Category: 2026

BE RIGHT BACK by Bill Wood

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This review first appeared in Booklist on March 1, 2026.

It’s been a year since the Sanera Four put a stop to the Carrington Ghoul and the vicious killing spree that shocked their small California town. Now, most of the gang are off at college, trying to put the whole traumatic affair behind them. But when they are drawn back to Sanera for a festival honoring the victims of the tragedy, they quickly learn that the past is never truly past. The Carrington Ghoul has somehow returned, now accompanied by other murderous figures from local legend, bearing a message every horror aficionado knows: sequels are always bigger, bolder . . . and so much bloodier. In this follow-up to the Scream-inspired Let’s Split Up (2025), Wood faithfully adheres to the sequel rules established by the famous film franchise, delivering a knowing, gleeful escalation of mythology, mayhem, and meta-commentary alongside its seasoned meddling kids. A thrilling entry in the modern slasher scene, standing right alongside Lisa Springer’s There’s No Way I’d Die First (2023) and Justine Pucella Winans’ How to Survive a Slasher (2025).

HERE LIES A GHOST by Shakirah Bourne

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This review first appeared in Booklist on February 1, 2026.

After Brody, his best and only friend, appears to give him the cold shoulder following a visit to his modest home, Jermaine feels resentful and embarrassed—enough that he’s willing to change his slightly awkward, science-loving personality to fit in with the Turbo Jets, their school’s popular athletic group. It quickly becomes apparent that the posse prefers pranks over camaraderie, particularly after they lock Jermaine inside an infamously haunted burial vault at the local cemetery. There, he encounters the ghost of Dorcas Chase, a girl who died in nineteenth-century Barbados. Jermaine befriends Dorcas, coming to see her as a guardian and guiding presence. But when her protective streak turns sinister, Jermaine begrudgingly reconciles with Brody—the only other person besides him who can see the ghost girl—to find a way to stop her spectral rampage and, hopefully, set her free. Using alternating chapters of straight prose and free verse, Bourne explores themes of grief, friendship, and forgiveness, while vividly bringing to life some of the harsh realities of her homeland’s colonial history in this haunting, thoughtful narrative.

 

OLIVE OAKES AND THE HAUNTED CAROUSEL by Kalynn Bayron

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This review first appeared in Booklist on January 1, 2026.

There are few things Olive Oakes loves more than solving mysteries with her cousin and best friend, Eli. She feels they’re cut out for far more than the small-scale cases they’ve been tackling all summer, though. Figuring out which neighborhood dog keeps pooping in their front yard is a sort of win, but it’s hardly thrilling detective work. When they tag along with her parents on a real estate job in the small town of Whispering Woods, Olive isn’t exactly expecting much. But soon they start hearing strange stories about missing children and a supposedly haunted carousel at the annual carnival, and Olive can’t help but feel she’s finally found a mystery worthy of her considerable sleuthing skills. Witty, whimsical, and wonderfully cozy, this first entry in a new middle-grade detective series delights from the very first page. Bayron has a particular knack for dialogue, bringing to life two exceptionally lively and charismatic central characters whom readers will be eager to follow. This clever, contemporary take on the classic Nancy Drew formula is sure to charm.

X MARKS THE HAUNT by Lindsay Currie

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This review first appeared in Booklist on January 1, 2026.

Twelve-year-old Will Stone loves hanging out in the local graveyard. It’s not as creepy as it sounds—his mom runs the old resting place, so it’s practically like his second home. He even lends a hand with the day-to-day work, thanks to his knack for genealogical research and his ability to make sense of the cemetery’s archaic, crumbling records. It’s a quiet, stable sort of life, which suits him just fine, particularly since the recent death of his dad, which turned his world upside down. Then, after a field trip, the resident school bully loses the key to an ancient crypt, accidentally awakening a restless spirit that soon shatters the serenity Will so cherishes. When the seemingly sinister specter starts sapping the life out of the surrounding landscape and haunting Will and his friends in increasingly unsettling ways, Will realizes he must uncover the identity of the agitated apparition before it destroys both the place he loves and the people he holds most dear. Set in Chicago’s historic Graceland Cemetery, Currie’s latest delivers another exciting and eerie mystery, expertly blending fascinating facts with fearsome fiction. Chilling, thrilling, and touching in equal measure, this story of supernatural suspense will appeal to readers of The Forgotten Girl (2019), by India Hill Brown, and Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave (2025), by Ally Russell.