I have been following Catherine Cavendish for some time on twitter and have been eager to get my hands on one of her books!

In Darkness, Shadows Breathe is a wonderfully written psychological horror novel. In Darkness, Shadows Breathe didnt really scare me but it left me shaken and unsettled. There is simply something special about reading horror that plays on your mind.

In Darkness, Shadows breathe is written in a non-linear format and allows us to follow two women and two separate hauntings. D
In Darkness dimensions are crossed and time is bent as both women battle an evil set on destroying them body and soul.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Cat Cavendish can write about some angry demonic energy like no one else. With In Darkness Shadows Breathe, said demonic energy takes the form of an entity the One and the Many. And this demonic so-and-so is really unhappy. It has decided to torment two separate women in a bid to drag their very souls into the darkness where it dwells.

One, Carol, is a woman house-sitting an apartment which is far outside her own means. She has no real friends and no family to speak of, and thus has nowhere to turn when the One and the Many begins to haunt the her.

The other is Nessa – a woman confined to a hospital bed while she recouperates from surgery stemming from treatment of cervical cancer. Unlike Carol, Nessa has a fairly robust support system. But that doesn’t save her from the terrible visions she initially attributes to a side-effect of her pain medication.

Both of these characters are near polar opposites, so the fact they are plagued by the same entity gives the reader the distinct feeling that in this world, no one is safe. In Darkness Shadows Breathe is almost an exercise in tension building. When no one and nowhere is safe, how do you defend yourself? Especially from an evil you can’t technically see or touch?

Cat has outdone herself with the atmosphere in this one. It is genuinely creepy, and extremely moody. To the very end I was still trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together – why these two women? What’s the deal with Agnes? What is the horrible secret?

This well crafted tale keeps its answers very close to the vest until the very end.

What a great gothic read! I would say, go into this one blind. I did and was not disappointed at all. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. A must read I think.

This book will give you the chills. There is a creepiness that continues with each page. At times I felt the story was a little confusing.

I’m a sucker for a good gothic tale. Love alternating time lines. This is a story you should go in blind. Therefore I’ll just say I enjoyed it.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced e-reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is one of the greatest examples of modern Gothic literature I have ever read. It far surpasses that quite popular Gothic tale set south of the US border (and I adored that book). In Darkeness, Shadows Breathe is unnerving in many ways, building tension upon tension throughout until you’re breathless with both intrigue and fright. A true stand-out in a world where hardly anything feels original anyway. A five-star, cinematic story everyone should experience!

Carol and Vanessa are both being hunted and tormented by the same malevolent force. So far, so good. But one of my foibles is reading books based in the UK by a UK writer/publisher only to find American words instead of the English version and of course not using English spelling which really puts me off no matter how great the story. Instead of concentrating on what’s going on, I’m constantly on the lookout for the next infringement! There was also quite a lot of mundane stuff in this book which diluted the creepy parts. I liked the writing style and the cover was great.

Sorry this review is late. Released in January of this year, In Darkness, Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish from Flame Tree Press follows the separate hospitalizations of two women, Carol and Nessa. It is a visual tale in that this creepy, gothic story infects both your waking hours and painting your dreams with the macabre. Tortuous experiments and revenant spectres will have you feeling like you are shambling the halls of a hospital that felt more like a mental ward. The book was largely broken mainly into two parts before reconnecting them, and perhaps, that is fitting as the story alternates between two times and, in a sense, two realities.

My main complaint about this read—and it is valid for so many horror stories—is why do the antagonists remain in situations that they find themselves in? I understand Carol, but Nessa's partner? Gah! Am I being petty here?

Haunted grounds is a familiar trope in horror stories, but Cavendish manages to weave unsettling, non-linear timelines into a unique tale. I'm very happy to have finally read her work. She has haunted my TBR pile for too long. I'd recommend this book in general, and not just to horror aficionados. Go out and buy it, check it out from your library, or beg it off a friend. Just do it before you hear someone whisper the words, “you’re next.”

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Flame Tree Press, for allowing me to share my thoughts on #InDarknessShadowsBreathe.

“You’re next. She will have you. She has decided.” (page 164, In Darkness, Shadows Breathe)

“You have a limited sense of time and space.” (page 178, In Darkness, Shadows Breathe)

Carol is a young woman who has had a hard and lonely life. She grew up in foster care and suffered mentally, emotionally, and physically. She is friendless, works in jobs she doesn’t seem to enjoy, and is in a constant state of dread. Vanessa is a woman in her late fifties who is undergoing treatment for cancer. She has a job she enjoys, a supportive and loving husband, and a positive outlook. They each have a part of themselves that is in shadows: a hidden act from the past, a hidden disease. Together, they experience strange temporal experiences, and an entity known as The One and The Many. It is in this overlapping of reality and unreality that our story—In Darkness, Shadows Breathe—transpires.

