Full Review & Interview Coming to Cemetery Dance Online

Nat Cassidy does it again with a horror story that takes you through an emotional whirlwind. I went into When The Wolf Comes Home expecting a classic werewolf story. Instead, Cassidy gives readers a unique blend of fairytale terror, the anxiety of adulthood, and palpable grief. Like Cassidy's other titles that I've read, Rest Stop and Mary, When The Wolf Comes Home is unputdownable. Readers will fly through this one!

Nat Cassidy also toys with a playful narrative style and kooky kills that adds a great dose of hilarity to balance out the heavier themes of the book.

If you like Rachel Harrison, Clay McLeod Chapman, or Grady Hendrix, you have to pick up a copy of When The Wolf Comes Home.

Nat Cassidy never fails when it comes to horror.

Like all his books this started out on a fast pace and doesn't let up till the end. His writing is vivid and the characters are likeable and easy for anyone to connect too.

It's a short but good read and one that you can read in one setting.
If you want family trauma, to feel fear and anxiety, and a supernatural thriller then this is the book for you!

This book ground my soul to a pulp, gulped it down, and then spit it back out at me. In the best way. As someone with their own seriously concerning father issues I found the relevance this book had in relation to my own life rather alarming. This book therapized me in all its horror. The nature of its abloution is in the sweet, tender, and aching moments simmering within the chaos of the scifi/fantasy elements of the story. I truly commend Nat Cassidy for being able to weave the surreal and hysterical and parodical into such deeply emotional themes around familial trauma. I am a huge fan of his body of work. A true master of the Horror genre. Thank you for always delivering such honest portrayals of the darker aspests of humanity, and the tenderness that dwells within the monters.

*Blurb from the back of the book below*

One night, Jess, a struggling actress, finds a five-year-old runaway hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a violent, bloody encounter with the boy's father, she and the boy find themselves running for their lives.

As they attempt to evade the boy's increasingly desperate father, horrifying incidents of butchery follow them. At first, Jess thinks she understands what they're up against, but she's about to learn there's more to these surreal and grisly events than she could've ever imagined.

And that when the wolf finally comes home, none will be spared.

A wonderful horror that's both a monster story and a very real look into grief, loss, and fear.

Nat Cassidy writes very introspective horror and this was no exception. Jess finds herself having a particularly bad night and it ends with her fighting off a wolf-creature-thing and on an unplanned road trip with a 5 year old with no name. The unreal seems to follow them until she makes some connections that change everything.

This was heart-breaking, heart-wrenching, heart-pulverizing. Creepy, fast-paced, and horrific - this is a horror you're not going to want to miss.

What a fantastic read! The story was very good but also deep and thought provoking. I was very shocked about how emotional this book made me and loved the atmosphere.

🦇 ᴅᴀᴅᴅʏ’ꜱ ꜱʜᴏᴇꜱ 🏚️
“...and look what you did.”

Well this crept into my heart and I went, ahhh what the fuck, and now MY HEART IS BROKEN. Broken, “as unquestionable as gravity.”
I love the afterword so much.
Far too relatable a book, which is ironic because of what the story is about. Go in blind and just enjoy the ride.
Scary! Tears! That’s it. That’s the review.
🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺

Thank you so much to @tornightfire and @netgalley for the ARC! #WhenTheWolfComesHome comes out on April 22nd!

I absolutely devoured this book. I recommend all readers to read the summary and then I am sure they will want to read it right away. It has all the thrills, pop-culture references and so many surprises. The whole book felt surprising as I did not think I would enjoy this genre much. It was such a wild ride! Beware of the gory stuff but that is sort of expected in this genre!

Nat Cassidy has quickly risen to the top of my favorite author list. His ability to blend horror with deeply emotional circumstances is masterful. His afterwards are truly the icing on the nightmare-inducing cake. When the Wolf Comes Home was utterly un-put-down-able.

There are so many layers Nat Cassidy packs into this story, it's difficult to begin. In the midst of deeply emotional relationships between the main characters developing, Cassidy packs punch after punch of thrills, chills and plenty of pop-culture references, even throwing in some sci-fi. I truly never knew where the story would go, and the ending absolutely did not disappoint. This book is best going into blind, of course checking trigger warnings first should you need to. The story this book tells, is truly one I think can resonate with everyone. All the stars and I cannot wait to own a copy for myself to read over again.

As one of my most anticipated reads of 2025, thank you so much to Tor Nightfire Publishing and Netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Nat Cassidy, you lovely thing!! I will devour everything you write. Like The Nestling, this made me chuckle, squirm and cheer for its likable characters. I was surprised and charmed over and over again. Live weasels with chainsaws was the icing on this cake— perfect touch and absolutely terrifying.

