"The Hollow Places" by T. Kingfisher is a fast paces, fun, creepy read. I loved the wit and sarcasm.. Definitely recommend for horror fans!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Although I received this book for free, all thoughts and feedback are my own.

Know that feeling of irresistible dread? Like when you know you should leave a wound alone, but you just can’t help picking at the covering and peering? And then you are justifiably freaked out, and step away, until you are drawn back? T. Kingfisher has diluted that sensation into a horrible compelling tincture in THE HOLLOW PLACES, mixed into a horror cocktail leavened with splashes of contemporary irritations, and one of the Best Supporting Felines ever.

🖤 Review time! 🖤
This book was a creepy little read. It's fast-paced and well written with very a descriptive plot. It's a mix of Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft from my take. The book flows well and keeps you interested to fly through the pages. Definitely recommend for those who love horror with a bit of a sci-fi feel.

Kara after divorcing her husband goes back home to her Uncle's museum of oddities. She grew up in this fascinating place and her uncle allowed her to move in and watch after the place after he had h although issues that needed to be taken care of. During her time there she discovered a hole in the wall. This isn't just any hole. It's a hole to an alternate universe. After some exploring she realized this place was not a place stay, but to desperately rid herself of.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Reviews posted on Goodreads and Amazon.

Based on the number of great reviews this book has gotten, I'm starting to think I downloaded the wrong copy.

I love the cover and the premise, but unfortunately, nothing worked for me once I opened the cover. There's no horror here--any sense of terror or atmosphere is ruined by the main characters making idiotic and inappropriately timed jokes. And I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the heck the plot was.

The characters didn't save the story either. They're both supposed to be 30s, pushing 40 and they act like teenagers. And sorry, getting busted for pushing LSD and writing fan fic does not make for deep backstories that make me want to connect and read on.

And please get rid of the 12,000 references to Narnia. That series does not deserve to be associated with this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for making this available to read and review.

Extremely well written. Strange but I loved it. Hated to put it down but I had to sleep lol. If you're a fan of stranger things you will love this.

Kara moves in with her Uncle Earl after getting divorced. Her uncle runs an eccentric museum, The Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy in Hog Chapel, North Carolina. There are exhibits such as taxidermy rats riding cane frogs, a painting of the Pope made out of sunflower seeds and skulls of various animals. Her Uncle Earl has an affinity for the strange, a heart of gold and a belief that everyone is going to heaven. In exchange for rent, Kara agrees to work in the museum, catalog everything and update the social media. She arrives just in time as her uncle needs unexpected surgery and leaves her to run the museum solo.

As a group of visitors leaves the museum one day, they tell her that there is a hole in the wall upstairs. After investigating the hole, she goes next door to the coffee shop, The Hen and asks the barista if he can help her patch the hole. Simon comes with her and they discover that the hole leads to a hallway with a door that leads to another world.

What I liked about the book:
•The character development of the main characters, even Kara’s ex-husband was outstanding. I just want to spend time with them. The character development is done in such a way that you do not feel like you are reading pages and pages of text.
•The descriptions of both the museum and the hollow places is superb. I don’t think Kingfisher could have painted two completely different places.
•The ending of this book is spectacular. One thing I love about the horror genre is that I never know how the book will end. This ending surprised me and was extremely satisfying.
•I loved the Lovecraft themes throughout the book such as cosmic horror, forbidden knowledge, non-human influences on humanity and fate. In the afternote, the author states that Lovecraft said that the scariest story he ever read was The Willows by Algernon Blackwood and this served as the inspiration for this book.
•The scenes with Kara’s ex-husband provided some excellent humor throughout the book.
•The Hollow Places is quite creepy and provides a lot of very subtle scariness. This is not a book with a lot of jump scares. I appreciated the subtleness of the scares and horrors. Sturdivant is the stuff of nightmares!
•The cover of the book perfectly fits the book.

What I didn’t like about this book:
•I felt like some of the writing when the characters are in The Hollow Places was a bit repetitive and could have been tightened up. I could only read that the character has no way to comprehend what they are seeing and experience so many times.
•The pacing of this book was a bit off. I was instantly engaged during the first 10% of the novel but then it slowed way down until the halfway mark. I think some of the repetitiveness contributed to this and could have made the pacing more consistent.

Overall, I loved this book. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror books with Lovecraft themes. You’ll fall in love with the museum and all the characters in Hog Chapel. I’d love to spend more time in this world and see what happens to these characters in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this free e-arc for review.

What a deliciously spooky read!

Full disclosure: I am typically <i>not</i> a horror reader. I close my eyes and mute the TV during commercials for scary movies. This book had my heart racing a lot, but thankfully I was able to keep it separate... something that happens to Them.