This book has the gothic themes found in horror: women in distress; the supernatural; ancient prophecy; visions; isolation; fear; and so on. Like other women who are horror writers, Catherine Cavendish brings in real-life terror and fear that women face: violence against women; mental illness; and abuse. It is the human condition wrapped in a plot of horror.

I liked the way Catherine Cavendish portrayed the characters of Carol and Vanessa. They were individuals who stayed true to themselves; acting and reacting just as you thought they should (even if we don’t like it). She does well with describing scenes; one could picture the setting and action quite well. One thing that I found irritating is the actions of the people around our main characters. For example, the staff of the modern-day hospital know that strange things happen at their facility. However, their actions and lack of candor put their patients and staff in danger. This is a horror trope that I could do without.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The less you know about in darkness shadows breathe, the better.
The novel follows two women who are haunted by a presence that seems to come from a different time period. As the hauntings escalate both women's sanity is tested to the limits. Is what they're experiencing real, or are they actually going insane?
To say more would be to ruin it, but Cavendish merges the different time periods really well and some of the scares are masterful in their execution. The presence of a staring evil nurse being a particular highlight.
I was fully engrossed throughout, reading the whole thing in a couple of days, and I applaud Cavendish for the numerous twists that are expertly tied up in the last couple of pages.
A brilliant read for WIHM.

I was incredibly interested in the premise the book was set in, but somehow I just couldn't connect to it in the beginning, and I believe a lot of it had to do with me than the author. The atmosphere developed in the story was breathtaking, and the gothic elements really came through, and the more I read the more the story grew on me. A beautifully savage novel.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In Darkness, Shadows Breathe, by Catherine Cavendish, is a dark ride of twists and turns through non-linear timelines on haunted hospital grounds to learn what evil seeks to possess souls and lives, and to what end.

The book is comprised of two parts, one featuring Carol Shaughnessy, and the second featuring Nessa Tremaine. The story starts with store clerk Carol is renting a flat for 6 months, during which she begins losing chunks of time and having both audio and visual hallucinations involving antediluvian medical treatments in a Victorian era hospital. As time passes, the attacks on Carol become increasingly more dangerous. Part two of the story involves Vanessa "Nessa" Tremaine in the hospital across the street. Nessa is in the hospital to have a life saving surgery to cure her cancer, and while in-patient begins to have nightmares and hallucinations about the primitive surgeries done to the female patients of the hospital in the Victorian era. The two women's lives and fates are intertwined as they fight back against the evil that seeks to possess them.

I greatly enjoyed this story and couldn't put it down. Before this book, I had never read any of Catherine Cavendish's writing before, but have since added all of her books to my reading list. Cavendish is masterful in her use of imagery and use of descriptions. I was truly creeped out and surprised by some of the events of the book. Particularly effective to me was how Cavendish handled the switching of perspective of the characters of Carol and Nessa, as well as adding elements of gaslighting and disbelief of the peripheral characters in the story.

I highly recommend In Darkness, Shadows Breathe.



#InDarknessShadowsBreathe #NetGalley#FireTreePress

4/5 Stars

In Darkness, Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish is a psychological horror novel that follows the ghostly haunting of two women, Carol and Nessa. The first part tells Carol's story, and then we follow Nessa's story. They are tormented by an entity that sends them back to Victorian England in a hospital with a dark past.

The time bending entity determined on possessing Carol and Nessa left me chilled. I love the atmosphere and setting of this novel when in Victorian times. This novel was really well written and easy to follow despite the frequent time hopping.

In Darkness, Shadows Breathe is a time-bending horror novel that has plenty of chilling scenes. I recommend this novel to fans of psychological horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the copy for review.

4.5 out of 5 stars

3 Stars
Catherine Cavendish has become one of my go-to writers when I am looking for Gothic, atmospheric horror. I have enjoyed many of her books over the past couple years and am always looking forward to a new one. I was happy to have a reading copy of In Darkness, Shadows Breathe and was hoping for another story that would haunt me long after the final page is turned.



Carol thought she had found the perfect job. House sitting a luxury apartment for a couple travelling abroad seemed like an easy way to make some money and help get her life back on track. Then things start to get a little weird. Things move around the apartment and dishes and knickknacks are mysteriously broken. Carol is convinced that she is being hunted but has no idea why. Things take a turn for the worse and Carol ends up in the hospital. After a couple more odd experiences, she slowly begins to unravel the events around her and the history that the hospital and the apartment hold. That is when she learns bout Nessa.



