February is coming to an end, which means we’re reaching the end of Black History Month. It’s the perfect time to remember that Black literature is coming out every month of the year, and we will still be reading Black voices all year round.
So, horror fans, get excited. Here are three horror books by Black authors coming out in 2026 that you’ll want on your TBR.
Indigent by Briana N. Cox (Graveside Press, March 20)
Briana N. Cox’s debut novel is a horror story set in Leigh Pierce Estates, a low-income apartment building in a rapidly gentrifying area of Atlanta. Xavier, a young Black man who works as a handyman for the building, discovers that one of the tenants has mysteriously passed away. Shortly after, Xavier finds himself infected by a mysterious disease. It’s a disease that fills him with an intense and uncontrollable hunger.
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The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson (Erewhon, March 31)
This fresh take on a haunted house story is also set in a low-income community: Hester Gardens in Medford, Michigan. Nona has lived through her drug dealer husband being put behind bars and her eldest son being shot and killed at the age of 18. So she’s relieved that her son Marcus is on track to escape Hester Gardens and attend an Ivy League school. But just when Nora thinks she has everything under control, strange things start happening around the house. She hears footsteps when she thinks she’s alone. Appliances go off without explanation. And to make matters worse, her youngest son starts hanging out with a bad crowd.
Honey by Imani Thompson (Random House, May 5)
Honey is about a PhD student who develops a thirst for murder. Yrsa is a graduate student researching Afropessimism. The research is going well, but Yrsa feels extremely disillusioned by the graduate school experience and even more disillusioned with men. Those feelings only escalate when she discovers her best friend, Nina, has been having an affair with a college professor who ends up stealing her research. Yrsa is furious, so when she encounters the professor slowly dying from a bee sting, she just lets it happen. Yrsa never could have imagined how good it would feel watching an evil man die. Now she’s desperate to recreate that high, and not a single sexist, misbehaving man on campus is safe.
Looking for more Black horror recommendations? Here are 20 horror books by authors of color. And if you’re into middle grade and YA books, here’s more about middle grade and YA horror by Black authors.
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