Breathe In, Bleed Out
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INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER
"Brian McAuley keeps you guessing the whole gory, satisfying way through this one. Come to this retreat for the blood. Stay for the healing."
—Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of I Was a Teenage Slasher
It's a Midsommar night's Scream in this blood-soaked thriller set at a remote healing retreat from horror author Brian McAuley.
Hannah has been running from her demons ever since she emerged from a harrowing wilderness trip without her fiancé. No one knows exactly what happened the day Ben died, and Hannah would like to keep it that way... even if his ghost still haunts her with vivid waking nightmares that are ruining her life. So when her friend group gets an exclusive invitation to a restorative spiritual retreat in Joshua Tree, Hannah reluctantly agrees in search of a fresh start.
Despite her skepticism of the strange Guru Pax and his belief in the supernatural world, Hannah soon finds healing through all the yoga, sound baths, and hot springs offered at the tech-free haven. But this peaceful journey of self-discovery quickly descends into a violent fight for self-preservation when a mysterious killer starts picking off retreat attendees in increasingly gruesome ways. As the body count rises and Hannah's sanity frays, she'll have to confront her dark past and uncover the true nature of a ruthless monster hellbent on killing her vibe for good.
Praise for Breathe In, Bleed Out
"A must-read for slasher fans, McAuley’s latest is an adrenaline-filled ride." — Library Journal
PASTE MAGAZINE MOST ANTICIPATED HORROR OF FALL 2025
"For fans of slasher flicks with a touch of satirical wit and a sense of fun amid the bloodbath, Breathe In, Bleed Out offers an entertaining escape that will have readers rethinking the yoga prop." — Shelf Awareness
"In superb Final Girl form, the retreat attendees get picked off one at a time, in entertainingly gruesome ways… McAuley demonstrates once again his flair for cinematic suspense with humor and splatter."
— First Clue
"Slashers aren’t whodunnits, they’re who’s doing it, and Brian McAuley keeps you guessing the whole gory, satisfying way through this one. Come to this retreat for the blood. Stay for the healing." —Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of I Was a Teenage Slasher
"It's no stretch to say Brian McAuley is our crown prince of slasher literature - but hold onto your sit bones because, with the cutting and sardonic BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT, he's become an artisanal asana assassin. These ain't the hot springs you're about to dip into; it's a bloodbath." —Nat Cassidy, author of When the Wolf Comes Home
"I found my bliss in Breathe In, Bleed Out's bloodshed and you can, too. Brian McAuley will forever be my slasher sage, my guru of all things gruesome, my purveyor of tantric panic, my phobic yogi. He brings such a joie de vivre to his holistic homicides, you can practically feel the back spatter splatter off the page." —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
"BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT is a propulsive, nasty little new age nightmare that turns the desert inside out so we can read the bloody entrails. You’ll never feel the same way about heading out to Joshua Tree for the weekend." —Liz Kerin, author of Night's Edge
"I absolutely inhaled this holistic horror hack-em-up. Brian McAuley knows how to twist the knife and have us scream for more. This is sharp, witty, compulsive slasher storytelling at its finest. Check in and bliss out." —Josh Winning, author of Heads Will Roll
"Breathe In, Bleed Out is a breath of fresh air for the slasher genre—classic kills combined with a cheeky new age spiritual journey makes McAuley’s newest entry a blast from start to finish. This novel goes straight for the chakra with a bloody blade, and you’ll be putting together the pieces of this whodunit slay-fest until the last page. Great stuff." —Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley
"Brian McAuley has done something remarkable with his new slasher horror novel. With one fell swoop, or in this case, one plunging stab, he’s skewered the increasingly toxic world of wellness culture, reinvented the slasher setting for a post White Lotus world, and created the most terrifying killer since Freddy donned a glove." — Macabre Daily
