Alexis Henderson Books in Order

Alexis Henderson grew up in Savannah, Georgia, a city with a long memory for ghost stories, old houses, and things that go bump in the night. She has said that growing up there gave her a lasting love of gothic horror, and that early fascination still runs through her work.

She was homeschooled from first grade through the end of high school, so she learned early how to structure her own days. That quiet, self-directed rhythm seems to have carried into her writing life. Long before publication, she was already building stories, chasing ideas, and figuring out how to turn atmosphere into plot.

Finishing those stories, though, was harder than starting them.

In interviews, Henderson has described a real turning point, teaching herself not to abandon a draft the moment a newer, shinier idea appeared. She set rules for herself and learned how to push through the middle of a manuscript and reach the end. It is such a simple thing on paper, but for many writers it is the whole game, and for her it seems to have changed everything.

Before writing full time, she taught English as a second language remotely. She has also talked about how much mood matters to her process. She builds playlists, listens to movie scores, and even connects certain teas to certain projects. That tracks. Her novels do not feel randomly dark. They feel carefully steeped, like every detail has been left to grow stronger overnight.

Her debut, The Year of the Witching, introduced many readers to that approach. Set in the harsh world of Bethel, it follows Immanuelle Moore as she uncovers buried truths about her family, her faith, and the system controlling her life. The book helped put Henderson on the map, and both The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger later became Goodreads Choice Awards finalists, a plain sign that readers were showing up for her work.

She did not repeat herself after that. House of Hunger turns toward gothic horror, blood, class, and desire, following Marion Shaw into a world where nobles feed on the people who serve them. An Academy for Liars takes dark academia into a secret pocket of Savannah, with magic that can bend minds and matter. When I Was Death moves into young adult fiction, where grief, sisterhood, and Death himself shape the story. Different shelves, same sharp instincts.

She likes pressure.

Across Henderson’s books, the recurring threads are easy to spot. She writes about power, hunger, secrecy, belief, and the damage done by rigid systems. Her protagonists are often young women trying to understand what has been hidden from them, and what it will cost to fight back. Even when the setting is invented, the fear feels recognizable, because it grows out of control, shame, loss, and the need to survive.

Outside the books, a few small details make the picture clearer. She has had black cats all her life, collects editions and translations of Dante’s Inferno, and in her author bios she often sounds happiest with cats nearby and tea close at hand. That mix, literary, spooky, a little cozy, fits the work well.