Haley Newlin Archives - Cemetery Dance Online

Interview: Crafting Horror with Jenny Kiefer

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 28, 2025October 9, 2025InterviewsCrafting for Sinners, Haley Newlin, Interviews, Jenny Kiefer, This Wretched ValleyLeave a comment

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

photo of author Jenny Kiefer — Jenny Kiefer

Jenny Kiefer is an award-winning author of spine-tingling, fierce, and cathartic horror. Her debut novel, This Wretched Valley, was a 2024 Bram Stoker Award Nominee and named a Library Journal Best Horror Book of the year. Readers have been anxiously awaiting her second release, Crafting for Sinners, a survival horror story about a queer woman trapped in a craft store run by religious fanatics. It is all over BookTok and Bookstagram as one of the most anticipated horror book releases of 2025.

Together with her mother, Kiefer owns and manages Butcher Cabin Books, an all-horror bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky.

Kiefer sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss her debut novel, This Wretched Valley, her new release, Crafting for Sinners, survival horror, her favorite reads of the year, and of course, crafts.

You can find the author on Instagram @_jennykiefer and on her website. Continue Reading

Review: Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 27, 2025October 9, 2025ReviewsCrafting for Sinners, Haley Newlin, Jenny Kiefer, ReviewsLeave a comment

Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer
Quirk Books (October 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

In Jenny Kiefer’s latest release, Crafting for Sinners, Ruth walks the aisles of a craft store in Kill Devil, Kentucky. There’s fall decor from floor to ceiling, but no sign of ghosts, witches, or black cats for Halloween, the holiday omitted entirely. Emblazoned glass jars read: Be Pure, for those who give themselves to immortality will suffer the punishment of eternal fire. A placard with two vintage handguns forming an X, barrels overlapping, declares: Righteous judgment will be revealed on the day of His wrath – Romans 2:5. Continue Reading

Review: The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 17, 2025October 7, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Isabel Canas, Reviews, The Possession of Alba DiazLeave a comment

cover of The Possession of Alba Diaz The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
Berkley (August 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Isabel Cañas is a gothic horror revivalist who would appease and astonish the founding mothers of the genre and excite the readers they continue to lure in today. What makes Cañas stand out is her use of classic Gothic tropes — such as isolation, family turmoil, claustrophobic settings, and hauntings —but she re-centers them in Mexico. She symbolizes historical trauma, evangelization, colonization, generational violence, and misogyny throughout her work in a way that’s accessible and impactful.

In her latest genre-defying release, The Possession of Alba Díaz, Cañas conjures an unforgettable, wicked tale so compelling and cinematically evocative that readers will talk about it for years to come. It’s haunting and gory. Fierce and uncanny.Continue Reading

Nick Medina on Native lore, The Whistler, and more

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 26, 2025September 24, 2025InterviewsHaley Newlin, Interviews, Nick Medina, The WhistlerLeave a comment

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

photo of author Nick Medina — Nick Medina

Nick Medina is a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, and he drew on his heritage and stories passed down by his paternal grandmother, along with research into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) epidemic, as inspiration for his novels including Sisters of the Lost Nation, which earned a Junior Library Guild Standard Selection Award, and Indian Burial Ground. He has degrees in organizational and multicultural communication, and has worked as a college instructor. He also enjoys playing guitar, listening to classic rock, and exploring haunted cemeteries and all sorts of spooky stuff.

Medina’s new release, The Whistler, takes readers back to the reservation for a thrilling blend of Native folklore, mythology, and horror. Much like the paranormal investigators the author writes about, Medina has gone in search of Resurrection Mary, the “Italian Bride,” and the “Devil Baby,” and other spirits of Chicago’s ghost lore.

Medina sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss his new release, The Whistler, Native lore, and his favorite reads of the year. Continue Reading

Review: The Whistler by Nick Medina

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 25, 2025September 24, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Nick Medina, Reviews, The WhistlerLeave a comment

The Whistler by Nick Medina
Berkley (September 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

For fear of summoning evil spirits, Native superstition says you should never, ever whistle at night.

Henry Hotard was about to hit the big time. He’d gained a huge online following with his ghost-hunting videos. But things changed one day, a day he wishes he could forget, and now he’s navigating a new reality — life in a wheelchair and back on the reservation where he grew up, and relying on his grandparents’ care.

