Dark Is When the Devil Comes - by Daisy Pearce (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Full of creeping dread and suffocating unease, Dark Is When the Devil Comes is an atmospheric and chilling novel from Something in the Walls author Daisy Pearce.

The woods are known as the place to avoid. What goes in, doesn't come out.

Hazel has been gone from her small hometown of Idless in the English countryside for years. Now returned in the wake of a traumatic divorce and crumbling personal life, her simple plans are to lay low at her parents' vacated house, reconnect with her prickly sister Cathy, and slowly get back on her feet.

She's his captive but something has come home with her.

Cathy is surprised when Hazel doesn't show. Their relationship strained from a fallout half a decade ago, she didn't expect them to get back into a sisterly rhythm...though she hadn't counted on Hazel bailing, either.

But something isn't adding up. Other people in town whisper of a threat that can't be shaken. The woods are known for being restless. And Cathy knows the old saying.

If you go looking for trouble, you just might find it.

Praise for DARK IS WHEN THE DEVIL COMES:

"Haunting and propulsive." - Hannah Whitten

"Disorienting, unsettling, and with an eerie atmosphere that crawls beneath your skin." - Francesca May

"Dark and terrifying, an insidious tale." - Philip Fracassi

Review Quotes

Praise for Dark Is When the Devil Comes:

"Haunting and propulsive, Dark is When the Devil Comes had me reading late into the night - and jumping at every shadow." --Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of The Foxglove King and Reliquary

"Disorientating, unsettling, and with an eerie atmosphere that crawls beneath your skin and digs its claws deep, Dark is When the Devil Comes is the perfect blend of horror and thriller. Pearce's taut storytelling and shocking revelations had me breathless, and as chilled as Idless' freezing, haunted woods." --Francesca May, Sunday Times bestselling author of Wild and Wicked Things

"Daisy Pearce has taken a horrific abduction story and twisted it into something even more dark and terrifying, an insidious tale that will burrow deeper beneath your skin with each turned page before twining around your heart like blackened string. But DEVIL is also a story about family, and guilt, and the bond between two sisters fractured by a malevolent force, one that won't rest until it's torn them apart." --Philip Fracassi, USA Today bestselling author of The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre

"Pearce strikes the perfect balance between the unforgiving tightrope of tension and pacing that's so expected of a thriller, and the creeping, impermeable dread of the best horror." --Megan Bontrager, author of The Sea Hides Its Dead

"Dark is When the Devil Comes is a nail-biting mystery that keeps you guessing and gasping right to the very end! Pearce plumbs the depths of psychological torment for a truly upsetting mindf*ck: You never know what is real and what is just in your head, but always the stomach-churning assurance that things are gonna get worse at the hands of one of horror literature's most chilling psychos. I loved it!" --Bitter Karella, author of Moonflow

"An absolute banger and a total creep-fest. If you're looking for a horror story which combines thriller and supernatural ambiguity whilst being a compulsive page-turner, look no further." --Horror DNA

"Pearce uses a deft sleight of hand to ensure that many of the twists you never see coming. The tension seeps into your pores and infects you, burrowing into your brain so that you have to know what happens next. It creates the kind of fear that crawls off of the pages and into the real world, lurking in your subconscious despite knowing it isn't real. This is the kind of book you don't just read; it's the kind that devours you." --Scream Magazine

"Pearce deftly mixes some of the best ele-ments of crime and horror to deliver a narrative that will satisfy fans of both. Sign me up for whatever Pearce does next." --Locus Magazine

Praise for Something in the Walls:

"The novel is full of superb, and sustained, tension and heavy doses of folklore and eerie history, making this a fun read that is also smart and engaging. This might be Pearce's best book yet." --New York Times Book Review

"A rewarding folk thriller... What begins as a supernatural thriller gradually develops into a thoughtful meditation on grief and groupthink, with enough pathos and drama to keep the pages turning. It's a winner." --Publishers Weekly

"In this tense page-turner, Pearce weaves together folklore and horror to create a haunting suspense novel that readers will not soon forget." --Library Journal

"A taut tale that chillingly intertwines psychological and supernatural suspense." --Kirkus Reviews

"Pearce provides visceral descriptions of people and places and smells and sounds to create a world where no one can trust their senses. Readers will be left questioning which is more disturbing, the rot within or the evil of other people." --Booklist

"Pearce harnesses every sentence into a weapon... the overarching storyline is that of a classic folk horror, composed in a concise, razor-edged narrative. Pearce gives just enough to let your imagination go haywire, resulting in crushing creepiness and paranoia." --Fangoria Magazine

"A deliciously creepy and twisty chiller that fans of The Conjuring and Stephen King will love." --Bestselling author Mark Edwards

"Daisy Pearce takes readers on a haunting ride through small town folklore, unresolved trauma, and fear with shifting alliances and shocking twists that blur the line between truth and lies. Unexpected, mesmerizing, and totally original, Something in the Walls delivers breathless thriller pacing and horror vibes in a story with a deep emotional core that will keep you guessing until its wild end." --#1 International Bestselling author Darby Kane

"A harrowing and moving examination of how our ghosts never truly leave us. I'm a sucker for British folk horror, but Pearce has written something magical with the capacity of leaving me genuinely frightened. There are scenes in this book I'll never forget." --Kristi DeMeester, author of Such a Pretty Smile

"A terrific tale of cults, witch bottles, curses, witchcraft and the 'old ways.'" --Horror DNA

"The perfect dark, creepy, witchy read to keep you warm with fright this winter... creepy, emotional, complex, and incredibly atmospheric." --Horror Bound

About the Author

Daisy Pearce was born in Cornwall but currently lives in Sussex, UK. In 2015 she won the Chindi Authors Short Story Competition. Her short stories have previously been published in One Eyed Grey and performed at the Small Story Cabaret. She has also written about mental health issues for XOJane. She is the author of The Silence, The Missing, and Something in the Walls. Specialist subjects include: ghosts, poltergeists and the perfect red lipstick.