News What to Watch What to Watch and Read This Weekend: All Along the Binge-Watch Tower—Battlestar Galactica Returns to Streaming Plus: All the animated animal films you could be watching instead of Animal Farm By Molly Templeton | Published on May 1, 2026 Photo: Universal Content Productions Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Universal Content Productions Happy May Day, folks! If, like me, you only learned about May Day in terms of maypoles and general springiness as a child, there is much more to this particular date, which is also known as International Workers’ Day. If you are out there taking part in May Day events and rallies, please look out for yourself and your fellow humans. I hope the skies are clear and the future is … at least visible. It’d be nice for the future to be visible rather than cloudy and murky and mostly alarming. Hug your friends, give skritches to your favorite animals, call your reps, and get some sun, yeah? So Say We All: Battlestar Galactica is Back on Streaming Yes, Vanessa already told you about this, but it’s worth mentioning twice. At least twice. As of today, you can watch all of Battlestar Galactica and its assorted spinoff shows and movies on Paramount+, and most of it on Pluto TV, which also has an all-BSG, all-the-time channel, if you’d like to return to that cable-TV era feeling of just watching whatever happens to be on. (Unless it’s “Black Market.” I speak as a completist when I say: Do not waste your time on “Black Market.”) I suspect you’ll still have to dig up some DVDs if you want to watch my favorite episode in its extended form (that’d be “Unfinished Business,” aka “Everyone boxes out their feelings and it gets super awkward”). You can, though, watch Caprica, a show I started rewatching recently and then simply forgot to continue. But I meant to, at the very least for Magda Apanowicz as a teen struggling with literally everything including, maybe, the fate of the world. (There are maybe too many things out there to watch?) Anyway. BSG universe. On Paramount+. I’m so happy about this. You Should Watch Literally Any Animated Animal Movie Except Andy Serkis’s Animal Farm Watch Chicken Run. Watch Flow. Watch fricking Bambi. The Land Before Time? An American Tail? Ratatouille! That’s a good one. Just don’t watch the new Animal Farm. Yes, this is an anti-recommendation. It’s a warning. At first, it was just that the trailers looked dubious. But then Andy Serkis went and gave Animal Farm a happy ending. An entire new third act, according to a USA Today piece. The world is just too bleak for George Orwell’s story as written. “So we wanted the next generation, the kids who we hopefully are going to be watching this film, to at least have the ability to question what they should do next time around. History will inevitably repeat itself,” Serkis said. It appears not to have occurred to him that if he wanted to tell a hopeful story, he should have picked another dang story. But it’s okay! There are so many other animated animal movies to watch. If you’d like something hopeful, how about Paddington 2? Paddington 2 is perfect. Time to Get Back in Bed With The Vampire Lestat It’s just over a month until rock-god Lestat has his say about things in the rebranded Interview with the Vampire—now, in its third season, called The Vampire Lestat. This is, of course, the name of the second volume in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. And now is a very good time to read it. Or reread it. Or re-re-read it. You know. If it’s been a while. I really need to get my hands on a nice mass market paperback with the iconic red ’80s cover. But any cover will do. If you would prefer to go into the show without knowing anything, I respect that. But as someone who spent high school rather immersed in this world—quietly, secretly immersed, though in crushed velvet leggings sometimes—I feel I owe it to Book Lestat to revisit his version of things before TV Lestat (Sam Reid) takes over everyone’s imagination.  The first page of the book is basically Lestat telling you how awesome and hot he is: “Right now I am what America calls a Rock Superstar.” He’s on MTV! Bless. On the second page he explains, “But in spite of my French accent, I talk like a cross between a flatboatman and detective Sam Spade, actually.” God, I cannot wait to hang out with this ridiculous man again. A Treasure Trove of Wondrous Randomness In the process of writing these weekly posts, I have developed a small obsession with Wikipedia’s wonderful, absolutely baffling selection of speculative fiction anniversaries. Sometimes you find things that kind of make sense, and/or are very strange bedfellows, like the fact that May 3 is the 20th anniversary of the publication of Rick Riordan’s The Sea of Monsters, but the 30th anniversary of the Pamela Anderson movie Barb Wire. May 4 isn’t just Star Wars day; it’s the 25th anniversary of The Mummy Returns! But then there are other things. Other TV shows and books and authors and dates in speculative fiction history that just seem … random. The esoteric loves and foibles of those editors who keep this list really show, and it’s beautiful. Somehow May 1 is the publication date of both a two-part Deep Space Nine tie-in novel and a Michael Chabon essay collection. May 2 is the date that both The Magician’s Nephew and X2 came into the world. Also, there are so many more strange SF TV shows than I ever knew existed. May 1, 1991: “My Secret Identity, a Canadian science fiction television series, finishes airing on CTV.” You know how long you can go down rabbit holes thanks to this one Wiki portal? Actually, let’s not talk about it. But also: have fun. And Featuring David Bowie: The Prestige One last note: Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige is now streaming on Hulu. Is this movie perfect? Absolutely not. Did I go see it a second time the very day after I saw it the first time, because I wanted to figure out how it worked? Absolutely yes. And frankly I will never get David Bowie as Nikola Tesla out of my head. If you would like to complete your set of 2006 magician movies, you can also watch Edward Norton in The Illusionist on Prime and Netflix. It’s just not quite as good, though. Maybe just not as … magical. I’ll see myself out.[end-mark] The post What to Watch and Read This Weekend: All Along the Binge-Watch Tower—<i>Battlestar Galactica</i> Returns to Streaming appeared first on Reactor.

