The first time Chris buried a part of herself by her son's roadside cross, it was an accident.

Sometimes, horror is about jump scares, blood and viscera, torture, agony. Sometimes, it's about unsettling legends, looming creatures in the night, vicious entities out for revenge. And sometimes, as in Crossroads, it's about making you come face to face with the most nightmarish, suffocating outcome you could possibly imagine — and the realization that, if forced to trade places with that protagonist, you'd consider those same desperate, unspeakable measures, too.

Crossroads plays equally well the parts of an eerie horror story and a tragic ghost tale, but what it does best of all is depict the imminent and unstoppable descent that befalls so many parents who lose their children. It was absolutely brilliant, terrifying, and heartbreaking. Watching Chris make the worst possible decisions, yet knowing that, if I were in her shoes as a mother, I'd do anything, too — there's something very real and horrific about that, yet I couldn't look away, because alongside all of this hurt and fear comes a gorgeous, powerful writing style and a sense of looming dread that had me tense, on the edge of my seat until the very last page.

Whether you're a parent or not, Crossroads is an absolutely stunning ghost story full of grief and rage and fear and dread, and it shook me to my core. It's been days since I finished this little book and I haven't been able to stop dwelling on it since closing the final page because it was just so damn good. This story was beyond worth every ounce of heartache it put me through, and I can't wait to read everything from Laurel Hightower I can get my hands on, because her writing is truly stunning and I can't wait to see what else she has up her sleeves.

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

gratuitous self-harm, suicide attempts, suicidal ideation

Thank you so much to the Off Limits Press for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!