Welcome to Future Fiction, my reimagining of the Waiting on Wednesday meme! There are so many amazing new books coming out, that I can no longer pick just one. My goal with Future Fiction is to share at least three new books each week, a combination of recent cover reveals and books that I’ve recently added to my TBR pile. I’m still going to be linking up with Wishful Endings/Can’t Wait Wednesday, and I also want to give a shout out to Jill at Breaking the Spine for starting the original Waiting on Wednesday meme. I hope you’ll find some new books to add to your TBR piles, and as always, I look forward to hearing what YOU’RE looking forward to:-D
Today I have three 2026 ghost stories written by women to share, take a look:
In a yellow house perched on the crumbling edge of Massachusetts Bay, eleven-year-old Penelope Willows is living in the shadow of loss. Her father is gone, leaving behind only whispers and shadows, while her mother drifts further away each day, lost in her own grief. Left alone in a home that seems frozen in time, Penelope clings to her routines, counting everything she can—logs by the stove, soup cans in the pantry—hoping to hold the world together.
But this is no ordinary house. It once belonged to the poet Sylvia Plath, and her presence lingers in every corner, her ghost becoming an unexpected companion to Penelope. As the days stretch on, Penelope begins to hear the echoes of Plath’s poetry in the wind, feel her sadness seep into the walls, and see her ghost in the mirrors and empty rooms.
When Penelope’s mother begins to withdraw further into her own world, leaving Penelope more isolated than ever, the girl’s grip on reality starts to fray. Haunted by the absence of her father and the presence of a ghost, Penelope must navigate the treacherous waters of memory, madness, and the fear that she, too, will be lost to the abyss.
White Rabbit by Abigail Rose-Marie. Releases in July 2026 from Union Square & Co. Whoa, this sounds really good. It’s definitely got a Gothic feel to it, and if I understand correctly, the ghost of Sylvia Plath might be in the story!
In 1904 Chicago, where secrets cling as thickly as the soot on every windowsill, Jo earns her living by photographing the dead. The work is quiet and cloistered, allowing her to hide from a past that haunts her: the grief over her husband’s mysterious death, a spiraling addiction, and the guilt she carries over the things she’s done to survive.
When a notorious crime family hires Jo to make a final portrait of their daughter Millie, it stirs up a spirit that refuses to rest. In opium-fueled dreams, Millie lures Jo into a realm called “the courtyard,” where the dead burn to tell her their half-finished stories.
As Jo investigates Millie’s murder, she forms a fragile bond with her sister, Grace, who’s desperate for an escape of her own. Amid the whispers of the dead is a truth Jo must confront if she is to free them all from the shadows of the past.
My Darling Girls by Marina Scott. Releases in October 2026 from Lake Union Publishing. I have never read Marina Scott before, but I see her books all over Instagram. This ghost story sounds really good, although it’s going to be a long wait…
Two women living centuries apart are bound by the same dark secret in this haunting novel that “upends everything you think you know about ghost stories” (Jennifer McMahon, author of The Winter People).
“A delightful twist on both the haunted-house and beach-read genres.” —Carissa Orlando, author of The September House
The Devil enters through doors left open…
On the isolated Eastern Shore of Virginia, Edith is a healer, a woman of knowledge—and a woman watched. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Whispers creep through the dark. Terrified she has opened her home to the Devil, Edith makes a desperate choice.
Claire doesn’t believe in ghosts—until she returns home to care for her dying father and finds her childhood house… listening. As one sleepless night bleeds into the next, she becomes convinced something is stirring beneath the floorboards. Something that has waited a long time to rise.
Is the house haunted? What compels this lurking darkness? As the danger mounts, Edith and Claire will discover they’ll need each other to survive. But they are separated by four hundred years. And time is running out for them both.
Turn Off the Light by Jacquie Walters. Releases in March 2026 from Mulholland Books. OK, I’ll admit I’m drawn to this because Carissa Orlando blurbed it! Here’s another ghost story/haunted house story that I need in my life!
My Darling Girls sounds so good!
Doesn’t it? I can’t wait:-)
I just added them all to my want to read list. Thanks for the heads up!
They do all sound good, now to find time to read them (and everything else I want to read, lol)
These all sound spooky! And the ghost of Sylvia Plath?? How very cool…
I’m so curious about that one too!
They sound spooky and absolutely your cup of tea Tammy!
So true!
These all sound really good but Turn Off the Light is really calling to me.
Lynn 😀
I agree, it sounds like a must read:-)
White Rabbit creaks with gothic vibes – though Sylvia Plath committed suicide in the UK, so I’m not quite sure what her ghost is doing in the States… All the same as a fan of her beautiful, disturbing poetry, this one is calling to me. Thank you for sharing, Tammy:).
LOL so funny! Well, I guess we’ll see:-)
Yeah – I’m sold with that Carissa Orlando blurb, too.
Now if only SHE would write a new book!
These all sound intriguing, although I think maybe I should read something by Sylvia Plath before trying the first one to better appreciate those ties. I love a good ghost story though and cant wait to see your thoughts on these ones.
I love ghost stories too, it’s always nice to find new ones, and I love that these authors are all new to me as well.
my Darling Girls and Turn Off the Light sound right up my alley. 🙂
I hope we both get to read them:-)
Your posts always tempt me to dive fully into the horror genre!! These sound good
There is a lot of great sounding horror coming out!
These all sound great. I have an arc of Turn Off the Lights which I am really excited for. Bring on the horror!
So much horror coming out this year, I’m excited!
I like haunted house stories, but Turn Off the Light seems a little too scary for me…
This time around all the books seem to be outside my comfort zone so my TBR is not in danger but they sound interesting and original!!
Oooh, loving the sound of all of these. I’m definitely into the Sylvia Plath ghost idea!