Welcome to Weekly Book Recs, where every Friday I recommend some niche horror themed recommendations. Today we will be diving into some imaginary friend horror. This trope takes the innocence of childhood imagination and twists it into a nightmare.

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Incidents Around The House by Josh Malerman

Eight-year-old Bela has an imaginary friend she calls Other Mommy. The more and more Bela refuses to let Other Mommy "into her heart," the more Other Mommy becomes angrier and violent.

Come Closer by Sara Gran

A woman's childhood imaginary friend returns in her dreams as an adult. Amanda begins acting erratic and violent towards those around her.

Let Him In by William Friend

After their mother passed, two twin girls start getting nightly visits from a man in their room. Their father believes this is just an imaginary friend--one the girls call Black Mamba.

I Will Kill Your Imaginary Friend For $200 by Robert Brockway

A man who can see everyone else's imaginary friends begins taking hitman like contracts for adults who just can't seem to shake them.

Take your Turn, Teddy by Haley Newlin

A young boy bonds with "The Shadow" in his basement after his mother moves them to a new home.

TBR

Imaginary Fiends by Tim Seeley/Stephen Molnar

A graphic novel centering on a woman who was sent to a mental institution as a child for attempted murder after "Polly Peachpit" told her to. Now as an adult, she's offered an opportunity to work with the FBI to hunt down the parasites that prey on the minds of humans.

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

A young boy vanishes only to return days later with a voice instructing him in his head to build a treehouse in the woods by Christmas or something horrible will happen...

I somehow missed a weekly update, so we’re doing two weeks at once because September has been A LOT.

The biggest thing is that I Wish I Was a Vampire is officially out in the world! I’ve spent the last couple of weeks doing all the release stuff, taking photos, making posts, getting ready for the book event, signing books, and having the very surreal experience of seeing my spooky little vampire book actually exist. Younger me would think this is extremely cool.

I also finished the first draft of Werewolf Summer, the second Woods Bay book! It takes place about six months after Small Town Slasher, and I’m really excited about where this one is going. There are werewolves, a very 90s prom, small-town weirdness, and plenty more happening in Woods Bay that Jenna probably would have preferred not to deal with.

We also hit the one-year anniversary of the first Twisted Tales anthology, which is kind of wild considering we’re already getting ready for book three. I’ve been working behind the scenes on Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night: A Slasher Horror Anthology, including contributor announcements and getting ready for the cover reveal.

And Death by TBR officially hit 20K followers on Instagram, which still feels a little unreal. Sales have unfortunately been pretty slow lately, so I’ve also started looking more seriously at sponsorships and paid partnerships as another way to keep the shop and press growing. I finally put together a proper media kit, started reaching out to brands, and applied to Penguin Random House’s Creator House program.

Then there’s all the stuff that doesn’t make especially exciting content: emails, graphics, book listings, marketing, upcoming releases, author stuff, publishing stuff, distribution headaches, and the approximately 900 tiny jobs involved in running a bookstore and small press while also trying to write my own books.

At this point, I am also VERY aware that my break is getting closer.

I’ve been pushing hard for months to get as much done as possible before then, and I am more than ready for some time where I’m not constantly thinking about the next deadline, release, post, edit, or email. I love what I do, but I am tired.

So that’s roughly where the last two weeks went.

A book released. A draft got finished. We hit 20K. More books are coming.

And I am officially counting down to my break.

Sometimes when I write these updates, I feel like I’m just rambling and wonder if anyone actually wants to hear all of this. But I also know so much of this work happens behind the scenes, so I’m trying to get better about sharing more of it instead of only showing up when there’s something shiny to announce.

Hopefully you don’t mind the rambling.