We are introduced to Kara, a young woman, recently divorced, who moves into her uncle Earl's "Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy" (aka the Wonder Museum) to help him run the place. Almost immediately, Uncle Earl is disposed by knee surgery, leaving Kara alone to tend the museum and befriend Simon, the sassy, so-far-out-of-the-closet-the-closet-doesn't-even-exist barista at the coffee shop next door (I seriously love Simon). Just before Uncle Earl left, he received a mysterious package in the mail that included a wood carving of an otter. Weird and random donations are the norm at the Wonder Museum, and Kara finds a spot on a shelf for the carving. Then things get weird. Well, weird-<i>er</i>.

I don't want to summarize the whole plot, but what happens to Kara and Simon is horrifying and mesmerizing and incredible. I had to keep reading until it was resolved. There are so many delightfully creepy tidbits tucked into this story, along with wonderful doses of sarcasm and wit. I think Kara, Simon, and I would be friends. Assuming they still talk to strangers.

T. Kingfisher delights and terrifies me with this book just as much as she did with "The Twisted Ones." I am a sucker for old world horror. Monsters and magic from before the dawn of man. Tucking that idea into the multi-verse genre could have gotten messy and unmanageable but Kingfisher sticks the landing.

Hi friends! I received this book from Gallery Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book has already been published, so you can read it now if you’re interested! Although I received this book for free, all thoughts and feedback are my own.


Synopsis & Quick Thoughts
The Hollow Places is T. Kingfisher’s follow standalone to her debut novel, The Twisted Ones. Kara is living at her uncle’s house after her divorce, helping to run his business, the quirky Wonder Museum. One day, she discovers a hole in the museum wall that leads…elsewhere. A place with willow trees and bunkers on mounded islands and creatures that grow stronger the more you think about them.

This book was really as much as I could ever hope a horror novel to be. I’ve never been truly frightened or scared by a novel but this one kept me engrossed and fascinated while not wanting to be up reading it too too late at night. I wasn’t super impressed with Kingfisher’s first novel, but she really stepped it up here and I’m excited to see more from her in the future.

Positives
I think this is the scariest novel I’ve read since I finished The Silent Companions early in October, and I attribute that to the well-executed blended styles of horror found within the novel. Most of the horror I read tends to be either atmospheric or graphic; I enjoy both but find that there are surprisingly few instances where a novel combines the two. This one does and does it well. The environments are creepy and well-described and many of the horrifying elements are scary because of the fear of the unknown. There are also more vivid descriptions of more gory/unpleasant imagery which I think was effective in grounding the reader. I wouldn’t classify this novel as fantasy (although Goodreads would say otherwise), but I could easily see how this book could come off as less scary if all of the horror elements were too far separated from reality; thus, these more gritty and descriptive events made the horror feel more tangible.

I was perfectly content with a number of aspects of this book that I don’t feel the need to dive into but will list briefly here. I enjoyed the characters and their development, although limited. I enjoyed the writing style, as it was easy to digest while not being overly plain or telling. I liked that the ending wasn’t overly explained or wrapped up (because that would have been impossible). Really, I enjoyed most of the elements of this book.

Negatives
There are really only two elements of this book that prevented me from giving it a full five stars. The first of these is the slight drop in pace in the middle of the novel in between the two major horror events. I was reading this on my Kindle and didn’t really know how far through the book I was, so when the first encounter with the ‘hollow place’ was over, I honestly thought that was the end of the novel. But it just kept going, and going, and going. Eventually, the pace and tension picked back up again, but the juxtaposition of the high-intensity horror and the slower recovery scenes was a bit too jarring for my taste and made those pages difficult to get through.

I also thought the ending was slightly over-explained. I see this as being something where other readers could disagree with me, because *recurring theme* I love ambiguous endings. There doesn’t have to be a reason for why the creepy shit is happening, especially if this book is largely labeled as fantasy horror. I think the attempted description could have definitely been worse, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of how it was executed and think it should have been left out altogether. The explanation left room for plot holes and confusion that would not have been present otherwise, and overall I think it weakened the horror of ‘not knowing’ that was so prevalent in the rest of the plot.

Rating & Final Thoughts
I’m so happy I can start this month off by rating The Hollow Places 4 out of 5 stars! This is a great, creepy read I’d recommend for all fans of horror – I really do feel like it has something for everyone! I believe this book was far scarier and more fast-paced than Kingfisher’s debut; what a great trajectory to be on. I’m so excited to add another author onto my auto-buy list, especially a horror author! Absolutely would recommend.

