Cover reveal: Christina Henry has some spookiness on the way with The Girl in Red

Never mind that The Girl in Red will arrive next summer. Christina Henry’s next title has all the hallmarks of something that’ll keep you spooked all year.

Never before on a cover has this writer been so intimidated by a girl in a hoodie and leggings, otherwise known as the standard fall/winter leisure combination. It’s not supposed to be scary. It’s supposed to be comfy. But that seems to be just one of the expectations that Christina Henry is playing with in The Girl in Red, coming from Berkley on June 19, 2019.

If that title alone doesn’t make you think of Little Red Riding Hood, then you may not have spent enough time with retellings just yet. Additionally, Berkley has confirmed that that’s definitely the intent here. :

Still not enticed? Then check the cover out below, revealed here for the first time:

Cover to The Girl in Red by Christina Henry. Image via Berkley.

Now, that’s the kind of summer spookiness we could get used to. It’s pretty stark for a cover, but that only adds to the effect of the details that we do get. Pay close attention to the title, for instance: those are blood spatters in the outline of the words. Of course, Red’s quite small, comparatively, and even though she’s in that recognizable outfit, she has a hatchet over her shoulder. Why is she so small? Well, Berkley’s also provided a full synopsis:

"It’s not safe for anyone alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night: critters and coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, decimated the population, and sent those who survived fleeing into quarantine camps that serve as breeding grounds for death, destruction, and disease. She is just a woman trying not to get killed in a world that doesn’t look anything like the one she grew up in, the one that was perfectly sane and normal and boring until three months ago.There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills, and evil intents. Men in uniform with classified information, deadly secrets, and unforgiving orders. And sometimes, just sometimes, there’s something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined.Red doesn’t like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn’t about to let herself get eaten up just because she is a woman alone in the woods…"

For all that Red seems prepared to handle things even if a hatchet doesn’t seem like much, there’s a lot more out there that’s bigger than her, and the synopsis makes it clear that she’s doing the best she can after a very sudden change. Of course, with Red Riding Hood comes the wolf, so it’s no surprise that the wolf is on the cover. Admittedly, this one comes with red eyes. Is that just a stylistic choice for the cover? Perhaps, but with the synopsis alluding to the fact that something’s gone horribly wrong, a wolf with red eyes is probably just the least of our worries, considering the other part of the synopsis: that men have become terrible.

So, what’s the “something worse”? Werewolves? The undead? It’s not entirely clear, but both of those options would qualify, don’t you think? “Classified information” certainly makes it seem like there could be an outbreak of some sort that has caused all of these problems; so do mentions of “quarantine camps.”

Of course, the mysterious “Crisis” will probably get a reveal in the book as well, though we don’t expect a lot of exposition to start. Instead, there will probably be some slow hints and teases to start, giving us a chance to build our own theories.

Although we’ll have to wait until June, The Girl in Red sounds like it could be perfect for horror fans needing a change after The Walking Dead finishes its season or who can’t wait until the next American Horror Story.