Nice cover art, interesting title. I couldn't wrap my mind around the storyline, so I wasn't able to finish the book, but will keep trying.

Mark has a unique urban horror vision, his landscapes are frightening realistic. It brings a depth and raw fear, less like a story and more like a truth.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page. This book will not disappoint on the horror department, it is great. The science fiction and fantasy in this story is great as well. I enjoyed Kori's character. It has a good bit of creepy because of it being a horror book. This book will keep your interest that is for sure. This book is in stores for $12.99 (USD).

this was a great horror novel, I loved the atmosphere in this story. The characters were what I was looking for and the story was perfect. It was an entertaining read.

Welp! This was indeed horrific. And troubling. And just plain weird. I imagine this weirdness must be what's inside an insane person's head. I feel like this whole story is like a metaphor of the mental illness. You have a goal; one moment you find yourself pursuing that goal, in touch with what is considered reality. Then in a blink of an eye, you see something weird that utterly deviates from what is considered real. It's a horrific nightmare.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Wicked Run Press for this free ARC. This review is made of my own accord, with no monetary compensation whatsoever from the names mentioned above and/or the rightful owners of this ARC.

This book is heavy but I wasn’t expecting a light-hearted monster fest when I started a book written by Mark Matthews. He writes about the realistic heavy shit infused with the horror-fantastic. I’ve read Milk-Blood, On the LIps of Children, and Garden of Fiends: Tales of Addiction Horror and they’ve all been solid grueling reads. The Hobgoblin of Little Minds is not an exception.

This time Matthews tackles lycanthropy and mental health - specifically bipolar and melds the two into a compelling, painful, imaginative journey. If you’ve struggled and/or have family and friends who’ve struggled you know this is going to be a heavy hitter. I don’t even know how to get this review started so I guess I’ll say a little bit about the plot.

Kori grew up with a bipolar dad who has been missing for years. Her mother is screwing off to another state with a new man and Kori isn’t quite ready to let her dad go forever. She visits the Northville Psychiatric Hospital before it’s demolished because it was the last place her dad was seen. What she finds there isn’t at all what she expected. I mean, really, what she finds is a nightmare hellscape and something NO ONE would ever expect. That’s where the horror-fantastic comes in.

Dr. Zita started out with good intentions but somewhere along the way she became less compassionate doctor and more mad scientist and that’s all I really want to say about that because you should discover this stuff on your own. I spent most of my notes writing “WTF is going on here?” and you should experience that too. Just know she is a captivating villain. You’ll root for her to perish but she’ll also fascinate you with her completely dastardly and horribly disturbing plans.

I recommend but with the caveats that in addition to some spectacular deaths (one that made me laugh, actually I’m still laughing when I think about it) that are gory and disturbing it’s the human aspects that might bother one more. The talk of suicide, of abortion, of depression, of a home that feels unsafe and leaves one feeling untethered, and the effects it has on everyone in that circle of pain. Be warned but do read it if you’re in the right headspace because it is excellent.

“But nothing was safe in this house.”

Ouch. If you feel that ouch, heed my warning.

CW: <spoiler>coerced/forced abortion, mental illness, depression, suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts.</spoiler>

Mark Matthews' The Hobgoblin of Little Minds is inventive and original, unlike any werewolf or medical horror I've read before. Kori has grown up navigating her father's bipolar disorder and the harm it has caused the family. But despite that, she still loves him. When he disappears after the hospital he was living in shuts down, Kori vows to discover what happened to him. But what Kori uncovers is something unrecognizable, horrifying, and much bigger than her or her father. Kori is thrust into a dangerous plot involving blood thirsty creatures, runaway genetic experiments, and the perseverance of familial love. Will she save her father? Will she herself survive?

Matthews writing is poetic and intentional. His descriptions are incredible and thorough. They not only put you in the moment, but also lend you the skill of a practiced observer. And not only that, Matthews' deliberate choice of wording evokes extreme reactions in the reader, creating a rich reading experience. But be prepared for a slower paced narrative for most of Hobgoblin. There are times when the action is heightened and the narrative moves more quickly, but over all this book feels almost meditative in pace.

