Girl in the Creek

by Wendy N. Wagner

Overview

Girl in the Creek is a pulse-pounding story about the horrors growing all around us, perfect for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and T. Kingfisher.

Buried secrets only spread.

Erin's brother Bryan has been missing for five years.

It was as if he simply walked into the forests of the Pacific Northwest and vanished. Determined to uncover the truth, Erin heads to the foothills of Mt. Hood where Bryan was last seen alive. He isn’t the first hiker to go missing in this area, and their cases go unsolved.

When she discovers the corpse of a local woman in a creek, Erin unknowingly puts herself in the crosshairs of very powerful forces—from this world and beyond—hell-bent on keeping their secrets buried.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250908643
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/15/2025
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

WENDY N. WAGNER is a hiker, trail runner, and nature lover. She’s the author of the critically acclaimed works The Deer Kings, The Secret Skin, and the Locus bestselling An Oath of Dogs. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon and Shirley Jackson awards, and her short stories, poetry, and essays have appeared in more than seventy venues. She serves as the editor-in-chief of Nightmare Magazine (for which she was nominated for the Locus award), and is part of the Hugo award-winning editorial team behind Lightspeed Magazine. She lives in Oregon with her very understanding family, a giant cat, and a Muppet disguised as a dog.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Girl in the Creek:

“There's no one out there writing quite like Wendy N. Wagner. Her fiction is always the perfect combination of horror and heart. With glittering prose, an unforgettable protagonist, and too many spores to count, Girl in the Creek will haunt you and break your heart in equal measure. A fantastic achievement.”

—Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Haunting of Velkwood

“Wagner combines the body horror of classic King, the tension of Crichton techno-thrillers, and the nostalgic fun of creature features into a love song to the beautifully terrifying grandeur of the Pacific Northwest. Both a critique of the modern true crime landscape and a deep contemplation of humanity’s environmental devastation.”

—Maria Dong, author of Liar, Dreamer, Thief

“Dazzling. Girl in the Creek is unflinching eco-horror, steeped in the pitch-perfect setting of the rainswept Pacific Northwest. I devoured it even though it gutted me, and it solidifies that Wagner is an absolutely electrifying writer.”

—Keith Rosson, author of Fever House

"A tightly written master class in horror."

—Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

"A compelling story… Fans of Jeff VanderMeer will not be disappointed by this cli-fi horror tale from Wagner."

—Booklist

Praise for Wendy N. Wagner:

“Wagner's eerie, gorgeously rendered tale goes all in on gothic decadence...The evocative prose and insightful heroine make this a treasure.”

—Publishers Weekly on The Secret Skin

“All of Wendy Wagner's stories feature a rare and precious element: tremendous heart.”

—Fran Wilde, Nebula Award-winning author on An Oath of Dogs

"Wagner effortlessly mixes football and folk horror in this terrifying new novel."

—Angela Slatter, award-winning author of The Briar Book of the Dead on The Deer Kings

“Fast-paced and exciting, An Oath of Dogs is an inventive sci-fi novel about nature, science, corporations, and the drive for survival in us all.”

—Bustle

"Masterful...This is a compulsively readable novel with strong characters that live and breathe on the page and a richly detailed and evocative Pacific Northwest setting."

—Bram Stoker Award-winning author Tim Waggoner on The Deer Kings

From the Publisher