This is not about Alien Abduction, do not let people tell you otherwise. ( )

Good fun. Terrific woodsy setting, great voice, extra spooky moments. I kind of got lost in the mythology at various points, which I guess means I should probably read Machen eventually? Still a super enjoyable autumn horror read. ( )

That was exactly what I needed to get out of my reading slump. The perfect combo of skin-crawling horror and skillfully-placed comic relief. Also... The dog!!! Full review to come. ( )

And I twisted myself like the twisted ones
And I lay on the ground like the dead ones...

It was so compelling I finished it in a few days! A very scary yet unique tale based on a remembrance of another gothic folk tale, I think?

I love that they didn't use the "kill the beloved dog to instill more horror" trope and that the doggie does survive. No hate for the main character, but sometimes Bongo is the best part due to comic relief /the most suspenseful part because you are so worried for their wellbeing.

T. Kingfisher knocks another one out of the park for me. If you love folk/weird horror check this out! ( )

Well, I'll never look at hoarding the same way after reading The Twisted Ones, I'll tell you that much.

"Then I made faces like the faces on the rocks, and I twisted myself about like the twisted ones, and I lay down flat on the ground like the dead ones." This is a line from the "The White People" by Arthur Machen, a 1904 short story that H. P. Lovecraft considered one of the greatest horror tales ever written (and could serve as lyrics to a Wolves in The Throne Rooms tune). The title of T. Kingfisher's horror novel appears in that quote. This is no accident. The Twisted Ones ties itself to Machen's legendary story on purpose. The Twisted Ones is a story within a story.

The Twisted Ones, written by T. Kingfisher, has a deceptively simple premise. It is about a woman realizing she’s not alone while cleaning out her late grandmother’s remote North Carolina home. Melissa, a freelance editor who goes by the nickname Mouse, arrives in rural North Carolina to put her late grandmother's house in order. Sadly, it is a hoarder’s paradise, but Mouse digs in with her beloved coonhound, Bongo, at her side. One day Mouse comes across a notebook that belonged to her deceased step-grandfather, a quiet man named Frederick Cotgrave whom Mouse never particularly bonded with when she was growing up. She becomes fascinated with him, however, as she reads deeper into the notebook. In its pages, a mystery begins to unfold, even as odd people and even odder apparitions start to converge on Mouse as if she were a magnet. And then while walking Bongo in the woods, Mouse stumbles on a strange gathering of stones on top of a hill that shouldn’t exist. After discovering a gruesome deer effigy hanging in the woods, Mouse confides in her neighbor Foxy. Something is lurking just outside Mouse's house, and that effigy isn't of this world, but just when she’s ready to skip town, Bongo disappears. Things only get creepier (and stranger) from there.

The Twisted Ones is deeply unsettling and atmospheric but it is balanced with moments of levity and lightness. It features a creepy, abandoned house with a room full of dolls, creepy woods, and a strange gathering of stones on a hilltop. Yes. But T. Kingfisher's characters provide relief. Mouse is a highly relatable and frequently funny narrator who seems like a real thirty-something woman. Another source of both comfort and comic relief is Mouse’s hound Bongo. He’s a dedicated companion, loyal and loving, like the best dogs are. And Foxy, Mouse's sixty-something nearby neighbor is a hoot.

The Twisted Ones is an inventive horror novel that takes “The White People” as its launching point and creates a modern-day spin on it. Kingfisher had some fun with the “found manuscript” trope, and part of that was making Mouse a freelance editor. When she finds and reads through her step-grandfather’s manuscript, the editor in her can’t help but make comments. This made for amusing reading.

This would be a great book to give to a reluctant horror reader. It has just enough scares but its not excessive. Sure there are horrors unique and grotesque, visceral and terrifying: decaying skeleton monsters that patrol the woods; a deer carcass, twisted and vivisected; an effigy made out of Mouse's grandmother's junk. But the prose is lyrical and Mouse is so humorous, it often takes the edge of the horror.

With that being said, you still might find yourself locking all your doors and keeping all your lights on. ( )