The Twisted Ones - by T Kingfisher (Paperback)

About the Book

"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 packed to the gills with useless garbage. That would be horrors enough, but there's more. Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather's journal, which at first seems to be the ravings of a broken mind. Until she encounters some of the terrifying things he described herself. Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse has to confront 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"--

Book Synopsis

Winner of the RUSA Award for Best Horror

When a young woman clears out her deceased grandmother's home in rural North Carolina, she finds long-hidden secrets about a strange colony of beings in the woods in this chilling novel that reads like The Blair Witch Project meets The Andy Griffith Show.

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.

From Hugo Award-winning author Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher, The Twisted Ones is a terrifying tale inspired by Arthur Machen's classic horror short story The White People that's bound to keep you up all night--from both fear and anticipation of what happens next.

Review Quotes

"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." --Alyssa Wong, Nebula Award-winning author

"Innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling, T. Kingfisher isn't just breaking into the horror scene, she's breaking it down. With a hammer." --Mira Grant, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author

"It lures you in...then slams the door and bites you in the dark." --Stephen King

"Kingfisher neatly combines modern elements into a combined folktale and horror story that is rich in atmosphere and characterization...disturbing. This occult thriller with heart boasts genuine scares." --Publishers Weekly

"Ominous and ingenious...chilling...keep[s] you on the edge of your seat...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...a wrenching, grotesque, charmingly eerie folk-horror yarn." --Jason Heller, NPR

"Reads so fast and so effortless that you don't realize how in thrall you are to it...This is righteous, folkloric horror, and the devil is waiting in between these pages." --Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author

About the Author

T. Kingfisher, a.k.a. Ursula Vernon, is the award-winning author of more than forty books, including Nettle & Bone, Swordheart, and What Feasts at Night. Her work has won multiple Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Dragon awards. When not cooking up weird fiction, she wanders around the garden taking photos of interesting bugs. She lives in New Mexico with her husband and his chickens.