Victorian Psycho is a dark disturbing fever dream of a read, whose main character will leave you shocked and unsettled. Winifred Notty comes to the Ensor house as the new governess for Drusilla and Andrew Pounds. With plans to tutor her charges, read them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. However, the longer she stays with the Pounds, the more of their dark secrets she uncovers, and the more she despises them. Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. She must have patience for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for everyone at the Ensor house.
Feito masterfully spins a dark yet witty story that draws you into its shocking conclusion. With creepy Victorian setting and dark gothic gore, this ominous story of the macabre will shock you and leave you wondering how you will sleep tonight.

Welcome, Winifred, to the growing canon of unhinged, murderous women of modern horror literature!

Winifred is the titular Victorian Psycho, a newly employed governess of the Pounds family who is responsible for the schooling and moral education of their two children, Drusilla and Andrew. Winifred's station sets her a part from Bret Easton Ellis's American psycho - whereas Patrick Bateman's character is intended to comment on socioeconomic privilege from an insider's perspective, Winifred's character does so from the perspective of someone who does not have the same privilege but does have access to their world, their trust. Because of this small modification in point of view, Feito’s novel more directly scratches the class animus itch. Very "eat the rich."

I think where this novel shines is its prose. Feito does a great job evoking the time period without the stereotypical ornate stylings of modern Gothic literature situated in similar settings. Feito also makes great use of allusion and foreshadowing to enhance atmosphere and anticipation, respectively.

Regarding allusion, the most obvious is the novella's title, but I've already gone over that. The other allusions mostly concern the science of othering characteristic of the time. Phrenology in particular is one of the patriarch Mr. Pounds's pastimes, which he subjects Winifred to fairly early on. There is also the pseudo-psychology abound in the social environment of the book, mainly that concerning women's mental faculties. There are references to hysteria and melancholy as feminine afflictions, particularly concerning women who are neglected, in pain, or suffering from loss. So, it is no wonder why women work to conceal their true feelings from men as well as the other women who may judge. It’s fascinating to watch this social masking, which is traditionally the downfall of Victorian female protagonists, be sharpened into a weapon in the hands of Winifred.

Regarding foreshadowing, there is quite a lot that I somehow didn't immediately pick up on that funnels directly into the gorey climax! Everything that happens in this novel is well planned in advance - one might say premeditated. Even so, there were still a couple of surprises in store that made the final pages even more of a sadistic delight to read!

There will inevitably be comparisons of this novel to other recent femme reimaginings of American Psycho, including A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers and Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede. However, I think I'd rather recommend this novel to fans of Where I End by Sophie White and possibly Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh because of their focus on transgressive femininity and (in Eileen's case subtle) queer themes. Either way, this novella is a fun little bloodbath that I'm sure many horror readers will enjoy.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

This is not your average horror type of book, sure it's got lots of blood and spooky situations, but it's just a bit more than that as well, read it and you'll see. Winifred Notty has become the governess of two children of the Pound family, they live in a large mansion (the Pounds are well off) in the country and had recently let the previous governess go. The children Andrew and Drusilla are to be taught some languages, and some basic schooling (math, reading), Mrs Pounds was very explicit about this, wanting her children to succeed in life and for her son to take the place of her husband in time. Winifred is a larger lady and not real attractive, though that may have been the reason she was hired, as it soon becomes apparent that Mr Pounds has a bit of a wandering eye and when Mrs Pounds thinks something might be happening between Winifred and her husband, she makes Winifred spend the night in the dog house, with the dog. Not how you win over your employee. Winifred does have some bad habits, like stealing stuff and killing people, all of which come to a head at a very big Christmas dinner party where there are several guests, a tad over the top, but within reason for Winifred. A very good book and I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Liveright for the ARC.

the formatting of the ARC is so painful to read on kobo, really wish the publisher provided EPUB format instead of PDF. lots of glitches as well, made it unreadable. still looking forward to reading when this is released.

one star purely for the fact that it was unreadable!

Victorian England is a cruel, disgusting, and ugly place and I don't begrudge Winifred for what she does.

"Victoria Psycho" is a dark and funny novella about a governess as she navigates Ensor house as well as violent habits. I think this was a lot of fun, I never knew what Winifred was about to do next but she gets where she's going.

I liked the illustrations between the parts, it makes the old-classic style of writing more immersive. Also how short it is, the characters go through some pretty brutal things and the story doesn't linger on them. There were a few times Winifred broke the fourth wall, I wish these had either been cut out entirely or a couple more had been added. I did enjoy how ugly everything was described as. Dispite the story taking place within a well off estate, no-one is nice to look at. Even with Winifred everyone's ability to be cruel is on their faces. It is a time where mummies are crushed to powder and dead babies are meant to be forgotten, so macabre and death themed but the governess is the weird one? Yes extremely so.

If you like weird little books with unlikeable characters I think this is up your alley.

