At Lucasfilm Publishing’s New York Comic Con panel last October, the company announced several upcoming Star Wars books scheduled for release in 2026. The space opera franchise is dipping its toe into other genres with author Ashley Poston’s young-adult romance, Eyes Like Stars. However, Lucasfilm Publishing isn’t stopping there. Enter Kiersten White’s horror novel, Hiding From The Dark.
White, a New York Times bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-winning author, has written numerous horror and horror-related novels, with my personal favorites being The Fox and The Devil and Lucy Undying. White has also contributed to several Star Wars projects, including Padawan, which delves into Obi-Wan Kenobi’s teenage years and his training under Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn, as well as the short story “Eyes of the Empire” included in the 2020 anthology From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back.
This time, however, White is bringing her horror chops to a galaxy far, far away. Check out Hiding From The Dark’s official front cover, as well as the book’s synopsis, below:
Official synopsis:
When Bia’s mother, a supply coordination specialist for the Empire, is gone too long on a business trip without checking in, Bia tries to reach her using their secret communicator. Instead, strange men show up at her door and grill her about her mother’s whereabouts. But that’s nothing compared to what follows them in: a tall looming shadow blacker than the darkness, with two shiny, lifeless eyes, mechanical breathing, and powers unlike anything she’s ever seen.
Bia manages to escape and goes to an old friend, Nerik, for help. They discover that Bia’s mother has been secretly helping the Rebellion, and the Empire will stop at nothing to find her. Bia will need to summon a bravery she has never known in order to elude the Empire and their monster from the dark, the living nightmare known as… Darth Vader.
In an exclusive news release shared with Polygon, Michael Siglain, creative director of Lucasfilm Publishing, explained that the new genre initiative will take a new approach to telling Star Wars stories. “Lucasfilm Publishing and our partners are taking the various genre building blocks of Star Wars — fantasy stories, samurai stories, war stories, etc — and are focusing on those elements in very specific and deliberate ways,” Siglain said. “These are genre stories first, Star Wars stories second, and we hope that these will appeal to both Star Wars fans and genre fans.”
Darth Vader being portrayed as a terrifying figure isn’t new — he’s the Empire’s boogeyman for a reason — but with Bia and Nerik seemingly so young, Vader’s role in Hiding From The Dark has a Michael Myers-esque vibe that fits right into White’s previous terrifying, nail-biting stories.
White explained his fascination with Vader in the news release. “Darth Vader was the looming nightmare figure of my childhood, so when I was asked if I wanted to scare children with him, my answer was a resounding yes,” White said. “Well, that’s a lie. It was a sustained, fiendish cackle, and then a yes. I could not be more excited about the new genre-specific Star Wars stories coming, and I could not be more honored to be writing terrifying tales in a galaxy far, far away.”
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