An engaging horror novel that immerses readers in a chilling tale filled with suspense and mystery. With its eerie atmosphere, it keeps readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

T. Kingfisher's horror books are immaculate. I foolishly had this sitting on my Kindle for years before picking it up and I'm absolutely kicking myself for not giving it a shot earlier. The combination of portal fantasy, the world's weirdest museum, and the dynamic duo of Kara and Simon made this a perfect spooky read.

This was by no means a bad read, but because of the great stories surrounding the author, my hopes were higher. I expected an edge of the seat story, but there were only a few ocassions when this story was surprising. It was an okay read, but not one I would recommend within the genre.

What a creepy little book. I'm always a sucker for a portal fantasy. Combine that with horror and colour me intigued. This is the story of Kara, who finds a bunker at her uncles house that's actually a doorway to multiple worlds. However, these worlds seem to be filled with creatures who live on fear.

I found the world building to be a little bit lacking here. For a story that relies so heavily on portals and different realities, I don't think it did a good enough job at describing where Kara goes, and what the museum and bunker is like. It made it hard to visualise, and therefore get absorbed into the story.

I also found Kara incredibly annoying. I don't mind humour in books, but I don't think this was my kind of humour. If anything it actually detracted from the scary scenes, because the characters kept trying to be sarcastic and witty instead of being scared. It made light of pretty much every atmospheric or creepy scenes, lessening the effect and just making everything feel unbelievable. It frequently threw me out of the story.

This had some genuinely creepy scenes, but I just wish it had a bit less of the kooky to ramp up the scare factor.

I love horror. I have read books by this author before and really enjoyed them. The writing is effortless, so easy to read and well written, it’s sucks you in and put you there with the characters without you even realising. The story follow Carrot, she is immersed in to the wonder museum owned by her uncle Earl. The only thing creepy about it all is the corridor that shouldn’t be there, and the things inside. I can’t praise this book enough, I truly brilliant read. I highly recommend to any horror fans.

Kara is newly single and is looking for the comfort of her family. Her mother doesn’t always provide this, so she finds herself living with her uncle. His home is a museum of this most unusual things known to man. From skulls to stuffed animals to the strangest of trinkets, his museum has it all. Kara is not remotely bothered, she tries to forget her divorce by starting to cataloguing the museum’s artefacts.

She settles in to a happy routine with occasional trips to the next door coffee shop to see her friend Simon, a coffee pouring, top hat wearing, fishnet sporting gem of a man. But (and there is always a but) when her uncle needs an operation and subsequent recuperation she finds herself in charge of his museum.

Tourist come and go. One night while locking up, she discovers a large hole in the wall. Taking Simon’s advice they try to patch it up but they discover that not only is the wall hollow, there is a passage behind it. Should they ignore it or explore?

Of course they explore it, and this is when the book reminded me of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation. They come across a heavily locked door and instead of taking this as a warning that they shouldn’t open it; they go through and what they see is impossible.

A river with strange islands, each one sporting a similar door to the one they have just come through. Each door hides a bunker and as they explore the bunkers, they realise despite seeing nobody else; they are definitely not alone. This strange unknown land is verdant, willow trees (and if you have read Lord of the Rings you know they are always up to no good) seem to grow everywhere, what are they hiding?

Kara and Simon find themselves away from their original door. Can they make it back to their world and will they be able to stop whatever is in this strange world following them back through?

The Hollow Places was very creepy, the world on the other side of the door was very claustrophobic feeling, it made me think of a steamy swamp! The characters have great banter and Kara is definitely not a weak female character and Simon is not just a token gay character. They work well together and their friendships works really well.

I’d like to hear more about this strange world, I think it is definitely worth further exploration.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A great, weird, horror story that is dark with humour mixed in. A kind of horror-Narnia that adds a twist to the 'portal fantasy' subgenre too. Without spoilers, this is at once creepy, strange, bizarre and quirky. It's well written and gives something a little different for your spooky stories!

Kingfisher has become one of my all time favourite horror authors. After reading the twisted ones I was really excited to read her latest horror. Expanding on a classic lovecraft tale Kingfisher brings a fresh take to folk horror. Strange creatures and alternate worlds holds the reader captivated, while the cast of quirky characters really set this book apart from any other in the genre.

