Horror

8 Chilling New Horror Books Coming Out June 2023

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Emily Martin

Contributing Editor

Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at emily.ecm@gmail.com.

Horror is always the answer every month throughout the year. Looking to stay cool in the summer months? These June 2023 horror books will send chills down your spine. So forget about blasting the air conditioning. Say no thanks to the popsicles. And say yes to some of the creepiest horror we’ve seen yet this year.

What can you expect from June 2023 horror releases? Something uncanny. Psychological horror that will have you questioning everything in the world around you. Character-driven stories that will make you feel the character’s complete terror as if it were your own. Family dramas turned sinister. Fresh takes on the summer camp slasher. And twisty, turny, mind-bendy books that will make you question what’s real.

There are so many good horror stories coming out in June. These are just a few of the best books coming out this month. Get ready to get scared!

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede book cover

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede (Tor Nightfire, June 6)

There are two sides to Maeve Fly. By day, she plays everyone’s favorite ice princess at the happiest place on Earth. But after work, she drinks the night away at dive bars on the Sunset Strip. Maeve’s carefully-balanced world is turned upside down with the arrival of a familiar face. Gideon Green, Maeve’s best friend’s brother, shows up in town and invites Maeve to try on a new persona. Inspired by the edgy world of American Psycho, CJ Leede’s Maeve Fly is an exciting new horror novel to kick off the month of June.

everything the darkness eats book cover

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca (CLASH Books, June 20)

Everything the Darkness Eats is a supernatural thriller set in a rural village in Connecticut called Henley’s Edge. Following a disturbing and unexplained string of disappearances, a grieving widower with a dark secret finds himself drawn to dark, occult magic and mysterious older gentleman named Heart Crowley. Meanwhile, beneath the idyllic exterior of the small town community, an insidious hatred is growing. And one member of local law enforcement is getting closer to uncovering the truth behind the town’s disappearances just as that hatred is about to bubble to the surface.

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight book cover

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron (Bloomsbury YA, June 20)

For or fans of “final girl”/slasher horror, Kalynn Bayron’s You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight is a must-read new YA horror novel. At Camp Mirror Lake, you can live out your favorite horror movies. Guests pay to be scared at this full-contact horror attraction. For Charity Curtis, it’s the summer job of her dreams playing the “final girl” at the camp and recreating scenes from the classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. But then on the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers start disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity begins to wonder if she’s becoming a final girl in real life. Now if Charity and her girlfriend Bezi want to survive the night, they’ll have to figure out who is killing off all the campers and what the killer wants.

nineteen claws and a blackbird book cover

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories by Agustina Bazterrica (Scriber, June 20)

Over five years after its publication, everyone is still talking about Agustina Bazterrica’s unsettling dystopian horror Tender is the Flesh. And now the acclaimed author is back with a collection of 19 short stories that tap into the reader’s deepest fears and most disturbing, dark fantasies. Fans of Bazterrica’s work will recognize her brutal, honest, and profound voice in these stories (that are also super creepy).

night's edge book cover

Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin (Tor Nightfire, June 20)

In Night’s Edge, Mia’s mom Izzy is…different. Growing up with a mom like Izzy meant hiding who she was from the world. It meant no extracurriculars, no having friends over, and absolutely no dating. But now that Mia is all grown up, she’s tired of people worrying about discovering her family’s terrible secret. She just wants to live her life. That’s when Jade comes into the picture. Jade is a musician who gives Mia a glimpse into what her life could be like if she left her worries behind. If she left her mother behind.

a crooked mark book cover

A Crooked Mark by Linda Kao (Razorbill, June 20)

Sometimes people who narrowly escape death are blessed. And sometimes they’re marked by the devil, sent back to the land of the living to carry out evil deeds. After surviving a car crash that killed her father, Rae Winter knows she should be dead. Matthew Watts has spent his whole life chasing after those marked by the devil, and he thinks Rae is one of them. But the more he gets to know her, the less he’s certain that she’s an agent of the devil. In fact, Matthew is beginning to wonder if the devil’s mark is even real.

the only one left book cover

The Only One Left by Riley Sager (Dutton, June 20)

The Only One Left might just be Riley Sager’s creepiest novel yet. In 1929, the Hope family was brutally murdered. The one who survived was 17-year-old Lenora Hop. There are whispers that Lenora murdered her own family, but the police were never able to prove it. Now in 1983, Lenora is in her 70s, has had a series of strokes, and can only communicate through typing on a typewriter. But now, for the first time ever, Lenora is going to tell her story to her home-health aide Kit McDeere. But is Lenora telling the truth? What really happened on that day in 1929?

the shadow sister book cover

The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade (Sourcebooks Fire, June 27)

After Casey’s sister Sutton goes missing, she’s doing everything she can to help find her. But she also knows how manipulative her sister can be. And she’s not the perfect person everyone is pretending she is now that she’s gone. When Sutton reappears out of nowhere, Casey knows she should be relieved, but something about Sutton has changed. She doesn’t remember anything that happened to her while she was gone. And she doesn’t remember anything about her life before, including all of the ways she made Casey’s life miserable.

Looking for more new horror recs? Lucky for you, we cover the best in new horror every month! Check out the best horror books from May and April. Stay scared, friends and fiends!

As always, you can find a full list of new releases in the magical New Release Index, carefully curated by your favorite Book Riot editors, organized by genre and release date.