We are pleased to announce that Tor Nightfire has acquired The Body, an adult horror novel from author Bethany C. Morrow. The Body is a pulse-pounding supernatural horror novel from bestselling and award-winning author Bethany C. Morrow, that tackles the trauma of Churchianity—particularly on Black women—and follows one woman, Mavis, who must survive a series of bizarre and escalating attacks against her and her husband. The Body serves up an inescapable sense of dread from the first page to the final kill.
World rights were won at auction in a good three-book deal by Tor Publishing Group’s Executive Editor Kelly Lonesome, sold by agent Victoria Marini at High Line Literary Collective. The Body will publish in 2026 by Tor Nightfire.
From author Bethany C Morrow:
The Body has been chaos from its inception. It hijacked my brain, interrupting a completely different project and demanding to be written. I know that happens to authors all the time—but it hadn’t ever happened to me! I am deeply in love with this Churchianity horror, and with Mavis Dwyer, the woman changing at the center of it. For me, this story is about how abuse begets abuse. People don’t always break free; sometimes they just break. Maybe if we look at that directly, we can learn to tell teachers from tyrants, and protect our faith.
From Executive Editor Kelly Lonesome:
The Body is savvy and smart horror at its finest, one that is especially prescient as the religious (evangelical) fervor (oppression) in our nation grows. The story starts off with a crash-bang, and it’s a full-throttle ride until the end. You’ll be immediately captivated by Bethany’s brilliant voice as she adds to the conversation about trauma and the importance of interrogating indoctrinations. She pulls no punches here, with an unforgettable heroine, Mavis, whose desperation will force her to reveal her true self in order to survive.
Bethany C Morrow is a bestselling author, and writes adult and young adult novels. Her young adult work includes SLJ Gold Standard selections, A Song Below Water (a Locus, Ignyte, and Audie finalist) and So Many Beginnings, a Little Women remix. She is editor/contributor to the young adult anthology Take The Mic, which won the 2020 ILA Social Justice in Literature award. Her adult novels include Mem, an Indies Introduce and Indies Next pick, and her most recent novel, Cherish Farrah, a social horror, was the April 2022 Belletrist x Bookclub pick. She was the 2021 Mansfield Lecturer at Roosevelt University, and her work has been featured in The LA Times, Forbes, Bustle, Buzzfeed, and more. Bethany is included on USA TODAY’s list of 100 Black novelists and fiction writers you should read.
