Yesterday I made a post on my Instagram involving Three Doppelgänger Horror Books. Today I'm featuring those books and a few more to expand your neverending tbr.

The Other by Annie Neugebauer: I recently interviewed Annie Neugerbauer on my page and had a fantastic time talking to her about this book and her other works. Link Here. The Other follows a couple who go camping/hiking with one another and run into another couple that have a similar appearance to them.

The Outside by Stephen King: A small town is shaken when the little league baseball coach gets arrested for a crime he swears he didn't commit. However several witnesses saw him at the scene of the crime. But he also has an albi at a very public conference several hours away.

Such Lovely Skin by Tatiana Schlote Bonne: A teenage streamer opens the door to something sinister when she downloads and plays a game that a fan sends her during one of her live streams. She unintentionally releases an entity that looks exactly like her and it begins doing horrible things in her name, ruining her reputation and dredging up horrors from the past.

Last To Leave The Room by Caitlin Starling: A scientist in a sinking city finds a door in her basement that leads to another version of herself. This Doppelganger begins to make her lose memories and time...

The Fisherman by John Langan: A grief horror that involves folklore, a dangerous fishing location, and sinister temptation...

Withered Hill by David Barnett: Not everything is as it seems in this delicious folk horror. Told in a dual timeline, follow Sophie before she ended up in Withered Hill, and after...

I'm bringing author interviews back on Bindery! Today I'm joined by the amazing Annie Neugebauer. Neugebauer is the author of several horror books that we will be talking about today!

I have read both The Extra and The Other and loved them! I will definitely be checking out You Have To Let Them Bleed.

Let's Dive into the interview!

1. I love to use this first question as an introduction. Feel free to tell us as much or as little as you want about yourself!

Hi! Right now most people know me as the author of The Extra, a novella from Shortwave that has expanded into The Outsiders Sequence, a shared-universe sequence of novellas consisting of The Extra, The Other (this June), and The Spare (next March). I’m also the author of You Have to Let Them Bleed, a short story collection that’s out now. I’m also a poet, blogger, and novelist.

2.When did you first start writing? Was it always horror or did you write genres as well?

I’ve always been writing, even as a young child, but I began pursuing it seriously when I graduated from college in 2007. I’ve written many novels, but I’ve built my way toward publication with poems and short stories. I love writing in many genres, but I’d say horror is my home base. I’ve been drawn to the dark side for as long as I can remember.

3. @blankets_books from instagram/bindery would like to know What was your inspiration behind The Extra? Any books or media that helped influence the book?

 The Extra wasn’t directly influenced by any other media, believe it or not. I had not yet even seen The Thing, its most common comparison. (I have now; it’s stellar!) The idea of an extra person came to me organically, and the protagonist and situation were inspired by my husband’s former job.

4.Do you go camping and hiking? If so, what has been your favorite trail/campground?

I love camping and hiking! I’m never happier than when I’m outside somewhere beautiful. Camping in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado is by far my favorite area to return to. I’ve also had beautiful experiences in Austria, Hawaii, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. One of my most memorable hikes was the Glacier Gorge trail (9 miles) in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

5. You also have a short story collection called You Have to Let Them Bleed that released in March. Care to tell us a little more about that one? Do you have a favorite story from it?

You Have to Let Them Bleed brings together some of my most successful short fiction from almost two decades of publishing stories. It’s framed by a “collector” who’s gathering shadowlings and sorting them by color. Probably the most well-known story is “So Sings the Siren.” I don’t have a favorite per say, but I’m really proud of and excited about the original in the collection, “The Baby.” It’s just wackadoo in the best way. Folks are loving it.

6. What can you tell us about The Spare (releasing 3/9/27), the third book in The Outsiders Sequence? 

The Spare takes place in the Texas Panhandle at a family camping reunion. As with each of these novellas, the less you know about it going in, the more enjoyable the actual read is. I will say that it, like The Other, is not a direct continuation of storyline and characters from the first two books, but it does bring in elements from each in a way that makes them all most satisfying when read in order. It shares the same tense vibes and unsettling concepts as the first two.

