“Shades of Flatliners and addiction drama pepper this tale.” USA Today
An Esquire Magazine Best Books of the Year PickA USA Today Pick of 10 Horror Books for HalloweenA Vulture.com Pick of Best Horror Novels of 2022A Richmond Times-Dispatch Best Book for HalloweenA Tor Nightfire Pick of Horror BooksA Literary Hub Pick of Best Books of the SeasonAn AARP Magazine Editors’ Pick of Spooky ReadsA Locus Magazine Pick of New BooksA Publishers Weekly Pick of Fall SF, Fantasy & Horror Books A Gizmodo Pick of Horror Books of the MonthA BookTrib Pick of the Month's Best Horror BooksA LibraryReads PickA Den of Geek Pick of the MonthA Geeks of Doom Pick of Halloween ReadsA BookRiot Pick of Best Books Out This WeekA September 2022 LibraryReads PickAn Indie Next List Pick of the MonthA CrimeReads Pick of Most Anticipated Books for FallSee All +
A terrifying supernatural page-turner that explores ghosts, grief, and god complexes
Ever since their on-again, off-again college romance, Erin hasn’t been able to set a single boundary with charismatic but reckless Silas, who has been chasing the next big high since graduation. When he texts her to spring him out of rehab, she knows enough is enough. She is ready to start a career, make new friends, and meet a great guy—even if that means cutting Silas off. But when Silas turns up dead from an overdose, Erin’s world falls apart.
When Erin learns that Silas discovered a drug that allowed him to see the dead, she doesn’t believe it’s real but agrees to a pill-popping “séance” to ease her guilt and pain. When she steps back into the real world, she starts to see ghosts everywhere from her Southern hometown’s bloody and brutal past. Are the effects pharmacological or something more sinister? And will Erin be able to shut the Pandora’s box of horrors she has opened?
With propulsive momentum, bone-chilling scares, and dark meditations on the weight of history, this Southern horror will make you think twice about opening doors to the unknown.
Praise
“Shades of Flatliners and addiction drama pepper this tale.” USA Today
"A nostalgia trip to the laste-’90s indie-nihilism of Fight Club and Donnie Darko, in a story about addiction and mushrooms that let you see the dead.” Esquire
“Elisabeth Rodgers’….performance is slow and ominous as it layers in scares and meditations on addiction…The story itself is unsettling, and Rodgers’s performance is compelling.” AudioFile
“This book is as good as modern horror gets.” John Hornor Jacobs, author of A Lush and Seething Hell
“A Gothic-punk graveyard tale…An addicting read that draws you into its descent from the first page.” Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author
“Reads like a scared straight program that horrifies you into choosing life.” Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author
“A nonstop thrill ride, all you can do is strap in and prepare to be haunted.” Richard Chizmar, New York Times bestselling author
“Weaves hair-raising, goosebump-inducing horror through a sharp exploration of loss, addiction, and grim history. Haunting guaranteed.” Rachel Harrison, author of The Return
“A dash of humor, real-life demons, complex characters, a heavy dose of the supernatural, and the kind of ending you never forget. This is high-grade horror.” Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home
“[An] excellent horror novel.” Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune
“[A] thrill ride of ghosts, grief, and god complexes explored through a Southern Gothic lens.” Rue Morgue
“A keenly observant narrative that, with a mix of body horror and just plain horror, plucks at the raw nerves of the grieving process.” Sci Fi Magazine
“A legitimately terrifying ghost story and also a thoughtful and smart (if grim) exploration of how addiction destroys lives.” Vulture
“Fans of body horror will rejoice as Chapman leads readers through a trippy world.” BookRiot
“Chapman has created an experience so anxiety inducing, immersive, and intense that readers will feel like something is actually there, lurking over their shoulder as they turn the pages.” Booklist (starred review)
“A high anxiety, utterly original, and compelling contemplation of what it means to be haunted.” Library Journal
“Probes the terrorizing psychological grip of addiction, both to drugs and to toxic relationships…The narrative sucks readers into its dark, disorienting world.” Publishers Weekly
Clay McLeod Chapman writes novels, comic books, and children’s books, as well as for film and television. He is the author of the horror novels The Remaking, Whisper Down the Lane, and Ghost Eaters, among others. He was named by Esquire magazine in 2023 as one of the authors shaping horror’s next golden age. He also co-wrote Quiet Part Loud, a horror podcast produced by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw for Spotify. Visit him at claymcleodchapman.com.
Elisabeth Rodgers is an actress and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. After graduating from Princeton University, she completed a two-year program at William Esper Studio, where she studied with Maggie Flanigan. Her audiobook narration training came from Robin Miles, who has also directed her in several productions. She has recorded dozens of books for a multitude of publishers.
Overview
An Esquire Magazine Best Books of the Year PickA USA Today Pick of 10 Horror Books for HalloweenA Vulture.com Pick of Best Horror Novels of 2022A Richmond Times-Dispatch Best Book for HalloweenA Tor Nightfire Pick of Horror BooksA Literary Hub Pick of Best Books of the SeasonAn AARP Magazine Editors’ Pick of Spooky ReadsA Locus Magazine Pick of New BooksA Publishers Weekly Pick of Fall SF, Fantasy & Horror Books A Gizmodo Pick of Horror Books of the MonthA BookTrib Pick of the Month's Best Horror BooksA LibraryReads PickA Den of Geek Pick of the MonthA Geeks of Doom Pick of Halloween ReadsA BookRiot Pick of Best Books Out This WeekA September 2022 LibraryReads PickAn Indie Next List Pick of the MonthA CrimeReads Pick of Most Anticipated Books for FallSee All +
A terrifying supernatural page-turner that explores ghosts, grief, and god complexes
Ever since their on-again, off-again college romance, Erin hasn’t been able to set a single boundary with charismatic but reckless Silas, who has been chasing the next big high since graduation. When he texts her to spring him out of rehab, she knows enough is enough. She is ready to start a career, make new friends, and meet a great guy—even if that means cutting Silas off. But when Silas turns up dead from an overdose, Erin’s world falls apart.
When Erin learns that Silas discovered a drug that allowed him to see the dead, she doesn’t believe it’s real but agrees to a pill-popping “séance” to ease her guilt and pain. When she steps back into the real world, she starts to see ghosts everywhere from her Southern hometown’s bloody and brutal past. Are the effects pharmacological or something more sinister? And will Erin be able to shut the Pandora’s box of horrors she has opened?
With propulsive momentum, bone-chilling scares, and dark meditations on the weight of history, this Southern horror will make you think twice about opening doors to the unknown.