Growing up on the reservation, one hears all sorts of stories, cautionary tales with wicked creatures and anecdotes. Myths. But some superstitions shouldn’t be ignored. Continue Reading

Interview: Breathing In, Bleeding Out with Brian McAuley

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 28, 2025August 21, 2025InterviewsBreath In Bleed Out, Brian McAuley, Haley Newlin, InterviewsLeave a comment

photo of author Brian McAuley — Brian McAuley

Brian McAuley is a WGA screenwriter and HWA author. His debut novel, Curse of the Reaper, was named one of Esquire’s Best Horror Books of 2022. His novellas, Candy Cain Kills and Candy Cain Kills Again: The Second Slaying, are essential holiday horror reads and dubbed “A masterclass in slasher fiction” by FanFiAddict. This fall, McAuley returns with a bloody-good slasher called Breathe In, Bleed Out.

McAuley’s upcoming novel has already garnered praise from some of the biggest names in Horror. Upon reading Breathe In, Bleed Out, Nat Cassidy, author of When The Wolf Comes Home and Mary: An Awakening of Terror, said McAuley is “the crown prince of slasher literature.” Continue Reading

Review: Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 27, 2025August 21, 2025ReviewsBreathe In Bleed Out, Brian McAuley, Haley Newlin, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Breathe In, Bleed Out Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley
Poison Pen Press (September 2, 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Brian McAuley’s slasher novel Breathe In, Bleed Out is an absolute scream and an instant classic.

In this fast-paced and shocking horror novel, Hannah, a woman haunted by the ghosts of grief, and her friends are invited to a secluded healing retreat in the desert. With constant nightmares and a drug dependency, Hannah thinks this trip could be just what she needs: a chance to heal.Continue Reading

Nat Cassidy on When the Wolf Comes Home

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 19, 2025August 10, 2025InterviewsHaley Newlin, Interviews, Nat Cassidy, When the Wolf Comes HomeLeave a comment

photo of author Nat Cassidy Nat Cassidy is a USA Today bestselling horror author. He’s received wide acclaim for his work, including his supernatural, perimenopausal horror novel, Mary: An Awakening of Terror, and his Bram Stoker-nominated contemporary horror novella, Rest Stop, that explores historical trauma and reads like a bloody slasher leaping from the page.

He was named one of the “writers shaping horror’s next golden age” by Esquire and his recent release, When The Wolf Comes Home, has been praised by THE KING of horror, Stephen King, who said:“It’s terrific…a classic.”

Cassidy is infamous for bringing the angst and dread, but especially the feels, and his fairytale-inspired horror novel, When The Wolf Comes Home promises all of that and more.

You can find the author on Instagram and TikTok – @catnassidy and on his website.Continue Reading

Review: When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 18, 2025August 10, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Nat Cassidy, Reviews, When the Wolf Comes HomeLeave a comment

cover of When the Wolf Comes Home When The Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
Tor Nightfire (April 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

After reading Mary: An Awakening of Terror, I swore Nat Cassidy had written his magnum opus, not realizing it was his debut novel. And then I read Rest Stop from Shortwave, which is absolutely stellar with its exploration of historical trauma and triggers amongst the political state of things. And it was UNHINGED. So, I was certain that the novella was my new favorite. But, man, Cassidy came to the plate swinging with When The Wolf Comes Home and he knocked it out of the park. In his fairytale-inspired story Cassidy once again proves he’s one of the strongest voices in modern horror. His work is thoughtful, compelling, and fiercely chaotic as hell. I will devour EVERYTHING this man writes.Continue Reading

Daphne Fama talks Monstrous Women

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 12, 2025August 10, 2025InterviewsDaphne Fama, Haley Newlin, House of Monstrous Women, InterviewsLeave a comment

photo of author Daphne Fama — Daphne Fama

Daphne Fama’s gothic debut, House of Monstrous Women, is rich with Filipino folklore, female rage, ritual cannibalism, and matriarchal horror. It has been described as Silva Moreno-Garcia’s infamous novel Mexican Gothic — which this interviewer agrees solely based on the brilliant execution of the theme of generational trauma — meets the campy horror film Ready or Not, starring Samara Weaving.

