With inspiration drawn from the 1907 novella "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood, T. Kingfisher's disquieting novel could be regarded as portal fiction. However, this newfound doorway isn't an opening to Wonderland and instead beckons the reader into a cruel and indifferent world. With endearing narrator Kara and barista turned wise-cracking cohort Simon, the blend of quirky characters and the highly unconventional setting of the Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy might make this story more accessible to readers who don't typically favor cosmic horror.

Some might find the momentum sluggish to start as the author crafts three-dimensional foundations of the two characters. That quickly changes with the discovery of an impossible hallway behind a wall of the museum—transforming the story into something insidious and consuming. There is a slow build of terror, a feeling throughout of wrongness that creeps and worms itself around. The novel manages eeriness in both the landscape and what resides there without resorting to undue gore. The imagery is hauntingly beautiful, yet decidedly uneasy as the characters explore this foreign world. Finding their way back is fraught with seen and unseen danger and this is only the beginning. The Hollow Places is a clever read, harrowing and still darkly entertaining.


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