They are two women separated by time but time is not linear and powerful forces can learn how to reach across time. Powerful, evil forces like the one with its sights set on the women. It is an evil that has lurked in the darkness for generations and is now ready to unleash its malignant power on the world. The two women had never met each other, had been in this place years apart, but the evil sees a similarity between them that may allow it to escape the walls in which it is trapped. The only problem is that for it to destroy its psychic jail, it must also destroy Carol.



For readers who enjoy their horror dark and brooding, In Darkness, Shadows Breathe is the perfect book. The atmosphere in this book is almost suffocating to the reader and only grows thicker as the story progresses. That is the true star of this novel: the sense of doom that seems to crush everything beneath it. Cavendish takes an interesting approach to the story in that she does not really get in depth as to what is going on. The evil is there and the reader gets a sense of its power and a glimpse at what it may be, but Cavendish never really unleashes it fully. Instead, it lingers in the darkness at the edge of the pages and the reader knows that it is poised to strike at any moment. This is a very dark and heavy book with that sense of impending doom hanging over it to the point that it almost become oppressive. It is a fully realized dark world full of sinister potential.



This sense of impending doom, however, is also the books greatest downfall. For all the work put into forming the darkness, it never truly enters into the story. It remains an impending doom throughout and there is little sense of imminent danger at all. The characters are scared and threatened, but it never comes to fruition. I enjoyed the novel but it also left me feeling as if it could be so much more. It is almost like I read the first half of the story and am now waiting for the payoff. It is a payoff that never comes, though. In Darkness, Shadows Breathe is a very strong story in its setup. I was primed to be scared silly by whatever it was lurking just outside the action. Unfortunately, though, the door was never opened to invite the darkness into the story and I was left with a feeling like waking from a bad dream that ended just before the killing blow was struck. I have a feeling that readers are either going to love or hate this book. I actually fell kind of in the middle and think fans of gothic horror my enjoy the story but it you are looking for action, I would suggest moving along.



I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. In Darkness, Shadows Breathe is available now.

I read and enjoyed The Haunting of Henderson Close by this author way back in 2019, so I thought I'd see what her new book had to offer.

In Darkness, Shadows Breathe is a psychological horror that follows the stories of Carol, a troubled young woman who had spent her life in care, and Nessa, a retired lecturer who's suffering from cancer. They both seemed to be plagued by similar hauntings and visions from another time involving a woman by the name of Lydia Warren Carmody, a mysterious woman from the past.

There were plenty of spooky goings on throughout the novel, as I've come to expect from Catherine Cavendish's writing. There was an interesting theme to the novel of time being nonlinear, so in theory you could be in several time periods all at once!

I found the little flashbacks to the days of the workhouse and asylum fascinating and more than a little disturbing. It was appalling how the women were treated, half the time as nothing more than things to be experimented on.

The characters are really well drawn, flawed yet relatable. Nessa's story really got to my heart, reminding me of my mother's own battle with cancer.

For me the two halves of the didn't quite mesh as well as I would have liked, it felt for the most part two separate stories. I also would have liked to have found out a little more about the evil entity known as the one and the many, but of course that's just my opinion.

In Darkness, Shadows Breathe is an atmospheric read packed with tension and chilling moments.

“Fluid” is the descriptor that kept coming to mind while consuming Catherine Cavendish’s new novel In Darkness, Shadows Breathe. Damn near poetic at times, her prose flows like a river—propelling us through time and space. Hold on tight, though. Once this current grabs you, there are few opportunities to find your bearings because In Darkness, Shadows Breathe is a highly visceral and immersive experience. It’s also enigmatic as hell. Intrepid readers unafraid of a challenge will undoubtedly agree by the end that Cavendish’s plotting is not only impressive but super intelligent, too. But above all else, this is a work of bravery.

If I were writing a horror novel rooted in high-concept physics, I’d feel obligated to constantly explain and defend my decisions. I’m a very insecure writer in that way. Cavendish, on the other hand, trusts her readers to either just get it or to just agree to go along. She possesses a profoundly enviable amount of confidence. It reminds me of that old bit of writing advice that I can’t seem to heed: write for yourself. Cavendish appears to be crafting her tale in a fashion that’s true to her. Not that she’s disregarding her audience completely, she’s simply choosing to put her own satisfaction first. And I respect the hell out of that. I’d imagine that getting this work out, though exceedingly difficult, was tremendously therapeutic.

Readers who require answers will likely find this frustrating, and that’s too bad. The author so sanguinely interweaves the scientific and the supernatural within her interweaving of time and place that inserting pitstops for clarification would have disastrously bogged down the pace. Part of what makes Cavendish’s language so poetic is its minimalistic, emblematic nature—which in turn makes the plotting all the more engrossing.

