ATRIA BOOKS AUSTRALIA ACQUIRES DEBUT HORROR ROMANCE IN MAJOR PRE-EMPT

Atria Books Australia is excited to announce the acquisition of debut horror romance novel How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson. Anthea Bariamis pre-empted World English rights for two books with Molly Gregory at Gallery Books and Molly Crawford at Simon & Schuster UK. The deal was brokered by Hana El Niwairi at CookeMcDermid.

How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates is Thompson’s debut horror romance in which a young woman gets caught in the middle of a killing spree by a masked, lovesick murderer at a speed-dating event and must find a way to use her encyclopedic knowledge of the horror genre to make it as a real-life Final Girl.

Jamie Prescott knows that all is fair in love and gore; she knows declarations of love are best said in the rain and that you never run up the stairs when being chased by a knife-wielding killer. So when she and her best friend, Laurie, attend a speed-dating event, she doesn’t expect to meet two eligible bachelors, and she certainly doesn’t expect another one of her dates to have his throat slit at the table during a blackout near the end of the event. When the lights come back on and there are more bodies on the floor, it becomes clear that dating can be a very dangerous pastime. And Jamie embarks on a journey to discover that there isn’t much difference between a Final Girl and a Leading Lady … they both get their man in the end.

With the humour and sexual tension of an Ali Hazelwood novel, and the gore and anxiety-inducing close calls of the latest Scream instalment, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates is a genre-blending novel, equally chockful of the most delightful rom-com tropes and classic hair-raising slasher/horror ones.

Given the incredible enthusiasm for this novel, and significant global interest from publishers across all major territories, Atria is delighted to have been successful in pre-empting publication rights. Publisher Anthea Bariamis says, ‘You know you’re onto something special when, within one day of submission, you’ve devoured the entire book – and you’re not the only one! It’s fair to say that the entire S&S editorial team has been obsessed with How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates since day one, with one editor calling it the best submission they’ve ever read. And I concur – this novel is completely brilliant in so many ways, and I feel so lucky and honoured to work with Shailee on bringing it to readers everywhere. I’m still pinching myself!’

Author Shailee Thompson is also delighted by the deal, commenting, ‘I am beyond thrilled that my debut novel has found its perfect match with Simon & Schuster. Writing a story with equal parts gore, romance, humour and heart turned out to be some of the most fun I’ve had as a writer. I’m so grateful to be working with Anthea, Molly C, Molly G and their incredible teams to bring all the gratuitous violence and grand romantic gestures – not to mention more film references than you can shake a machete at – to readers around the world.’

Shailee’s agent Hana El Niwairi adds, ‘Before I read a single word of How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, I knew Shailee Thompson was going to be a name to watch, so imagine my delight when I got to experience this diabolically fun novel! Shailee creates something magical out of these two beloved genres (slashers and rom-coms) and I am so glad we found an enthusiastic partner in Simon & Schuster to bring How To Kill a Guy in Ten Dates into the world.’

Shailee Thompson is an educator and writer based in Brisbane/Meanjin, Australia. In 2023, she was one of twenty-five writers in Australia longlisted for the Queensland Writers Centre Publishable program. Shailee’s writing foregrounds women with smart mouths, soft hearts and strong wills going up against extraordinary odds. You can find her on Instagram @shaileewrites.

How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates will be published by Atria Books Australia in February 2026.

Photo credit: Britt Spring