Books › This Thing Between Us
This Thing Between Us
272 pages
A raw, surreal descent into the isolating madness of grief, where modern technology becomes a conduit for cosmic dread.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like being trapped inside a panic attack while mourning a profound loss. It begins as a grounded, intimately observed portrait of a widower's anger and numbness, but quickly accelerates into a surreal, dread-soaked nightmare. The prose is visceral and conversational, pulling you close to the protagonist's raw emotional state before plunging you into hallucinatory, cosmic terror. There is a suffocating claustrophobia to the atmosphere, whether in a modern smart-home or a secluded mountain cabin, making the reader feel just as isolated and hunted as the narrator. It is a perfect fit for readers who crave horror that doesn't just scare them with bumps in the night, but devastates them with the messy, ugly, and inescapable realities of grief.
- Mood
- dread-soaked
- claustrophobic
- surreal
- bleak
- Tone
- raw
- cynical
- intimate
- desperate
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- the isolating nature of grief · technological intrusion · the haunting weight of memory · the anger of mourning
- The writing
- Visceral and conversational, blending sharp, grounded observations of modern life with hallucinatory, nightmarish imagery.
- The arc
- Begins in the numb, angry depths of fresh bereavement and spirals into a chaotic, terrifying confrontation with the cosmic unknown.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love their horror deeply emotional, surreal, and rooted in the messy, ugly realities of profound loss.
Content notes
- death of a spouse
- profound grief
- animal death
- gore
- body horror
- suicidal ideation
About the book
"A widower battles his grief, rage, and the mysterious evil inhabiting his home smart speaker, in this mesmerizing horror thriller from newcomer Gus Moreno"--
It was Vera's idea to buy the Itza. The "world's most advanced smart speaker!" didn't interest Thiago, but Vera thought it would be a bit of fun for them amidst all the strange occurrences happening in the condo: scratching in the walls, peculiar packages showing up, eerie music at odd hours. It was funny-- right up until Vera was killed. Now Thiago wants to get far away from Chicago, and a secluded cabin in Colorado seemed like the perfect place to hole up with his crushing grief. But there is an evil hunting him, feeding on his grief, looking for a way into this world. -- adapted from back cover
Description from Open Library.
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