I do not mean to imply that I followed exactly what was going on 100% of the time. Because I admittedly did not. I often found myself wondering “when” I was in the story—and what is even considered “the present.” Likewise, I wasn’t always positive which protagonist I was following. But that’s okay because that’s sort of the crux of the narrative. I suppose if I had been able to easily determine all that, Cavendish’s building blocks would crumble, which would be unfortunate because the portrait she paints is so atmospheric.

(Full review forthcoming at fearsomequeer.net)

I’d never heard of the author before. I was looking forward to reading this book because I’ve read other horror fiction from the publisher and it tends to be pretty decent. This was an even read for me. I really liked some aspects, but the book fell a little short in some areas. I liked the creepy, gothic atmosphere created in the book. This is very well done. I enjoyed the first part which focuses on Carol’s story, but this felt rushed at times. I was settling into her voice and her experience when it was time to get into Nessa’s head. Nessa’s story is the best part of the book, the author gets into her stride here and it was a pleasure to read. If only his had applied to the first chunk. I got to know her a lot more. I was also impressed by the author’s research into Cancer treatment and how this is conveyed in the book without bogging the book down. The author’s writing style is easy to get into as well.

Catherine Cavendish has done it again. I loved The Malan Witch and I hoped to love In Darkness as well. I was right.

Cavendish’s writing style is so smooth and poetic. It flows so easily through my mind, it’s like I’m not even reading at all. I’m actually immersed in the story, living these characters.

The first part of the book follows Carol, an orphan without family or friends. Or even much of a history at all. She’s house sitting a beautiful condo situated on the grounds of an old workhouse/hospital. Strange things start to happen in the vein of a house haunting, but it’s so much more than that.

We also follow the life of Nessa someone with the most personal and painful of cancers. We follow her road to recovery and her stay at the very same hospital that Carol now lives on. The hospital has been re-built, but some souls are not at rest.

I loved both of these characters for the strength they possessed. Some of the situations they faced were otherworldly and some were all too real. When the two stories blended together everything started to make sense. Up until that point it was mystery and intrigue.

This was not a typical ghost story, nor a haunted hospital story, although it had elements of both. This was a story about survival. Although not necessarily the survival you’re imagining at the start.

5 stars and will continue to read everything Catherine Cavendish writes.

Paying attention is the name of the game with this Gothic novel told over multiple time frames. This atmospheric, but sometimes dreary tale was the first book I've read by Ms Cavendish.

I was utterly captivated by that cover and title and wanted to read it based on those two things alone.

The characters in this novel are strong and well written. The novel itself is eerie but be warned it does drag at times. Fairly predictable in some ways and I certainly felt let down somewhat at the end but I still enjoyed it. My rating is on the high side because I typically round up on my 1/2 marks.

Carol and Nessa are strangers with a connection. They are both being haunted by the same malevolent spirit and find themselves being pulled from the present into the past. The first half of the book follows Carol, who is a grocery store clerk who has landed herself a plum job as a house sitter for 6 months in a posh apartment. The apartment is adjacent to the Royal and Waverly Hospital and built on the grounds where formerly stood the Waverley Workhouse and Asylum. When Carol starts having strange and frightening experiences in the apartment, she begins to suspect that events from the asylum may remain unsettled and perhaps there are souls that are not at rest.
The second half of the book follows Nessa, who retired from being a lecturer at a local university when she was preparing for surgery to address her cancer. When recovering at Royal and Waverly after her cancer surgery, she begins to experience unsettling visions and events similar to Carol's. There is a presence at the hospital that is tying them together, that wants to reach through years of history to possess them both.

Catherine Cavendish wears the crown as the reigning queen of gothic horror, as far as I'm concerned. From the acknowledgements of the book, I gathered that Nessa's ordeal with cancer was inspired by Catherine's own brave battle. I was not surprised to read this in the afterward - the details of Nessa's cancer and treatment were so visceral and real - I suspected that they had to be based on the author's real-life experiences. I applaud her for facing her demons and sharing these struggles in the pages of this book. I’m sure there are many readers that will recognize their own struggles, and appreciate feeling seen. I loved the strong character of Nessa and the great, supportive relationship she had with her husband, Paul. However, I did not find this book as quite as compelling as some other books I've read by Cavendish. The plot was a little confusing and convoluted to me. Even after the book ended, I still wasn't sure of all of the antagonists who were reaching out to Carol and Nessa, and exactly why they were doing the things they did. I struggled to immerse myself in the story because of my periodic confusion and jumping backward and forward through time. There were some good, solid characters and very creepy scenes that were set. I love Cavendish's writing style and I felt guilty for not loving this book. I liked it, but I didn't love it. But I still love Cat Cavendish! I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.