Movies & TV Hokum Hokum Is Much More Than a Haunted Hotel Movie And yes, there are creepy bunnies. By Leah Schnelbach | Published on May 1, 2026 Credit: Neon Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Neon You can tell the horror movie’s really kicked into another gear when the audience starts whimpering. I’ve seen Hokum twice now, both times in packed theaters, and both times there was whimpering. I recommend you see it in as full a theater as you safely can, knowing as little as you can. Here, in these opening paragraphs, I’m going to sketch in an incredibly faint chalk outline of facts, and then, after a spoiler line, a slightly more in-depth discussion of the film’s themes. But I really don’t want to give anything important away here. By way of a logline: Adam Scott plays Ohm Bauman, a bestselling author who’s stuck on the ending to his hit trilogy. He embraces the way of the writer—procrastination and alcohol—and travels to the Bilberry Woods Hotel in Ireland, where his parents spent their honeymoon. He can get away from his book, drink at the bar, and spread his folks’ ashes in a place they loved. This part of the plot is set up and dispensed with in about the first 8 minutes of the movie, leaving Ohm free to fall into the real plot: the hotel has a dark secret. This is Damian McCarthy’s third feature, following Caveat and Oddity, which were each fantastic in their own ways, and if you know those movies and love them like I do, you’ll most likely also love Hokum—but this will also make for an excellent introduction to McCarthy’s work if you’re new to it. I love that he seems to be creating his own world through tone and theme, rather than trying to do overworked, airless tie-ins like some cinematic universes I could mention. Fans of those prior films will see themes and objects recur (more on that in the very light spoiler section below) but all of it’s used in a way that serves this story, not as a cheap callback. While Hokum has a Hollywood star in Adam Scott, and wider distribution through Neon, the soul of the film feels very much of a piece with his earlier work. Adam Scott is so good as Ohm. Obviously, Adam Scott is always good—but Ohm allows him to show new facets of himself, and gives him an arc that really feels like a journey. Without giving anything away I’ll say that McCarthy made a really cool choice for the character, and Scott inhabits it perfectly. Courtesy of Neon The cast of characters is small and insular, but all feel like three-dimensional people. There’s gruff, goat-hating handyman Fergal (Michael Patric); nervous desk clerk, Mal (Peter Coonan) who’s also the son-in-law of the ancient owner of the Bilberry Woods, Mr. Cobb (Brendan Conroy)—which accounts for some of Mal’s nervousness; a rather hapless bellhop named Alby (Will O’Connell) and a bartender, Fiona (Florence Ordesh), round out the staff. And then there’s Jerry (David Wilmot) a reclusive local man who lives in a van in the forest. They each get a few moments to shine, but for the most part this is Ohm’s story. Hokum’s atmosphere is folk horror perfection. We’re in West Cork, Ireland, near where the the last bit of Ireland’s temperate rainforest stands. (It’s a similar setting to The Watchers, which, despite the always-welcome presence of Olwen Fouéré, couldn’t quite pull its folk horror off. Luckily, Hokum succeeds beautifully.) Production Designer Til Frohlich has given us an excellent horror hotel—if you look at it from the outside it’s a rambling building tucked into the woods, and once you’re inside it seems just a little too worn to still be fancy. But the longer you stay the more it feels like there are things watching from the shadows. The film’s Director of Photography, Colm Hogan, does incredible things with light—his shadows fucking seethe, single lamps and torches flare in and out and create tiny pockets of light that are almost worse than darkness. When the sun sets it’s pitch black. The forest is thick, and there are no other houses or signs of civilization within site of the hotel itself—so if you spend a night alone there, you are, truly, alone. Hopefully. I also want to shout out Hokum’s editor Brian Philip Davis—this is a short, compact film with a lot of well-times jump scares, and those scares, and the breathing room around them, are calibrated beautifully. The jump scares work toward a purpose, they’re not just a poke between the ribs. And composer Joseph Bishara creates an atmosphere of dread that will probably become my own go-to writing soundtrack. Here’s where we draw a chalk circle around some very light spoilers! Click here to skip past them. Credit: Neon If you’ve seen and loved Caveat and/or Oddity (I love both in different ways) you’ll be pleased to hear that McCarthy has returned to his resonant objects. A