I didn't know what to expect when I started this book. But I did have higher expectations I guess because it kinda fell flat for me. It ended being really sad for me more than scary. A boy missing and wanting his dead dad and so he sees his ghost. Honestly I couldn't finish the book. I got half way before I put it down. I went in thinking this was going to be spooky. So it kinda dragged on and I failed experiencing that horror I was looking for. The storyline itself is good. This little boy protecting his little brother is both sad and endearing. The characters were good. I just didn't really jive with it and like i said it's probably because I wanted to be scared and it didn't scare me.

Don't Do It! But Do They Listen?

Climb a mysterious staircase you find in the forest? Only one was foolish enough to do it, and he never came back. There's something at the top of the staircase that wants company and its appetite is voracious.

This book took me into the world of a group of young people who each have their own secret grief that they don't even share with each other. I can't say I felt drawn to any of the characters, they each had their own troubles, but I did sympathize with them. Once caught, all their past angst and casualties manifest to threaten their lives. None of them deserve that!

The author took the well-trodden territory of horror to some interesting places that felt new, or at least rearranged and morphed from what I've explored before. It feels very much like it could become a series, but isn't a cliffhanger.

Thank you to Stephen Graham Jones and NetGalley for the gift of an advance readers' copy of the book. I'm under no obligation to them and my review is my honest opinion. If your idea of a good read leans toward the dark side, you will enjoy this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

A novella, this story features a young boy who believes that his home is being haunted by his father. The father, who died eight years ago.

This is only my second read from the author, but I quite enjoy his writing and how fast I am pulled into the storyline. I was a little shaken by the switch in the end from the protagonist in childhood to adulthood, but overall I enjoyed my reading experience.


#MappingtheInterior #NetGalley.
Expected Publication 29/04/25
Goodreads Review 27/03/25

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Okay I think I need to do a binge on Stephen Graham Jones entire catalogue. 2nd book of his in a row that gets 5 stars. This was so so good. I love ghost stories and this one was perfectly chilling. I loved the perspective of the 12 year old son Junior, the author really knows how to transport you to his mind. Short read but I definitely recommend it if you want a twisted ghost story you can read in one or two sittings.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Stephen Graham Jones for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Mapping the Interior coming out April 29, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I was really excited to get this book! I really love Native American stories. I’ve read a few books by this author and I love his writing. He writes a lot of horror stories, which I love. But I think this one felt different. This was definitely short as a novella, but it had a lot of story. It deals with some heavy themes such as grief and heritage. I would definitely check out more books by this author!

I have discovered a brand new favorite author with Stephen Graham Jones, which is a total surprise as I am not generally a major fan of horror but in this instance Stephen Graham Jones brings not only the horror elements but the literary merit of technically great writing.

This book was not as horror-y as most of his other stuff and so I was a bit confused initially with the direction the story was going but in the end it was a very solid reading experience for me as I really feel that this book had something special. This is an excellent book that delve into issues such as generational trauma and the losing of a parent at a very young age. I was expecting something totally different than this going in and was pleasantly surprised by the direction this took. The writing is excellent, Stephen Graham Jones is amazing at writing this type of dark, melancholy going on.

Every time I dive into a new title by Stephen Graham Jones, I approach it as more of a maze than a puzzle. “Mapping the Interior” was no exception - from the opening lines, I was hooked to see which direction this novel was going to go and where it would end up. Our lead protagonist, Junior, lays the groundwork for a unique exploration of family responsibility, Indigenous narratives, and unresolved trauma. How do you miss someone you never really had a chance to know? How does a mother and her two young sons carry on in the wake of a sudden death? “Mapping the Interior” explores these very raw, real questions in tandem with the supernatural. The story is told through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy, wise beyond his years, with a strong sense of familial duty and righteousness. While Junior as a character is not without flaws, his unwavering commitment to his younger brother with a disability is one of the central themes of the story and serves as a litmus test for the events that follow. Without spoilers, Dino is as much a mystery as the happenings around the modular home. Stephen Graham Jones is a master of blending superstition and tradition with modernity, marrying the grotesque and disturbing with raw, human emotion. In fact, few do it better. I truly enjoyed “Mapping the Interior” although the ending was, in my opinion, slightly lackluster in comparison with the rest of the novel. The pacing of the story hits a brick wall with a conclusion that left me scratching my head a little bit. There are a few scenes that will stick with me for some time, I’m sure - you’ll simply have to read it for yourself to find out.

