Haley Newlin Archives - Cemetery Dance Online

Interview: A. Rushby on Slashed Beauties and Feminist Body Horror

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 27, 2026InterviewsA. Rushby, Haley Newlin, Interviews, Slashed BeautiesLeave a comment

A. Rushby (also writing as Allison Rushby and A.J. Rushby) has published more than thirty books. Whether writing for junior and middle grade readers or adults, Rushby is known for her love of all things dark and peculiar. Sometimes she writes about Victorian death photography and installation art. Sometimes it’s haunted houses or kittens who have midnight tea parties.

In Slashed Beauties, Rushby’s adult body and feminist horror novel, she writes about bewitched anatomical wax models, cursed lockets, and women’s never-ending fight for autonomy.

Rushby sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss, Slashed Beauties, Anatomical Venuses, her favorite feminist/body horror books, and her next release, All Her Beautiful Deaths.

You can connect with her on Instagram @allisonrushbyauthor and at allisonrushby.com

Review: Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 24, 2026April 29, 2026QuoteReviewsA. Rushby, Haley Newlin, Reviews, Slashed BeautiesLeave a comment

Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby
Berkley (September 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

“I am the mistress of my own fate.”

Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby is a sophisticated gothic feminist horror novel laced with rage and history told through dual timelines: Alys, an antique dealer in present day who is related to Eleanor–one of the Venuses–and Eleanor, an eighteenth-century sex worker taken in by a beautiful and powerful courtesan, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s previous recruitment, Emily. Eleanor believes she has found her savior at last but things never come easy to women. Being a woman means fighting tooth and nail for agency and peace only to have it stolen again and again. And for this, in this story, anyway, men will burn.

Review: Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 2, 2026February 22, 2026ReviewsCatriona Ward, Haley Newlin, Nowhere Burning, ReviewsLeave a comment

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
Tor Nightfire (February 2026)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Of all of Catriona Ward’s books, Nowhere Burning might be the most unputdownable. Ward is known for her rich, gothic, atmospheric horror that turns readers around and around, only to reveal that the story on the surface is far more complex than they could’ve imagined. In Nowhere Burning, Ward delivers another character-driven psychological horror narrative that presents the terrifying possibility that we don’t know ourselves as well as we think we do.Continue Reading

Interview: Kristi DeMeester on Dark Sisters

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 17, 2026February 10, 2026InterviewsDark Sisters, Haley Newlin, Interviews, Kristi DeMeesterLeave a comment

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photo of author Kristi DeMeester — Kristi DeMeester

Kristi DeMeester is the author of Dark Sisters, Such a Pretty Smile (which was selected as a Georgia Author of the Year finalist) and Beneath. Her short fiction has appeared in publications such as The Dark, Black Static, multiple volumes of The Year’s Best Horror, Year’s Best Weird Fiction, and in her short fiction collection Everything That’s Underneath. She lives, writes, and makes horror-themed candles in Atlanta, Georgia.

She is represented by Stefanie Lieberman at Janklow & Nesbit Associates. She is at work on her next novel.

DeMeester sat down with Cemetery Dance to talk about her new folk and religious horror novel, Dark Sisters, what it’s like growing up in a mega church, the increasing demand for feminist and pink horror, and book recommendations within the subgenre. Continue Reading

Review: Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 16, 2026February 10, 2026ReviewsDark Sisters, Haley Newlin, Kristi DeMeester, ReviewsLeave a comment

Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester
St. Martin’s Press (December 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

“And from their blood we will prosper.”

If there was ever a time for a rally cry of a read, one that holds a mirror up to the misogyny in our world, it’s now. Kristi DeMeester delivers just that with snarling fury and unflinching realism in her latest novel, Dark Sisters. It’s folk, historical, and feminist horror interwoven like a three-strand braid and is told through three women’s perspectives across centuries. Dark Sisters is a brilliant criticism of patriarchal structures used to control women’s bodies and beliefs and the damage inflicted upon generations to come. Continue Reading

Interview: Laurel Hightower on The Long Low Whistle

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 7, 2026December 29, 2025InterviewsHaley Newlin, Interviews, Laurel HightowerLeave a comment

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photo of author Laurel Hightower — Laurel Hightower

Laurel Hightower is a bourbon-loving native of Lexington, Kentucky. She is the Bram Stoker-nominated author of Whispers In The Dark, Crossroads, Below, Every Woman Knows This, Silent Key, Spirit Coven, The Day Of The Door, and The Long Low Whistle, and has more than a dozen short fiction stories in print.

