by Kat Dunn
First published 2025
Lenore watches her ten-year marriage to steel magnate Henry crumble as they move from London to Sheffield. No children have come, and Henry's business consumes him. His success depends on an upcoming hunt, an old tradition where human targets are fair game if they're foolish enough to become prey. A carriage accident near their remote home brings Carmilla into Lenore's world. This pale stranger grows weak during daylight but comes alive at night. She refuses family meals and awakens something ravenous in Lenore. Village girls start falling ill, overtaken by an insatiable hunger that devours them. As the hunt approaches and the sickness spreads, Lenore must confront what Carmilla has stirred within her. Set in the brutal landscape of the Peaks during the industrial revolution, this story explores the collision between desire and destruction.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, horror, dark-fantasy, 19th-century, gothic
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, gothic, haunting, psychological, sensual
Tropes: body-horror, forbidden-desire, gothic-atmosphere, supernatural-seduction
Setting: London, Sheffield, Peak District
Period: Industrial Revolution, 19th century
336 pages · Paperback · Zando
Content warnings: body-horror, death, violence