Hiding From The Dark Brings Star Wars Horror To 2026

Hiding From The Dark, Kiersten White’s new Star Wars horror novel, is part of Lucasfilm Publishing’s genre push for Lucasfilm Publishing and is scheduled for release in 2026. Lucasfilm revealed the book at its New York Comic Con panel last October, alongside several other upcoming Star Wars books. That matters because this isn’t just another tie-in novel; it’s Lucasfilm testing how far Star Wars can stretch when it stops acting like pure space opera and starts leaning hard into horror.

White is a New York Times bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-winning author, and Lucasfilm Publishing says she’s bringing that horror background to a galaxy far, far away. The book follows Bia, her mother, Nerik, and Darth Vader, with the official synopsis framing Vader as “the living nightmare known as... Darth Vader.” Readers who’ve wanted Star Wars to get properly unsettling finally have a book built for that mood, not just a dark coat of paint.

About Hiding From The Dark

Lucasfilm Publishing announced Hiding From The Dark during its New York Comic Con panel last October, where it also laid out several upcoming Star Wars books for 2026. The same slate included Ashley Poston’s young-adult romance, Eyes Like Stars, which shows Lucasfilm’s new genre initiative reaching beyond the usual adventure template. Michael Siglain, creative director of Lucasfilm Publishing, said the company and its partners are focusing on “the various genre building blocks of Star Wars — fantasy stories, samurai stories, war stories, etc” in “very specific and deliberate ways.”

Siglain added, “These are genre stories first, Star Wars stories second, and we hope that these will appeal to both Star Wars fans and genre fans.” That’s a smart framing, because it tells readers exactly what Lucasfilm wants here: books that work as genre fiction on their own terms, not just lore delivery systems. For players and readers who’ve bounced off the safer corners of licensed fiction, that approach could make Star Wars books feel a lot less predictable.

Bia, Nerik, and Darth Vader

The official synopsis gives Hiding From The Dark a clear horror setup. Bia’s mother, who works as a supply coordination specialist for the Empire, stays away too long on a business trip and doesn’t check in, so Bia tries to contact her with their secret communicator. Then strange men arrive at the door and press Bia about her mother’s whereabouts, which immediately turns a family problem into a threat that feels personal and invasive.

The situation gets worse fast. The synopsis says a “tall looming shadow blacker than the darkness” follows those men in, complete with “two shiny, lifeless eyes, mechanical breathing, and powers unlike anything she’s ever seen.” Bia escapes to her old friend Nerik, and together they learn that Bia’s mother has been secretly helping the Rebellion, while the Empire will stop at nothing to find her. That setup gives the story real stakes: Bia isn’t just running from Vader, she’s caught in the fallout of a hidden act of resistance.

Here, Vader isn’t just a villain in the background. He becomes the “monster from the dark,” and the source even says his role has a Michael Myers-esque vibe. That comparison matters because it signals a very specific kind of fear: slow, relentless pursuit rather than flashy Force duels. White also brings Vader’s menace into focus with her own reaction to the character, which makes the horror angle feel less like marketing and more like the whole point.

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.

White said, “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,” before adding, “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.” That quote tells you exactly how she’s approaching the book: with enthusiasm for the fear factor, not embarrassment about it.

What This Means for Star Wars Readers

This feels like a meaningful move for Lucasfilm Publishing. Star Wars has always borrowed from different genres, but Siglain’s comments suggest the publisher now wants to make those influences the selling point instead of hiding them under a generic adventure label. If Hiding From The Dark lands, it could give Lucasfilm a cleaner way to market Star Wars books to readers who want horror, romance, or war fiction first and franchise branding second.

For this book specifically, the setup is strong because it keeps the horror personal. Bia’s secret communicator, Nerik’s help, and her mother’s hidden Rebel ties all give the story a human shape before Vader turns it into a nightmare. That’s the right call. A horror story in Star Wars only works if the fear feels immediate, and this one has a child, a missing parent, and the Empire closing in from the start.

Lucasfilm Publishing has not announced a release date more specific than 2026, so readers will need to wait for a firmer launch plan. Until then, Hiding From The Dark looks like one of the more interesting experiments in the publisher’s upcoming slate, especially for anyone who wants Star Wars to feel a little less safe and a lot more frightening.