This book was ok. Compelling in places but sometimes I felt like I could be reading something else which is never a good thing. I would try something else by this author though.

I am not entirely sure how to describe this book. What I can easily say, however, is that it is great. It is so unique and strange and actually really quite creepy in parts.
In short, the plot revolves around Kara in the midst of a divorce, who moves into the spare room of her uncle's 'Wonder Museum'. Kara (or Carrot, according to Uncle Earl) has an abundance of fond memories of the museum, which is full of taxidermy and strange relics from across the world (both real and fake). But then Kara and Simon, the owner of the coffee shop next door, discover an impossible series of corridors and rooms behind the museum. Here, they find a bunker with a rather old corpse, as well as a door leading to... somewhere else.
The other world described by Kingfisher in this book is fascinating. There is a huge sense of anticipation and fear, with little clues and hints being dropped throughout. I've honestly never come across anything quite like it.
Possibly the most intriguing thing about this novel is how comic it can be, too. The characters have a great relationship (not romantic in the slightest, which is a relief to me) and the dialogue is great. They're sarcastic and just so human. I especially love Simon, with all his eccentricities and hilarious one-liners.
The only reason I took away half a star for this book is the fact that I'm not sure how well it would be re-read. Once you know the ending, I just don't know if the atmosphere and tension would quite be the same. Other than that, I really loved this book. Definitely recommend!

This was such a wild ride of a book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It tells the story of Kara (Carrot to her beloved Uncle Earl) who returns to the Wonder Museum to live following a divorce. Whilst there, she discovers a hole in the wall, which leads to a horrifying and sinister bunker. Firstly, I loved the characters in this book and I wish Uncle Earl was my uncle! He is so warm and kind, with a very strong gullible streak and a propensity to believe in everything. Consequently he is a devout Christian who believes in Bigfoot and aliens and everything in between and he is just a joy. I loved the friendship between Carrot and Simon and found it really refreshing to read a book where there was no romance between the two leads. I loved Carrot's voice - it was witty and intelligent and ensured I smiled throughout a book where the narrative itself is pretty dark. There are some genuinely creepy visual images at work here, with a great atmosphere of impending dread that was maintained really well, but the wry tone of our narrator meant that things never got too much. My one criticism was that I found the conclusion a little bit predictable, but overall, I thought this was a fast paced and extremely entertaining book and I would recommend it to anyone with a love of portal fantasy and enormous cats!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

“Perhaps skin and bones have a little memory to them, even after the soul is gone to greater things.”

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher is the extraordinary story about Kara who has moved into the Wonder Museum -  an eclectic collection of taxidermy, shrunken heads, and Mystery Junk owned by her Uncle Earl. For Kara, it’s not creepy at all: she grew up with it. What’s creepy is the corridor behind one of the museum walls. There’s just no space for a corridor there – or the concrete bunker, or the strange islands beyond the bunker’s doors, or the unseen things in the willow trees. Kara has stumbled into a horrifying world, and They are watching her. Strewn among the islands are the remains of Their meals – and Their experiments. And even if she manages to make it home, she can’t stop calling Them after her…

This novel was an easy atmospheric read. Its spooky premise delivers an extraordinary horror story which takes you through wormholes into worlds unimaginable where a terror lays in wait.

The characters created by the author were relatable and easy to like. The relationship between Kara and her Uncle Earl was endearing. Her friendship with the coffee shop owner Simon was sweet and they brought a level of humour which complimented the story well.

Another interesting and gripping read by T Kingfisher that I would recommend.

This book got intense! For the first 20% of the book I was slightly bored and just wanted to it to get better, and believe me it does. Although the momentum goes up and down, it was a wild ride! My attention did waver, but it also kept grabbing my attention back. 

I loved the characters. Kara - newly divorced, she decides to stay with her eccentric uncle in his strange museum. She meets Simon in the coffee shop next door and they strike up a friendship. They find a strange hole in the wall in the museum and decide to see what’s down there. Except they get stuck and things go from scary to scarier as they desperately try to find their way out.

