13 new science fiction, fantasy, and horror books to check out in July 2026

Vampires, undead, noirs, assassins, and more!

I recently picked up a fascinating little book: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. The story itself is one that I’ve wanted to read for years, but what attracted me to this particular edition is that it’s from the notebook company Field Notes, and it’s designed to emulate the Armed Services Editions that were handed out to soldiers during the Second World War. Where most books are in a portrait orientation, this one’s landscape, with each page featuring a pair of columns.

These books were handed out in droves to soldiers, and it’s often referred to as one of the biggest literary boons in the 20th century: it introduced soldiers to the classics — and transformed some books into classics — and they were designed to fit into one’s pocket.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I got it, but it’s a small, palm-sized book that… fits into my pocket, and I’ve found that to be not only delightful, but super practical as well. I’ve been carrying it all over, and when I have a spare minute, where I’d usually be checking my phone, I’m trying to get a couple pages in here and there. It’s interesting to think about how form and availability really helped make reading popular, and it’s something that I wish was more prevalent in the publishing industry right now.

Okay: onto the rest of this month's books: I’ve got 13 new SF/F/H books to check out this month. As always, you can find past installments here.

Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus by Isaac Asimov (July 14th)

Blackstone publishing continues its re-release of Isaac Asimov’s Lucky Starr series (it’s already published David Starr, Space Ranger and Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids). The series follows David Staff as he heads off to Venus’s largest city, Aphrodite, hidden away under a vast ocean. The place is a remarkable engineering achievement, but something is now threatening the city — a psychic force that could destroy everything they’ve accomplished.

The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager (July 14th)

A graduate student named Caro is trying to figure out a direction for her life when a path presents itself: a position as a research assistant on an expedition with her professor and partner, Edward Beck. She jumps at the opportunity and joins his team, which is studying the ancient Cult of the Leviathan, which once inhabited a series of caves near the sea.

Things go awry when the entrance to the cave system collapses on them, leaving the team trapped. Even worse, they find that they’re part of an ancient trial that will test each one of them to face their past sins.

Home Sick by Rhiannon Grist (July 14th)

After a tragedy strikes her workplace, Tamsin decides to take a break from everything she knows: she sets off for an isolate cottage deep in the woods, where she can start over again, maybe make some new friends, and figure out who she is.

When she arrives at her new home, she finds that it’s not what she expected: it’s a semi-detached dwelling, with a strange woman living in the other residence. She’s uneasy and suspects that there’s something off as strange disturbances begin taking place. She soon learns that there are other strange stories about her home, and realizes that the past she tried to escape from might not be willing to let her go that easily.

The Mulai by Munir Hachemi and translated by Julia Sanches (July 14th)

In this Spanish science fiction novel, an archeologist is sent off to a distant planet to learn about a community that inhabits it, descendants of a space mission that took place long ago. They live in climate-controlled dome settlements, worship a god called Dog, and keep repeating a strange phrase, mulai.

The researcher is there to learn more about their language, their way of life, customs, and society, which have transformed drastically in the years since their predecessors left Earth.

The Red Sacrament by Sara Hinkley (July 2nd)

Set in Paris in 1869, one of the places to be is the Théâtre Saint-Siméon, an exclusive theater that only a very select few are permitted inside to view its phenomenal performances, undertaken by an ageless cast that only performs at midnight.

That cast is led by Arnault, the head of a clan of vampires who’ve set up a strict set of rules so that their supernatural nature won’t be detected. When they get a visit from a witch with a connection to Arnault named Béatrice, and a pair of foreign vampires, siblings Victor and Françoise de Rouvray, the peace and stability that they’ve come to enjoy is threatened.

Writing in the Ancillary Review of Books, Jon Greenaway says that it “represents the arrival of a major new voice in horror fiction and perhaps the most vital, politically engaged vampire novel of the last decade.”

The Playful LEM: A Short Story Sampler by Stanislaw Lem and edited by Michael Kandel (July 1st)

Stanislaw Lem is one of the genre’s most fascinating writers, and a handful of his shorter, comedic short stories are gathered together into a new collection. The stories it contains features everything from knights fighting for the hand of a mechanical princess, a machine that can make anything you can think of — so long as it begins with the letter “n”, an astronaut who goes undercover on a planet populated by robots, and quite a few more.

