Title/Author: Darker Days by Thomas Olde Heuvelt Format Read: Audiobook/eBook Pub date: October 2025 Publisher: Harper Page Count: 416 Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978006347... Recommended for readers who enjoy: -Folk Horror -Suburban horror/Neighbors/Secret societies -Faustian Bargains/Selling your soul in exchange for exclusive benefits from an ancient or demonic entity -Flawed characters/Huge ensemble cast/Group dynamics -Ritualistic human sacrifices/occult practices -Don't go in the woods -Small town rot -Books that take place in winter/November

CW: Suicide. Very bleak/dark/depressing __ "Bird Street is a special place. The residents of this cul-de-sac on the edge of the woods are all successful, healthy, and happy. But come November, the "Darker Days" descend, bringing accidents, bad luck, conflict, and illness. Families prepare for this, and so do their children. In November, a stranger appears to collect - a sacrifice must be made in exchange for the good fortune they enjoy the rest of the year. So it has been for over a century. The residents of Bird Street choose carefully who will be sent into the woods. Usually, it is an elderly or terminally ill individual who wishes to die and is content to be helped on their way. But this year, events take a terrifying turn." -NoveList __ Minor complaints: -Huge cast -I feel like this book was a little long (could have been a leaner 300ish pages and packed the same punch)

Final recommendation: 
"One soul per year, that was his price." The neighbors of Bird Street are so into their privilege, status, and success they are willing to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror every November when they must elect a person for sacrifice to appease The Accountant--a dark entity who ensures their continued happiness and security. But don't worry! The people sacrificed have terminal illnesses and want to die (similar to King Sorrow where the moral dilemma is solved with sacrificing "bad people") Of course our story picks up with the neighbors on the cut-de-sac of Bird St. in Seattle, WA when everything goes off the rails. Kids are refusing to be initiated into the pact Neighbors are hiding bodies in the woods and covering up accidents Secrets, lies, guilt, and shame are coming to an impossible boiling point Some neighbors seemed committed to the pact while others contemplate how to break from the relentless moral decay. This is suburban folk horror at its darkest--pitch/black dark with morally grey characters hell bent on escalating the suspense, tension, and dread. Highly recommend the audiobook--thank you to the publisher for hooking me up with it.

Comps: King Sorrow by Joe Hill, Gothictown by Emily Carpenter , Like Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan if it had occult ritualistic sacrifice in it

"In one small town, the delicate balance between predator and prey is threatened when five girls are murdered on prom night."

Merrow witnesses the murder of 5 girls on Prom Night; girls she calls "doe-girls". She sees who kills them, men from her high school. The principle, the coach,

She runs off into the woods. "She needs to not be prey.

It’s that simple."

She remembers some important wisdom from her grandmother about taming wild things so that they become your responsibility. She thinks, "The first thing her grandmother ever taught her about the shape of the world, their world, is that there are wolves and there are deer. There’s a sharp line drawn between them—predator and prey." And all Merrow knows is that she doesn't want to be prey. So she becomes a monster who hunts the wolves.

I enjoyed this. I love A. C. Wise's storytelling. The meaning behind the story is slightly elusive, but I think I understand what's going on. The age-old predator/prey story of Men who hunt girls with a flipped script of a girl who was taught out to hunt them back.