desk bell is heavily featured, as is a crossbow, ropes and chains, upsetting bunnies , chalk, and the See/Hear/Speak No Evil motif. The most exciting for me was a book whose author seems to be, if I read it correctly, a certain “D. Odello.” I’m guessing there are more that I missed. As in the last two films, these objects gradually gain heft and meaning as the story creeps along. He has also revisited one of his biggest themes in a new and horrifying way, but again, to say anything more is to say too much. And that’s it for anything remotely spoiler-y. As for outside influences, the film relies on shadows, creaks, and atmosphere more than gore or violence, and the Bilberry feels like an homage to The Haunting of Hill House, The Innocents, and fellow Irish horror writer Dorothy McArdle’s The Uninvited. And you can’t really heck a writer into a hotel with a secret without invoking The Shining and 1408. The fact that Ohm Bauman is a hugely successful, famous author of a book series that feels a lot like The Dark Tower series only adds to the Stephen King riff. But again, Hokum is in a side conversation with all of those things—the slight allusions never overpower the story McCarthy tells. Credit: Neon There are a lot of exquisite details in this film, but there are two in particular that would have made me shriek with happiness if I hadn’t been in a room with other people. If I write about this film once it’s been out for a bit, as I suspect I will, I’ll get into them later. I also love that McCarthy isn’t offering up Irish kitsch. The hotel does that, with its blaring Halloween party and carved grimacing turnips glimmering in every corner for the amusement of the (presumably non-Irish) guests. But the movie just drops Adam Scott into this world, and doesn’t give him any explanation beyond the fact that “craic” means “fun” …kind of. He butts up against local customs, folklore, and even the liquor, and no one gives him an inch. There’s a very brief use of ogham script in the movie that made my tattoo prickle, and a celebration of poitín that makes me regret my decision not to buy more at the Duty Free shop when I left Dublin. Next time, Dublin Airport Duty Free shop. Next time. As in his earlier work, there are a lot of churning ideas about guilt, forgiveness, and purgatorial in-between spaces here—in this case an extremely claustrophobic space. Once you know the shape of the main hotel suite (just as with 1408), you know exactly how impossible it is to escape. And then there’s the title. Another throughline in McCarthy’s work is the skeptical outsider who scoffs at folklore, superstition, belief in general. Here McCarthy ups the ante by making that character a visitor from the U.S., and someone who makes his money from horror novels, so not only is he treating Irish culture as a thing he can watch from outside (even after he’s very much trapped inside), he also sees himself as someone who knows the tricks of a spooky story. But they’re only tricks if the story is fictional. Credit: Neon I’ve talked elsewhere about Irish horror, and there are plenty of psychoanalysis-type reasons that Ireland is particularly good at the genre—its history is riddled with trauma, its people have had to fight for everything—and they’re still fighting—and the cultures of storytelling, song, and writing all mine deep veins of ghosts, witches, and curses both supernatural and banal. I don’t think it’s an accident that Damian McCarthy’s previous films feature a landlord and an English dude as antagonists, that Aislinn Clarke’s films The Devil’s Doorway and Fréwaka revolve around Magdalene Laundries and inter-generational trauma, that Paul Duane’s All You Need Is Death is about desperate immigrant youths scrambling to sell “authenticity” on the black market because it’s the only way to stay above water. But what I love about a lot of these films is that none of them ever boil all the way down to “the villain became a murderer because of his shitty father” or “the real monster is SOCIETY’S HATRED OF WOMEN”—sure that’s usually part of it, but these films allow room for nuance, mystery, the uncanny. Sometimes monsters just ARE. Sometimes things that seem like monsters to our human eyes are actually beautiful. Maybe the supernatural elements are “real” and maybe they aren’t—it doesn’t matter when the the story’s good enough. And that’s what Hokum is doing. You can treat it like a math problem, you can get annoyed when certain questions aren’t answered (or give you several different answers to choose from) but I think if you do that, you deny yourself the story McCarthy and his team are offering you—a story that ends up being the best horror of the year so far.[end-mark] The post <em>Hokum</em> Is Much More Than a Haunted Hotel Movie appeared first on Reactor.