The Hollow Places is genuinely one of the most terrifying books I've ever read. Also, one of the funniest. I am a reader of mostly literary horror (whatever that means), so I'm used to very straight, serious writing. But Kingfisher's casual, humorous tone, mixed with some very disturbing images, was a revelation. It took me a little bit to get used to the tone, given it was so new to me, but I'm so glad I got over my initial hesitation.

Freshly-divorced Kara volunteers to look after her uncle's eccentric museum of curiosities, while he is recovering from surgery. All seems to be going well (as well as it can when surrounded by taxidermy), until a hole appears in the museum wall. Kara and her friend Simon are understandably curious, and decide to go through the hole to investigate. They find themselves in a world of literally unfathomable horror, overwhelmed by a sense of foreboding. But it's when they lose their passage home that things really get bleak.

It's very strange to be smiling while thinking about this book, because it is so scary, but it really is a fantastic book. Kingfisher's descriptions of otherworldly terrors are vivid, and the characters are incredibly well-established. I raced through this book because I genuinely wanted to know whether Kara and Simon would be okay! Not to mention Kara's cat, Beau.

The Hollow Places is a genuinely terrific read. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves horror, fantasy, sci-fi, or stories about alternative timelines/worlds. T. Kingfisher, you've got a new fan right here.

"Pray they are hungry."

Reading The Hollow Places is a bit like stumbling across an old, intriguing fairground ride. Do we want to follow Kara and Simon as they explore the space behind the wall in her uncle's museum? Of course we do.

So we climb aboard and strap ourselves in, and for a short while we delight in how cool and weird and strange everything is, until the ride gathers momentum, the surroundings grow dark and creepy, and from that point on, all we can do is grit our teeth and hang on for dear life.

The characters are quirky and likeable, struggling to uphold their sense of humor in an increasingly strange and sinister world. The story moves at a fair clip along a tightrope between down-to-earth and otherworldly, occasionally dangling us precariously over a pit of twisted horror.

A solid recommendation from me, and many thanks to Saga Press and NetGalley who provided a copy for review.

Inspired by H.P lovecrafts story The Willows this book gives off the creepy scary vibes of lovecraft. The beginning did have me a little scared of this alien type world. It gave me silent hill and the annihilation vibes.
The main character in on her 30s early divorced and finding her way back to living in her uncles wonder museum. Which has tons of odds and ends of unique things/items. She finds a hole in the museum which leads her to a place outside of this world. Her and her friend run into strange things. From dead people, to things unexplained along with meeting someone from another universe. Surviving that place is hard and most die or turn into something that the willows create.
Spoiler - I said wish they stayed in that place a little longer bc it was scary. But overall loved this weird book. What a ride.

I have to give this a solid three stars. Very interesting concept of a in between world full of bunkers and willows.

A door to another world accidentally appears in a museum of weird artifacts, but it doe not lead to a fantasy world of fairies and lions in T. Kingfisher's The Hollow Places.

Following her amicable and unexpected divorce, Kara must confront the idea of moving home with a mother she loves but doesn't get along with. In steps, her uncle, the owner and purveyor of a charming museum of the weird. He offers her a room in the museum, so long as she helps him out around the place. Getting on in age, and with a knee injury that makes him hobble around most days, Kara is thrilled at the aspect.

She falls into a blessed routine, cataloging the taxidermy and other assorted items in the museum while also completing freelance graphic design jobs and listening to childhood tales of Simon, a sociable eccentric who runs the neighboring coffee shop. When Uncle Earl finally commits to having knee surgery, Kara is left in charge.

She enlists Simon's help when a patch of drywall gets knocked in, only for them to uncover a hidden hallway and a door that has been bolted shut. Ominous though that may be, it is only the beginning of a terrifying, accidental escapade into another world. Where willows whisper, spirits rise like wraiths in the night, and the horrors of this dangerous world threaten to spill into Kara's.

Instantly likable, Kara narrates with charm and sarcasm while Simon acts as a cunning, if not always capable, sidekick. Hints of Lovecraftian lore might trickle through Kingfisher's otherworldly creatures, but her twist is genuinely unique. Wildly succeeding in the horror of The Hollow Places is the precise measure of description, leaving much to the reader's imagination. Nothing could be worse, as the creatures that stalk this strange land hum like Tibetan singing bowls but go unseen, sliding beneath the surface of reality.

The Hollow Places makes the skin crawl and will have you looking at taxidermied animals in a whole new light. Ancient relic horror story meets Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer in T. Kingfisher's latest.

I'm incredibly late in typing this up but The Hollow Places was the perfect Halloween/October read! I unfortunately, haven't been able to do much reading - or reviewing - these last few months but I'm glad I was able to start October off with this.

