Daphne: A Novel

If you like settling in for a cozy night at home with the lights off, a giant bowl of popcorn, and an A24 horror flick, then Daphne is the book for you.

How do you stop an invisible evil when simply thinking about it summons it into reality and straight to you? If you’ve ever struggled with anxiety or intrusive thoughts, you’ll know that not thinking can be almost impossible. And so it is for Kit Lamb, an anxiety-ridden high school senior on the girls’ basketball team.

The team that was told the story of Daphne the night before a big game. Daphne, the giant outcast with strange makeup and a taste for heavy metal music, who died under mysterious circumstances and returns with a thought and a promise of murder. With whispers of Daphne in their ears, they start dying in brutally horrible ways, one by one.

Equal parts mystery, teen slasher, and a love letter to anxiety, Malerman has once again crafted a genuinely enjoyable book that adds a little something new to the horror genre.