One of Book Riot’s Best Horror Books Of 2023
“Chapman (Ghost Eaters) is becoming a not-to-miss horror novelist. Suggest this one to a varied audience of fans who enjoy intense psychological tales like Paul Tremblay’s The Pallbearers Club, body horror like Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad, and parental horror like Zoje Stage’s Baby Teeth; don’t forget fans of the pulp classic “Clickers” series, originated by J.F. Gonzalez.”—Library Journal
“Perfectly paced [...] Recommend to readers who enjoyed Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth (2018), Victor LaValle's The Changeling (2017), or Laurel Hightower's Crossroads (2020)."—Booklist
“Bristling with uneasy energy, What Kind of Mother seizes you by the throat and never lets go. An ink-black story about grief, courage, and what we’ll do for those we love.”—Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial
“There’s a moment in What Kind of Mother when a character worries that he’s telling the story all wrong. The opposite is true of Clay McLeod Chapman. His lyrical prose shimmers, moving us seamlessly from one wounded soul to another. A good old-fashioned salty summer scare about the beautiful, terrifying power of belief.”—Caroline Kepnes, New York Times best-selling author of the You series
“What Kind of Mother mixes Southern Gothic, a missing child story, and body horror into an entertaining brew sure to inform your nightmares.”—Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts
“A tremendous, heartbreaking work of dark fiction, where the horror seeps in quietly until you’re left drowning. You won’t forget about this tale anytime soon. A masterpiece.”—Ronald Malfi, best-selling author of Come with Me
“I’m not sure how Clay McLeod Chapman manages to be both tremendously tender and brilliantly hideous in What Kind of Mother, but he does—in this strange, poetic, and gut-wrenching portrait of parenthood.”—Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse
“Another stunner . . . one of horror’s modern masters. Beautifully written, deftly plotted, and completely engrossing, What Kind of Mother will get under your skin and take your breath away and break your heart and chill you to the bone. A profound exploration of parental love and loss, of regret and sacrifice.”—Rachel Harrison, national best-selling author of Cackle and Such Sharp Teeth
“What Kind of Mother is a deeply unsettling, oddly sweet book about what love can become.”—Sarah Gailey, best-selling author of Just Like Home
“What Kind of Mother is both a breakneck story about running from your past and also a meditation on loss and guilt. Which is typical Chapman, a writer who always finds ways to marry our real-life fears with crescendos of pure unadulterated horror. His writing is intense, beautiful, disturbing, heartbreaking, and this book is no different. First it takes you by the hand, then it takes you by the wrist.”—Gus Moreno, author of This Thing Between Us
“What Kind of Mother is a masterpiece—a beautiful, intimate work. Clay Chapman is the storyteller supreme, and I will follow him anywhere.”—Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind
“Equal parts terrifying and beautiful. Chapman crafts a folk tale that slides under your skin and burrows its way into your heart. Visceral. Surprising. Stunning. Not to be missed.”—Erin E. Adams, author of Jackal
“What Kind of Mother will make you pace the room, reconsider your own sanity, and question the stubborn instinct to nurture.”—Rachel Eve Moulton, author of The Insatiable Volt Sisters
Praise for Clay McLeod Chapman
“Chapman is a maestro at building grim suspense to the point of unimaginable consequences, proving genuine horror dwells in the world we live in today.”—Mystery and Suspense Magazine
"Chapman is the 21st century’s Richard Matheson. He’s that good.”—Richard Chizmar, New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Boogeyman
06/01/2023
Having fled her hometown of Brandywine, VA, as a pregnant teenager, palm reader Madi returns years later so that her teenage daughter can connect with her birth father. When Madi encounters her high school boyfriend Henry, a fisherman who's been searching for his kidnapped son and mourning his dead wife, she reads his palm and experiences disturbing images of the water and the boy, visions that have physical manifestations. Chapman immediately introduces suspense, hooking readers with Madi's engaging but increasingly unstable narration, confidently and deliberately steering the tone from uneasy to weird to terrifying with a twist that readers won't see coming. A disorienting, immersive, and thought-provoking contemplation of hope, grief, and guilt that traps its audience in a net of visceral and palpable horror. VERDICT Chapman (Ghost Eaters) is becoming a not-to-miss horror novelist. Suggest this one to a varied audience of fans who enjoy intense psychological tales like Paul Tremblay's The Pallbearers Club, body horror like Ahmed Saadawi's Frankenstein in Baghdad, and parental horror like Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth; don't forget fans of the pulp classic "Clickers" series, originated by J.F. Gonzalez.