Sometimes his work is hard for me to follow. His writing style can be difficult to imagine the movie in my head while reading, but this book specifically made a lot of sense. It’s on the shorter side so that helped with the pacing. It felt like he was very careful on which words he used to fill the space and that gave this story the momentum it needed.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of Mapping the Interior. This was a really short read, about 100ish pages. It was written very well and I read it in one sitting. This young boy keeps seeing an image in his home that he thinks is of his dead father.

One of Graham’s greatest stories to date. Mapping the Interior is a gorgeous and heart-stinging story of ghosts, siblings, and superstitions. It’s hard to believe that an author can take readers on such an emotional journey in 100 short pages. Brilliant.

I enjoyed the story itself but it felt a little disjointed. I've always seen others have issues with SGJ's writing style and I usually don't have an issue, but this time I understand. However I think it could be do to the fact that this story is about a young boy. So maybe the issues I had was intentional. But regardless it made it a bit hard for me to get through.

Mapping The Interior follows a young boy who has just lost his father. The boy is 12 years old, which is such a tender age, on the cusp of maturity and on the precipice of really and truly needing that father presence in his life. We follow this narrator as he "maps the interior" of his home, seeing his father around every bend and turn. He goes through the motions of taking note of his mother as well as his special needs brother, Dino. I'd like to start out by saying I think ALL of that- every single tidbit- is beautiful. This book is truly not for me, and sadly- I don't think this author is, in general. The way he writes is beautiful- it is truly poetic prose in its finest- but I think the nuances went entirely over my head in this one. I think if you read this, you'll each come away with a different interpretation- and that to me makes it so worth the try. Thank you very much to the publisher and the author for giving me the chance to provide an eARC.

Mapping the Interior is a brief but powerful novella that blends eerie supernatural elements with deeply emotional themes like grief, trauma, and cultural identity. It follows a Native American teenager who begins seeing the ghost of his father, uncovering painful truths about the past. The horror is subtle and psychological, with a heavy emotional core that lingers long after the final page. It’s a haunting and beautifully written exploration of memory, legacy, and loss.

This novella was perfectly weird. And the stream of consciousness made it extra moody. Perhaps how disjointed it is will be too much for some people. But if you love “weird lit” this is for you.

The vibes:
dirt dust dogs dingy days
grime
memory & emotion
the sheriff’s deputy
rusty truck
old tether ball pole
are you seeing what I’m seeing
magical realism
losing his father young

It’s not a horror in the sense of being scared. It’s a moody unsettling novel from the point of view of a 15 year old. And that’s what made it so good.

I’m really getting hooked on novellas this past year. I can’t believe I avoided them for long.

Mapping the Interior is a haunting and beautifully written novella that lingers long after the final page. Stephan Graham Jones masterfully blends horror with raw emotional depth, creating a story that is as heartbreaking as it is chilling. The atmosphere is one of the book’s greatest strengths—eerie, dreamlike, and disorienting in the best way. The haunting presence that creeps through the protagonist’s home is described with such subtle yet vivid detail that it felt almost tangible, making the familiar setting of a small, ordinary house feel deeply unsettling.

What struck me most was the way Jones uses horror as a vehicle to explore grief, identity, and the aching bond between father and son. The supernatural elements never overshadow the deeply human story at its core—instead, they enhance it, making the protagonist’s longing and confusion all the more powerful. The prose is sharp and spare, but every sentence carries weight, adding to the book’s haunting, hypnotic rhythm.

I also appreciated how the story blurs the line between reality and hallucination, making it impossible to tell whether the protagonist is being haunted by his father’s ghost or by his own memories and trauma. This ambiguity makes the book even more powerful, leaving room for interpretation and lingering unease.

