Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House, will publish Pinfeathers, the new horror novel by national bestselling author Christina Henry (The Place Where They Buried Your Heart), on November 17, 2026. The book is a tense, maternal body horror story driven by what Henry does best: grounded characters in genuinely terrifying circumstances.
Pinfeathers follows Nora Pacetti, a new stay-at-home mother who is tired but managing — until something that looks disturbingly like a feather starts growing out of her baby daughter Olivia’s arm. Nora’s husband pushes for doctors and hospitals. Nora’s instincts push back: whatever is happening to Olivia needs to stay hidden. As sinister strangers begin asking questions about the child, Nora has to decide how far a mother will go to protect her daughter from people who want to capture and study what she’s becoming.
Henry has built a reputation for horror that bypasses genre cliches and roots its terror in recognizable human behavior — no splitting up to investigate mysterious sounds, no inexplicable choices. Pinfeathers applies that same discipline to the maternal horror subgenre, exploring what it means to fight for a child you can’t fully understand.
“Absolutely brilliant! The sacrifices of motherhood brought to life via terrifying body horror. Made me cry and my skin crawl. X-Files fans, add this one to your list right now!” said S.A. Barnes, USA Today bestselling author of Cold Eternity.
Pinfeathers arrives November 17, 2026 in hardcover