A delightfully dark and humorous tale with a protagonist that you love even though she is 100 % evil!

This had some great moments and the writing was good to sticking with the time period. I didn't like all the baby stuff and there were aspects that felt confusing and disjointed, which may have had to do with the fact that the MC was insane, but it impacted the readability for me. I liked that a portion of it took place on Christmas! That was festive and fun to read during the holiday season.

This one didn’t work for me. I don’t mind gory or gruesome which this certainly was, but the writing was a bit jumpy. It was told almost in short vignettes and when they skipped around in time it was confusing. Add to that an unreliable narrator and I wasn’t sure what was happening most of the time. Then it seemed like most of the scenes were short and lacked detail - I’m not quite sure how Winifred got away with everything she supposedly did. It seemed a bit too convenient.

I did appreciate the Victorian setting; made things very creepy and eerie. I also felt that there were some humorous parts and I wonder if some of my complaints were meant to be in service of the comedy. Unfortunately I wasn’t fond of this one and struggled to finish.

This was a wild book. The character of Miss Notty was definitely psycho! There were so many times I said "What a psycho". The flashbacks were helpful to understand her past. This was a fast paced book and it kept me hooked from the beginning. It was definitely great horror book. I also enjoyed the Christmas theme as well.

Victorian Psycho is the story of a newly hired governess, Winifred Notty, who harbors a secret and some very dark impulses. She comes to work for the Pounds family, who are not as virtuous as they would like to appear.

What I love about Victorian Psycho is its unapologetic embrace of over-the-top horror in a Victorian setting, while also touching on themes of inequality and misogyny. Winifred, our anti heroine, is delightfully unhinged, and I found myself both horrified and amused by her grotesque antics. This is also a great holiday read, taking us all the way through the twelve days of Christmas with a climax that was absolutely sending me!! I couldn’t put it down and ended up reading it in one sitting through the night.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher. I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PUB DATE: Feb 4, 2025

Thank you so much to @liverightbooks & @w.w.norton for this ARC!

VICTORIAN PSYCHO was the perfect Christmas Eve Eve read. VICTORIAN PSYCHO is fast paced, gruesome, clever, and smart. Brimming with dark humor and wit, VICTORIAN PSYCHO is a fantastic novella. I adored it.

In Victorian England, Winifred Notty comes to Ensor House for a governess position ... and revenge. The madness culminates on Christmas Day, with a house full of guests, and no one is safe.

Holy f*ck, no lies detected from the other reviewers. I am pretty new to the horror genre and wasn't sure I would have the stomach for this one, but the cover hooked me. It turned out to be oddly fascinating (not sure what that says about me). The Victorian period was full of grotesque practices and traditions, so it's a great historical backdrop for a horror story. Winifred is witty and ruthless, and her employers and young charges might be a bit twisted, too. The descriptions of the home, the Christmas celebrations, etc., will curl the reader's toes.

Not sure I can handle watching a movie adaptation, but it's apparently in the works.

Victorian Psycho feels like a delightfully disgusting mashup of Jane Eyre and Maeve Fly.

We’ve seen the setup before; a governess goes to a manor house to govern two children. Instead of ghosts or things going bump in the night, we follow Winnifred Notty as she cheerfully discusses (to the reader, but sometimes to the family!) all that she wants to do to her young charges. Victorian Psycho is written in the style of a Victorian classic which makes the violent comments come out of nowhere and the gastly jokes really land.

This is darkly funny and an unhinged gothic story; gruesome horror with dollops of satirical humor on top.

Historical gothic horror following Winifred, who is hired to work as a governess for a wealthy family just prior to Christmas. She is such an interesting character and you quickly learn how twisted (quite literally psycho) her true intentions are. This was equal parts gruesome and hilarious and I ate it up. One of those insane books that I’m almost ashamed to recommend, so if you read this because of me - no you didn’t!

It’s been a minute since I’ve read a book in one sitting. The characters inner monologue and all the craziness being described on the page compelling me to turn the pages one right after the other. With literary turns of phrase at once poetic and deeply gothic in nature - it pairs nicely with other more succinctly told story pieces. It’s dark, delicious, feral, harrowing, sensuous and disgusting in turn - and overall it spoke about so much more than just these characters or the story you read between the pages. With dark humor peppering commentary on our current day to day it’s definitely a story that will linger with you. Highly recommend.

Wowee! Victorian Psycho is an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind reading experience that stands out in the horror genre. Virginia Feito has crafted a macabre, witty, and deeply unsettling tale that will linger with you long after you’ve finished reading. As my first encounter with her work, this book immediately propelled her to the top of my must-read authors list.

The story dives into the eerie and twisted psyche of its protagonist Winifred Notty. Feito’s ability to weave humor into the horror amplifies the tension and the short chapters make it impossible to put down. If you’re a fan of dark, atmospheric stories Victorian Psycho is a must-read!