News Octavia Butler Octavia Butler’s Survivor Is Getting a Reprint—Something the Author Opposed During Her Lifetime Those involved say the decision isn’t entirely profit-driven By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on April 30, 2026 Photo: Wikimedia Commons via Nikolas Coukouma (CC BY-SA 2.5) Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Wikimedia Commons via Nikolas Coukouma (CC BY-SA 2.5) Grand Central Publishing is releasing a reprint of Octavia Butler’s book, Survivor, something the author vehemently opposed while she was alive, even when, according to Butler’s former agent and current agent of her estate Merrilee Heifetz, “she definitely needed income.” Speaking of income, the move partially came about due to the resurgence of Butler’s writing in recent years, as some of her novels, like the Earthseed series, are eerily similar to our current state of affairs. In an LA Times article, those responsible for the reprint offered varied explanations as to why they feel okay with going against the obvious wishes of Butler. Nana K. Twumasi, a vice president at Grand Central Publishing, said she is aware the decision could be seen as profit-driven, but states that she believes it is “far more about wanting to have a piece of this person that we all respect and want to get her due.” Twumasi added, “We do it with the confidence from those people who knew her and worked with her that it’s something that she could have been made to feel confident about doing.” Jules Jackson, managing director of the Octavia E. Butler Estate and Octavia E. Butler Enterprises, said in a press release that Butler “couldn’t foresee the massive rise in the popularity of her work—or the demand for a novel that had been published, but which she later didn’t think was good enough to meet her own high standards.” Heifetz said something similar to the LA Times: “I don’t know that she ever really said to herself, ‘Well, what if? What if my books really are that popular, and people want to read Survivor, and they can’t?’” Heifetz also said that Earthseed’s message that “God is change,” applies to the decision to reissue the work. “I think [Butler] believed that you have to pay attention to what changes in the world and what changes in yourself.” Butler, however, is sadly no longer with us. Perhaps she would have released Survivor if she were alive today and realized the popularity she deserved. Or, given she refused to do so even when strapped for cash, maybe she would have been even more adamant that Survivor not be reissued, since it was a novel she clearly wasn’t proud of. I can’t help but think that it’s just as likely, maybe even more likely, that she would still nix any reissue, unless perhaps she revised it to meet her standards. [end-mark] The post Octavia Butler’s <i>Survivor</i> Is Getting a Reprint—Something the Author Opposed During Her Lifetime appeared first on Reactor.

Excerpts Horror Read an Excerpt From Headlights by CJ Leede Every instinct tells him to run. Every memory tells him he can’t. By CJ Leede | Published on April 30, 2026 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Headlights by CJ Leede, out from PUBLISHER on DATE. Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is ready for a change. Burnt out and defeated by the job, it’s his last day with the FBI. But before he can turn in his badge, he’s summoned back to Denver, the city he ran from four years ago, with a chilling message: it’s happening again.Seemingly innocent people are waking up on the side of the highway, with no memory of how they got there, wearing the skin of victims they’ve allegedly never met. And they each share one haunting detail: a strand of a stranger’s hair is tied around their tongue.Now Daniel is pulled back into the gruesome cycle, and every clue leads him deeper into the shadows of his own past. He will have to confront the ghosts of his traumatic childhood and face what’s been hunting him all along— before he and the people he loves become the next victims. 1 Then “Is it the Bad Decision?” I hear Mom’s question, but it takes me a second to tear my eyes away from the screen. She stands in the dressing area. The too-bright mirror bulb light-ing her from the back. She’s brushing her hair. The mirror behind her is clean the way she likes it, and the door to the bathroom is open with the light on and the shower curtain pulled back. It’s the only part of our room that isn’t orange and yellow—white shower, white curtain, white toilet and floor. Mom says the curtain is off-white. I can’t tell the difference. I don’t want to leave, but she says it’s almost time. I nod my head to answer her question. “Are we going now?” I ask. We haven’t packed yet, but she has her makeup on. “Don’t you worry, we’ll have dinner first, then I’ll get us ready.” I’m cross-legged on the orange and yellow carpet, two feet from the television screen, wearing my socks and long johns. My favorite movie is on, Take Me Home, the John Denver story. My mom loves it too. Right now, John Denver—not real John Denver but the ac-tor named Chad Lowe who plays him—goes off with the girl at the party on tour. That’s the Bad Decision. “Why is it bad again?” I ask, even though I know why. She smiles, says for the hundredth time, “A Bad Decision is one that you regret making, and one that takes you away from what really makes you happy. A Bad Decision is when you betray your-self for what you think will make you happy even if you know deep down it won’t.” Happy. Buy the Book Headlights CJ Leede Buy Book Headlights CJ Leede Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget We’ve lived at the Happy Inn for the last six months. We had to try a couple rooms