The Hobgoblin of Little Minds is a different kind of horror book, and it displays Matthews skill well. Folks who enjoy The Passage series may want to pick this one up.

First, I need to apologize to Mark for taking so long to write this review; seeing how I finished the book a few months back.

What can I say about Mark that hasn’t been said before? I mean, not everyone gets a blurb from the incomparable Jack Ketchum that reads, “Matthews is a damn good writer, and make no mistake, he will hurt you.”

And hurt you he does in THE HOBGOBLIN OF LITTLE MINDS.

This book is so multilayered that it will have you second guessing yourself throughout. It really offers a great insight on mental illness, using a (now) seldom seen creature - the werewolf (or is it?).

One of the things I love about Mark and all of his writings is that he doesn’t shy away from the ugly. He splays it out there like a buffet at Golden Corral. He takes on things like drug abuse, mental illness, and even the dark side of animal shelters. While he writes with a “no holds barred” attitude, he does so with a loving hand, something that is agonizingly difficult to do; yet effortless for Mark He makes you feel for the characters, and root for a happy ending - even amidst a healthy dose of gore.

I don’t want to rehash the plot here - and I couldn’t even if I wanted to. There are just so many levels to this story (just like the asylum it takes place in), that a summery would almost be the length of the book.

As always, you will not be disappointed reading anything that has Mark Matthews on the cover.

Requested this book in error. Message sent to make Co-Op aware
The Hobgoblin of Little Minds is my own title, and I was signed into my reader account rather than my writer account

It is so hard to describe this book. From the cover, you would assume it's just about werewolves but you would be only half right.
Kori grew up witnessing her father's struggle with mental illness including seeing her father taken away to a psychiatric hospital where he later disappeared. Kori, now grown up, decides to trespass at the hospital where her father was treated to try to find some solace and peace. Northville Psychiatric Hospital is now abandoned but something unhuman lurks in the tunnels beneath the hospital.
At first glance, this is a horror novel but if you dig a bit deeper, you find that it is also an examination of mental illness. The way people who have mental illness are treated, and how it might feel and affect someone who does have a mental illness.
A book is all the more enjoyable when there is a deeper meaning to be found. I found the Afterword by the author to be poignant and informative in turns. Mental illness is so misunderstood by so many people. The correlation between bipolar episodes and folklore combined with biological biology was interesting. I have read about this possible connection before. People also criticize those who stop taking medicine. The author address a possible reason why people might stop taking it. The Hobgoblin of Little Minds turned out to be one of my favourite reads for 2021.

This breaks my heart to say this, but this was not my favorite. I’ve read other books and stories from Mark Matthews, and enjoy his writing style. Something about this one just didn’t do it for me. The characters felt a bit flat, and some of the plot just become repetitive. I was super intrigued by the premise, and you could see what Matthews wanted to achieve with this. Perhaps with stronger editing I would have enjoyed this more. With that said, I’ll still be picking up his next!

Enjoyed reading this book. Horror, but also looking at mental issues of the day. Supernatural elements, with a descent into madness. #TheHobgoblinofLittleMinds #NetGalley

I thought I would like this book more than I did. Having read most of, if not all, Mark Matthews work I was excited about this new release. I could see where he was going with the story, but I couldn't get into to the characters enough. Having said that , it made for a slow go. This is the first time I haven't dug a story from Mark Matthews. But I won't stop reading him any time soon and will look forward to his next title.

The Hobgoblin of Little Minds…just how on earth do you review something of such important magnitude? The implications, the research, and the depth of such a poetic narrative…it blew my mind. This is the type of book that authors spend their entire careers trying to pen. The depth of feeling took it to a higher level, the bar being set with flair and empathy. This is the kind of horror that gets my gears churning, there is nothing more horrifying than the human condition and Matthews handed me a hand grenade.