7. Do you have any writing routines or rituals that help you write?

I wish! I prefer to write at home in a quiet setting, no music or background noise, with my computer setup that includes a special mouse that helps my wrists/shoulder. Other than that, I write when I can through the hecticness of parenting and working. Weekends, evenings, mini-trips, nap times, days off, whatever I can pack in.

8.What have been your top three 2026 horror releases? Movies?

 I don’t know that I’ve read any 2026 releases so far this year. I’m a backlist reader for sure. My most recent favorites are all at least from last year: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, and Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker. Movies are the same way. Recent favorites were Sinners and Weapons.

9. What are a few of your favorite backlist horror books?

 Kind of working my way back from when I read them: Nestlings by Nat Cassidy, We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer, Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman, the whole Cal Hooper trilogy by Tana French, The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, Mister Magic by Kiersten White, and then I get so far back everyone probably knows them all. (At this phase in my life, the only time I’m on top of a trend is if I’m lucky enough to set one.)

10. Any upcoming horror books you're excited about? Movies?

 I love Paul Tremblay and hate A.I., so I’m really looking forward to Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep, and Rachel Harrison’s Kiss Slay Replay sounds super fun. I’m even further behind the curve on movies than I am on books, so I usually wait until something is so good that my close friends literally force me to watch it. (It’s not cool, but it’s a pretty effective screening process.) I’m cautiously optimistic about two of my favorite scary books being adapted for film: Josh Malerman's Incidents Around the House and Paul Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts. I have that book-lover’s fear of a movie not doing my mind’s vision of a beloved book justice.

Use the space below to add in anything else you'd like to say! 

I have a couple of really big pieces of news coming any day now, so be sure to follow me online @AnnieNeugebauer and subscribe to my blog newsletter here https://annieneugebauer.com/subscribe/ to get the good stuff. :)

Special thanks again to Annie Neugebauer for the opportunity to interview her! All books mentioned here can be found below. If you have not read any of Annie's works, be sure to pick up The Extra (out now) and pre-order The Other (June).

I'm starting a new series called "What I'm Reading This Week."

I'll use this to showcase what I'm currently reading/plan to pick up before the week is over.

CURRENTLY READING

I'm currently reading two books. One as an audiobook and one as an ebook.

Butter by Asako Yuzuki--The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer, and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story

There are two things that I simply cannot tolerate: feminists and margarine

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in the Tokyo Detention House convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, whom she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination, but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew, and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a master class in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii, but it seems that Rika might be the one changing. Do she and Kajii have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of a convicted con woman and serial killer—the “Konkatsu Killer”—Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance, and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

Hooked by Asako Yuzuki--Eriko’s life looks perfect—from her prestigious job at a Japanese trading firm to her spotless apartment and devoted parents. Her newest project, to reintroduce the controversial Nile Perch into the Japanese market, is as ambitious as she is. But beneath her flawless surface lies a consuming loneliness. Eriko has never been able to hold on to a real friend.

Enter Shoko: a popular lifestyle blogger whose work Eriko follows obsessively. Shoko lives a life of controlled chaos—messy apartment, take-out dinners, a kind, easy-going husband. She writes about daily contentment, though her fractured relationship with her father gnaws at the edges of her happiness.

When Eriko orchestrates a “chance” meeting with Shoko, the two women strike up an unlikely connection. For a fleeting moment, Eriko believes she’s finally found what she’s always longed for. But as her fascination turns to fixation and Shoko’s carefully balanced life begins to dissolve, both women are pushed to breaking points neither of them saw coming

WHAT I PLAN TO PICK UP

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed--A world-weary woman races against the clock to survive a deadly forest in this dark, otherworldly fairytale from Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author Premee Mohamed.

