Danai Christopoulou is the author of Vile Lady Villains, a sapphic horromantasy that brings Klytemnestra together with Lady Macbeth, out in the U.S. on May 12th from Union Square & Co. Below, they talk about three horromantasies they loved reading this year:
Horror and romance dance well together. The realms of the beautifully grotesque and the deliciously macabre have given birth to stories that, though we didn’t always call “horromantasies,” we did relish their melange of lust and repulsion.
This mix is one I tried to keep in mind while I was drafting Vile Lady Villains, and one I keep yearning for in the books I read. And while some of the three titles mentioned below tilt the balance toward one end or the other, all deliver impeccable settings and characters that you can’t help falling in love with — and being terrified by.
Bury Our Bones In the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab: I will read everything V. E. Schwab writes, but these toxic lesbian vampires felt like they were created specifically for me. Spanning from 16th-century Spain to present-day Boston, Bury Our Bones In the Midnight Soil is a hypnotic contemplation of the consequences of immortality and the fine line between love and obsession.
The Forest Bleeds by Rachel Kitch (out October 13): One of the 2026 debuts I’m most excited about, Kitsch’s The Forest Bleeds is as complex as it is atmospheric, with horror moments that hit hard and with the Appalachian background being a protagonist in itself. Come for the unique magic systems, hot villains, and, ahem, complicated relationship dynamics, stay for the frank discussions of intergenerational trauma, mental health, and diasporic identities.
Lethal Kiss by Taylor Grothe (out October 20): Another unputdownable debut that moves in the dark academia realm, but this time with an infusion of Norse lore, Grothe’s Lethal Kiss manages to delight and disgust in equal measure (often in the same scene). If you enjoyed Megan Fox’s character in Jennifer’s Body, you’re going to love every second of the blood-soaked menace that is Marcella, the draugr main character. I did!