Horror has a new name: Daphne. A brutal, enigmatic woman stalks a high school basketball team in a reimagining of the slasher genre by the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box. “A superb serial killer novel and a great coming-of-age story.”—Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Paste It’s the last summer for Kit Lamb: The last summer before college. The last summer with her high school basketball team, and with Dana, her best friend. The last summer before her life begins. But the night before the big game, one of the players tells a ghost story about Daphne, a girl who went to their school many years ago and died under mysterious circumstances. Some say she was murdered, others that she died by her own hand. And some say that Daphne is a murderer herself. They also say that Daphne is still out there, obsessed with revenge, and will appear to kill again anytime someone thinks about her. After Kit hears the story, her teammates vanish, one by one, and Kit begins to suspect that the stories about Daphne are real . . . and to fear that her own mind is conjuring the killer. Now it’s a race against time as Kit searches for the truth behind the legend and learns to face her own fears—before the summer of her lifetime becomes the last summer of her life. Mixing a nostalgic coming-of-age story and an instantly iconic female villain with an innovative new vision of classic horror, Daphne is an unforgettable thriller as only Josh Malerman could imagine it.
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10 books in catalog
Post-apocalyptic horror fiction gained widespread attention with the publication of Bird Box, a novel exploring psychological survival under total sensory deprivation that was later adapted into a feature film. Josh Malerman introduced readers to this sensory-focused narrative, establishing a distinct presence in contemporary horror and speculative fiction.
Before publishing his debut novel with ECCO/HarperCollins in 2014, Josh Malerman wrote fourteen complete novels without ever shopping a single manuscript to agents or publishers. During this period, he spent six years touring extensively as a singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist for the Detroit-based rock band The High Strung, playing an average of 250 shows a year across the United States. He wrote many of his early rough drafts in the passenger seat of the tour van while traveling between cities. For years, Malerman maintained what he described as a glorious delusion, engaging in phantom interviews, imagining interactions with fictional literary agents, debating invisible editors, and placing imaginary hardcover books on his shelves.
The situation changed when Dave Simmer, a friend from high school who had worked with authors and properties in Hollywood, contacted Malerman to ask permission to share one of his manuscripts with contacts in the publishing industry. Simmer helped assemble a professional team, leading to representation by a real agent and active editorial guidance. Following the release of Bird Box in 2014, Malerman published numerous novels, novellas, and short story collections while remaining active in music and later co-founding the production company Spin a Black Yarn in 2020.
Malerman's fiction is marked by high-concept psychological tension, atmospheric horror, and rhythmic pacing influenced by his musical background. Heavily influenced by classic horror films and literature such as The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and Bram Stoker's Dracula, alongside classic authors like William Faulkner and Fyodor Dostoevsky, he often constructs book structures with the sequencing and flow of music albums. His stories frequently revolve around unseen or inexplicable threats, close-knit family dynamics, and high-stakes survival scenarios that force characters to navigate extreme environmental or sensory restrictions.