I loved Kara and Sam’s relationship. It was funny, and they just clicked, and I became rather attached to the pair. 

The setting was so interesting (and creepy). I kept imagining what it would be like to just appear in some strange land with all these weird things happening. I was really interested in the world's lore, through the bible and notes that they find. I would love another book set in the same world, exploring the world more and explaining everything. Great read!

trigger warning
<spoiler> gore, trauma, ptsd </spoiler>

After a divorce that left her without home, Kara has to bite the bullet and move back in with her mother she doesn't get along with - in the last second, good old unlce Earl mentions the museum's spare bedroom is available.

The museum in question is a curiosity cabinet, and I loved every second set in there. Adventure starts when Earl has to go to the hospital and Kara, alone in the museum, finds a hole in the wall she suspects a tourist is responsible for - because when something breaks and nobody confesses up, it's usually one of those pests.

What happens next creeped me out quite a bit and it's been a long while since a fiction title managed that.

I like Simon. He's the barrista from the coffeeshop next door, and he's gay. His depiction was awesome - he didn't feel like the token queer person, but like a three dimensional being that you could meet in the real world. He doesn't flaunt his sexuality every single second, but is able to make some well-timed jokes.
Together, Kara and Simon are an amazing team.

As things got going, I only put the book away when I <i>had</i> to and the thrillng nature got through my depression, which, honestly, is a feat. Suddenly, I wanted something again - to read on, find out how it ends.

So I guess full recommendation and I need to seek out more by this author.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

First of all, I wish I had an Uncle Earl. The opening pages describing him and his Wonder museum were so adorable my cheeks ached from smiling my way through them.
I found all the characters so endearing in The Hollow Places that it made Carrot and Simon being in constant peril so much more intense for me.

Carrot and I had far too much in common when it came to her relationship- though thankfully the similarities end there! Simon was fantastic, I enjoyed his quirky dress sense and no nonsense approach to total absurdities.
The comradery between these two was so pure and at times hilarious.
Refreshing for me too was the complete lack of romance- none of the overdone insta love tropes, just a heartwarming friendship and a loving family.

The alternate world was honestly terrifying! Kingfisher made it extra creepy by putting mundane objects like a school bus in the middle of such a dangerous landscape. These 'safe' recognisable, everyday items being in an unexplainable other world created a jarring contrast.
I really liked that the monstrous entities weren't over explained, leaving the reader and the characters to conceptualise them with negative space and instinct.

There's very much a good versus evil theme, there was absolutely nothing to dislike about the three main characters, not a bad or unkind bone in their bodies. Even when facing imminent death Carrot and Simon thought of others first and what could happen if what dwells in the hollow places came into our world.
Loyalty and kindness is shown to and by every person (and cat) in this novel.
Somehow Kingfisher has made The Hollow Places both frightening and feel-good all at once!

This is an entirely unique sort of cosmic style horror. Unknowable, unexplainable and uncontrollable. I was blown away by my first Kingfisher read and now I'm off to buy The Twisted Ones for more.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be a book that wasn’t for me. I’d heard good things about the author, I absolutely loved the colour and the summary had me intrigued, and to be honest it still does. I also have to say that the writing was excellent all the way through, and I will certainly be checking out more of the author’s work.
The Hollow Places is a book that will appeal to many people, because it is a clever piece of horror with a wonderful sense of atmosphere throughout. Where it lost me, and this is entirely a personal thing and not a slight on the book or the author is that there is a lot of humour within this book, which is something that doesn’t generally appeal to me and that I don’t read much of, and I feel wasn’t particularly indicated in the blurb. This is just a case of a reader not meshing with a book, and I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror with a nice dash of sci-fi/fantasy in the mix, and who appreciates some intelligent, witty humour alongside.

Chilling, terrifying and still so rooted in reality, The Hollow Places is a perfectly orchestrated horror book. I will not be able to look at willows anymore.

My thanks to Titan Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Hollow Places’ by T. Kingfisher in exchange for an honest review.