First things first, I loved the cover. This book is a wonderful blend of horror, sci-fi and fantasy with a fun addition of alternate realities that reminded me of evil versions of Narnia.

Recently divorced and faced with moving back in with her parents, when Kara's Uncle Earl calls and offers up a spare room at the back of his museum - the Glory of God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy - she happily accepts. She will gladly help out around the museum if it means she doesn't have to move back home.
When Kara discovers a hole in the wall that appears to lead to alternate realities, Kara and Simon - her friend and barista from next door - decide to explore. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Kara and Simon are both incredibly likable characters so I had a lot of fun reading this. I enjoyed their dialogue and the way they handled all of the creepy happenings.
Oh and I can't forget about Beau! He is one tough kitty.

Taxidermy freaks me out to begin with so let's just say there were some scenes that were particularly creepy to me.

If you're a fan of horror with comedy mixed in, I would highly suggest picking this up!

This book, wow! I was so pleasantly surprised by it. The early part of the novel reminded me very much of a book in the late 90's called "House of Leaves" and I was afraid of being let down, again. THAT book mad me so angry that 20 years later I still have feelings about it! Hollow Places, however, took the concept of an accidental inter-dimensional opening in a wall and turned it into something amazing and fresh.

Kingfisher paints a picture with words. The details of the characters down to the eccentric hat and smeared eyeliner make them come alive and wish you were friends. The quirky legions of toads and soft mussel of the elk, Prince, makes you wish you had been lucky enough to have an uncle Earl and grow up in the Wonder Museum. You are so invested in these people and this magical place that when SHTF you just can't stop reading. You need to know, have to know, if there is any possible way to return to the safety of a broken reality or if THEY will win.

T. Kingfisher’s THE HOLLOW PLACES reads like a particularly weird monster-of-the-week episode of The X-Files that wandered into Jeff Vandermeer’s Area X. But also not really. But…a little. There is definitely a quirky and almost cozy quality to this book that I really loved, especially in the first few chapters.

I found myself moved to tears almost instantly reading THE HOLLOW PLACES. Just a combination of things (*also gestures vaguely in 2020*) adding up to me having a strong emotional reaction to the main character of the book, Kara. She’s recently divorced and at a bit of a crossroads in life. She’s a freelance graphic designer, but she takes her sweet Uncle Earl up on the opportunity to move into the eccentric museum in Chapel Hill, NC that he owns, a place where Kara grew up. It’s called the Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy. But everyone just calls it the Wonder Museum, for the sake of brevity.

It’s equal parts tourist trap and cryptozoology museum, and it’s a great source of comfort and nostalgia for Kara (or Carrot, as Uncle Earl calls her), which is precisely what she needs at this point in her life. She can keep up with her freelance work, while also cataloguing and organizing the museum for Earl. She makes friends with Simon, the barista at the adjacent coffee shop. And from there, the very fabric of reality begins to crumble right in front of Kara’s eyes. Kara and Simon discover a hidden hallway behind the museum.

It shouldn’t be there.

It can’t be there.

It should not exist.

But it does, and like any two friends with a lot of curiosity and a bit too much time on their hands, Kara and Simon go exploring. It goes…poorly. Shit gets very, very weird. And occasionally gross.

I really dug the overall vibe of this one! I think it started and ended really strong, though there were a few moments in the middle that felt somewhat repetitive. The book has this really casual, almost conversational style that I enjoyed. Kara is also rather snarky in her narration and in her interactions with Simon. The two of them fit comfortably together, she the recent divorcee, he the gay best friend she didn’t know she needed. Yeah, I was rooting for these two, even as they knowingly committed like, ALL THE MISTAKES you wouldn’t want horror characters to make.

This is the first of T. Kingfisher’s books that I’ve read. THE HOLLOW PLACES was a dark, funny, creepy/quirky gem!

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Portal horror. Coming off a divorce Kara moves in with her uncle to help him run his Wonder Museum. Basically one of those weird places that sells and displays all kinds of oddities. One night Kara and the next door neighbor Simon stumble upon a portal opening at the museum that leads to a place where the Willows live and they want to kill everything in their path. Honestly didn't know what I was reading but it was interesting at times. Kara and Simon made some decisions I would not. I was thinking more along the lines of burning the Wonder Museum to the ground but I guess to each their own.

I’m not normally for sci-fi type stories, but this one was really good and kept my interest. They can also usually be a little hard to follow, but there were only a few parts that I had to read back through to catch the gist of. This book was very well written, and the characters were what made the difference in this. They felt so real that I could see going to get coffee and chatting with Kara while I waited, until Simon was done making it! The author did wonderfully on her character development, definitely a strong suit. I’d recommend this to anyone, even those who generally don’t enjoy sci-fi and it’s related genres!