I have never read anythink like this, not only in what I expected to be in some sort of werewolf genre but in any horror trope full stop. It's really hard to explain this one without spoiling the suprises as Cassidy's premises leaves the the door wide open for limitless possibilities. Suffice it to say that it is gripping throughout, at times hilarious, poignant and with plenty of gnarly but unusualy visceral moments too.

I cannot even begin to express how much I loved this book. Not only is it a wild and terrifying ride, but it's also a deeply emotional and difficult read.

The psychological horror, the violence, the terror... and then you add in the underlying elements of fear and how it effects you and the genuine worry that comes from raising a child and how you can mess that up, even unintentionally... wow. Just wow.

I loved these characters. Jess and Kiddo. Their pain and fear was visceral. It jumped off the page and straight into my heart. I spent moments of this book in shock and genuine fear and then more than a few in desperate, heart broken sobs.

I won't be forgetting this book. It's a story I will continue to remember and think about for years to come I'm sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm really sad to say this wasn't a new favorite from NC.

I'm conflicted about how to rate this. Parts of it really worked for me, the horror, THE BODY HORROR!!, the road movie energy and relationship between Jess and the kid. I think I'm not a fan horror with a ton of action In it, I prefer my horror to be more slow moving, creeping a lot, while also being horrific and deep (Mary, Nestlings)
Without spoiling anything about the main part of this plot- it just got a little too goofy for me. Some chapters were short and snippy, to the point while others felt long winded and overdone and the ending wasn't my favorite it felt underdeveloped, so it may be different in the final product vs this E-ARC.

I did love his authors note a ton, made me tear up!!

I will still pick up anything NC writes, just wish I had loved this more!!

When the Wolf Comes Home is the kind of horror that doesn’t just scare you, it consumes you. I could not put this one down. It is BRUTAL, and it drags you into a terrifying game of survival.

Jess thinks she’s just helping a lost little boy. But when an encounter with his father turns deadly, she realizes she’s stepped into something far worse than she could have imagined.

This book is wild, blood soaked and packed with tension. Cassidy doesn’t hold back and gives us action, heart and pure terror. This is not one to miss.

Everything nat Cassidy does is perfect. I’ve never been disappointed and his work just gets better and better. Nothing bad to say at all.

Daaaaaammmmn. This book messed with my head!!! It is next level, old school, gory guts-out, horror. Not gonna lie, my stomach churned a few times. Here for it.

This book isn't for me. I'm clearly in the minority. I did enjoy Mary by Cassidy but When the Wolf Comes Home is exhausting; it felt like the longest book ever but it's only 300 pages. It's creative for sure and the background of Junior was really interesting but I really don't care about any of these characters.

After reading Mary and Nestlings, it's wild to say that this might be his best book yet, but somehow it is. I will be seeking compensation for the emotional state I was in after finishing this novel

This book was a ride—violent, heartbreaking, and completely unrelenting. It starts with Jess, a struggling actress, finding a runaway boy outside her apartment. What follows is a brutal, surreal chase as they try to escape his terrifying father, with blood and horror trailing behind them. Just when you think you know where it’s going, Cassidy takes things even further.

I’m a huge Nat Cassidy fan, and this one didn’t disappoint. He never holds back, and the way he blends raw emotion with absolute terror is masterful. I wouldn’t say it topped Mary or Nestlings for me, but it’s still an intense, unforgettable read that’s well worth your time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this ARC!

Nat has become one of my favorite horror authors recently and this release was highly anticipated. Once I started reading When the Wolf Comes Home, I couldn't stop. I love how Nat wrote this story and I could feel how much heart he put into these pages. Cassidy's horror books are unlike any I've read from other authors. He is such an amazing storyteller and you can't help but love his characters.

Without spoiling too much about this book, I can say that this one is for all the kids who were scared of the big bad wolf.

No one will be spared when the wolf comes home.

“Love is a shape shifting monster.” Oof, this novel has a lot to say about love and shape shifting and it’s a bit of a shape shifter itself. Every time I thought I knew what I was reading, it revealed itself to be deeper and more devastating than expected. It shifts rapidly between fun and heartbreaking and gory, twisting 80s/90s pop culture, MK Ultra lore, and daddy issues into a beast all its own. My god, this hurt my feelings. The way Cassidy presses on the backs of our necks, his invisible hand knowing that we all have wounds from complex relationships with our dads, no matter how lovely and/or terrible they are. Who’s the hero in the story? Well it’s not that kind of story. Thank you, Nat Cassidy, for the heartache—it was fun and beautiful and, as I manically type this at 3am, you’re my wolf tonight.