by Kyle Winkler
First published 2026
Cole and Lorraine playtest board games to earn money for their future home. After signing an unusual nondisclosure agreement, they discover a mysterious tabletop role-playing game called The Ship of Death waiting on their doorstep. The indie developer's creation demands heavy use of imagination and gradually consumes more space in their kitchen and their thoughts. Strange coincidences multiply around them as the game's malevolent nature emerges. The boundaries between gameplay and real life start to crumble. Other people fall under the game's influence, expanding its web of control. Eventually, Cole and Lorraine receive instructions to possess a stranger's soul. The story unfolds through game reports, emails, forum discussions, personal journals, and police documents. Each piece of evidence reveals how deeply the supernatural forces have penetrated their ordinary lives.
Genres: horror, supernatural, adult-fiction, thriller, dark-fantasy, psychological-horror
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, eerie, suspenseful, thought-provoking, unsettling
Tropes: corrupting-influence, escalating-stakes, reality-blurs-with-fiction, unreliable-reality
Period: 21st-century
256 pages · Paperback · Avon a
Content warnings: death