before we found one that didn’t give me a Bad Feeling, that didn’t have shadows in it. She said that was okay, that my Bad Feelings are important to listen to. She says some people have special antennas that pick up special signals, and she knew since I was little that I’m one of them. At first the clowns on the sign and in the office scared me, and I didn’t like the bright yellow and orange carpet and blankets in our room, but I like the sunrise paintings, and I like the VHS player my mom bought us so I can watch my favorite movies. I like the way she hums and sings along to all the songs in Take Me Home while I watch, and the way she ruffles my hair when she walks by to show me she loves me more than anything. I like that he hasn’t come. “What kind of pizza are we getting?” I ask. “Whatever you want, my Danny boy.” Danny isn’t my real name. My mom wanted to name me that, but my dad said my name was going to be Calvin, just like his. When he comes around, we have to call me Calvin, but he hasn’t come in a long time. Here in the motel, I’m Danny. It’s our secret. A shining name for my shining boy, Mom says. It’s from that book she’s always carrying around, that dirty crinkled old paperback she’s had as long as I can remember, that comes to every new place we live. But she says I’m not allowed to read it, not until I’m older. I check the clock. It’s Friday, which is pizza day, but we can’t order until five. That’s the rule. It’s only 4:56, but it’s been dark outside for a while already. The news says it’ll be a cold winter. Mom keeps talking about it too. She turns back to the mirror and fixes her lipstick. She touches one of the glass root beer bottles on the counter, the ones we always have on special occasions. Mom seems nervous. My heart beats faster. Bad Feeling in my stomach. I want her to talk. Tell me it’s okay. “Mom, what kind of pizza are you—” “Shh,” she says, smoothing down her hair. “You’ll miss your fa-vorite part.” I turn back to the TV. John goes back to Annie and says sorry by playing “Annie’s Song,” which he just wrote for her. My mom and Annie don’t look alike, Annie has brown hair and pale skin, and my mom’s hair is bleached like Dolly’s, and her skin is tan. But they remind me of each other just the same. Safe and warm and smiling. My hair is darker than my mom’s, but it’s not as dark as Dad’s, and I hope it stays that way. I watch the clock. I’m not afraid. I’m not. Wherever we go next, we’ll be together. But… “Mom, I have a Bad Feeling.” She turns, looks at me, and for a second listens to me. Then a funny look comes over her face, and I don’t know what it means. She comes and stands in front of me, bends down and puts her hands on my shoulders. “I… made a Bad Decision. Trying to keep your dad in our lives. I… I’m so sorry, Danny. But you and me, we’re gonna go somewhere he can’t find us, okay? Somewhere safe and happy where he’ll never get us again. It’s all gonna be just fine.” I want to cry, but I nod instead. It’s 4:59. One minute until I can pick up the phone and put in the number for the pizza place. Maybe the Feeling will go away, maybe I’m just being a baby. John sings “Annie’s Song” to Annie, and Mom hums along in the bathroom, swaying back and forth, putting her makeup and jewelry in cases. She moves the root beer bottles over to the side. Outside the closed blinds, the dark. Mom says “Annie’s Song” makes you feel like the whole world will be okay. Normally I agree, I think it sounds like there’s noth-ing to be scared of and no whispers in the night or Bad Feelings or shadows, and there’s only Rocky Mountains and clean air and flying and cowboy dancing and horses. That’s how the movie makes me feel, and every John Denver song. Pine trees and airplanes and John’s leather hat. We live in the part of Colorado with packed dirt and buildings, the mountains far off. But John and Annie in Take Me Home are all the way in the mountains, in the trees, beside big rushing water. “Are we really gonna go to Aspen?” I ask. “Like John and Annie?” She turns and smiles, nods her head, and I almost think I see a tear on her face. The musty mold smell comes up from the carpet like it does every night, there’s the brown spots on the popcorn ceiling and the smoke detector we always take off the wall because it never stops beeping. I love it here. Mom and me, Danny. The Happy Inn. My mom in blue jeans and a jean jacket and a white halter top. Her turquoise jewelry and big belt buckle. I’m sad to leave, even if it is to go to Aspen. I still have the Bad Feeling. Five o’clock. I pause the movie, and I pick up and dial the phone. Someone pounds on the door. The phone slips in my hand. Hello? the person says through the receiver. The pounding comes again. My heart thumps, and I turn to my mom. Mom is frozen, in the dressing area, holding her brush tight in her hand. I know where the Bad Feeling came from now. We both do. She looks at the door, then me, then around the room. There are no other doors here, only the one that goes out front. And we both know who’s standing out there. She takes a step. I shake my head, beg her not to open it. He keeps pounding. It doesn’t stop. She takes another step. I shake my head, please, please, no. She stops beside me. “I love you, my shining boy. I’d sing and write and play all the songs for you, you know that, right? You know that you’re my everything?” She’s scared. Mom is scared. I shake my head again, my whole body is shaking. “Don’t open it,” I say. “Please.” But she just whispers, “You’re my Danny boy.” She kisses me on the head. The voice on the phone says Hello? one more time, and then a dial tone comes through. The pounding on the door gets louder, Dad yelling. Mom goes