I love being part of the Tenebrous Press ARC team because of books like Reef Mind by Hazel Zorn. As soon as I read about a sentient invasive reef and mention of weird horror, I was sold. I’m a simple creature – give me weird and writhing and I’m happy.
The coral reef rose from the seas, spreading across the land with incredible speed.
A rapidly evolving invasive species.
It transformed the landscape. Mutated every living creature of the surface world.
We never suspected it had a plan.
Content Warnings:
Pregnancy loss, child death (explicit), reference to past child abuse, partner death, body horror, cannibalism, and more.
Reef Mind Made My Weird Horror Heart Sing
Reef Mind follows the story of Matt and Amanda during a major shift in the world’s ecology. Underneath the story of survival are themes of parenting and perpetuation of a species, climate and reef destruction and conservation, and the cost of life at its core.
As a parent that has experienced miscarriage, many scenes in this book hit home and drew me in deeper. There were scenes that made me think of Crimes of the Future (if you’ve seen this movie and enjoyed it, you’ll probably enjoy this book) including the body horror and the child loss that was used in the story in weird and uncomfortable ways that were unexpected. I couldn’t look away.
I want to say that if you are an ocean nerd, you are gonna love this book. I made so many high pitched sounds of joy when reading to the point that my family became concerned (especially after I told them what the book was about). I won’t spoil things but I will say that Thecosomata (sea butterflies) make a big appearance and I was thrilled.
Reef Mind is a truly unique journey and take on eldritch apocalyptic horror. I have read a lot in both sub-genres and I have never come across anything like this before.
If you are a fan of ocean horror, body horror, parent/grief horror, and all things weird – you are going to want to grab this book.
