New YA Novel ‘Wakes’ Editors’ Interest: Undertaker Books to publish OUR DEVIL’S AWAKE by Chloe York
When editors D.L. Winchester and Rebecca Cuthbert read the manuscript for Chloe York’s OUR DEVIL’S AWAKE, they couldn’t say no—and neither will readers. Even a short pitch will pique their interest: “A sheltered suburban teen enlists the help of an alluring monster hunter to kill her inherited red devil at any cost, including her soul.” (Yes, please.)
York said she came up with the story idea after watching JEEPERS CREEPERS 2. Specifically, it was the ending, “where they have the hibernating monster hanging up in their barn just waiting for it to wake up so they can ‘kill’ it again with their badass homemade harpoon gun,” she explained. “I wondered what it would be like for someone like me—a suburbanite with zero combat skills—to be responsible for guarding this frightening creature that can wake up and escape at any moment. OUR DEVIL’S AWAKE is about generational trauma, duty vs. self, and breaking those unhealthy cycles. But also cool monsters. I love a cool monster.”
(So does everyone at Undertaker Books. And also just everyone, everywhere. Give us all the monsters.)
York knows her monsters, her magic, and the right mix of horror and fantasy. It’s her favorite genre blend, though she recognizes that the narrative opportunities with horror are pretty near limitless:
“Horror can be so many things—an opportunity to work through your fears, a chance to feed the little violent beast that lives in your chest, or the experience of prevailing over great evil without consequence,” she said. “In the best horror stories, the monster is never just a monster. The hero can easily be the villain. The stakes are always high. Horror can be a high-octane thrill or a creeping slow-burn dread. The possibilities are endless.”
Readers can get their hands on OUR DEVIL’S AWAKE July 1, 2026. Preorders will open early; stay tuned for announcements on Undertaker’s social media! And in the meantime, look out for York’s fiction in Undertaker Books’s forthcoming HIGH SEAS horror anthology. There’s also a free short story on her website featuring sapphic pining and a creepy doll; go to https://www.chloe-york.com/ and follow her on social media.
Chloe York, an award-winning abstract painter, insect taxidermist, and owner of a small oddities company, resides in Birmingham, Alabama with her sculptor husband and ferocious daughter in their shared home and studio. When she's not painting seascapes or framing bugs, she can be found in her lair writing fantasy and horror novels.