to it, reaches for the chain. John Denver is frozen on the screen, looking into Annie’s eyes, playing his guitar. Mom slides the chain from the lock. 2 Now Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I open my eyes, sit up. Utah sun rising outside the window. Pink, orange through the blinds, glowing lines of light across the sheets, over my legs. My neck is stiff. Pain in my right leg, same as always. Shrapnel from an IED, my first tour. Pain in my chest… Which happens any time I think of her. Today is— John Denver’s voice lingers in my ears, floats around me in the room. Why did I dream of her? I haven’t, in so long. I haven’t thought of that song, any of his songs, in… I don’t know. I’ve pretty fucking stridently avoided John Denver for the whole of my adult life. But… today is the day, so I guess… or… I don’t know. Fuck. I breathe, close my eyes. At least there are no shadows. I get out of bed, turn on the fan for new noise, drown out the mu-sic that isn’t there. In the bathroom, I take a piss, splash cold water on my face. Step back into the bedroom, drop down, and do what I always do. But today it’s different, new almost. Today, my last day. Push-ups. Sit-ups. Diamond push-ups, box jumps on the crate. My body knows. Feet on the floor, back on the floor, forearms on the floor. Feet on the floor, then the crate. Pain in my leg. In my back. Pain in my left Achilles. Box jumps, jump lunges, jump squats. The heat before the sweat breaks through. The split second of relief when it comes. The drip of it down the skin, to the floor. My muscles push and flex. Contract, extend. I catch the pull-up bar, start my count. I look around, breathe through my nose. White walls, white car-pet. Mattress on a box spring. White sheets, workout equipment, bookshelf. Four years here, in Salt Lake City. A feeling grabs my chest. But it’s not a Bad Feeling, and it’s not a buried memory. I think… It’s gratitude. To this place, for giving me a fresh start. Any kind of reason to live. This apartment complex, brand new. No shadows, no past of mine or anyone else’s. I get my twenty, swing, and land on the carpet. See myself, mov-ing through the space, since day one. See myself change. I was thirty when I got here. I’d just lost everything. Those first two years were spent just trying to get past the fail-ure. And by get past, I guess I mean become properly acquainted with it, learn to accept its enduring presence in my life. The unsolv-able case, the divorce. Everything that led to both. My adoptive—but real in every way that counts—parents, gone, taken from me in an instant. That’s of course without touching any of the deep past stuff. Which I don’t think about anymore. Which I never think about. Today is the first— I push harder. I can’t believe I didn’t kill myself. It would’ve solved so much, at least for me. Mostly didn’t do it because of Josie. I knew she’d pic-ture me drinking over the divorce papers, fantasizing about blow-ing my brains out—which I did… drink and fantasize—and then finally going through with it. She’d carry that weight forever. And I’ve put her through enough already. But maybe the real reason, the one that got all the way through to me, was because he hasn’t done it yet. Rotting in his cell in Sterling and pushing through, day after day. And if he hasn’t, then I sure as shit won’t either. Still, the music. There, just at the edges. Hovering, between atoms, between breaths, slipping through the walls and into my skin. It’s not the worst song. The one I won’t even let myself think the name of, the one that played that night. But still, today… Excerpted from Headlights, copyright © 2026 by CJ Leede. The post Read an Excerpt From <i>Headlights</i> by CJ Leede appeared first on Reactor.

Books Young Adult Spotlight Most Anticipated Young Adult SFF/H for May & June 2026 Romantasy dominates the summer schedule, but there’s a lot of variety in these 21 upcoming titles. By Alex Brown | Published on April 30, 2026 Comment 0 Share New Share And we’re back with a new batch of upcoming science fiction, fantasy, and horror young adult novels. I feel like I’ve been repeating myself the last year or so, but guess what, this summer there’s a lot of romantasy coming up. Much to my pleasant surprise, we also have a few science fantasy genre blends too. Horror is on a downswing, and science fiction remains tantalizingly rare. Nevertheless, queer authors are doing some really interesting things with identity. I have 21 new books to add to your TBR. Thrills & Chills That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall (Random House Books for Young Readers; May 5, 2026) Kōpaʻa Island Resort is an exclusive wellness getaway for the rich and idle, but for Lehua it’s the place where her twin sister Ohia vanished without a trace. The girls didn’t have a strong relationship, but that doesn’t mean Lehua isn’t going to go looking for her. After a storm strands her on the island, she’s at the mercy of the horrifying colonial history of the land stolen from her ancestors. There is very little in the way of ownvoices Native Hawaiian speculative fiction, so this is a welcome addition.  The Saw Mouth by Cale Plett (Delacorte Press; May 12, 2026) A decade ago, advanced technology became sentient and lashed out in agony and torment. They destroyed themselves in a cataclysmic event known as Autumn. Now, genderqueer teen Cedar has arrived at the hometown of their missing father, Sawblade Lake searching for their last known relative. Something monstrous harasses them on the outskirts of town, something that is connected to Cedar in ways they don’t yet understand.  