All the Dead Lie Down

A grieving teen contends with increasingly horrific happenings in this gothic queer romance by McCauley (We Can Be Heroes). Following her mother’s death in a train accident, 17-year-old Marin Blythe moves in with a family friend: renowned, reclusive horror writer Alice Lovelace. Acting as nanny for Alice’s youngest daughters, Thea and Wren, Marin deems her new charges as “half-feral” with cruel senses of humor. Their escalating pranks, including an attempt to persuade Marin into eating poisonous nightshade, leave her with no mental space to process her grief. On top of that, Lovelace House—which is surrounded by eerie woods—is purportedly cursed. The only bright spot is the girls’ older sister Evie, 17 and newly returned from school. While the teens’ blossoming romance helps Marin temporarily forget the house’s supposed blight, the sudden appearance of eviscerated animal corpses on the edge of the woods sows new fears. McCauley skillfully wrangles haunting atmosphere, anticipatory tension, and macabre humor to cultivate a slow-boiling thriller couched in a decades-old mystery. The sweet connection between Marin and Evie is solid and affirming, providing levying contrast to occasional moments of gruesome imagery and outright horror. Major characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (May)