The Hobgoblin of Little Minds was a journey. Get that seatbelt locked in tight because you will suffer whiplash but it’s the kind of shock that is needed for you to fully get the message that Matthews is conveying. Just from the synopsis alone, I knew this was going to be a good read, this was an astounding read, however. We have many questions and themes interweaving to bring the reader an explosive plot. Religion, faith, guilt, mental health, and public perception. The book had quite the profound effect on me and wanted the read to last but also wanting to know what would happen next. Mr Matthews is very much the trickster!

This story does not beat around the bush…no it leads you up a secluded path and jumps out at you when you least expect it. A story that at its very core feels like more an investigation at how people are treated with mental illness and the implications of having such, socially. Be prepared for Matthews to transport you into the story, I always felt like I was there, walking the halls of the hospital, feeling the anguish, and feeling the pain the characters were in. it only takes a sentence for the author to bring everything to life.

Our Protagonist, Kori has had her fair share of heartache. Her father is diagnosed with bipolar Disorder. His medication doesn’t seem to be helping with his symptoms. Fully medicated he’s completely numb, nothing like she remembers him to be and when in mania, he is excitable, and they can have fun together…until he comes down again. He’s had multiple enforced stays in hospital but now he’s in permanently. His final stay in hospital has him meeting Dr Zita and well, his life will forever be changed.

The Hobgoblin of Little Minds obviously had Werewolves playing an integral part in the storytelling and let me tell you – these creatures were scary as all hell! It was a deep exploration of how mental and health and being an actual monster can be metaphorically connected. The closing of the book leaves you searching for answers to the questions that the reader wasn’t even aware were hidden in plain sight.

The Hobgoblin of Little Minds is disquieting and disturbing. Its how you want all psychological horror and Monster Horror to be crafted. It’s a story so deeply etched in desperation and pain, its masterful.

This was an interesting new (and perhaps darker) take on the classic werewolf trope. I really connected with the characters, and the themes of family and acceptance stood out. At first I was confused and almost a little offended at the authors use of a psychiatric facility and mental health issues, but by the end of the book (and in reading about his own background and work), it was clear that those themes were not meant to offend, but to bring awareness. Overall a quick, fun, and sometimes shocking read. Highly recommend!

When I first started reading this book I originally thought I was just reading a book about werewolves, however after fulling reading the book, it is so much more. As a reader who is diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety I understood the deaper meaning to the feelings of the main characters. I also felt the author spoke with alot of disgression and understanding (which was also shown in the afterword). I loved the idea of people becoming like our original selves when we have episodes and I liked that anaology. Overall a very good fantasy book wth a deaper meaning.

A young woman, Kori, discovers the one thing she has longed for, hoped for for as long as she can remember, who would have thought that the decrepit old mental health hospital would have all of those secrets.

With The Hobgoblin of Little Minds, Matthews has crafted a captivating, magical imagining of the Werewolf trope, but also skillfully brings forth the tragedy that is mental illness. In this case it is Bipolar, but not in the traditional frowned upon disorder. Emotionally, his descriptive prose breathes new life into the condition and allows it to be painted in a pseudo positive light. You see, in this tale Bipolar is a gift and a curse.

This story is very character driven, and they're developed quite well, so well in fact that every tinge of emotion that they feel leaps off the pages and into readers minds. The amount of research that was put into this work is clearly evident, the authenticity of describing manic episodes, and the effects that plague those that suffer from Bipolar, or mental illness in general is not easy to put in to words, but it is felt that it has been completed quite well. I myself suffer from Bipolar, and to see that it has been re-imagined in this type of light brings hope.

This book is full of dread and grief, while reading, readers will be able to feel the pain that each character begins to feel. Readers will want to stand with them and be by their sides. They will ache for our main character, as she discovers the one thing that she has been hoping for, but isnt quite what she expected. They will try and reach into the book to help a father who was shunned because of his condition, only to be exploited and utterly destroy himself in the process. They will discover a mother, who longs to be reunited with a lost one, the perfect one. The corrupted Doctor, whom seems to have their best interest in her heart, but is only caught up in evil. Finally, another daughter, who is misguided, not exactly sure where she stands in the world, until shes free.

