The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

“If you faced downstream so that you couldn’t see all the doors, it was pretty. Soft mist, rolling water, silvery leaves. I tried to dredge up some of the excitement I’d felt before. I was standing somewhere completely alien, completely unknown. There was so much possibility, just waiting to be explored.

In the concrete hallway, which was arguably far creepier than a pleasant island full of shrubs, I had been excited. Now what I felt was more like…

Dread, I thought, acknowledging it to myself for the first time. This is dread.”

-The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

I love horror in that every book feels very different. But what I also love about horror is how people react differently to the same books or authors. When I talk to my sisters about horror novels for example, my younger sister will tell you The Shining by Stephen King is the scariest book she’s read by him. While for me, it’s Misery. My older sister was scared by Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts, but I found The Cabin at the End of the World infinitely more terrifying. And just thinking of either of those books makes me shudder.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher is up there as one of the scariest books I’ve ever read. Having just finished Nettle and Bone prior to this, I am also incredibly impressed with T. Kingfisher’s ability to switch between genres so seamlessly. She is enormously talented. I’m in awe of her and this book.

And I’m still a bit terrified by it.

Kara is recently divorced and has moved in with her Uncle Earl, proud owner of a museum called the Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy. Kara needs a fresh start, a place to gather herself after her divorce, and she needs an income, too. She starts helping her Uncle catalogue all of the items in his museum, getting lost in spreadsheets and maxing out her credit cards on takeout and coffee from the coffee shop, The Black Hen, next door, where she meets Simon. It’s not long before the two are fast friends.

When her Uncle is injured and needs surgery, Kara takes over all of the museum responsibilities. When a tourist accidentally knocks a hole in the wall, Kara enlists Simon to help her fix it. But it’s not long before they both realize the hole in the wall leads to somewhere else. A place of small islands scattered with willow trees and more doors than either of them can count in the fog.

It isn’t long before they discover the danger of this between place and have to fight to get back home.

I’m trying to keep this as short as possible because I don’t want to spoil anything. The first night I read this, I was on the edge of my seat, gripping the sides of the book as if that would stall the panic that started to well up inside of me as I started to read Kara and Simon’s journey. This book is dark, horrifying but humorous at the best of times and just a really great read. I loved Kara and Simon and their friendship and dynamic. This book is really something, I’m glad to have read it, and I can’t recommend it enough.

T. Kingfisher just continues to become a favorite author with every book I read by her. I can’t wait to pick up another of her novels.