When she’s not writing about monsters and the women who love them, she’s writing about video games or adoring her partner and pup. Her favorite horror games are the Fatal Frame series (minus Maiden of Black Water) and Silent Hill. She loves found footage and folklore drenched horror movies.

Fama’s social media is a celebration and dissection of Filipino folklore including the aswang — an umbrella term that refers to a wide array of monsters, from vampire-like creatures to shapeshifters. These entities became the key inspiration for House of Monstrous Women. You can find her on Instagram at @daphnefamawrites.Continue Reading

Review: House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 11, 2025August 10, 2025ReviewsDaphne Fama, Haley Newlin, House of Monstrous Women, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of House of Monstrous Women House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama
Berkley (August 12, 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Every culture has a boogeyman, a shapeless entity that eats children, such as El Cuco in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, or a shadowy, witch-like figure that eats and imprisons children, like Baba Yaga in Russia, Iraq, and Syria. In Daphne Fama’s Filipino Folk and Gothic Horror novel, House of Monstrous Women, it’s the aswang. Some declare the aswang monsters; others say they were people cursed “with a vicious hunger” and “who spent their lives like wolves cloaked in the fleece of lamb.”Continue Reading

Review: Stay On The Line by Clay McLeod Chapman and Trever Henderson

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 9, 2025July 6, 2025ReviewsClay McLeod Chapman, Haley Newlin, Reviews, Stay on the Line, Trevor HendersonLeave a comment

cover of stay on the Line by Clay McLeod Chapman — Version 1.0.0

Stay On The Line by Clay McLeod Chapman with Illustrations by Trever Henderson
Shortwave Media (July 30, 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Clay McLeod Chapman is the undeniable king of grief horror. He’s torn readers apart with his lyrical, evocative stories exploring addiction in Ghost Eaters (named one of Vulture’s Best Horror Novels of 2022) and the loss of a child, as in his Southern gothic folk horror novel What Kind of Mother and his Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella Kill Your Darling.

Stay On The Line is another tale of grief’s haunting phases and lasting impressions, yet it still feels unique from Chapman’s other titles. Trevor Henderson’s accompanying illustrations are the cherry on top, adding to the unsettling atmosphere. Henderson’s Stay On The Line style reminded me of Stephen Gammell’s iconic illustrations in Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.Continue Reading

Review: The Terror At Love Lake by Joey Powell

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 7, 2025July 6, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Joey Powell, Reviews, The Terror at Love LakeLeave a comment

cover of The Terror of Love Lake The Terror At Love Lake by Joey Powell
Mad Axe Media (May 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

The Terror At Love Lake is a cosmic, snack-sized tale of a teenage cheerleader, Diane. Coming of age for women incites fear. Men look at you a little too long. Sure, they were creepy before, but now it’s like a hunter spotting prey. The vulnerability of a child transpires into a fight for autonomy.

This reviewer was impressed by author Joey Powell’s ability to create an authentic narrative that explores women’s constant struggle for personal agency and the threat of coercers. Continue Reading

Review: Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 30, 2025June 29, 2025ReviewsAmanda Jayatissa, Haley Newlin, Island Witch, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Island Witch Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa
Berkley (February 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Island Witch is an unforgettable and culturally rich good-for-her horror novel I cannot stop talking about. After reading This Cursed House by Del Sandeen, Blood On Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen, and Jordan Peele’s anthology Out There Screaming, I’ve been on such a historical fiction and female rage kick. Island Witch is topical, with themes like colonialism, colorism, racism, feminism, and misogyny. It’s a razor-sharp exploration of the violent experience of girlhood and womanhood, perfect for readers seeking a horror book with historical and social depth.Continue Reading

Review: Chopping Spree by Angela Sylvaine

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 27, 2025June 22, 2025ReviewsAngela Sylvain, Chopping Spree, Haley Newlin, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Chopping Spree Chopping Spree by Angela Sylvaine
Dark Matter INK (September 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Angela Sylvaine has a knack for writing nostalgic horror. In her 2023 novel Frost Bite, Sylavine received praise for the nostalgia factor and her ability to create a horror story that reads like a B movie. It’s campy. I thought the same when reading the author’s 2024 novella Chopping Spree.Continue Reading

FREE email updates!

Categories