“With this new novel, Hayward delivers a coming-of-age story with all the horror, and heart, readers have come to expect with his work.”

During his thirteenth birthday, Tony’s stepfather is severely wounded from a strange bite on his neck. The sole police officer in Riverside searches the woods for the attacker. They tell Tony not to tell anyone, don’t start a panic. His father’s condition becomes worse overnight, and soon the town is ripped apart as people begin to change into moss-covered abominations.

Tony’s friends Ben Rodgers and Lee Tally, along with the local town bully, seek refuge in Rodgers’ tree house. Neighbors, even family, try to claw their way up the trunk of the tree, while the boys realize they’re going to run out of food and water.

All hope is lost, so the boys begin to have their first of everything before it all ends. First cigarette, first drink, their first everything. Time is running out for them.

Tony learns the world has teeth, and can bite back. And there’s someone else watching them out there.

An adult wearing a butcher’s apron … waiting …

Why we’re excited about this book:

Matt Hayward hails from Wicklow, Ireland, and his hard-hitting dark fiction has made a huge splash worldwide. Author of What Do Monsters Fear, The Faithful, and Brain Dead Blues, as well as Practitioners (with Patrick Lacey), and A Penny For Your Thoughts and Lady Luck (both with Robert Ford), his short fiction is collected in Various States of Decay, and he compiled the Splatterpunk anthology Welcome To The Show. With this new novel, Hayward delivers a coming-of-age story with all the horror, and heart, readers have come to expect with his work. Richard Chizmar (Gwendy’s Magic Feather) says: “If you like apocalyptic coming-of-age horror stories, Those Below The Tree House is for you. Fast paced, scary, and refreshingly inventive, Hayward has crafted a barn-burner of a thriller.”

Releasing 11 June 2020 from Poltergeist Press, Those Below The Tree House by Matt Hayward is available for pre-order right now.

BOB PASTORELLA

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