New This Week in Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies, Series, and Books: February 16–22, 2026

The Last Sacrifice (Shudder)

Folk horror fans, this one’s for you. This documentary investigates the unsolved 1945 murder of Charles Walton in rural England — a case widely believed to be Britain’s last ritual killing, and the real-life event that directly inspired The Wicker Man. Director Rupert Russell weaves together three competing theories about the murder (a crime of greed, a witch’s sacrifice, or the killing of a practicing witch) alongside clips from folk horror classics like The Wicker Man, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, and The Devil Rides Out. If you’ve ever wanted to understand the true roots of the folk horror genre, this is essential viewing.

The Dreadful (In select theaters and on Digital)

Here it is, folks: Sophie Turner and Kit Harington reunite on screen for the first time since Game of Thrones. Set during the Wars of the Roses, this gothic supernatural horror follows Anne (Turner) and her mother-in-law Morwen (the great Marcia Gay Harden) as they survive on the fringes of medieval society, until a man from Anne’s past (Harington) returns from war carrying a terrible curse. A mysterious armored knight manifests, and the horror unfolds. Writer-director Natasha Kermani drew inspiration from the same Buddhist parable behind the Japanese horror classic Onibaba, and transplanted it into a moody, atmospheric English Gothic setting. This is the genre event of the week.

Psycho Killer (Only in theaters)

From the mind of Andrew Kevin Walker, the writer who brought us Se7en and Sleepy Hollow, comes a satanic slasher nearly two decades in the making. Georgina Campbell (who was so brilliant in Barbarian) stars as a Kansas highway patrol officer hunting the serial killer who murdered her husband — a sadistic figure known as “the Satanic Slasher” whose agenda turns out to be far more twisted and sinister than anyone imagined. With Walker’s trademark darkness and a script that’s been percolating since 2007, this one promises to get under your skin.

This Is Not a Test (Only in theaters)

Based on the New York Times bestselling YA novel by Courtney Summers, this zombie apocalypse film takes a deeply personal approach to the end of the world. Olivia Holt stars as Sloane Price, a teenager surviving abuse and abandonment who suddenly finds herself barricaded inside her high school with classmates as the undead overrun their town. But here’s what makes it special: surrounded by people fighting to stay alive, Sloane starts finding her own reasons to live. Director Adam MacDonald (Pyewacket) brings horror pedigree, and a cast that includes Corteon Moore from the hit series From adds extra genre cred. This could be one of the most emotionally resonant zombie films in years.

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
Del Rey
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From the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Wilde series comes a cozy fantasy standalone set in 1920s Montreal. Type-A cat shelter manager Agnes Aubert is forced to relocate her rescue operation, only to discover her new landlord is a disorganized, infuriatingly handsome magician and failed Dark Lord running an internationally disreputable magic shop. When an enemy from his past threatens everything, Agnes must decide whether saving her shelter means protecting the man rumored to have “nearly ended the world.” If you loved Emily Wilde, you will devour this.

Crown of War and Shadow by J.R. Ward
Bramble (Kingdoms of the Compass #1)
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The queen of paranormal romance enters the romantasy arena, and she’s bringing the heat. J.R. Ward — the #1 New York Times bestselling author behind the legendary Black Dagger Brotherhood series — launches a brand new epic fantasy series about an outcast orphan with mystical abilities who must cross treacherous Badlands to retrieve a stolen crown and save her world. Her dangerous bargain with a brooding mercenary? A night in his bed for safe passage. Library Journal gave it a starred review, calling it “an outstanding entry into the romantasy genre.” Fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros, take note.

Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis
Tor Bramble (Queens of Villainy #2)
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Queen Lorelei is a notorious fae seductress, and High General Gerard de Moireul is the empire’s most morally upright hero. She showers glitter and rainbow sparkles everywhere she goes; he has zero tolerance for any of it. When this irreverent queen kidnaps the uptight general, the enemies-to-lovers sparks fly in the most delightful way possible. The Queens of Villainy series celebrates morally complex, powerful women as romantic leads, and this sequel delivers the sharp humor and romantic tension that made Burgis’s first installment such a treat.