Hightower sat down with Cemetery Dance to talk about cryptid horror, powerful and flawed female characters, horror films, The Long Low Whistle, and Shortwave Publishing’s Killer VHS Series. Continue Reading

Review: The Long Low Whistle by Laurel Hightower

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 5, 2026December 29, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Killer VHS Series, Laurel Hightower, Reviews, Shortwave Publishing, The Long Low WhistleLeave a comment

The Long Low Whistle (Killer VHS Series #7) by Laurel Hightower
Shortwave Publishing (November 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

The seventh installment in Shortwave Publishing’s Killer VHS Series is gory, claustrophobic, and probably the most terrifying book you’ll read all year. Laurel Hightower’s The Long Low Whistle swells with an aching grief that throbs through the pages from start to finish and will thrill fans of cryptid and survival horror. Not only would this be a great introduction for readers new to Hightower’s work but it will make fans of the Bram Stoker-nominated author absolutely giddy because, like most of Hightower’s books, The Long Low Whistle is packed with creative, but brutal body horror you won’t be able to shake for days. Continue Reading

Interview: Viggy Parr Hampton

Cemetery Dance OnlineDecember 30, 2025December 14, 2025InterviewsA Veritable Household Pet, Haley Newlin, Interview, Viggy Parr HamptonLeave a comment

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photo of author Viggy Parr Hampton — Viggy Parr Hampton

Viggy Parr Hampton, MPH is an epidemiologist, host of the podcast “Horror Humor Hunger,” and the author of A Cold Night for Alligators, Much Too Vulgar, The Rotting Room, and A Veritable Household Pet. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. She is also a member of the Purgatory Media team, producing the popular YouTube segment “Tag Team Tales of Terror,” where she challenges fellow horror authors to create a progressive story with her.

Hampton sat down with Cemetery Dance to talk about feminist horror, lobotomies, and A Veritable Household Pet. Continue Reading

Review: A Veritable Household Pet by Viggy Parr Hampton

Cemetery Dance OnlineDecember 29, 2025December 14, 2025ReviewsA Veritable Household Pet, Haley Newlin, Reviews, Viggy Parr HamptonLeave a comment

A Veritable Household Pet by Viggy Parr Hampton
Horror Humor Hunger Press (January 2026)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Viggy Parr Hampton is a force to be reckoned with in her medical-body horror novel, A Veritable Household Pet. It’s a blistering indictment of patriarchal power and a tragic story of the nightmare that is the theft of autonomy and identity, a quiet and constant terror women know all too well.Continue Reading

Interview: Erika T. Wurth on The Haunting of Room 904

Cemetery Dance OnlineDecember 24, 2025December 18, 2025InterviewsHaley Newlin, Interviews Erika T. Wurth, The Haunting of Room 904Leave a comment

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photo of author Erika T. Wurth — Erika T. Wurth

Erika T. Wurth is an urban native of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee descent. She is the author of the New York Times editor’s pick, White Horse. She is both a Kenyon and Sewanee fellow. She’s published in Buzzfeed and The Writer’s Chronicle, and is a native artist for the Meow Wolf Denver installation. Her most recent release, The Haunting of Room 904, has garnered national attention and received praise from some of the biggest names in horror, including Paul Trembly, S.A. Cosby, and Phillip Fracassi. She also has a short story in the recently published and highly anticipated Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-In-Horror alongside Gwendolyn Kiste, Christina Henry, Ai Jiang, Katrina Monroe, and so many other incredible women from the genre.

Wurth sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss The Haunting of Room 904, religion and lore in horror, Howl, and more.

You can find Erika T. Wurth on Instagram @erikatwurth or on her website. Continue Reading

Review: The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth

Cemetery Dance OnlineDecember 23, 2025December 18, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Reviews, The Haunting of Room 904. Erika T. WurthLeave a comment

cover of The Haunting of Room 904 The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth
Flatiron Books (March 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

What is it that horror readers love about a haunted hotel?

Is it the haunted house feel but with more witnesses? The hauntings that vary from floor to floor as though specters and entities take the elevator themselves? The idea of a place that has seen such tragedy, death after death, that it shines like a ghoulish beacon for spirits and curses? It’s really all the above. The isolation, the secrets and hidden history, the absorption and spiritual/paranormal preservation of human suffering have popularized stories like Stephen King’s The Shining, Psycho by Robert Bloch, and The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. Continue Reading

Review: Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

Cemetery Dance OnlineDecember 15, 2025November 30, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Play Nice, Rachel Harrison, Reviews1 Comment

cover of Play Nice Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
Berkley (September 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

“The world will drive a woman insane, then point and laugh.”

In Rachel Harrison’s new gothic and paranormal horror novel, Play Nice, a stylist and influencer named Clio returns home following her mother’s sudden death. Alex left the house to Clio and her sisters who immediately wish to sell it. After all, it’s where their mother lost her mind. Continue Reading

Review: The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 19, 2025October 26, 2025ReviewsDanielle Valentine, Haley Newlin, Reviews, The Dead Husband CookbookLeave a comment

cover of The Dead Husband Cookbook The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine
Sourcebooks Landmark (August 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine is a worthy follow-up to the author’s motherhood-horror and debut novel, Delicate Condition. Delicate Condition inspired season twelve of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Delicate, starring Emma Roberts and Kim Kardashian.

The Dead Husband Cookbook is another exploration of the daily horror of the female experience. However, it’s less body horror than you might expect. It’s a gritty mystery, each reveal more twisted than the last. I had a really tough time putting this one down.Continue Reading

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

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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

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