I came to horror late, and through screens first. Movies, shows, even watching CaseOh stumble through horror games on YouTube.

What hooked me was the dread of not knowing what waited around the next corner. I wanted a book that could do the same.

I tried The House of Last Resort first. It was fine. It never got its hands around my throat the way Pilgrim did.

This one I loved start to finish. The crew's journey runs on desperation, and it's soaked in theology and philosophy without ever forgetting to be frightening. The characters carry it. Each one felt complex and fully drawn, and I spent the whole book rooting for them to survive and aching at the rotten luck they kept drawing.

The found family is the warmth underneath all the dread. Companionship as the one mercy in a story that offers few.

If you want horror steeped in religious mythology, read this.

This book had everything I was looking for! Medieval era, horror, history, mythology, religion and a LOT of action. It was spooky, gave nightmares, made me uncomfortable, kept me at the edge of my seat on the verge of screaming at the characters... It was a perfect read!