Adrian Is gay man who finally had a date with a real keeper. He comes home grinning all the way with happiness and find a mysterious package wrapped in pink on his doorstep and a note that reads “please take care of my daughter.Abigale. Her name is Abigale.” Adrian instantly fall in love, and becomes devoted to, little Abigale. This child is special. She changes bad feelings to good, prejudice to loving acceptance. Her appearance is, well…different…so Adrian worry’s about her being seen by others.
No spoilers…..but towards the end there is the most unique twist I think I’ve ever read. Read Abigale when you have a free hour. It’s short and sweet…sweet and lovely. We need Abigale on this planet now. Thank you to #netgalley and #Last WaltzPublishing, and to Daemon Manx for this delightful short story.

**Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

Pros
+ a read-in-one-sitting novella
+ genre: un-scary horror (but still really good)
+ themes: found family, acceptance, care
+ vibes: creepy, gentle
+ brief synopsis: Adrian finds a strange baby on his doorstep and brings her inside
+ lgbtqia rep: m/m
+ enjoyed the writing style
+ great plot twist

Cons
-none

TW: abandoned baby (but she's very well taken care of, don't worry)

This definitely was not the kind of story I was expecting going into it, but I was absolutely delighted with it!

Abigail subverts the demonic infant trope beautifully. I didn't expect a horror novella to leave my heart feeling so warm and fuzzy, but Abigail managed to put the stupidest smile on my face when I reached the twist at the end.

I highly recommend this one to anyone looking for a cozy, wholesome horror treat!

All of my thanks to Last Waltz Publishing & Netgalley for the ARC!

Excellent book, loved it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

OK read, but overall not for me. I felt the writing was too exaggerated and even though it was such a short story, I had trouble finishing it.

This was a nice short story, the characters were interesting and baby Abigail, the ending was a great twist for this short horror story.

Adrian is waiting for his date to show. As he waits he talks to the bartender. They know each other. When Adrian is about to give up, his date Michael shows. They are both happy with their date. Adrian is still floating from his date when he almost steps on a basket at his front door. He looks at a bundle of material. He goes through it to find a baby. The baby looks unusual. Somehow he finds him completely enchanted with her. There was a note he found in the basket that told him to keep care of her. He panics as he doesn’t know how to take care of a baby. He slowly learns how to do it. Adrian ignore Michael’s phone calls. Adrian realizes that Abigail must be checked by a doctor to make sure she is healthy. Michael is pediatrician so he makes an appointment and bundles Abigail up so no one can see her. Why? Is Abigail deformed?

The author has written a great horror novella. The story never drags. It made me fall in love with the baby
And Adrian. I thought Michael was great. The ending of the story was a surprise but I think a good surprise for a horror story. This is a great read!

Liked this one a lot! Didn’t realise it was already out (oops) and I owned it (double oops) but this was a really fun ghost story.

I want to first start off by saying that I enjoyed the pace of this book and the plot twist at the end. I haven’t read anything like this before, so I did find it intriguing overall. however, I definitely was expecting this to be more on the scary side.

This was a rough one for me.
I will say that I enjoyed the main plot of this story, and I did not see that twist coming!
Sadly, the characters were over-the-top stereotypes that had me cringing from the start. I honestly thought I was reading a highschooler's short story with the simplistic writing and one-note characters. Why was an educated man (that was stressed over and over that he was a physician) texting things like "I h8 2 b bothering u". Whaaa? I just couldn't with the characters and backstory. The twist was delightful though.

"What on Earth are you, Abigail?" He asked as he stared in wonder 🤔. "How am I going to take care of you when I don't even know what you are?"

She was like nothing he had ever seen before and clearly possessed powers beyond comprehension.


Adrian who is known to be meticulous to the point of obsessive will learn to put aside his compulsive, obsessive nature like an old pair of shoes for the love of Abigail.

⚠️
This short story packs a punch- was not what I expected but in a good way and with a subtle but effective twist to boot. It was more of an awwww than the usual wtf 😄 the beauty of unconditional love and acceptance is all that matters

5/5✨

A perfect short read. I loved that I was reading like I knew how it was going to end and then had to literally back track to make sure what I was reading made sense and then my jaw dropped. A great add to your Fall TBR!

I didn't see that coming! Such a plottwist in the end! Really, really good, enjoyed it and absorbed it totally. Already recommended it to collegues and friends. Sadly enough, it's not available for German bookmarket...

I am not a short story girlie, but I did enjoy this one. Which is odd because it is not only a short story but also about a baby.
Abigail is left on Adrian’s doorstep with only a note. Upon sight Adrian is entranced with her even though she is different—she has horns claws and scales.
He takes her in and drops everything to care for her, but he is afraid to let others see her because she is so different. He finds out though that she has the same effect on everyone that meets her.

A cute little story about love and acceptance. I loved how brand names were changed slightly. I’ll admit I was expecting something creepier but overall I enjoyed this story.

“And Abigail was definitely different; he had never seen anything like her in his life. But she was special, a gift—his gift.”

A wonderful story about protecting someone who is different than you instead of acting with fear and violence. This story is filled with unexpected revelations and surprises.

Abigail by Daemon Manx was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. I had never read this author before and based upon the reviews, I was really looking forward to reading this novella. I was disappointed in this story to be honest. The story was mostly build-up and then the "shock" twist ending was a let-down, to me anyway .

Three Stars

A really quick read that was a story that I had not read before. While I was reading the book I was intrigued to see where the tale was headed. As I continued to read on, I was shocked to finally understand what the book was actually about. This author definitely has a way of disarming the reader and leaving his mark long after the book is finished.

This was the sweetest little short story. I could hear Abigail’s laugh in my head and it made me smile too!! I just feel more full of love after reading.

Wow, that was a bit heavy and emotional. I went in blind on this one, so I was really surprised by how it turned out. I thought it was going to be a horror short story about an evil child, but it ended up being much deeper and more meaningful than that.

Daemon Manx was able to convey a sincere message through this book—something we should really embrace more often: acceptance of ourselves and our flaws. People might judge or condemn us, but we should never judge or condemn ourselves. We may be different or live differently than most, but as long as we love and accept ourselves, that’s what truly matters.

I love this book. It made me feel good about myself, despite my flaws.