This is a wild ride and psycho ride for sure! Our main character is the quirky, odd, and unreliable so she makes the story rightfully so.
Some parts were insane, some were funny. We are left absolutely not knowing if certain bits were real or just imagined. Overall it’s an interesting read but I did find it a little hard to follow.

Oh this was thrilling. Quick gothic Christmas horror. I wish I could have read this faster but just didn’t have the time unfortunately. This is easily a one sitting read. At times this is funny while also being graphic and horrific.

Trigger warnings - murder, gore, child and animal abuse.

Dark and unfettered, this novel has no interest in even the pretense of your comfort.

The writing, and strong narrative voice, masked in layers of unreliability, is really great. We are able to get into the state of mind of the main character, and the writing shifts to become more frenzied and disordered as her relationship to reality strains. There are occasions where the first-person narration breaks the fourth wall, and directly addresses “dear reader,” and this felt unnecessary, it didn’t add anything and didn’t make sense given the context or narrative framing. However, it wasn’t frequent enough to detract (or distract) from how compelling and enjoyable and maddening the writing and voice is overall, a combination of biting sartorial wit and a whole lot of IDGAF attitude, with just a little bit of fever dream mixed in for good measure.

The main character felt dangerous and real. Everyone else felt like exaggerations/stereotypes, but that felt purposeful. Given the narrator’s perspective, the descriptions and experiences of all the other characters worked really well. We learned about the main character slowly, little reveals throughout the book, and they added up to a complicated and sympathetic character, even if she too was drawn a little broadly. These exaggerate character sketches also go a long way to building a very specific world, one of snobbery and inequality and very clear expectations. The world-building is minimal, done around the edges, but done expertly, creating a convincing portrait that felt genuine and lived in while also carrying a shade of exaggeration, the nod to hyperbole only emphasizing the other foot firmly grounded in a reality we can see paralleled in our modern world. The pacing worked with the somewhat frenetic and disquieting energy of the narration, moving along at a rapid pace that pulls you along, secreting bursts of excitement here and there along the way leading up to a monumental finale.

There is something a little cliché and expected about the whole story, to some extent. There are surprises and reveals that are effective but also not really surprising, and it isn’t exactly untouched ground being tilled, here. Still, the journey is fun. It is energetic and isn’t shy with its opinions. In fact, that is a major way it differs from the work its title is evoking, American Psycho. I appreciate the nod with the title, and it does a good job of setting the reader up for the experience, but in some ways it is misleading. Patrick Bateman was wealthy and privileged, skewering both yuppies and ideas of masculinity. Winifred, on the other hand, is very much a victim, right from the moment of her birth. She is written not as the epitome of what is wrong with society but as the victim of what is wrong with society, experience enough childhood trauma to break her mind and birth in her a Darkness that locates its feeling of self-righteousness not in vapid ideas about superiority like Bateman but instead in retribution, even if that journey is one that burns all semblance of humanity from her. Both novels are critiques of society, but they are critiquing it in different ways. None of Winifred’s actions are justified or excusable, and this is explicit from the very first victim we see her claim, but we can sympathize with her in ways that are not intended for Bateman.

This novel is bloody and fun, and it ends in the exact way it promises to end right from the beginning. While the fourth-wall breaks didn’t feel additive, the writing is still strong and immersive, setting a great tone throughout the novel. It is a fast little novel, maybe closer to a novella, and it uses that length to great effect, getting in and out and never staying in any place long enough to strain your suspension of disbelief. Beneath the psychopathy and bloodshed there is a strong story about inequality and misogyny, a warning about how far and wide these poisons can spread.

(Rounded up from 3.5)

I want to thank the author, the publisher W. W. Norton & Company | Liveright, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Virginia Feito’s “Victorian Psycho” is one wild, messed-up ride. The story follows Winifred Notty, a governess with a seriously dark past, who’s hired to look after Andrew and Drusilla Pounds in their creepy medieval home. Let’s just say, calling her a “psycho” is putting it lightly. While Winifred is crazy as hell and you have no idea what she’s going to do next, you also realize the rest of the cast of characters aren’t without fault either.

The short chapters made this super easy to binge, though I could’ve done without the little chapter descriptions because they didn’t add much. The body and visceral horror? Absolutely insane. Feito’s writing is so vivid it felt like watching a movie, with every disturbing scene playing out in graphic detail. I could perfectly imagine Winifred’s horrifying acts as the story got darker and darker. Plot twist: IT WILL SOON BE A FEATURE FILM!

Toward the end, though, it started dragging a bit, as if the plot was getting stuck, then you’re hit with a wild plot twist that’ll have you wanting to throw your kindle (or book) across your lovely room. And the ending? WILD. It was pure insanity.

If you’re into gory, psychological horror with a twisted female character who’ll leave you both fascinated and horrified, this is one to pick up. It’s dark, twisted, and perfect for a binge read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Liveright for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.