Gods Beneath the Ice by Alexandra Kennington
Penguin Random House (Blood & Souls Duology #2)
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The thrilling conclusion to the Blood & Souls Duology is here. Revna won the Bloodshed Trials and claimed the crown — but now she’s manifesting volatile magic she never wanted, the dead refuse to pass on, and the only person who can train her is the Hellbringer, the general she swore to forget. With a three-week deadline to prove she can control her powers, political enemies on all sides, and ancient secrets surfacing beneath the ice, this finale promises the high-stakes romantasy payoff fans have been waiting for.

Half City by Kate Golden
Ace (Harker Academy #1)
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The USA Today bestselling author of the Sacred Stones trilogy launches a new urban fantasy series, and BookTok is already buzzing. Demon hunter Viv Abbot has been an outcast since her father’s murder — until a dangerously alluring reformed demon named Reid Graveheart tells her about Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. Secret schools, forbidden romance with a literal demon, and a mystery surrounding her father’s death? Sign us up. If you love academy fantasy with paranormal romance, this is your next obsession.

Temple Fall by R.L. Boyle
Titan Books
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From the Bram Stoker Award-shortlisted author of The Book of the Baku comes a Gothic supernatural horror about a group of teenagers who break into a mysterious house on the moors for a night of fun — only to have a joke seance go catastrophically wrong. A Victorian-era curse dooms each of them to die on their 18th birthday, and the group begins fracturing as they’re compelled into terrifying behaviors. Atmospheric, macabre, and relentless — this is for fans who like their horror drenched in fog and dread.

The Adventurer’s Glyph by V.A. Lewis and C.C. Tyrion
Aethon Books
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Royal Road phenomenon V.A. Lewis (the creator of Amelia the Level Zero Hero and the Salvos series) teams up with C.C. Tyrion for a new portal fantasy adventure. Tempest gets transported into the world of Rathos, where enchanted glyphs track your levels, growth comes from clearing deadly dungeons, and cute goblin thieves absolutely will not stop picking your pockets. Together with a found family of dwarves, elves, and demonkin, he forms the Twilight Company — heroes for hire, as long as the contract pays well. Classic LitRPG fun from a proven author.

The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
HarperCollins
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New York Times bestselling historical fiction author Kate Quinn makes her fantasy debut, and the premise is pure bookworm catnip. Alix Watson, a foster-care survivor working three dead-end jobs, stumbles through a hidden door in the Boston Public Library and discovers a secret magical library guarded by an ageless, acerbic Librarian — a place where lost souls can escape into their favorite public-domain novels as supporting characters. Adventures through the worlds of Pride and Prejudice, Sherlock Holmes, and The Great Gatsby ensue, complete with sentient books and book dragons. Yes, book dragons.

The Daughter Who Remains by Nnedi Okorafor
DAW Books (She Who Knows #3)
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The breathtaking conclusion to Nnedi Okorafor’s She Who Knows trilogy. Najeeba — now older, wiser, and pregnant — sets out on a fateful desert journey to fulfill a promise to her dying father: destroy the Cleanser, a mysterious entity that drains the brightest minds of her people. Set in the same Africanfuturist universe as Okorafor’s World Fantasy Award-winning Who Fears Death, this novella brings one of speculative fiction’s most celebrated voices to the conclusion of a deeply personal story about courage, motherhood, and the audacity to use your power well.