This novel was inspired by Algernon Blackwood’s 1907 novella, ‘The Willows’, and given the links between them (that I won’t detail in order to avoid spoilers for both) this could almost be considered a sequel.

Following her divorce 34-year old Kara moves back to North Carolina. Her Uncle Earl offers her a place to stay and a job assisting him with running the Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy. While Earl is recovering from an operation, Kara and her friend, Simon, discover a mysterious bunker lying behind a hole in one of the museum’s walls.

They cautiously explore it and discover what appears to be an area that contains portals to alternative realities. It also contains numerous small islands, many of them with willow trees growing on them. Yet something doesn’t feel right: “As if the willows and the river were . . . not artificial, exactly, but behind them was something vast and hollow. Hollow, but not empty.”

I found this an engaging work of literary horror. It is atmospheric and weird. Kingfisher did include some humour. Some of this worked for me, like Simon’s constantly declaring that everything they were experiencing was due to black mould; yet other times it fell a little flat and distracted me from a sense of immersion. Still, this was a minor pacing issue.

In general, I find taxidermy creepy so I was somewhat on edge from the start about the exhibits. There are plenty of SF/F references, including Lovecraft and Narnia.

The tiny museum reminded me of the roadside attractions that are an idiosyncratic feature of the American landscape. Having one containing a dangerous conduit to a willow wood between the worlds was effective.

Overall, it was intriguing and well written. I will be interested to read the original Blackwood novella as well as Kingfisher’s her other works.

The Hollow Places is the latest supernatural horror novel from the inimitable Ursula Vernon, under the nom de plume T. Kingfisher. Newly divorced and perturbed by the prospect of having to move back in with her parents, 34-year-old graphic artist Kara (aka Carrot) returns to where she spent her formative years, picturesque Hog Chapel, North Carolina, and gladly accepts her eccentric Uncle Earl’s offer of inhabiting a spare room in Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy, which he owns; it is his pride and joy and Kara can live there rent-free so long as she assists him in categorising the many oddities. When her Uncle Earl is hospitalised for knee surgery, she is left in charge of the museum and is dismayed when she discovers a substantial hole in the building’s dry stone wall, but she enlists the help of friend and barista at the nearby Black Hen coffee shop, Simon, to sort it out. Behind this hole is a dark and dingy corridor which leads to a door to an otherworldly place which holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become.

This is horror at its finest and most original. It's a rare writer that can convey the same tension and chilling feeling that a horror movie can but in a book, and that's exactly what Kingfisher achieves here. It's a nuanced and deeply atmospheric read right from the start and the creepiness and anxiety brought about by the totally unpredictable nature of the plot had me reading long into the early morning hours. I felt tinges of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett throughout but, make no mistake, Kingfisher is in a field of her own. Everything is exquisitely crafted and intricate attention is paid to both the worldbuilding and characters. Both the world in which Kara lives at the museum, and the terrifying alternate reality worlds beyond the corridor, are both richly-imagined and utterly immersive. I am in awe of Kingfisher's ability to craft characters that come alive on the page and leap right out of the book and into your heart with ease. They are just so endearing and loveable from the off. With boundless imagination, offbeat humour and vivid imagery, this is a sublime and unique horror masterpiece and a real treat. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Titan Books for an ARC.

I often claim not to read horror, but I will pick up the next Paul Tremblay title, and after reading The Only Good Indian by Stephen Grahame Jones I will be checking out all of his works, and after The Twisted Ones from T. Kingfisher I knew I would pick up her next book - which was The Hollow Places. This title is one of the very few books that has made me laugh out loud and gasp in fright, on the same page (Meddling Kids was another one). While trying to put her life back together after a a divorce, Carrot thinks her Uncle's Museum of Oddities is the perfect hiding place. When she finds a portal to another world she is hoping it is more Narnia, less Lovecraft, and of course it is the other way. What makes this a great read for a person who thinks they dont read horror is the voice of Carrot. This down to earth, slightly beaten but in no way defeated narrator is the person you want to become your new best friend, and you have to stay for the ride (even if she ignores you when you yell at the book to not go in the hole in the wall). Alright, maybe I do read a little bit of horror.