The Other
It’s not a sequel. It’s next in the sequence…
A couple meet their doppelgangers on a hiking trail while camping and are soon tested on how well they truly know the other.
The second novella in The Outsiders Sequence, following The Extra.
Arrives June 9, 2026 from Shortwave Publishing.
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“We have entered summer reading season.
Schools are emptying, beaches are filling, and it’s a great time to pack a tote full of brand-new books and get some reading done in the shade. But even if the sun is bright, your fiction can still be dark, because June is absolutely packed with great new horror releases from rising stars and genre icons.
From a Psycho retelling to a dark twist on Peter Pan lore to a new book from a Pulitzer Prize winner, these are the horror titles we can’t wait to crack open this June.
The Children by Melissa Albert – June 2
A blend of dark fantasy, Gothic family saga, and horror novel that’s received rave reviews from Stephen King and more, The Children follows the adult children of a legendary fantasy author who died when a fire consumed their home. Now, living their own creative lives, Guinevere and Ennis must revisit the secrets from the night of the fire, the darkness surrounding Ennis’s new art installation, and the truth of their family legacy in both fact and fiction. It sounds like a wonderful twisted nest of secrets and magic, and I’m eager to dive in.
Marion by Leah Rowan – June 2
Just when you thought we’d run out of interesting ways to riff on Robert Bloch and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Leah Rowan comes along with Marion. As the title suggests, it’s the story of the Bates Motel’s most famous victim, but this time, she doesn’t die in the shower. She takes control of the knife and the narrative in this daring retelling of a proto-slasher classic. The story we know is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to find out the end.
Headlights by CJ Leede – June 9
Through her first two novels, Maeve Fly and American Rapture, CJ Leede emerged as one of the most exciting new horror voices of the 2020s, and she’s just getting warmed up. Leede’s third novel follows an FBI agent on the brink of retirement, running from his past and from the unsolved case that haunts him most, as he’s slowly pulled back into a gruesome serial killer narrative. Victims start turning up again, wearing someone else’s skin like a cape, with no memory of how they got that way, or how they got a lone strand of unidentified hair tied around their tongue. Both a riff on The Shining and a journey into the dark Colorado night, Headlights is one of the year’s most exciting horror lit events.
It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo – June 9
Cynthia Pelayo‘s novels have always felt like dark fairy tales, and with her latest, she’s taking things into the realm of one of the most famous children’s stories ever. It Came From Neverland follows a version of Wendy Darling who, while working as a schoolteacher and as an aid to rehabilitate World War I soldiers, finds old fears returning when a student goes missing. It seems that an entity Wendy knows only as “Peter Pan” is back on the prowl, and unlocking her memories might be the only way to stop it. That’s right, it’s a dark Peter Pan retelling as only Pelayo can do it, and you know you want a piece of that.
The Other by Annie Neugebauer – June 9
“Annie Neugebauer’s The Extra ranks as one of the most clever and frightening horror novellas in recent memory, but that was only the beginning. This June, Neugebauer returns with the next book in what’s been dubbed “The Outsiders Sequence.” This time, Neugebauer’s strange world of doppelgangers and mimics turns to a couple on a hike who run into their exact duplicates, setting off a chain of events that will test their understanding of each other in terrifying ways. Neugebauer’s one of horror’s finest rising stars right now, so if you haven’t jumped on board The Outsiders Sequence yet, pick up The Extra and get ready for The Other.” —Bloody Disgusting
“The Other is, for the second time in a row, an A-star-star concept from Neugebauer, executed absolutely ruthlessly. An airless novella that raised my heartbeat so high that I considered the two hours I spent slumped in bed with it my exercise for the day- there is no reason why you shouldn’t be picking this one up if you’re looking for a quick, vicious hit of horror.
It’s a single-sitting, no-messing nightmare that is proficient in eliciting almost every sub-category of horror- anxiety, unease, terror. This is lean and vicious and comes enthusiastically recommended (along with its predecessor) by yours truly- although under no circumstances is it to be read in a tent.” —FanFiAddict
“Neugebauer doesn’t need monsters when she has mirrors. The Other burrows into the terrifying possibility that selfhood might not be as fixed as we believe.
Neugebauer’s prose is clean and controlled, as always. She is just a master, allowing the strangeness of the situation to take center stage without unnecessary embellishment. She trusts the reader to sit with ambiguity, and that trust pays off.” —Ginger Nuts of Horror
“Annie Neugebauer takes the doppelganger possibility to an entirely new level in The Other where it becomes far more terrifying than just finding someone who resembles you.
The Other by Annie Neugebauer is a quick, eerie and unsettling read that sneaks up on you in the best way possible. The story blends psychological tension with shocking twists and turns that you won’t see coming. I am eagerly awaiting The Spare which is on the horizon.” —Capes and Tights