The Fox Hunt by Caitlin Breeze
Orbit
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A debut dark academia fantasy that Kirkus calls “smart, propulsive, and multi-layered.” Practical student Emma Curran wins a research fellowship that pulls her into the orbit of the elite Turnbull Club — a centuries-old secret society led by the devastating Jasper Balfour. When the Turnbulls propose a sinister game called a “fox hunt,” Emma finds herself fleeing through the streets, hunted by the boy she loves, before being ripped from her mortal life and transformed into something beastly in the Night City — a parallel realm of dangerous magical beings. For fans of V.E. Schwab and Leigh Bardugo.

The Halter by Darby McDevitt
Diversion Books
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Here’s one for the gamers: Darby McDevitt — the lead writer of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Black Flag, and narrative director of Valhalla — makes his novel debut with a cyber-noir thriller. In a near-future world where virtual addiction kills, Kennedy Stark is a professional “halter” who pulls people out of deadly surrogate-reality feeds. When the woman he once loved vanishes inside a mysterious VR project called The Forum, he goes in after her — and discovers a simulation hiding secrets far darker than anyone imagined. If you love the intersection of noir detective fiction and cyberpunk, this is a must-read.

The Obake Code by Makana Yamamoto
HarperCollins
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Three years after the heist of a lifetime, brilliant hacker Malia is bored out of her mind aboard the massive Kepler Space Station — until she runs afoul of a dangerous gang leader and gets dragged into a mission against a corrupt politician. What follows is a cyberpunk heist adventure set in a Hawaiian diaspora future, featuring a diverse queer cast and another Ocean’s-Eleven-style caper you don’t want to miss. A standalone sequel to the Locus Award-finalist Hammajang Luck, this is fresh, vibrant, and totally unique cyberpunk.

The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel
Tordotcom
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Already named a New Scientist Best Science Fiction Book of 2026, this novella follows a former social media influencer and recovering addict as she interviews her fellow passengers on a journey to witness the first rainfall on Mars. It’s a story about redemption, connection, and humanity’s greatest achievement, told through intimate character portraits against the backdrop of a terraformed red planet. Three-time Nebula Award finalist Kressel delivers what Booklist calls “vivid, poignant, and compassionate” storytelling, with endorsements from Veronica Roth and Hugo/Nebula winners Sarah Pinsker and James Patrick Kelly.

The Silent Blades by Jonathan Smidt
Aethon Books
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From the bestselling author of Elemental Dungeon and Dungeon Core Online comes a new progression fantasy with a tagline that says it all: “Revenge is a dish best served with a katana.” Tricia Pureblade was orphaned after her parents were torn apart by creatures called Abominations. Fifteen years of training later, she’s an elite operative — but the Abominations are evolving, and a strange power is awakening within her. Action-forward and anime-inspired, this is a brisk, propulsive read for progression fantasy fans.

The Sun and the Starmaker by Rachel Griffin
Sourcebooks Fire
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New York Times bestselling author Rachel Griffin delivers a cozy, wintery romantasy with an irresistible premise. In the village of Reverie, hidden deep in snowy mountains beyond the reach of the Sun, survival depends on the mysterious Starmaker who pulls sunlight over the peaks each morning. Aurora Finch never imagined she’d meet him — until a fateful encounter on her wedding day draws her into his secrets, his magic, and a deadly frost that threatens to plunge her world into endless winter. At 448 pages, this is a substantial standalone brimming with the atmospheric magic Griffin’s fans adore.

The Vanishing Bookstore by Helen Phifer
Bookouture
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A magical bookstore that literally vanishes into thin air. A reincarnation curse tracing back to the Salem Witch Trials. And a woman named Dora who must make the bookstore reappear to break the cycle. This witchy, atmospheric read alternates between 1692 Salem and the present day as Dora discovers that she, her mother, and her aunts have been living — and dying — through the same tragic pattern for centuries, hunted by the same diabolical man across lifetimes. Reviewers are calling it “unputdownable,” and we can’t wait to get hooked.

