Having read seven T. Kingfisher books just this year, I would be amiss if I don’t talk about “The Twisted Ones” by this author. I have been on a horror binge this year and as a scaredy cat, T. Kingfisher has been a life-saver that let me dip my toes into the genre without scaring me out of my mind. This horror with a sense of humor highlights the aspect of folk horror and it has a dog!

Clearing out a vicious dead grandmother’s house comes with its own secrets, especially if she was actually a hoarder. But most of all, there are things in the qoods behind the house and they are coming knocking.

Spoilers ahead, read at your own risk. I tried to leave something for the imagination but this book is too interesting to not talk about the plot (yes, yes, I am working on it).

Melissa, an editor, and her (lovingly) dumb coonhound, Bongo, are in this remote outskirts town without the internet. While cleaning out the house, Melissa finds her step-grandfather, Cotgrave’s journal where he raves about the twisted ones and a green book. Now, Melissa is a skeptic, modern woman of the world, who doesn’t believe in magic and monsters. So when Bongo wakes her up in the middle of the night, growling, she sleepily sees deer on the lawn and thinks nothing of it. When she hears a persistent knocking sound, she imagines a lonely woodpecker in the trees.

But then Bongo leads her into the woods. To the hills. Hills that are not supposed to be there geographically. The stones on the hill looks suspiciously like twisted humans and animal and conveniently, the phone is malfunctioning. Even once she gets back, she cannot find her way back to the non-existent hills again. Her neighbors, Foxy, Skip and Tomas warn her against going looking again.

Meanwhile, she is reading Cotgrave’s manic journal and it keeps getting creepier and creepier by the page. All would have still been fine, if Bongo hadn’t gone missing the day after she finds out what exactly was making the knocking sound.

It gets a little slow after Cotgrave’s manuscript is found because of deliberate stylistic choices that is later explained in her acknowledgements. Is it weird that I really like reading her acknowledgements too?

The book is scary in a “What is happening?” confusing manner. I didn’t get the sense of imminent danger even though the situations were pretty dangerous. It’s the humor that foils the horror and dilutes it and it is perfect for readers who are not into hardcore horror.

In a typical Kingfisher manner, even minor characters were very well-rounded. Along with Melissa, I loved reading about her mean-to-the-point-of-malicious grandmother, her fed-up step-grandfather who had been running from his demons, Foxy who has the personality I aspire to embody and even Skip and Tomas with their unique brands of concern and care.

While it does get creepier to know that it isn’t just a hill with stones out back but hill with people on it, it does take on a sort of fever dream aspect as the plot progresses. The constant entertainment is Melissa’s way of handling situations and her inner monologue. As someone who doesn’t enjoy monologues, I love this one.

T. Kingfisher has become a favorite author of late and you should stick around for more reviews of her books.

---

Have you read any books by T. Kingfisher yet? Which ones are your favorites?

Feel free to connect with me across socials to yap about books.

---