by AGA Wilmot
A queer paranormal psychological horror novel, in the style of showrunner Mike Flannagan, showing the complex real-life terror inherent in grief and mental illness.
After the tragic death of their father and surviving a life-threatening eating disorder, 18-year-old Ellis moves with their mother to the small town of Black Stone, seeking a simpler life and some space to recover. But Black Stone feels off; it’s a disquieting place, one that’s surrounded by towns with some of the highest death rates in the country. It doesn’t help that everyone says Ellis’s new house is haunted. And Ellis has started to believe them: they see pulsing veins in the walls of their bedroom and specters in dark corners of the cellar. They soon discover Black Stone, and their house in particular, is the battleground in a decades-long spectral war, one that will claim their family — and the town — if it’s allowed to continue.
Withered is queer psychological horror, a compelling tale that tackles important issues of mental health in the way that only horror can: by delving deep into them, cracking them open, and exposing their gruesome entrails.
Publication: April 2024
Publisher:
ECW Press
Rights sold:
- World: ECW Press
“Ellis’s recovery from their eating disorder cunningly intertwines with the ghost story as Wilmot interrogates the human desire for control over one’s body, natural forces, and even life and death.”
–Publishers Weekly
“Withered is a slow burn psychological horror that will consume its readers through its exploration of the toxicity and timelessness of grief and the way it chokes all those it touches. The time-paused town of Black Stone reveals to readers what it means to conquer death and what it means to be alive. Wilmot elegantly illuminates the power of art and its impact on identity and memory, while painting a vivid definition of a ghost town with their prose.” –Ai Jiang, Nebula finalist and author of Linghun and I Am Ai
“Wilmot’s fast-paced psychological-horror novel offers a fresh spin on the haunted-house trope, with well-drawn queer and trans representation at its center. This thought-provoking blend of psychological and supernatural horror will appeal to fans of Stranger Things and allegorical haunted-house novels like Carissa Orlando’s The September House.” –Booklist
“Withered is a compassionate exploration of mental health, hauntings, and the way grief can pull, stretch, or erode our sense of self. Told with wit and warmth, it is a triumph of love in the face of heartache and death.” –Suzan Palumbo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award finalist