The Hollow Places

by T. Kingfisher

A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel from the author of the “innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling” (Mira Grant, Nebula Award–winning author) The Twisted Ones.

Pray they are hungry.

Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become.

With her distinctive “delightfully fresh and subversive” (SF Bluestocking) prose and the strange, sinister wonder found in Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, The Hollow Places is another compelling and white-knuckled horror novel that you won’t be able to put down.

• ISBN10: 1534451129
• ISBN13: 9781534451124
• Publish Date: 6 October 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: The Gallery Press
• Imprint: Gallery Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Kara, known as Carrot by her family and friends, returns to her beloved Uncle Earl’s Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy, after her recent divorce. While she writes her fanfic and does designs for clients in the evenings, she spends her days inventorying the shop and unpacking shipments. The shop is a marvel of oddities, from an albino stuffed raccoon to a mermaid.

After her Uncle finds out he needs knee replacements, Kara agrees to run the store while he recovers. It is then that she discovers someone has punched a hole in the museum wall. Simon, the coffee shop owner next door agrees to help her close it up… only they discover a secret corridor and a locked door. The tale that unfolds was a creeptastic Lovecraftian tale that pulled me in as I clenched my fists and listened to horror that unfolds.

The story mixes a blend of humor, realisms, and the mundane to create an ebb and flow of laughter, sympathy, horror and heart-pounding moments that will leave you holding your breath.

Kara grows as a character and it was good to see her standing up for herself. When it came down to facing what lay beyond the wall she was clever and resourceful. I loved Simon and his weird eye. I would drink a glass of bourbon with him.

The willows, bunkers, and what happens were delivered in vivid imagery. Talk about fear of the unknown! Something in their feeds of you and either you die or become…

Hillary Huber did such a stellar job with the narration from voices to the creaking. The humor was goofy, but Huber grounded it. Her delivery helped lighten the tension and suspense.

What could be worse than a recent divorce? The corridor in Uncle Earl’s museum, grab your earbuds and listen. Fans of horror will want to add this to their shelves. I went and grabbed her previous title, The Twisted Ones, and invested in a new night light. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[HekArtemis]

When I was five or six, I saw Bambi, because that is a baffling thing that parents still do to their children.

Fantastic. I don't usually compare books, but in this case I couldn't help but occasionally compare it to Kingfishers other horror novel, [b:The Twisted Ones|42527596|The Twisted Ones|T. Kingfisher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567950921l/42527596._SY75_.jpg|58145790]The Twisted Ones. I gave the Twisted Ones 5 stars, and this one 5 stars. So the comparison isn't a method of making me decide if I like the book or not. I loved both of them. The Twisted Ones was based on Kingfishers obsession with a line from a story she read. Similarly The Hollow Places is also based on another story, [b:The Willows|1335601|The Willows|Algernon Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348548258l/1335601._SX50_.jpg|2588003]The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. I now have to read this book to see what it's like, thanks for increasing my TBR lol. In the Authors Note Kingfisher goes in for the kill:

H.P. Lovecraft wrote that "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood was one of the most terrifying stories ever written. Before I read it, I assumed that this probably meant some of the people in it weren't white,"

T. Kingfisher really upped her game with this horror novel, where in The Twisted Ones she sometimes had the tension break with the characters making jokes - which was fine, but it did mean you never reached a high level of tension - in this one she has the joking and everything placed way better. The characters still make stupid jokes, they still alleviate the tension, but they don't do it every time there is a high tension moment, instead it happens afterwards when they need to move past the shit they just went through. And it worked really well. I don't know if it is better, I didn't mind the tension breaking in the other book, but I also liked it this way too. So both are good I think.

The one area where this one didn't quite match The Twisted Ones is that The Hollow Places lacked the fast female friendships that I so loved in The Twisted Ones. I really did love those friendships. But this one did still have a good friendship between our main character, Carrot who is a woman, and a gay man. This means there was no stupid romance happening, although in one part the MC does acknowledge that if he were straight it is possible they would have had sex after the first horrible thing was over because that is the only way we've really been taught by society to deal with such immediate trauma. It was a super interesting point.

This book, while being an excellent cosmic/Lovecraftian horror, also delves into some other areas and makes some interesting observations and points - like the one above about dealing with immediate trauma. No it's not all full of preachiness or anything, it just wasn't only a horror a novel, and it dealt with the non-horror parts really well and seamlessly I think. Like the main characters slow realisation that she no longer cares about the fact that she has just gone through a divorce, that actually maybe it's a good thing.

We were way off script now. He'd be pissed about it in the morning and figure out how it had been my fault, but for the moment, he was completely at sea. "I'm sorry." Sweet, blithering Christ, why had I married this guy to begin with? I was starting to think that half of the angst of a divorce wasn't the loss of stability, it was the coming to terms with just how lousy your judgement had been.

And of course we should mention the horror itself. It's good. It's cosmic. It's creepy. It creeps up on you and has you wondering what is going to happen next. It's twisty and twisted. And it's interesting, which is always good. I don't want to say much about it though because it's best left explored through the novel. It's really good though, and I highly recommend this book.

[cornerfolds]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars