Inspired by Algernon Blackwood’s Willows and easily marketed as dark version of Narnia for adults, Kingfisher’s follow up to the most excellent folk terror Twisted Ones doesn’t disappoint. Though it isn’t quite as good, it’s pretty freaking close, certainly no sophomore slump. The story itself is smaller and more contained with only three main characters, but what the two of them discover hiding behind the wall of the third’s place of business is pretty epic. So to begin at the beginning, Kara, a 34 year old graphic designer of no renown, gets divorced and with no means of financial solvency has to stay at her uncle’s. But what an uncle it is, what a character Uncle Earl is, a man who believes in a spectacular varied assortment of things, collects what he can of the mysterious world around him and then displays it in his museum, which is pretty much every road side attraction thrown in together and lovingly (and imaginatively) curated. Kara, affectionately nicknamed Carrot by her uncle, has only positive memories associated with the museum and has no qualms about staying in the back of it, even starts an immense project of cataloguing Earl’s inventory. But then she is left alone to mind the shop for week or two and immediately stumbles upon a portal to another world. A terrifying world of hungry willows. That’s something of an oversimplification of the awe and terror of the epic alien flora and fauna of the place, but you get the idea. And now it’s up to her and a friendly barista from a coffeeshop net to her to figure out how to prevent that world from spilling into this one. (Barista, spills, on man, I’m hilarious). But actually barista is a really fun character, he kind of reads like a gay Tim Burton character with the past as variegated as his outfits and, surprisingly, strikingly so and all to the author’s credit, he isn’t at all annoying. In fact, the two make a very good team, all things considered. And the rest…you gotta read the book to find out. And why wouldn’t you, really. The narrative is suffused with Kingfisher’s trademarked friendly quirky humorous warmth, which is the best version of southerness you can find in fiction. The rest often tends to veer toward the countryfried slowness and racism and such. But despite the overall cute factor, make no mistake, this is a proper entry into the genre of all things horrific, the author aims to terrifies you and mostly succeeds, she just throws in cuteness and jokes to balance things out. And yes, I figured out the main plot ingredient and you probably will too, it’s kind of a gimme, but it doesn’t really alter the fact that it’s an exhilarating ride into the darkness with a dying flashlight. It’s a fun book and there are no easy answers and the author doesn’t do her readers the discourtesy of incongruously wrapping it all up neatly with happy bow at the end, so it’s all the more effective. Which is all to say I enjoy this book very much. And fans of dark literary scary stories probably would also. I’m surprised none of the inevitable comparisons to other popular works don’t mention Jeff VanderMeer’s excellent Southern Reach trilogy and the basis for the movie Annihilation. Instead the book leans really heavily on Narnia comparisons and there isn’t even a wardrobe to be found. But at any rate, this was a really good read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

What a wild ride of a book! The Hollow Places was everything I hoped it would be and more. I was completely taken in and didn't want to stop reading.

Kara is newly divorced and moves in with her uncle Earl. Earl runs a wonder shop of sorts and Kara now helps him run it. When Earl is out getting his knee surgeries, it's up to Kara alone to run it. She stumbles upon a hole in the wall which leads to a strange concrete bunker of sorts and a big door. What lies beyond that door is absolute horror. Kara and her friend Simon explore this strange world together, only to come face to face with monsters, otherworldly creatures and warnings carved into walls of another bunker they discovered. They soon learn the monsters can hear their thoughts and the more fear they feel, the closer the monsters get.

The Hollow Places is a book that will stick with me for a long time. I adored Kara and Simon as characters. This book is dark, gory, scary and darkly funny at times; which is everything I love in a horror book. Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, The Hollow Places is an absolute thrill-ride of a book and I highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC.

Excellent book! It kept me in edge from page one. I'm looking g forward to reading more of this author's work. Highly recommended.

Freshly divorced Kara at age thirty four feels overwhelmed ... finding it unlikely that she can support herself as a part-time freelance graphic designer ... and dreading the thought of moving back in with her parents ... especially having to deal with her overbearing mother. Suddenly the phone rings ... her beloved Uncle Earl is offering her a life line ... why not move to Hog Chapel, North Carolina and help him with his Museum and live in the back room. The full title of his museum is: Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy. It is filled with various odd ball elements from around the world ... in other words, it is wall-to-wall weird shit. Uncle Earl believes in many things .... Jesus, Moses, the Freemasons, the Illuminati, and even the Aliens that landed at Roswell. He likes everyone he's ever met. Kara, or "Carrot" , a name he has called her since she was two years old, willingly inserts herself into this new world. After closing hours, Kara checks out the museum looking for stragglers,, instead she discovers a hole in the drywall in a back wall. She has no idea how to repair this jagged and irregular opening. She ventures next store to the Black Hen, a coffee house run by the barista, Simon. Simon dresses like a thrift store Mad Hatter, with finger-less gloves and an assortment of strange hats ... he is unchanged since she last saw him five years ago. He assures her that he has the tools and knowledge to help.
The dynamic duo embark on their fix-it operation, only to be derailed when they discover that the hole does not connect to just a crawl space, but a full size hallway. They soon realize.... "We.re in a hallway that can't exist with a great locked door at the end. Do you want to get eaten by monsters, or open a portal to hell or whatever?"
And, just like that, the journey has begun. Will they be eaten by "brain goblins" or have they fallen into a horror movie
........In true Lovecraftian fashion, Kara and Simon do not run from the cosmically unknown nightmares ... but, plunge forward to explore and probe deeper into the unknown terror.
Kingfisher expertly weaves into existence a strange world, somewhat mirroring C.S. Lewis' the "Wood between the Worlds" ... the nexus point outside the Narnia worlds. This portal exists to not only different worlds , but alternate realities. This alien world is inhabited by dense willows that harbor strange, unseen alien forces that can hear your thoughts and seek to capture you for the purposes of examining you like a microbe under a slide ... and then changing and unraveling your mind and body. Kingfisher establishes a background of pervasive dread and escalating tension .... and, then, expertly relieves the tension by sprinkling in a banter of tongue In cheek humor. And, at times there are illusions to the tropes of our beloved horror movies.
Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery / Sage Press for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. ( at readers remains.com )

Absolutely BONE-CHILLING and yet compulsively readable! Through a frightening retelling of Lovecraft's <i> The Willows </i> that reads like a combination between <i> Annihilation </i> and Kingfisher's previous novel, <i> The Twisted Ones </i> T. Kingfisher has crafted another masterful horror novel that has instilled in me a deep fear of the entire state of North Carolina.

Our recently divorced protagonist, Kara, has moved into her Uncle's rural curios shop (The Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy!), and sleeps and works amid stuffed river otters, bears, and albino raccoons. Her life is as normal as it ever gets in the Glory to God Museum until she stumbles through a hole in the wall with her friend Simon and discovers a horrifying new world.

Creepy, dark, and often quite gory, this novel left some images stamped into my brain that I wish I could wash out with bleach. But I somehow still mean that in a good way? Part of crafting a good horror novel, in my opinion, is the building of suspense leading up to certain moments that whack you around the head like a baseball bat. Kingfisher is master of seeding these little moments of tension and discomfort, just left of normal to make shivers run up your spine until you hit the parts that REALLY make you want to jump out of your skin.

Another thing I appreciate about Kingfisher's style of horror--her protagonists are refreshingly realistic, Kara talks and acts exactly like I'd expect a real person to talk and act in her situation. Brave, but without delusions of heroism, she is simply a woman trying to survive and maybe do a little good while cracking jokes about fanfic. Speaking of which, I also enjoyed the novel's humor--it kept the tone of the book from getting too relentlessly dark.

My one complaint with this book was how similar it felt to <i> The Twisted Ones </i>. Not only was the original setting the same, but the two main characters felt tone-wise a LOT like the two main characters of that novel. I can't complaint too much, though, because if there's anything I've learned about Kingfisher its that while she likes to stick to what she knows, she's awful good at it.

House of Leaves meets The Magicians meets Gravity Falls. This Lovecraftian horror was riveting and I loved it. Kara, or Carrot, as she is lovingly called by her Uncle Earl, goes to live with her uncle after her divorce. She helps run his shop of curiosities and encounters otherworldly horrors she could never have imagined. I could not put this down. The faceless, nameless horror was well crafted and the danger so real. The characters became people I wanted to meet, but I also wanted to stay as far away as possible. Get a copy in October when it comes out—perfect month for reading this chilling tale.

<i>Review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review<i>

T. Kingfisher continues to delight with a horror entry that kept me from reading into the wee hours of the night... mainly because I was afraid a portal to a creepy, nightmare dimension would open up in my bedroom and let the roots in.
I first came across T. Kingfisher's books following a twitter suggestion from author Angela Boord (whose knockout novel Fortune's Fool is well worth your time) and proceeded to tear through Swordheart and Paladin's Grace at an embarrassingly swift pace. Both are lovely studies in romantic fantasy and laugh-out-loud funny, so I was not sure what to expect from a horror novel by the same author.

To be honest, I am a little mad at myself for doubting Kingfisher at all. The Hollow Places is a grab you by the collar rollercoaster of a read. Engaging, terrifying, and just as laugh-out-loud funny as her romance entries have proven to be. Moments of suspense are balanced with a necessary levity and humor that readers of Kingfisher have come to expect, and that readers of horror (or maybe just me as I am a wimp) need in order to sleep soundly at night.

Also, as a fellow North Carolinian, it was a treat to see small town NC represented in a contemporary SFF novel. That the author lives roughly an hour away from where I do made it all the more enjoyable to see how she portrayed our local area and the wonderful characters populating the pine woods and sandhills of central North Carolina.

~ On that note, dear Ms. Kingfisher, please do not be alarmed when a harried woman wearing a four month old baby wanders into your local coffee shop and stares at you awkwardly over her latte. It's just that I'm a fan and my formative years being raised in Los Angeles where sighting celebrities was a regular occurrence won't allow me to come bother you. Pay no attention to the fangirl in the corner ~

Now, I don't often read horror, perhaps once every 3-4 years do I dip a toe into that pool. It is certainly not with enough frequency to where I can be any sort of authority on literary nightmare fodder. It is usually when my brain is tired of wizards, dragons, plucky farm boys or determined YA heroines that I decide sleep isn't worth my time and I'd rather stay up all night with the flashlight app on my phone keeping the dark corners well illuminated. This is not to say I don't enjoy horror - for example, House of Leaves ranks as one of the best books I have ever read, while also holding a unique position on top of the list of Books I Will Never Read Again...

So it must be said: I am beyond glad I decided to spend that scant bit of horror energy on The Hollow Places. It is a fresh yet familiar take on portal fantasy and alternate realms. As always, Kingfisher writes with fluid, entertaining prose. Her characters are well-rounded, realistic and, in the case of The Hollow Places, fully aware of the tropes they represent and wholly reject.

A mixture of the Scream films and Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, Hollow Places unfolds with the pace of a blockbuster summer movie - and considering the nationwide closure of movie theaters, this was an exceedingly welcome diversion from the repetitive nature of Sheltering in Place.

The main character who I now think of as Carot seemed way younger than her years. This is just not for me. I tried to like it but at 10% in it's just not grabbing my interest at all.

The bunkers, the willows, the cones...there are so many images in this novel that will stick with you from night to night and long after you finish. I loved Kara's sense of humor, her sidekick Simon, and her intrepid cat, Beau.

Especially during this pandemic, it's wonderful to escape into another world (and doubly satisfying when our narrator also escapes into another world)...and come back. Kara is broken and alone after her divorce, with nowhere else to turn but her Uncle Earl and his crazy museum of weird things. She's reluctant but she has few options when she takes the small apartment attached to the museum.

Like many of us stuck at home with few options for work, for meeting friends, for continuing our normal daily lives, Kara catalogs incoming donated items, greets occasional tourists and drinks coffee. Her foray into the otherworld, which at first seems exciting, quickly reveals itself to be a terrible danger, one that follows her home.

She is grateful to be back home - much like we are when we come back from our trips to the grocery store? Ha! But more than that, she becomes a hero in her own story, saving her own life and that of others because she *doesn't* run away even though she threatens to.

This book was NOT written for the pandemic, because of it, or at any time during it but it has a remarkable resonance for those of us living it. Whether it's a rare trip to see a friend or the virus itself, everything in our lives is fraught with an element of danger. We want to triumph, we want to live and we want our lives back. Watching Kara do that makes us hopeful in a strange fictional sort of way.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

Review based on an ARC. Kingfisher writes an imminently bingeable horror again. The Hollow Places mashes up our fascination with a safe scare (like the exhibits in the oddity museum the main character works at) with the eerie terror of strange places that are just to the left of familiar--but deadly different. Like a lot of horror, this ends with more dangling threads than I would like, but a great, enjoyable read.

n ‘The Hollow Places” freshly divorced Kara needs a new place to crash and that last thing she wants to do is move back in with her mother. Lucky for her, her Uncle Earl has a spare room in the back of his museum of oddities. Kara stumbles upon a hole in the wall with impossible hallways and rooms does what most people would do: investigates.

I have mixed feelings about this book. “The Hollow Places” is Coraline meets Narnia meets Night at the Museum which is such a blindingly cool concept I can’t believe it didn’t work.

Kara and Simon are interesting characters with a fun dynamic, but they feel almost like parodies of characters. Neither of them took anything seriously the whole time; always a witty comeback or sarcastic comment, and while they are generally funny it’s the only way they speak to one another. Despite Simon constantly mentioning how the things they are about to do are Dumb Things People Do in Horror Movies™ they always do the thing anyway. Kara ignores all the signs from the very start. Once is chance, twice is coincidence, and three is a pattern. I understand it’s a horror novel and so dumb choices must be made for the sake of plot but then why make the characters so self-aware in the first place?

In terms of the horror itself, I found it lacking a bit in the first half. The saving grace of this book is its second half and the genuine dread you feel after Kara and Simon escape. The invasion of willows in the space Kara and the reader deemed safe has much more impact on my fear levels than anything that happened while in the bunkers or with the willows. Speaking of, I had a hard time visualizing for a good portion of this book, as the monsters (or just They) are described as simultaneously existing and also not. The attempts at descriptions often feel rambly and confusing, the author either giving too much information or not nearly enough. Somehow the image of what They should look like never clicks and neither does the story.

Not a book I would normally pick up, but when I got the chance to read an Advanced Reading Copy from NetGalley, I thought “why not?”

In retrospect, I didn't think it was as scary as I thought as it might be--I am a chicken when it comes to scary books--but of course reading it during daytime and/or not right before bed certainly helped. There are some gory sections in the book, but for the most part I really enjoyed the storyline, and throughout the book I always wanted to know what happened next. The fact that the entrancy to this other, scary world was in her uncle's house made this story oddly relatable. This is the first book I have read by this author, and I really liked her writing style. She managed to balance the horror with just enough humor, and made the (good) characters very likeable. Definitely interested in the author's other books (e.g., "The Twisted Ones").

THE HOLLOW PLACES is the second novel I have read by T. Kingfisher. This one takes place in Hog Chapel, North Carolina, in a store named the "Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy". Our main characters are Kara (Carrot), her Uncle Earl (owner of the "museum"), and Simon, the barista from next door.

"Eighteen years to the day after Uncle Earl accepted Bigfoot into his life, my marriage ended."

After Kara's divorce, she moves into the museum to help out her Uncle. While he's away, she and Simon discover a hole in one of the walls upstairs--one that simply CAN'T be . . .

". . . there's a hallway that can't exist and a giant locked door at the end . . ."

The characters are absolutely phenomenal here! I love the sarcasm and dark humor that compose much of the novel. Even in light of the horror facing them, this adds so much enjoyment and depth to the tale.

". . . we'll discuss this like people who don't die in the first five minutes of a horror movie."

The story itself put me in mind of a certain classic novella to an extent, but only slightly. This book was all Kingfisher's vision. To have this unique idea, coupled with some great characters, and an enjoyable writing style, you have a narrative that's rocketed to the top of my "Best Books Read" list for the year.

". . . I was no longer willing to swear that nothing weird was going on . . ."

There was a strong psychological horror element present here, as well as the physical. I felt that the author did a great job of balancing the two out, while utilizing the quirky personalities of Kara (Carrot) and Simon to offer some "comic relief" at times.

"'A giant bolted metal door seems a little excessive just to keep out your relatives.'"
"'You only say that because you don't know my mother.'"

Overall, I absolutely loved the style of this novel. Everything from the writing, characters, location, and . . . horrors . . . felt like something completely new when brought together like this.

". . . if there's a way into hell, someone will always find it . . . "

T. Kingfisher is now on my list of auto-buy authors.

Highly recommended.

What a fun read - I read it in one day! I wasn't sure if I'd like this one since it's a little different than my usual fare, I do usually stick to horror, crime mysteries - but have started reading some urban fantasy and am enjoying it! Wasn't sure if I'd like this one, but the characters were engaging, there was some enjoyable mystery, and the book moved along at a good pace - so much so that I just kept on going until I read the whole darned thing in one day! I do read a lot, but definitely just kept on going with this one. This would be a great beach or vacation read, it moves along, keeps the interest, and a lot happens. I will likely look for this author again.

This is one of those books you can't put down! After Kara moves into her Uncle Earl's small museum/home, she finds a secret portal to a terrifying other dimension. As she and her friend, Simon, keep having strange things happen to them, Kara finally figures out the truth about this other place..
I could not stop reading until the end. I thought to myself what a great movie this would make! I give this book five huge stars. Lovers of sci-fi and horror will definitely appreciate this read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a really great surprise! I went into this book totally blind and it was a fun, spooky ride. I am definitely tracking down the authors other work now.

I this book was a modern spin on lovecraft. I’m a sucker for these secret worlds that people stumble into and this one was doubly nice because it’s not kids who find the secret way. Usually it’s like only kids still have imaginations or willingness to believe.... or something. But this story follows someone just freshly divorced and it just felt so real. They don’t fine a fairly land populated with cute talking animals. This is a cruel and strange reality. It is creepy and horrible and we were all desperate to get back home!

Thank you NetGalley for a review copy!

I don’t like horror. I never wanted to watch scary movies as a kid. I got nightmares from E.T. I never saw anything with Freddy or Jason. So I would never ordinarily have been on the lookout for a book like The Holllow Places by T. Kingfisher, except for the fact that T. Kingfisher is also Ursula Vernon. Ms. Vernon is the author of the Hamster Princess books, which my daughter enjoys, and is a delight on Twitter (I highly recommend her thread explaining what happens when she tried the Ancient Greek method of using pottery shards in place of toilet paper). Furthermore, I recall Seanan McGuire effusively praising last year’s Kingfisher horror novel, The Twisted Ones so much that I just had to buy it ( but have not read yet). In addition, her novella Minor Mage was absolutely delightful and I cannot recommend it enough. So I decided to be brave and request an eARC of The Hollow Places. And I am SO glad that I did. The Hollow Places was fantastic. The protagonist is a recent divorcée who moves in with her uncle into a room in his tiny small town museum of taxidermy and oddities. There she and the barista next door find a portal to another world, a terrifying place of willows that are not quite willows. The characters are amazingly detailed and feel so real and the fantastical elements impinge on the story so gradually that you never lose your suspension of misbelief. The mysteries are meaty and satisfying, though the final reveal felt a little out of left field. Only a little though - the wackiness of the museum of oddities setting did help sell it. It worked in the context mostly, but it was the only weak point in an otherwise excellent novel. I’m so glad I read this book! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

Okay I’m not sure why I picked this book because I’m not a fan of horror or suspense but I’m trying to broaden my horizon and man did this book take me on a ride. Reading it I knew I was way out of my normal element, and there where times that I had to put the book down and take a breather, because I’m not trying to spoil anything, but why....why would someone stay there after seeing the stuff happening. I would have been gone. Lol

Honestly I don’t know how I truly feel about this book. I really like the authors writing style but the story line is both super interesting and so strange at the same time you’re like what did I just read. I have a feeling this is going to be a book that you will either really love or hate as a reader.

DNF. Just really bad writing and the characters are really ridiculous. The main character is 34 but acts 18. Overuse of comparisons to Narnia. Descriptions were totally confusing and I couldn’t visualize the places described. Inappropriate affect by the characters with some tasteless comments about being gay. Could not waste my time further.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher is an excellent mix of horror, suspense and witty humor. I simply loved the main character Kara. I could relate to her in a lot of ways. The way she deals with troublesome situations is a fresh breath of air in the horror genre. Her friend is also hilarious. The conversations between them were quite amusing.

The story itself is excellent. The author has a vivid imagination, and possesses the right words to portray it. I felt myself sucked into the story. While this book might not seem very heavy on the horror itself, there are a few scenes that gave me goosebumps. Just don’t go in expecting to be horrified every two seconds. The suspense builds up quite nicely, and has an overall nicely done spooky feel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery/ Saga Press for the advanced review copy!