I am honestly quite impressed with the way that Matthews is able to wiggle inside of your mind and have you thinking and overthinking everything that you thought you knew. I must admit that this is my first encounter with any of his work, but his prose and descriptive qualities has clearly created a fan in me, and has solidified his standing as a must buy. If you enjoy your horror with psychological aspects you will enjoy this one. I gave it five stars and i will be recommending it for sometime.

I would like to extend a huge thank you, Net Galley, and Wicked Run Press for providing me with a digital arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Nope, nope, nope. Strange concept, confusing story, unlikable characters. This story made no sense. Cool cover art though.

Thank you to Wicked Run Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel.

When I first saw the cover I wasn’t really sold. Out of all of the famous monsters I’d have to say that werewolves are my least favourite and I never really search them out. Yes, I’ve seen all the most lauded films (The Howling, Dog Soldiers, Ginger Snaps,) but I have avoided the novels. Even just now searching the best werewolf novels all of them look more like erotica than horror. (Which is not a judgement in itself, erotica has it’s place, it’s just not on my bookshelf.)

When I started seeing people on horror bookstagram raving about this book, I knew I needed to check it out. I’m really thrilled I did. I genuinely haven’t seen a new and fresh addition to the werewolf canon in A LONG TIME. So thank you so much Mark Matthews!
Stop reading here if you want to avoid spoilers!

TLDR: You should read this.

The Hobgoblin of Little Minds creates a world where lycanthropy is intrinsically tied to bipolar disorder. Taking the most common symptoms, hyper-sexuality, extreme mood swings, suicidal ideation, and all the other manic/depressive states and tying it into the moon cycle. Where our subjects undergo a violent change that is outside of their control. They turn into fricking werewolves, duh!

The patients/werewolves in our story are institutionalized, and are undergoing a series of experiments in the hope that they’ll be cured. Instead, we have Doctor Zita who believes that bipolar disorder is a superpower, and through drug therapy, isolation and breeding they can distill a perfect specimen. A human who is completely in tune with the workings of the world and history, that will be powerful and perfect in every way. She believes that bipolar disorder has been wrongly maligned, and when it’s at it’s purest, strongest form that you get a new Messiah.

At it’s core this is a novel about how mental illness can demonize a family, but that core is absolutely splattered in viscera. There is SO MUCH BLOOD in this story, and deformed vamp/werewolf hybrid babies, and, well, I’m not going to spoil the bloody bits, because that’s obviously where the real fun is.

I think this was a supremely difficult novel to write, because you’re treading along a minefield of people interpreting this either as romanticizing mental illness or the opposite damning the mentally ill and calling them monsters. I think that Matthew’s day job in behavioural medicine would lead me to believe that it’s way more nuanced than that. I think it more so a critique on how we interpret psychological illnesses and the people who experience them.

A dark and moving look at mental health through the lens of horror.

When Kori Driscoe heads to the now abandoned mental institution, the last known place of her father, she finds far more than she expected. Peter Driscoe has suffered from mental illness his whole life, and his family suffered along the way. After Peter is admitted Northville Psychiatric Hospital, a doctor offers him a new kind of treatment. One that would put a new meaning to his cycles of mania and depression, one that will forever change him and others at the hands of the doctor during the facilities last days.

This book affected me so deeply, I could feel it in my core. Having dealt with mental illness in both myself as well a parent, I could easily identify with the characters. Framing the subject in the world of horror, likening the cycle of bipolar disorder to a werewolf, was a perfect fit. The writing was so deep and dark, I found myself reading slow, savoring each line of prose, and highlighting the hell out of it. It is haunting and intimate, beautiful and depressing, disgusting and wonderful, and exactly what you want in tackling a subject such as this. Yeah, I liked it!

All that aside, the horror in this truly are terrifying. Its got the bloody and disgusting parts us weirdos crave, all while putting a new twist on it so it doesn’t feel like any other werewolf story.

I loved it, I will be rereading it, and I’m excited to read more from Mark Matthews.