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Perfect for fans of The Shining and Longlegs, bestselling author CJ Leede’s Headlights is a pulse-pounding hunt across the frozen wilderness of Colorado.

Body horror, cannibalism, domestic abuse.

Every instinct tells him to run. Every memory tells him he can’t.

Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is ready for a change. Burnt out and defeated by the job, it’s his last day with the FBI. But before he can turn in his badge, he’s summoned back to Denver, the city he ran from four years ago, with a chilling message: it’s happening again.

Seemingly innocent people are waking up on the side of the highway, with no memory of how they got there, wearing the skin of victims they’ve allegedly never met. And they each share one haunting detail: a strand of a stranger’s hair is tied around their tongue.

Now Daniel is pulled back into the gruesome cycle, and every clue leads him deeper into the shadows of his own past. He will have to confront the ghosts of his traumatic childhood and face what’s been hunting him all along— before he and the people he loves become the next victims.

Don't just take our word for it...

“CJ Leede’s Headlights is instantly seminal. A dazzling juggling of horror without camp; wit without loss of dread; pace without hurry; and most of all, the worldview and empathy of the author. You’re gonna have a hard time finding a more thrilling or moving book this year.”
– Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Incidents Around the House

“Fascinating villains and a rich mythos… Blending frights, folklore, and an exploration of the lifelong effects of trauma, this will be good fun for horror fans.”
– Publishers Weekly

Taste the very first page

“Is it the Bad Decision?”

I hear Mom’s question, but it takes me a second to tear my eyes away from the screen.

She stands in the dressing area. The too-bright mirror bulb lighting her from the back. She’s brushing her hair. The mirror behind her is clean the way she likes it, and the door to the bathroom is open with the light on and the shower curtain pulled back. It’s the only part of our room that isn’t orange and yellow—white shower, white curtain, white toilet and floor. Mom says the curtain is off-white. I can’t tell the difference.

I don’t want to leave, but she says it’s almost time. I nod my head to answer her question.

“Are we going now?” I ask. We haven’t packed yet, but she has her makeup on.

“Don’t you worry, we’ll have dinner first, then I’ll get us ready.”

I’m cross-legged on the orange and yellow carpet, two feet from the television screen, wearing my socks and long johns. My favorite movie is on, Take Me Home, the John Denver story. My mom loves it too. Right now, John Denver— not real John Denver but the actor named Chad Lowe who plays him— goes off with the girl at the party on tour. That’s the Bad Decision.

“Why is it bad again?” I ask, even though I know why.

She smiles, says for the hundredth time, “A Bad Decision is one that you regret making, and one that takes you away from what really makes you happy. A Bad Decision is when you betray yourself for what you think will make you happy even if you know deep down it won’t.”

Happy.

We’ve lived at the Happy Inn for the last six months. We had to try a couple rooms before we found one that didn’t give me a Bad Feeling, that didn’t have shadows in it. She said that was okay, that my Bad Feelings are important to listen to. She says some people have special antennas that pick up special signals, and she knew since I was little that I’m one of them.

At first the clowns on the sign and in the office scared me, and I didn’t like the bright yellow and orange carpet and blankets in our room, but I like the sunrise paintings, and I like the VHS player my mom bought us so I can watch my favorite movies. I like the way she hums and sings along to all the songs in Take Me Home while I watch, and the way she ruffles my hair when she walks by to show me she loves me more than anything.

I like that he hasn’t come.

June 2026