Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher is a 277 page standalone novel published March 24, 2026 by Tor Nightfire.
Genre:
Horror
Description:
Something darker than the devil stalks the North Carolina woods in Wolf Worm, a new gothic masterpiece from New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher.
The year is 1899 and Sonia Wilson is a scientific illustrator without work, prospects, or hope. When the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. But soon enough she finds that there are darker things at work than the Carolina woods. What happened to her predecessor, Halder’s wife? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thiefs?”
With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder’s entomological studies have taken him down a dark road full of parasitic maggots that burrow into human flesh, and that his monstrous experiments may grow to encompass his newest illustrator as well.
Opening Line:
The rail station was very new, the paint still bright on the lettering that read SILER STATION.
My Thoughts:
She’s done it again, folks!
This book combines two of my very favorite things to read: T. Kingfisher’s writing and parasite horror (especially of the Gothic variety).
This story is full of creepy crawlies that will make your skin shiver, but also the author’s signature strain of human warmth. Sonia Wilson is a thirty year old spinster at the turn of the nineteenth century when she takes on a job as the illustrator for a naturalist’s book cataloguing parasitic insects and their life stages. She lodges at his home in North Carolina, befriends his small staff, and enjoys walking in the woods when not using his library of specimens to make her watercolor renderings. But some of the woodland creatures, sporting botfly larvae warbles, are acting strange. Why does no one want to talk about the illustrator who came before her? And why is the padlock on the shed she stumbles across in the forest on the outside, as if to keep something in rather than out?
In the acknowledgments, Kingfisher explains she used to live near a population of squirrels that were infested with botflies, and the idea for this novel was born when she thought, “Huh. What would happen if one of those latched onto [redacted]?” And reader, the resulting story did not disappoint!
You’ll need a fairly strong stomach (or barf bucket on hand) to read this book, but I cannot recommend it enough. All the wriggling, necrophagic stars for this one!
Jessica Crawford 