The Worm and His Kings was a highly anticipated read for me, like HIGHLY anticipated. Combine an author who, in my opinion, has no misses on her record with one of the most exciting new publishers in the indie horror scene, how could I not be excited? At 114 pages, I thought this would be a one or two day read, but the book had other ideas. From page one, an atmosphere of creeping dread pervades the page. Turns of phrase and descriptions demand to be reread so nothing is missed.

I read a book a year or two ago that I won’t name here, but it promised an underground world of tunnels underneath New York City, and while it technically delivered, it didn’t capture the magic that Piper does here. The idea of a subterranean city under our feet is intriguing to say the least. As the elements that I found fantastical, but other readers might describe as Cosmic, are introduced, we’re eased into this new world. While it feels strange and we’re off-kilter, we’re grounded with Monique, our protagonist.

Monique descends into the underground in search of her girlfriend, Donna. Piper sets up the relationship with one of my favorite lines of the story.

“Donna makes the worst days okay, and the okay days heavenly.”

The people and the creatures Monique meets on her journey, reminded me of the dark fairy tale nature of books like Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and more recently, John Boden’s Spungunion. While Monique takes part of this journey, Piper deals out backstory and flashbacks in bite-size pieces, before pulling the curtain all the way back.

I mentioned the atmosphere of dread, but at some indistinguishable point, the reader realizes the tale in their hand has been interspersing beauty in with the darkness all along. There is a part that I will actively avoid telling you anything about that had me feeling a lot, as though Piper managed to concentrate “the point” directly into IV form and hook it straight to my vein.

A blurb on your cover from Mary SanGiovanni, one of the most well-regarded voices in Cosmic horror, goes a long way to boosting the expectations. While Cosmic is a newer subgenre to me, Worm ticks the boxes off, having concepts bigger than we can wrap our heads around, and a looming sense of hopeless in the air. What sells me is not Piper meeting the criteria, but Piper injecting humanity, love, and hope, into a story where it would be all too easy to commit fully to the darkness. With this in mind, the last few pages are truly something special.

I’m already seeing The Worm and His Kings begin to pop up on lists of must-read Cosmic Horror, and I’m happy to lend my voice to that mix. This is a book that I expect to leave its mark on the independent horror community and make more than a few best of 2020 lists. I don’t like handing out five stars like candy on Halloween, but this decision couldn’t be easier. The highest of recommendations to fans of Cosmic and character-driven horror.

I received a copy from the publisher for review consideration.