At the northern edge of a land ruled by a merciless foreign tyrant lies a wild, forbidden forest ruled by powerful magic.

Veris Thorn—the only one to ever enter the forest and survive—is forced to go back inside to retrieve the tyrant's missing children. Inside await traps and trickery, ancient monsters, and hauntings of the past.

Dark Is Where The Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce--The woods are known as the place to avoid. What goes in, doesn’t come out.

Hazel has been gone from her small hometown of Idless in the English countryside for years. Now returned in the wake of a traumatic divorce and crumbling personal life, her simple plans are to lay low at her parents’ vacated house, reconnect with her prickly sister Cathy, and slowly get back on her feet.

She's his captive but something has come home with her.

Cathy is surprised when Hazel doesn’t show. Their relationship strained from a fallout half a decade ago, she didn’t expect them to get back into a sisterly rhythm…though she hadn’t counted on Hazel bailing, either.

But something isn’t adding up. Other people in town whisper of a threat that can’t be shaken. The woods are known for being restless. And Cathy knows the old saying.

It’s time to wrap up Why I’m Afraid Of Bees and kick off Monster Blood II.

Why I’m Afraid of Bees was definitely a buzz worthy addition to Goosebumps. Bees are terrifying ! 🐝

Wrap Up

1. Did you enjoy this one?

2. If you could become any insect what would you become?

Kick off

Next up is Monster Blood II, the sequel to Monster Blood—which featured a blob that wouldn’t stop growing!

Synopsis:It's Baaack . . . .
Evan Ross can't stop thinking about Monster Blood and what happened last summer. It was so horrible. So terrifying. Too bad Evan's science teacher doesn't believe him. Now he's stuck cleaning out the hamster's cage as punishment for making up stories.
Then Evan's friend Andy comes to town, and things go from bad to worse. Because Andy's got a present for Evan. It's green and slimy and it's starting to grow . . . .

Welcome back to my Director's Cut Reviews! Today we're slicing into the stunning novel Japanese Gothic.

Book: Japanese Gothic

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Setting: Rural Japan

Genre: Horror

Subgenre/Themes: Samurai, Historical, Dual Timelines, Escaping Fate, Japanese Mythology, Gothic, Liminal

Release Date: 4-14-26

Brief Summary: October 2026: Lee Turner flees New York to his father's house in Japan after killing his roommate. He doesn't remember killing him. The house seems great at first, but something strange is going on. A window is sometimes there. Something strange is happening in his closet. He keeps seeing a woman. Could she be a ghost? Is there life after death?

October 1877: Sen's family lives on edge. Food is scarce. Money is tight. And Samurai's are in exile. Sen lives in fear that soldiers will appear and kill her family. But when she sees a young man outside her window, everything changes.

How will their stories intertwine?

My Thoughts: This story is beautiful. Baker did such an excellent job crafting such a unique story involving Japanese mythology. The way these two characters became intertwined with one another absolutely wowed me. And I loved the house! It felt very liminal with the house changing and the worlds connecting through the closet.

My heart hurt for Sen. The way she desperately wanted to please her father and prove her strength all while her father dismissed her left and right truly hurt. And the way he twists her desperation to hurt those around her was sick. This reminded me a bit of Silent Hill f. Lee's family also has some skeletons in the closet. His mother is missing and presumed dead.

The last 20% got a bit confusing for me. Characters died but then they really did not. I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. It felt like a bit of a fever dream for me. I left the novel having many questions that I wanted answers to.

But I loved this book. It's beautiful and gory and heartfelt all in one.

Here’s a sneak peak of my short story releasing in Of Plagues and Blasphemy: A Medieval Horror Anthology coming this May.

Preorder below! The book features several talented authors including Teagan Olivia King, Saratoga Schaefer, Julia Jackson, Briana Morgan, and more.

Here’s the first few paragraphs.

Help me choose which book I feature next for my Director’s Cut Review