Whispers in the Dark

The must-read psychological horror that will keep you up all night!

Allison Gunn

• Publisher: Embla Books
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN:
  9781471419973
• Subtopic: Crime & Mystery Literature

Mare of Easttown meets The Outsider in this spine-tingling and twisty debut set in a small town deep in the Virginian woods.

'This book TERRIFIED me (in a good way). The levels of suspense, tension and down-right spine chilling moments... this book will leave me a little bit scared of sleep for a while!' Reader review, 5 stars

Don't go into the dark woods - where the trees grow dense and the sunlight struggles to reach the underbrush...

Rachel Kennan knows the townspeople of Dahlmouth will never accept her as police chief. She's an outsider, she isn't part of the history of this tightknit, superstitious community in Virginia. She's faced the same hostility every day for three years, but she couldn't care less, because her son is dead. And it was her husband Finn and his drinking that caused the accident.

Rachel can barely look at Finn, despite all the pain she sees in him. Their family is falling apart. Their two daughters are the only things keeping Rachel and Finn together, but the girls have demons of their own . . .

Then, one day, