Publishers Weekly
08/26/2019
A witty young girl and horrific creatures tangle in this atmospheric folk horror novel from Kingfisher (a pen name for Ursula Vernon). When Melissa (aka Mouse) is asked by her father to clean out her grandmother’s house, she heads to North Carolina with her coonhound, Bongo. What she finds is a hoarder’s nest. After a few days digging through junk, she unearths a rambling journal belonging to her stepgrandfather, Frederick Cotgrave, which tries to retell a fairy tale. Everything in it sounds like the ravings of a man losing his mind until bizarre creatures show up outside Mouse’s window. Her neighbor, Foxy, calls these creatures the holler people. Mouse wants nothing more to do with the house, but before she can leave, Bongo disappears, and she refuses to go home without him. Kingfisher neatly combines modern elements into a combined folktale and horror story that is rich in atmosphere and characterization (“She hadn’t just hoarded; she’d made walls and ramparts out of her possessions like she was expecting a siege”). Mouse is a down-to-earth character with a quick wit that never wavers, even when her circumstances are disturbing. This occult thriller with heart boasts genuine scares. Agent: Helen Breitweiser, Cornerstone Literary. (Oct.)
The Book Smugglers
My favourite thing about the novel...is the unpredictability of how the story progresses, the subversion of the most common horror tropes. Fear not, we know from early on, given the framing narrative, that the dog survives.
Chicago Review of Books
"A fresh spin on traditional [southern] gothic elements.
KB Spangler
It’s Wes Craven meets L. Frank Baum, or Narnia for those of us who thought Narnia smiled without showing enough of its teeth.
Jeffrey Ford
"A dark fairy tale adventure for contemporary readers. Mouse is a great character and the journey is enchanting in the best way – full of terror and humor and friendship.
Cherie Priest
"The Twisted Ones is a weird, shimmering story told with sharpness and grace - somehow both wild fairy tale and quiet, personal horror in equal measure. It's a strange and lovely balance, expertly crafted for daytime laughter or nighttime trembles."
NPR Books - Jason Heller
Laden with cosmic fright, The Twisted Ones connects the foreboding of ancient folklore with the horrors of modern life. But it does so with a sharp, witty voice and a compelling first-person protagonist who finds herself precariously straddling worlds she never knew existed.
on THE SEVENTH BRIDE SF Bluestocking
She knows her genre and audience well enough to perfectly walk the line between comfortingly familiar and delightfully fresh and subversive.
Nebula Award-winning author Alyssa Wong
"A deliciously horrifying read. I adored it. In turns deeply human and uncanny, The Twisted Ones reads like the world's most terrifying episode of Hoarders. Don't sleep on it. In fact, be prepared to never sleep again."
on THE SEVENTH BRIDE NPR Books
"...has [Peter S.] Beagle’s knack for creating colorful, instantly memorable characters, and inhuman creatures capable of inspiring awe and wonder."
From the Publisher
A Library Journal Best Horror Book of 2019
Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Mira Grant
"Innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling, T. Kingfisher isn't just breaking into the horror scene, she's breaking it down. With a hammer."
Nathan Ballingrud
"By turns warm, witty, and frightening, with a charming protagonist, a diverse and vibrant supporting cast, and — best of all — a noble, dimwitted dog. Fair warning: there is a razor in the center of this confection, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I won't be forgetting grandmother's house anytime soon."
Chuck Wendig
Reads so fast and so effortless that you don’t realize how in thrall you are to it. It’s the sensation of being a little kid who stayed out too long past dinner and sure, you were having fun, but now it’s a moonless night and the forest is dark and you are hopelessly lost. This is righteous, folkloric horror, and the devil is waiting in between these pages.
Kirkus Reviews
2019-07-15
A woman realizes she's not alone while cleaning out her late grandmother's remote North Carolina home.
Freelance book editor Melissa, aka "Mouse," can't say no to her father when he asks her to clear out her grandmother's house. Unfortunately, the house, which has been locked up for two years, is a hoarder's paradise, but Mouse digs in with her beloved coonhound, Bongo, at her side. One day bleeds into another as she hauls junk to the nearby dump and makes friends with her kind and quirky neighbors, Foxy, Tomas, and Skip. When she finds a journal belonging to her stepgrandfather Frederick Cotgrave, things get creepy. The prose sounds like the ravings of a man unhappy in his marriage to a woman who wasn't a very nice person, but the mention of something called the Green Book is intriguing, and the line "I twisted myself about like the twisted ones" gives Mouse the chills. While walking Bongo in the woods, Mouse stumbles on a strange gathering of stones on top of a hill that shouldn't exist. After discovering a gruesome deer effigy hanging in the woods, Mouse confides in Foxy, who tells a few strange tales of her own. Something is lurking just outside Mouse's house, and that effigy isn't of this world, but just when she's ready to leave, Bongo disappears. And Mouse isn't going anywhere without Bongo. Kingfisher effortlessly entwines an atmospheric and spooky "deep dark woods" tale with ancient folklore and pulls off more than a few very effective scares. Mouse is a highly relatable and frequently funny narrator who is also refreshingly willing to believe her own eyes. The charming supporting cast is a bonus, especially the glamorous, 60-something Foxy, who goes above and beyond the call of duty to help Mouse when she needs it most.
Read this one with the lights on.
