A mysterious envelope
The first 500 buyers of Normal for the Spider will receive a mysterious envelope from an evil society. Buy the book, then enter your order here.
A spine-tingling thriller by two time Bram-Stoker-Award winning author Hank Schwaeble, about an apex predator who discovers there are monsters even she isn't prepared for.
Release: 09/15/2026 Pages: 316
Hardcover, Paperback, E-book and Audiobook available for Preorder.
Sienna Shaw is an apex predator. She kills without remorse when it suits her purposes, steals from those she judges undeserving, lives by her own set of rules. Just don't call her a serial killer. She knows what she is and what she always will be — a survivor whose governing creed is simple: Trust No One.
Or so Sienna believes, until the day she encounters a shadowy group that calls itself the Book Club. A small, well-funded, highly secret society united by their shared taste for the macabre and a desire to instill fear among the powerful — entrepreneurs, industrialists, politicians — to remind them who is really at the top of the food chain.
Sienna soon finds herself a reluctant guest on a remote and supposedly haunted island where the Book Club plans to unleash hell upon its next target. But not even Sienna is prepared for the tangled web of betrayal and chaos that awaits, or the very real monsters that will be let loose — including ones that may have been present all along.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hank Schwaeble is the two-time Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Damnable (Berkley/Jove), Diabolical (Berkley/Jove), and The Angel of the Abyss (rereleased by Esker & Riddle in 2021). He is also the author of the horror-noir collections American Nocturne, nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Collection, and Moonless Nocturne, which has been optioned by the producer of The Equalizer movies. His stories have appeared in publications such as Weird Tales Magazine and Dark Discoveries Magazine as well as anthologies such as X-Files: The Truth Is Out There, V-Wars: Night Terrors, and numerous other outlets. A former Air Force officer and Special Agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Hank is a graduate of the University of Florida and Vanderbilt Law School and is a practicing attorney. He is also a licensed pilot. He resides in Texas with his wife, fellow writer Rhodi Hawk.
Watch Hank Schwaeble on Great Day Houston: https://youtu.be/nBPfJP6YrPI
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Horror has always been drawn to the predator, but rarely to one this coldly, and convincingly human. What attracted us to Normal for the Spider was Schwaeble's central provocation: the sociopath isn't an aberration, but an evolution. His sociopath is new kind of creature, shaped in part by the same elite systems of power and self-interest that now find themselves in their crosshairs.
There's something deeply satisfying about that reversal. The people at the top of the food chain, stalked by something they helped create. Weird Tales has always been interested in the monster that makes you reconsider what you think can be real. Sienna Shaw is exactly that.
Praise for Normal For The Spider
“Hank Schwaeble delivers an adrenaline-fueled blend of psychological thriller and supernatural horror, expertly balancing shocking twists with genuine surprise and crafting a novel that feels cinematic from beginning to end. Fans of horror with morally complex characters and escalating tension will find themselves completely absorbed.”
LOS ANGELES BOOK REVIEW
“A must-read blend of horror, crime and comedy that reinvents the predator-versus-predator thriller.
In Sienna, Schwaeble has created an antihero the reader is invited to understand rather than excuse. Much like Jeff Lindsay’s iconic title character in Dexter, Sienna doesn’t see herself as a serial killer, and lives by her own moral code. While she’s never exactly sympathetic, her personal standards are what make her compelling.
At its core, this is a story about people convinced they understand the food chain, until something starts hunting them.”
BEST THRILLERS
Sleek as a snake and twisty as a screw, Normal for the Spider is Hank Schwaeble in top form. Highly recommended.”
RONALD MALFI, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SMALL TOWN HORROR
"Taut, unnerving, and brimming with cunning twists, Normal for the Spider is the most fun you can have with a bunch of backstabbing sociopaths. A pit of vipers has never been more entertaining."
ROBERT JACKSON BENNETT — EDGAR, HUGO, AND INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE TAINTYED CUP
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“Normal for the Spider drops readers into a chilling psychological labyrinth where violence, intelligence, and power intersect.
Hank Schwaeble crafts a cerebral narrative where every choice and act of survival tightens the web around the reader.
A gripping and provocative thriller.”
— CYNTHIA PELAYO, BRAM STOKER AWARD WINNER OF CHILDREN OF CHICAGO
“The Angel of the Abyss proves why Hank Schwaeble is one of the true gunslingers of modern horror fantasy. I could not put this book down. Brilliant, ballsy, and badass. This one’s a killer.”
JONATHAN MABERRY, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RAGE
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