Author | T. Kingfisher |
---|---|
Audio read by | Hillary Huber |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Published | 2019 |
Publisher | Gallery/Saga Press |
Media type | Print (hardback, paperback), ebook, audiobook |
Pages | 400 pages |
ISBN | 978-1534429574 First edition US hardcover |
The Twisted Ones is a 2019 horror novel written by Ursula Vernon, under the penname of T. Kingfisher. It was published in the United States and United Kingdom in 2019 through Gallery/Saga Press.
Vernon drew inspiration for The Twisted Ones from Arthur Machen’s short horror story “The White People” and the novel is a contemporary take on the story. [1]
Mouse is a 30-something book editor. Her cruel and nasty grandmother has died, and Mouse travels to North Carolina to clear out her home. Mouse's step-grandfather, Frederick Cotgrave, died some years earlier. Mouse discovers his diary, in which he documents his obsession with something called "The Green Book", his contentious relationship with his wife, and his own descent into madness. Mouse also finds Frederick's version of "The Green Book", typed from memory.
Already unnerved by the isolation of the house in the woods, Mouse is terrified to discover twisted versions of deer roaming about at night. When her dog, Bongo, leads her into the realm of the "twisted ones", Mouse barely escapes with her sanity intact. Bongo goes missing, and reappears days later with a message begging for help.
With the help of neighbor Foxy, a brassy, 60-something ex-hippie who lives across the road, Mouse re-enters the realm of the "twisted ones" to try to rescue whoever is trapped there. Captured by legions of "twisted ones", they encounter Anna, a woman who has been trapped in the realm of magic since the late 1960s. The race of beings which created the automatons called "twisted ones" have long died out, and the "twisted ones" have been breeding Anna and a very old man named Uriah to try to recreate them. This has failed, and now Anna has lured Mouse into the realm so she can be freed and Mouse can take her place.
Anna agrees to escape with Mouse and Foxy's help, killing Uriah to delay the "twisted ones". Foxy's foresight in bringing a gun helps Mouse escape when Anna betrays them at the last moment. When a "twisted one" attacks the two of them back at the grandmother's home, they burn the house down to escape.
The Twisted Ones was published in hardback format in the United States and United Kingdom through Gallery/Saga Press in October 2019. [2] A paperback edition was also released in the United States alongside the hardback edition; Titan Books released a paperback edition in the United Kingdom in March 2020. [3] [4]
An audiobook adaptation narrated by Hillary Huber was released via Simon & Schuster Audio in October 2019. [5]
Critical reception for The Twisted Ones has been generally positive. [6] [7] Common praise for the novel centered upon the character of Mouse and the book's atmosphere and tension, with Starburst writing that "Like the best occult fiction, the novel’s building sense of unease comes from the unexpected, the incongruous and the unexplained." [8] [9] Other elements of praise included what the Chicago Review of Books called a "rich, regional narrative voice". [10] [11] The British Fantasy Society's Sarah Deeming commented that "knowing that Mouse would be OK lost a bit of the tension", as this was detailed in the beginning of the book, but that "As an atmospheric, creepy read, The Twisted Ones has some great moments." [12]
Award | Category | Year | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
British Fantasy Award | Horror Novel | 2020 | Nominated | [13] |
Dragon Award | Horror Novel | 2020 | Won | [14] |
Locus Award | Horror Novel | 2020 | Nominated | [15] |
Horror is a genre of fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten or scare. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which are in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for larger fears of a society.
Donald Henry Pleasence was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe in The Great Escape (1963), the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967), SEN 5241 in THX 1138 (1971), and the deranged Clarence "Doc" Tydon in Wake in Fright (1971).
Christie Golden is an American author. She has written many novels and several short stories in fantasy, horror and science fiction.
Holly Black is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the New York Times bestselling young adult Folk of the Air series. She is also well known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and her debut trilogy of young adult novels officially called the Modern Faerie Tales. Black has won an Eisner Award, a Lodestar Award, an Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newbery honor.
Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfoot Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction, crime fiction, and science fiction. His most widely known works include the horror novels The Only Good Indians, My Heart is a Chainsaw, and Night of the Mannequins.
Ursula Vernon is an American freelance writer, artist and illustrator. She has won numerous awards for her work in various mediums, including the Hugo Award for her graphic novel Digger, the Nebula Award for her short story "Jackalope Wives", and Mythopoeic Awards for adult and children's literature. Vernon's books for children include Hamster Princess and Dragonbreath. Under the name T. Kingfisher, she is also the author of books for older audiences. She writes short fiction under both names.
John Connolly is an Irish writer who is best known for his series of novels starring private detective Charlie Parker.
Jonathan Maberry is an American suspense author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today's Top Ten Horror Writers.
"The White People" is a horror short story by Welsh author Arthur Machen. Written in the late 1890s, it was first published in 1904 in Horlick's Magazine, edited by Machen's friend A. E. Waite, then reprinted in Machen's collection The House of Souls (1906).
Theodora Goss is a Hungarian-American fiction writer and poet. Her writing has been nominated for major awards, including the Nebula, Locus, Mythopoeic, World Fantasy, and Seiun Awards. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Year's Best volumes.
Tosca Lee is a bestselling American author known for her historical novels and thrillers.
Jeremy Robinson, also known as Jeremy Bishop,Jeremiah Knight, and other pen names, is an author of sixty novels and novellas. He is known for mixing elements of science, history, and mythology. Many of his novels have been adapted into comic books, optioned for film and TV, and translated into thirteen languages. He is the author of the Nemesis Saga, the Chess Team series, and the non-fiction title, The Screenplay Workbook.
Rachel Aukes is an American horror / science fiction / fantasy novelist best known for the Deadland Saga. She is a Wattpad Star, her stories having over eight million reads. Aukes earliest five books and two short stories were released under the pen name Berinn Rae. Several of her books are self-published under Waypoint Books LLC, her publishing company. She was born in Manchester, Iowa, U.S.A. in 1972 and attended West Delaware high school. She received her undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems and Communications from University of Northern Iowa and a masters of public administration at Drake University. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the International Thriller Writers. She lives in the Midwest.
Genevieve Valentine is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her first novel, Mechanique: A tale of the Circus Tresaulti, won the Crawford Award for a first fantasy novel, and was shortlisted for the Nebula.
Jenn Bennett is an American author of novels for teens and adults. Her notable works include Alex, Approximately, Starry Eyes, and The Anatomical Shape of a Heart. Her books have received critical acclaim and award recognition.
Gallery Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster which houses the imprints Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Scout Press, Gallery 13, and Saga Press.
Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils is a mystery novel by James Lovegrove. It is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche that involves H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. It is the third and final book in The Cthulhu Casebooks trilogy following Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows and Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities.
The Institute is a 2019 American science fiction-horror thriller novel by Stephen King, published by Scribner. The book follows twelve-year-old genius Luke Ellis. When his parents are murdered, he is kidnapped by intruders and awakens in the Institute, a facility that houses other abducted children who have telepathy or telekinesis.
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is a 2020 young adult fantasy novel by Ursula Vernon, under her pseudonym T. Kingfisher. It was first published by Argyll Productions.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)