The Language of Knives: Stories by Haralambi Markov (July 7th)

Bulgarian author Haralambi Markov has earned a good amount of acclaim in recent years for his short fiction, which has appeared in places like Reactor, Uncanny, and anthologies like Genius Loci and Upside Down. He’s now brought his short fiction together into his first collection, with stories about a legendary monster going on a podcast, a deadly mall, curses, haunted houses, and more.

Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying it’s “a collection that refuses to look away from darkness while still, against the odds, reaching for hope.”

Push the Wall: My Life, Writing, Drawing, and the Art of Storytelling by Frank Miller (July 14th)

Frank Miller is one of the comic industry’s greatest writers, responsible for such works as The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Daredevil: Born Again, Sin City, 300, and a ton of others.

His latest work isn’t quite as fantastical: it’s a memoir of his life, looking at his upbringing in Vermont to his arrival in New York City and his approach to writing comics. It looks like a fascinating insight into his craft and his remarkable influence on the comic book industry.

Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, saying that it’s “gorgeously illustrated with panels from Miller’s work and written in elegantly two-fisted prose, this is a wildly entertaining account that his fans will savor.”

The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (July 14th)

I’m a big fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s novels like Mexican Gothic and last year’s The Bewitching, and her tendencies to jump from genre to genre effortlessly. Her latest is another leap into the noir and mystery scene. It’s about a con artist named Ulises, who’s made a living stealing from women by charming them with letters. But he’s aware of the passage of time and the toll it inflicts on people, and he’s looking for a new score.

He thinks he finds it in the form of Perla, the owner of a Veracruz boardinghouse. When he makes the trek to meet her, he finds that she’s the guardian of her bright niece, Inés, who’s trying to make her own escape. When she learns of Ulises’s intentions, she offers to help. But Perla isn’t helpless, and has secrets of her own, and Ulises finds that he might have bitten off more than he can chew.

Library Journal gave it a starred review, saying that “from its expertly evoked settings to its flawlessly paced plot, everything about Moreno-Garcia’s latest exudes noir at its very best.

Ice Vegas by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes (July 14th)

Longtime collaborators Larry Niven and Steven Barnes have teamed up for a new novel, Ice Vegas, about a security agent named Carver Reeves, who’s the head of security for a nuclear facility in Europe that also powers a spectacular, domed city called Ice Vegas. He’s about to retire when the facility is sabotaged by someone hoping to destroy both the city and facility.

To save them, Carver turns to an assassin named Spider. Her job is to track down a member of the powerful Waldemer family who have been working towards their goal of controlling Earth for generations and save the place that’s become her home.

Not With A Bang by Temi Oh (July 14th)

After he loses his job, Marcus Minton goes a bit off the deep end, stocking up on canned food and building a bunker in their back yard. While this is happening, his daughters are having their own issues: Chantale has dreams of disasters, while one of Briar's classmates goes missing and her obsession over it has drawn her into a UFO cult, all while their mother is hiding an illness.

When an apocalyptic disaster takes place and begins destroying the world, the family has to find a way to survive – and to come back together as a family.

Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, saying “told in a confident, lyrical voice with a sharp focus on characters and society, this narrative reveals that no matter how alien the circumstances, we will always be human.”

Brokeula by Michael J. Seidlinger (July 7th)

Michael J. Seidlinger takes on capitalism and vampires in Brokeula. James Sugre has been a vampire for centuries, and he’s had a hard time throughout: he’s broke and has experienced his share of bad luck in everything from poor investments to getting in too late in the game with crypto.

He decides to try his hand at a new venture: video games. He sets up a studio alongside a self-described vampire fan named Lauren, and it seems like things might be looking up, with a new business of turning people into vampires for a fee, only to find that capitalism might be taking more from him than he expected.

Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle (July 7th)

Chuck Tingle’s latest horror novel takes us to Palm Springs, where we meet Poppy Stringer, an aspiring influencer and grave robber. When her idol, rock star Eddie Michaels dies, she gets an unexpected call: retrieve his body from authorities. It’s a job with a huge payday that could get her out of the rut she’s in, and all seems to be going well until Eddie wakes up mid-retrieval, and she’s going to have to fight for her life on this unexpected road trip.

As always, thanks for reading: let me know what catches your eye and what you've got on your TBR!