane Stewart's debut feminist horror fairy-tale HEX HOUSE.| Fantasy-Hive
TO returns to a favourite author as he reviews Stark Holborn's upcoming Fantasy Western novella FOR THE ROAD: "Holborn’s prose weaves its way through this surreal setting and complex cast binding them together in a delightful reading experience"| Fantasy-Hive
Today we're thrilled to be able to share the cover reveal for Rym Kechacha's upcoming faerie tale fantasy THE APPLE AND THE PEARL, due for publication 3rd February 2026 from Titan Books.| Fantasy-Hive
Beth gets swept up by Juno Dawson's HMRC trilogy and reviews the second instalment THE SHADOW CABINET: "You'll burn through these pages like an elemental, and even a Level 5 Oracle won't see what's coming"| Fantasy-Hive
Beth revisits Juno Dawson's powerful witchcraft and demon fuelled HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL COVEN: "a contemporary fresh story of witchcraft sisterhood that is vitally relevant in current conversations around gender and the queer community"| Fantasy-Hive
Nils reviews Laura Purcell's gothic haunted house mystery THE SILENT COMPANIONS: "Purcell is becoming the queen of gothic writing for me and this book was darkly divine. "| Fantasy-Hive
It's time for this week's Monster Botherer review, and Emma is gushing (yes I'm sticking with it) about Kimberly Lemming's THAT TIME I GOT DRUNK AND SAVED A DEMON: "Lemming has this great style of writing that draws you in close and doesn’t let you go"| Fantasy-Hive
Happy Publication day to THE GRIMOIRE GRAMMAR SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION by Caitlin Rozakis! After loving Dreadful, Nils and Beth couldn't wait to dive into this new offering| Fantasy-Hive
Nils returns to Sylvie Cathrall's world her Sunken Archive duology with the long-awaited sequel A LETTER TO THE LONESOME SHORE: "deeply romantic and magical"| Fantasy-Hive
Beth continues her read through of T. Kingfisher's Saint of Steel series and shares her thoughts on the third instalment, PALADIN'S HOPE| Fantasy-Hive
Vinay reviews Evan Leikam's debut fantasy adventure ANJI KILLS A KING: "a debut to remember"| Fantasy-Hive
Nils returns to Sarah Beth Durst's world of The Spellshop in her upcoming enchanting cosy fantasy THE ENCHANTED GREENHOUSE| Fantasy-Hive
This week our Monster Botherer is asking if Vampires count as monster for monster romances in her review of Steffanie Holmes' slow burn cosy romance FANGS FOR NOTHING| Fantasy-Hive
Beth continues T. Kingfisher's Saint of Steel romantasy quartet, this time reviewing the second book PALADIN'S STRENGTH: "If you like unconventional romances and the cuddle-together-for-warmth trope then this one's for you."| Fantasy-Hive
Today we are thrilled to be taking part in the cover reveal for Alix E. Harrow upcoming genre-defying novel THE EVERLASTING, due for release from Tor in October 2025!| Fantasy-Hive
Nils reviews Ronald Malfi's upcoming psychological thrilled SENSELESS: "let Malfi lead you through a darkly twisted and bizarre tale"| Fantasy-Hive
T.O. Munro reviews Stark Holborn's far future set sci-fi TEN LOW: "There is a great deal to admire and enjoy in this well-crafted story"| Fantasy-Hive
Kat reviews Matriam Petrosyan's speculative fantasy THE GRAY HOUSE, translated by Yuri Machkasov: "a story that celebrates the freedom and chaos of childhood with abandon"| Fantasy-Hive