If you’re looking for a short but profoundly atmospheric and emotionally resonant read, Mapping the Interior is an absolute standout. It’s the kind of story that seeps into your bones—quiet, sorrowful, and unforgettable.

Mapping the Interior is vintage Stephen Graham Jones. It’s a novella that takes us though a young teenage boy’s mind, shows us a little bit of life on and off a Blackfeet reservation, gives us some supernatural horror and makes us wonder… was it? It is a truly touching story that is hard to pin down.

The main character is a young teenager, living with his mom and younger brother who seems to have a learning disorder and other health complications. They have recently moved off the Blackfeet reservation after the controversial death of his father.

After a late-night sleepwalking episode he thinks his father has returned from the dead and tries to help, but is that what’s best for the family?

Mapping the interior made me feel for the family, the characters and their life. I really wanted things to go well for each of them. There is some real horror as well as supernatural horror in this story. I was reminded of some Stephen King stories, like Cujo and Pet Sematary at times, but this is something different that stands in its own.

It’s what I think should simply be described as Stephen Graham Jones. His style is his own. His genre is his own. I’m glad for that.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this on ebook from NetGalley.

Thoughts: This was a novella I had been wanting to read for some time. It ended up being okay, but I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style or the story. The story was a bit ambiguous for me, and the writing felt disjointed.

The boy here tries to map out his house meticulously after he thinks he sees his dead father walk through a doorway. His brother is getting sicker and sicker, and he thinks it has something to go with the figure he saw. When he ends up under his house, he finds a strange cavity that he thinks is related.

I think I kind of understand what happened in this book, but I also found it somewhat confusing. I am not sure how the boy got away with some of the things he did, or if those things really happened at all.

The writing style didn't flow well; I kept having to re-read parts of the story. I am not sure why I struggled with this so much. It was a fairly quick read, and I appreciate the odd horror-like magical realism here, but it was just not for me.

My Summary (2/5): Overall I struggled with this novella quite a bit, the writing didn't flow well for me. In the end, I am not exactly sure what happened here, things are left ambiguous and not all that well explained. I had a lot of questions when I finished reading this. I appreciated the odd and eerie tone to the story but just didn't find it very satisfying to read. I don't plan to check out other stories/books by Jones.

wow! what a powerful gut punch! I was not expecting this little novella to hit me so deep. SGJ is climbing the ranks to be one of my very favourite authors!

thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ebook copy in exchange for an honest review

Stephen Graham Jones always provides a unique reading experience. Mapping the Interior fits that bill perfectly. On the surface this book is about a fifteen-year-old native American teen, while sleepwalking one evening, sees an image of a person stepping though a doorway. He lives with his mother and younger brother and what he observes is neither or them but bears a strong resemblance to his father who died mysteriously.

This book is deep, man. It is deep. At first, I didn't know quite what to make of this book. I often initially feel, when I pick up a book by Stepehen Graham Jones, that I am in over my head. His writing is wonderous, mesmerizing, dripping in symbolism, deep, and dark. He takes a story about a male teenager who lives with his mother and younger brother who has seizures, and swirls in culture, identity, trauma, loss, and memory.

Mapping the Interior is in the horror genre but is more horrific than horror. I will note that this book does have bullying and violence to animals.

Stephen Graham Jones delivers another chilling, thought-provoking tale with Mapping the Interior, a novella that seamlessly blends supernatural horror with deep emotional resonance. Told through the eyes of twelve-year-old Junior, the story follows his desperate attempts to reconnect with his father—who, despite having drowned eight years ago, has mysteriously returned. But bringing back the dead is never without consequences.

Jones masterfully crafts an atmosphere of creeping dread, balancing psychological terror with an intimate exploration of grief, family trauma, and Indigenous identity. The novella’s short length only intensifies its impact, making for a fast but unforgettable read that lingers long after you turn the last page.

Poignant, terrifying, and deeply unsettling, Mapping the Interior is a must-read for horror lovers—just don’t read it alone at night.