After her hoarder step-grandmother dies, Melissa, known as Mouse, travels to rural North Carolina to clear out a house overflowing with refuse. Accompanied by her dog, Bongo, she discovers a hidden journal belonging to her late step-grandfather. The entries describe a supernatural threat hidden in the surrounding woods, involving entities termed "the twisted ones" and a ritualistic rhyme. As Mouse encounters distorted, bone-like creatures that defy biological logic, she must navigate local folklore and an overlapping reality to survive the forest’s inhabitants.
Readers of folk horror and weird fiction choose this book for its balance of visceral dread and pragmatic humor. Those who appreciate the uncanny atmosphere of Arthur Machen’s stories find a modern adaptation of his concepts here. The narrative provides a study in how isolation and family history intersect with cosmic horror. A reader finishes the story with a specific lingering anxiety regarding the geometry of the natural world and the realization that some household spaces harbor architectural anomalies.
Clear-cut and escapist; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2019
- Language
- EN
