Description
Award-winning author Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher, presents a terrifying tale of hidden worlds and monstrous creations... When Mouse's dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother's house, she says yes. After all, how bad could it be? Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there's more-Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather's journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants...until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself. Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors-because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they're looking for you. And if she doesn't face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale.
About the Author
T. Kingfisher is the adult fiction pseudonym of Ursula Vernon, the Hugo Award-winning author of Digger and Dragonbreath. Perhaps best known for her children's fiction, she is an author and illustrator based in North Carolina who has been nominated for the Ursa Major Award, the Eisner Awards, and has won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story for "Jackalope Wives" in 2015 and the Hugo Award for Best Novellette for "the Tomato Thief" in 2017.
Reviews
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. - Chuck Wendig, NYT bestselling author of BLACKBIRDS and WANDERERS
Innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling, T. Kingfisher isn't just breaking into the horror scene, she's breaking it down. With a hammer. - Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Mira Grant
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. - Nebula Award-winning author Alyssa Wong
A refreshing contemporary voice, classic scare-filled weirdness, and a big delightful dog for company: THE TWISTED ONES is a hugely entertaining read. - Aliya Whiteley
Smart, crackling prose, genuine chills, suspense that doesn't let up - oh, and strange things walking in the woods. This book was so gripping I practically inhaled it. Definitely one not to miss, though you may want to read it with all the lights on! - Alison Littlewood
THE TWISTED ONES combines with dread of the classic Arthur Machen tale with the poignancy of IT FOLLOWS. A sweet and shivery tale of things best left unseen by one of the genre's rising stars. - Helen Marshall
With a remarkable assured new voice, Kingfisher strides into the haunted realm of folk horror, and quite simply mic drops. - Stephen Volk, award-winning writer of GHOSTWATCH and The Dark Masters Trilogy
T. Kingfisher's take on Machen's tale is very fine indeed. Clever, gruesome, funny, and downright terrifying. THE TWISTED ONES is a refreshing twist on folk horror best read in daylight. Don't go into the woods ... no, really, just don't. - Angela Slatter
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. - Cherie Priest, author of THE FAMILY PLOT and MAPLECROFT.
Read this one with the lights on. - Kirkus Reviews
Kingfisher neatly combines modern elements into a combined folktale and horror story that is rich in atmosphere and characterization... - Publishers Weekly
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. - NPR BOOKS
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. - THE BOOK SMUGGLERS
A more than worthy homage to Arthur Machen's classic 'The White People', ... a genuinely creepy tale of supernatural horror and cosmic dread in its own right. - James Brogden
PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR
Refreshingly charming...it is the mark of a great author to bring characters to life so easily - SFF Book Reviews on BRYONY AND ROSES
There is nothing I love more than to be taken by surprise by a story that is so unexpectedly great - Kirkus Reviews on THE SEVENTH BRIDE
Darkly funny...a fast and entertaining novel - Locus Magazine on CLOCKWORK BOYS
Vernon's worldbuilding is magnificently weird - Tor.com on SWORDHEART
Book Information
ISBN 9781789093285
Author T. Kingfisher
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Titan Books Ltd
Publisher Titan Books Ltd
About the Author
T. Kingfisher is the adult fiction pseudonym of Ursula Vernon, the Hugo Award-winning author of Digger and Dragonbreath. Perhaps best known for her children's fiction, she is an author and illustrator based in North Carolina who has been nominated for the Ursa Major Award, the Eisner Awards, and has won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story for "Jackalope Wives" in 2015 and the Hugo Award for Best Novellette for "the Tomato Thief" in 2017.
Reviews
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. - Chuck Wendig, NYT bestselling author of BLACKBIRDS and WANDERERS
Innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling, T. Kingfisher isn't just breaking into the horror scene, she's breaking it down. With a hammer. - Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Mira Grant
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. - Nebula Award-winning author Alyssa Wong
A refreshing contemporary voice, classic scare-filled weirdness, and a big delightful dog for company: THE TWISTED ONES is a hugely entertaining read. - Aliya Whiteley
Smart, crackling prose, genuine chills, suspense that doesn't let up - oh, and strange things walking in the woods. This book was so gripping I practically inhaled it. Definitely one not to miss, though you may want to read it with all the lights on! - Alison Littlewood
THE TWISTED ONES combines with dread of the classic Arthur Machen tale with the poignancy of IT FOLLOWS. A sweet and shivery tale of things best left unseen by one of the genre's rising stars. - Helen Marshall
With a remarkable assured new voice, Kingfisher strides into the haunted realm of folk horror, and quite simply mic drops. - Stephen Volk, award-winning writer of GHOSTWATCH and The Dark Masters Trilogy
T. Kingfisher's take on Machen's tale is very fine indeed. Clever, gruesome, funny, and downright terrifying. THE TWISTED ONES is a refreshing twist on folk horror best read in daylight. Don't go into the woods ... no, really, just don't. - Angela Slatter
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. - Cherie Priest, author of THE FAMILY PLOT and MAPLECROFT.
Read this one with the lights on. - Kirkus Reviews
Kingfisher neatly combines modern elements into a combined folktale and horror story that is rich in atmosphere and characterization... - Publishers Weekly
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. - NPR BOOKS
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. - THE BOOK SMUGGLERS
A more than worthy homage to Arthur Machen's classic 'The White People', ... a genuinely creepy tale of supernatural horror and cosmic dread in its own right. - James Brogden
PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR
Refreshingly charming...it is the mark of a great author to bring characters to life so easily - SFF Book Reviews on BRYONY AND ROSES
There is nothing I love more than to be taken by surprise by a story that is so unexpectedly great - Kirkus Reviews on THE SEVENTH BRIDE
Darkly funny...a fast and entertaining novel - Locus Magazine on CLOCKWORK BOYS
Vernon's worldbuilding is magnificently weird - Tor.com on SWORDHEART
Book Information
ISBN 9781789093285
Author T. Kingfisher
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Titan Books Ltd
Publisher Titan Books Ltd
