Recently, I put together a list of “the best fantastical and frightening books about women reclaiming their own power” for the Shepherd website, which aims to help folks discover new books. Generally, I balk at using the phrase “the best,” since there are so many more amazing books in the world that I had yet to read. However, this is the format the website uses.
As per the request of the editors, I specifically picked books that felt connected to my collection of prose poetry, Twelve. This means that I wanted to include a mixture of prose and poetry books, as well as focusing on books that are connected to fairy tales and/or folklore. And truthfully, I love each and every one of these books and I hope many other folks come to love them, too.
If I were allowed to expand my list to beyond the five I listed, I would also included any or all of the following (to name a few):
- Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom (which I just completed at the end of December)
- Goddess of Filth by V. Castro
- Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
- The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
- Circe by Madeline Miller
- Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
- Transformations, poems by Anne Sexton
- Drink, poems by Laura Madeline Wiseman
- The Moment of Change (a collection of feminist fantasy poetry), edited by R.B. Lemburg
And I’m sure I will discover many more such books of fantastical and frightening female empowerment in the future.
The opening of Kealan Patrick Burke’s Sour Candy happened in a supermarket. Our main character, Phil Pendleton, goes to the supermarket and witnesses a bizarre and unsettling event involving a women and her child — one of the most uncomfortable scenes that I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. When he leaves this moment behind, Phil finds his entire world has shifted sideways, reality rewritten. The horror that follows grows increasingly terrible in the best of ways. As a novella, this is a short, quick read, but it’s one that leaves a satisfying punch. 
If you’re not into horror, or specifically slashers, then this book is not for you. Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a love song to slasher films, with its main character Jude being entirely enamored with them. Slasher films, for her, were an escape from her sh*thole of a life, and there is a part of her that longs for a slasher event to occur, so that the people of her community can get their comeuppance.
Odessa by Jonathan Hill is a graphic novel about an apocalyptic future following an earthquake that tore apart most of civilization. The Crane family scratches by through scavenging and other odd tasks, which the barter for their food and needs. When Virginia Crane suddenly receives a letter and gift from her mother (whom the family has long assumed was dead), she begins a journey traveling across the Western U.S. looking for her — along with her two younger brothers. The siblings face violence, but also find support and kindness — and they face the dangers of the world together. It’s a beautiful story with gorgeous two-tone artwork. I’m definitely going to be continuing the series.
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher is a gorgeous dark fantasy about Marra, a shy princess turned nun, who begins a quest to save her sister from her abusive husband, a man protected from retribution by his status as a prince. The story begins with Marra in a desolate region attempting an impossible task, which she accomplishes through sheer perseverance. This done, she begins gathering companions to accomplish the final impossible task — murdering a prince.
Gwendolyn Kiste is a fantastic horror writer and her latest book, Reluctant Immortals, is another fantastic entry. The book a beautifully creepy sequel to Dracula and Jane Eyre, telling the stories of two forgotten women. Set in the ’60s, Lucy Westenra (turned vampire) and Bertha Mason (turned immortal by Rochester via some other arcane means). Facing eternity while fighting off the men who changed them, the two women band together in sisterhood to take a stand for themselves against the dark. A great read.