Books › The hike
The hike
410 pages
A profane, hallucinatory fever dream of a midlife crisis that hides a devastatingly beautiful core.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like being trapped inside a bizarre, punishing video game designed by a madman, only to realize the game is a profound metaphor for the relentless march of time. The narrative moves with a propulsive, almost frantic energy, dragging you alongside a deeply relatable, foul-mouthed protagonist who just wants to get back to his family. It is a masterclass in tonal whiplash, seamlessly pivoting from grotesque body horror and absurd, laugh-out-loud encounters to moments of staggering emotional weight. The prose is sharp, unpretentious, and highly conversational, grounding the surreal nightmare in everyday reality. It will absolutely delight fans of weird fiction who appreciate a story that is as unapologetically weird as it is surprisingly, devastatingly tender.
- Mood
- fever-dreamish
- bizarre
- claustrophobic
- hallucinatory
- Tone
- irreverent
- darkly comedic
- profane
- surreal
- surprisingly tender
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- midlife crisis · the relentless passage of time · suburban ennui · devotion to family · absurdity of existence
- The writing
- Punchy, conversational, and laced with creative profanity, grounding the utterly bizarre fantasy elements in a relatable, modern voice.
- The arc
- Begins as a frustrating, darkly comic nightmare of survival and slowly transforms into a profound, heartbreaking meditation on love, time, and the lengths we go to return home.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love weird, genre-bending fiction that balances video-game logic and grotesque monsters with genuine, tear-jerking emotional stakes.
Content notes
- body horror
- gore
- profanity
- animal death
- existential dread
About the book
When Ben, a suburban family man, takes a business trip to rural Pennsylvania, he decides to spend the afternoon before his dinner meeting on a short hike. Once he sets out into the woods behind his hotel, he quickly comes to realize that the path he has chosen cannot be given up easily. With no choice but to move forward, Ben finds himself falling deeper and deeper into a world of man-eating giants, bizarre demons, and colossal insects.
Description from Open Library.
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