Pray they are hungry.

Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become.

Well, I’ve certainly squandered any opportunity to have a lot of spooky books reviewed for Spooky Season™️

I’ve actually been reading some horror novels this month, but my timing was off in terms of getting many of them reviewed prior to Halloween…but what can you do.

T. Kingfisher’s THE HOLLOW PLACES reads like a particularly weird monster-of-the-week episode of The X-Files that wandered into Jeff Vandermeer’s Area X. But also not really. But…a little. There is definitely a quirky and almost cozy quality to this book that I really loved, especially in the first few chapters.

I found myself moved to tears almost instantly reading THE HOLLOW PLACES. Just a combination of things (*also gestures vaguely in 2020*) adding up to me having a strong emotional reaction to the main character of the book, Kara. She’s recently divorced and at a bit of a crossroads in life. She’s a freelance graphic designer, but she takes her sweet Uncle Earl up on the opportunity to move into the eccentric museum in Chapel Hill, NC that he owns, a place where Kara grew up. It’s called the Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy. But everyone just calls it the Wonder Museum, for the sake of brevity.

It’s equal parts tourist trap and cryptozoology museum, and it’s a great source of comfort and nostalgia for Kara (or Carrot, as Uncle Earl calls her), which is precisely what she needs at this point in her life. She can keep up with her freelance work, while also cataloguing and organizing the museum for Earl. She makes friends with Simon, the barista at the adjacent coffee shop. And from there, the very fabric of reality begins to crumble right in front of Kara’s eyes. Kara and Simon discover a hidden hallway behind the museum.

It shouldn’t be there.

It can’t be there.

It should not exist.

But it does, and like any two friends with a lot of curiosity and a bit too much time on their hands, Kara and Simon go exploring. It goes…poorly. Shit gets very, very weird. And occasionally gross.

So. Fucking. Gross.

I really dug the overall vibe of this one! I think it started and ended really strong, though there were a few moments in the middle that felt somewhat repetitive. The book has this really casual, almost conversational style that I enjoyed. Kara is also rather snarky in her narration and in her interactions with Simon. The two of them fit comfortably together, she the recent divorcee, he the gay best friend she didn’t know she needed. Yeah, I was rooting for these two, even as they knowingly committed like, ALL THE MISTAKES you wouldn’t want horror characters to make.

This is the first of T. Kingfisher’s books that I’ve read, but I’ve had THE TWISTED ONES on my shelf awhile now, and I’m even more excited to get to it! THE HOLLOW PLACES was a dark, funny, creepy/quirky gem!

Big thanks to Saga Press for sending a copy my way!!