The Monsters We Made by Peyton June (Norton Young Readers; June 23, 2026) Every town has a legend about a local cryptid, and in Scarberry, Nebraska, it’s an alien called Old Lucky. Lenny and her boyfriend Evan run a YouTube channel where they investigate paranormal activity. They’re drawn to Claire’s hometown with her claim that aliens landed on her family farm. What they don’t know is Claire faked it to try and attract new customers to the ailing business. But when strange and terrifying things start happening, well, that hoax may not be a hoax after all.  Magic with a Twist The Electric Life of Lavender Lewis by Kara Storti (Union Square & Co.; May 5, 2026) Epilepsy has always been something Lavender has just had to deal with. She’s had every kind of symptom and seizure, but after her mom’s death, her seizures change. Now she’s seeing—hallucinating?—a boy named Eli who also has epilepsy. She could get surgery to resolve the worst of her medical issues, but she fears not only that she won’t wake up the same person she was when she went in but also that she’ll lose her connection to Eli.  Folklore & Mythology The Hanging Bones by Elle Tesch (Feiwel & Friends; May 12, 2026) The legendary Breimar Stag appears only every few years when the Scavenge Moon rises. If it is caught before the moon sets, the victor can wish for the death of anyone in the world, but if it escapes then the stag will take the life of one of its hunters. Katrín knows exactly who she wants dead: her employer, a wealthy baron, who has set his abusive sights on her cousin Alma. Her hunt is hampered by unexpected violence and more corpses than she knows what to do with. German folklore isn’t something we have too much of in YA fantasy, so I am very intrigued by this. Also! Katrín is asexual and aromantic! The Lustrous Dark by Loretta Chefchaouni (Peachtree Teen; May 19, 2026) Shay is an apprentice midwife in the city of Nezjar. Her mother’s addiction to the drug Snow not only caused her death, but passed her forbidden magic to her daughter. Or so Shay thought. Turns out her mother is still alive, but their reunion is a tragic one. Now abandoned and far from home, she seeks safety from the dangers in Ard Al-Ghul with activists working to restore women’s magic to its rightful place. Inspired by “Snow White” and the Moroccan folktale “The Jealous Mother.” Anthologies Everything Under the Moon: Fairy Tales in a Queerer Light edited by Michael Earp (Affirm Kids; May 12, 2026) This anthology does a queer remix on twelve classic fairy tales. The stories cover a wide range of speculative topics and YA themes, but the connective tissue here is queer joy and being your true self. Given that the government is currently trying to pass a national book ban that targets stories just like these, this collection couldn’t be more timely. Authors: Michael Earp, Alison Evans, Helena Fox, Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner, Will Kostakis, Jes Layton, Gary Lonesborough, Amber McBride, Abdi Nazemian, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Alexandra Villasante and Lili Wilkinson. Interior and cover art by Kit Fox. These Kindred Hearts: A YA Romantasy Anthology edited by Shari B. Pennant (Sweet July Books; June 30, 2026) Romantasy, like the rest of publishing, tends to involve mostly white people (and mostly cis, allo, and het people). This anthology centers on BIPOC characters with different intersectional identities, including class and queerness, to explore fantasy and romance from the YA perspective. Within these seventeen stories is a solid mix of fantasy subgenres. Authors: Alexene Farol Follmuth, Angela Montoya, Brent Lambert, Chelsea Padilla, Cheryl Isaacs, Jamar J. Perry, Jennifer Helen, Jill Tew, Kalynn Bayron, Kwame Mbalia, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Nia Davenport, Nikki T. Grant, Shari B. Pennant, Sophie Li, Vanessa Montalban, and Zoraida Córdova.  Past Is Present We Could Be Anyone by Anna-Marie McLemore (Feiwel & Friends; May 26, 2026) Mexican siblings Lola and Lisandro are conning their way through Hollywood’s Golden Age, with Lola pretending to be a ghost and Lisandro pretending to be a spiritualist who can banish her. Their latest mark is Rockafeller-esque Bixby Fairfax and his glamorous actress girlfriend Blythe Belle. At his extravagant hilltop estate, the teens’ grift takes off. Lisandro catches feelings for Bixby’s son and Lola for a member of the staff, but at the same time the mystery of what really happened to Bixby’s dead daughter is a truth someone will do anything to keep from being revealed. Where You’ll Find Us by Jen St. Jude (Bloomsbury YA; June 2, 2026) Calla is having a rough go. Kicked out by her parents. Can’t afford to go to college. Confessing she might be trans to her girlfriend, Ramona. Said girlfriend expressing reluctance to date a trans person. The two end up at a magical house called Amaranth, an oasis out of time whose occupants are queer kids from all across history. But when their refuge is threatened, the teens face the real and terrifying possibility that they will have to return to the real world.  The Game of Oaths by S. C. Bandreddi (Candlewick; June 2, 2026) Paris, 1896. To avenge her sister’s death, Falan, a trapeze artist from India, joins the same competition that killed Lavanya: the Game of Oaths. Every year, 12 teens sign magical contracts binding them to the Enchanteur Jean-Pierre and compete at the pleasure of the wealthy. One wins, the rest die awful deaths. With the help of new allies, Falan will take on Jean-Pierre’s powerful connections and racist intentions. Now, all she has to do is survive. Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost The Last Best Quest Ever by F.T. Lukens (Margaret K. McElderry Books; May 26, 2026) Ellinore is famous throughout the land for never having lost a quest. No one knows that she won them not through violence and bravery but conversation and basic problem-solving. And with the help of a chipper dragon. Now she has to do one last quest before she can retire at the ripe old age of seventeen: find the Elder Beast to save her brother from a deadly curse. She’s joined by her brother, a reckless noblewoman, a bard-in-training, and Princet Aven, Ellinoe’s competition and secret crush. A cozy fantasy with a heart of gold. Their Will Undone by R.J. Valldeperas (Their Will Undone #1 — HarperCollins; June 2, 2026) In the acllahuasi, Nina awaits her future. Her ill younger sister was initially chosen for the annual harvest, but Nina volunteered as tribute. She expects to train to become a servant to a wealthy family, but is instead chosen to become the new bride of the emperor of Amaru. Lieutenant Kasik is sent to collect her, and their journey is beset by dangers. As her hidden magic reveals itself, sinister motives as to why the emperor is interested in a commoner girl come to light. Kasik and Nina may despise each other, but they’re all they have left. A Great and Powerful Tyranny by Victoria Carbol (Song of the Ghost Queen #1 — Page Street YA; June 23, 2026) The Wizard of Oz gets reimagined as a queer portal fantasy. Thia tumbles from her oppressive home in Kansas into a strange new world. After killing a witch, she is joined by three traveling companions to find the Mage King. Only he can send her home, but he is no great and powerful leader. Along the way, Thia learns about her late mother’s rebellious past and falls for the girl without a heart.  Cursed Ever After by Andy C. Naranjo (Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); June 30, 2026) Risa is cursed. Born on a Bad Day, bad luck follows her around and plaguing her hometown of Barrow in a series of unfortunate events. On her seventeenth birthday, Brunhilda the witch sends Risa on a quest to transport Prince Javi, the least important prince in a long line of princes, to his betrothed. Bad Things follow Risa on her journey and things quickly spiral out of control. Much to her surprise, she also starts to fall for Prince Javi, even if he is a bit of a cad. The River She Became by Emily Varga (The River She Became #1 — Wednesday Books; June 30, 2026) By day Yaseema is a scholar of ancient artifacts for the Empire. By night she uses magic to find artifacts from her conquered people with the goal of eventually restoring them to their former glory. One of those relics grants her entry to the Fae land across the River where a dangerous item waits. She’s not the only one with eyes on recovering it. Captain Kiyan also wants the artifact for his own purposes, and the two forge a tenuous alliance. Who will betray who first? The cover copy comps this to The Cruel Prince meets The Mummy, and you know what? Sold. Genre blends Between Sun and Shadow by Laura Genn (Peachtree Teen; May 5, 2026) In this reimagining of “Beauty and the Beast,” two teen girls from opposing forces try to stop a war. Adria is from the Shadowlands where humans evolved into supernatural monsters after their planet was struck by a radioactive asteroid. Kori is from the Daylands, humans who fled underground after the cataclysm and who keep their memories of the Before Times stored in microchip implants. When Kori inadvertently becomes Adria’s prisoner, they uncover a conspiracy that will either unite their people or destroy them. You Pierce My Soul by Jessica Mary Best (Quirk Books; May 5, 2026) In New Ionia, a faux Regency utopia with Big Brother technology, Zada is about to meet her soulmate. An algorithm called Heartsong determines everyone’s soulmate for them, and when Zada is introduced to hers, she feels…nothing. At all. He’s fine but he’s not Daphne, her ex-bestie she can’t stop thinking about. The two young women dive into the history of the surveillance tech that runs their lives and try to forge a path all their own. Goldenborn by Ama Ofosua Lieb (Goldenborn #1 — Scholastic Press; June 2, 2026) With her father in a magically-induced coma, Akoma makes money investigating magic crimes with the San Francisco Police Department. During one such investigation, she discovers a body surrounded by molten gold and ash. A series of crimes in AfricaTown seem to be connected, and Akoma is the key to solving them. The trickster god Anansi offers to heal her father and stop the killer in exchange for her tapping into her ancestral magic. A near-future urban fantasy inspired by Ghanaian folklore.  Novels-in-verse Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett (Page Street YA; May 12, 2026) The small town of Saltview is surrounded by a swamp where a monster roams. For generations, the adults of Saltview are cursed by this monster and one-by-one they succumb to it. Lili, a loner, joins forces with Caleb, a boy on the verge of turning eighteen and contracting the curse like everyone else. He wants out of town and she wants to kill the monster. Maybe the two of them can finally do what no one else has been able to.  Doe by Rebecca Barrow (Nancy Paulsen Books; June 23, 2026) Maris’ life is miserable and empty. School sucks, her homelife is lonely, and her girlfriend is probably going to dump her soon. All she has is the cheer team, and she relishes her role as captain. New student Genevieve is her only competition, and Maris will do anything to remove the threat. Up to and including making a deal with an ancient creature that comes to her in her dreams in the form of a decomposing deer.[end-mark] The post Most Anticipated Young Adult SFF/H for May & June 2026 appeared first on Reactor.