They Call Her Regret by Channelle Desamours
Wednesday Books
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In this YA horror-fantasy debut, Simone Washington throws an epic overnight Halloween party at Doll’s Head Lake — complete with spooky pranks and the legend of a local witch named Regret. But when her best friend Kira drowns under mysterious circumstances, the witch appears with a devastating offer: figure out how to break Regret’s curse in fourteen days, and Kira lives. Fail, and Simone herself becomes the killer. A ticking-clock supernatural thriller about magic, grief, and the deals we make when we’re desperate.

This Wretched Beauty by Elle Grenier
Feiwel & Friends (Remixed Classics #10)
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A transfeminine reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray set in 1867 London. Dorian, the heir to a title and an estate they never asked for, discovers freedom and self-expression through London’s molly houses and drag culture after meeting a sweet young painter named Basil. But as Dorian navigates the collision between societal expectations and personal truth, the portrait Basil painted begins to reflect something sinister. The Remixed Classics series continues to deliver fresh, diverse perspectives on beloved stories, and Wilde’s themes of identity, beauty, and hidden selves are more resonant than ever through this lens.

Ungodly Chaos by Selma Soren
Margaret K. McElderry Books
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For fans of Rick Riordan and Legendborn — Amira Shah’s perfectly normal year falls apart when her ex-boyfriend Kaidan breaks up with her on her seventeenth birthday. Then she follows him through a portal to the Egyptian underworld and discovers he’s a descendant of Apep, the god of chaos. Together with Kaidan’s rival (a descendant of the sun god), Amira dives into a murder mystery spanning the mortal realm and the Duat, uncovering her own mysterious connection to the Egyptian pantheon along the way. Action-packed, mythology-infused, and delightfully chaotic.

Magus Reborn 4 by Extra26 and T.C. Liyanage
Aethon Books (Magus Reborn #4)
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Kai — one of the last surviving Mages who time-traveled back to a golden era of abundant mana — has won the fief war, but half the kingdom’s nobles want him dead. Book 4 takes him to the Assembly of Judgment and then deep into the Ashari desert, where he must unite human tribes against the duneborn orcs who dominate the manaless wastes. Kingdom building, political intrigue, and satisfying magical progression — the Magus Reborn series keeps delivering for fans of regression fantasy.

Merchant Crab 2 by H0st
Aethon Books (Merchant Crab #2)
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Balthazar the giant crab is back, and this time he’s leaving his pond. When his beloved baker is kidnapped by a dragon, Balthazar has no choice but to venture into the wider fantasy world for the first time — though he’s not above fleecing every sucker he meets along the way. One of Royal Road’s most beloved and unique LitRPG series, Merchant Crab stands out with its comedic tone, its wonderfully cantankerous crustacean protagonist, and the kind of merchant-focused gameplay loop that makes you wonder why more fantasy heroes don’t just open a shop.

The Stubborn Skill-Grinder in a Time Loop 3 by X-RHODEN-X
Aethon Books (The Stubborn Skill-Grinder in a Time Loop #3)
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Orodan doesn’t scheme. Orodan doesn’t plan. If there’s a wall in front of him, he batters it thousands of times until either the wall breaks or he does — and then he wakes up and does it again. In Book 3, our relentlessly stubborn time-looper has awakened a Celestial-rarity skill that draws the attention of champions from other worlds, escalating the stakes far beyond his own realm. At nearly 29 hours of audiobook content, this is a massive serving of brute-force progression fantasy for fans of Mother of Learning who prefer their protagonists to solve problems with sheer, glorious stubbornness.

Traitor Saintess by AbyssRaven
Aethon Books (A Dragon Idol’s Reincarnation Tale #6)
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The sixth installment of the wildly creative series about a protagonist reincarnated as a dragon who just wants to be a pop idol. With over 4.2 million views and 3,250+ followers on Royal Road, this isekai series has earned its devoted fanbase through a genuinely unique concept — monster evolution, LitRPG progression, and slice-of-life musical performance, all woven together. Even if she only wishes to perform music for others, actions will have consequences.