My Darling Dreadful Thing
Goodreads Most Anticipated Horror of 2024 | Goodreads Most Anticipated books in May | She Reads Most Anticipated Horror | Polygon Must-Read books of 2024 | Novel Suspects Most anticipated novels 2024
"Dark and decadent, with the haunting allure of a true gothic tale, My Darling Dreadful Thing is a sensation that horrifies as acutely as it delights. Johanna Van Veen is a force to be reckoned with and will stain your thoughts a brilliant shade of crimson."
— Rachel Gillig, New York Times bestselling author of One Dark Window
Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears.
Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the light of Roos’ life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos’ backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection.
Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable.
Then, someone is murdered.
Poor, alone, and with a history of ‘hysterics’, Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she’ll have to prove who—or what—is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.
"A Sapphic séance of preternatural proportions, My Darling Dreadful Thing summons a stunning new literary voice to be reckoned with. Johanna van Veen reaches beyond the veil to conjure up a gothic shocker like no other." — Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters
- Pages
- 375
- First published
- May 14, 2024
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 7 Litcadians
Reviews
Finished November 17, 2025
*“Happy. Such a funny little word, don’t you think? Perhaps not so hard a state to achieve, but nearly impossible to maintain, and different for everyone.”* What I loved: ✿ gothic atmosphere ✿ epistolary narrative ✿ sapphic romance ✿ unreliable narrator ✿ historical setting Another successful read from this author! I love that she explores the parallels of the supernatural and mental illness. Gothic atmospheres and historical settings are quite common in the book world but our dreadfully romantic, unreliable narrator paired with transcripts from a psychiatrist brought such a unique perspective to the gothic genre. There were sections, a quarter to midway through that I felt unnecessary or a tad bit boring but not enough to dissuade my feelings that this is a five star read. Trigger warnings: Death, Child abuse, Racism, Incest, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Animal death, Child death [✿ Connect with me on instagram ✿](https://www.instagram.com/literarily_laurynn?igsh=aTh6eTZ6dGwxMXpy&utm_source=qr)
Started April 6, 2025 · Finished April 9, 2025
Started March 17, 2025 · Finished March 20, 2025
Wonderful. I loved the fucked up relationships and not knowing what was real and what was fault. Usually I hate ambiguity like that, but it was done really well here. Because of the lack of explanation for the crimes and actions done, I believe that the spirits were real. The horror with Thomas was really subtle but I liked it. It was quiet psychological warfare with a looming threat, nothing super flashy or extreme. The characters were beautifully fucked up, twisting possession and passion into unhealthy love, feeling everything so beautifully, wildly, and intensely. This author has easily gone on my insta-read list. My only gripe is that my attention drifted in certain places where things were at a lull, hence the 0.5 docked off. Everything else was great. I feel like this would make an amazing movie!
Started April 12, 2026 · Finished April 13, 2026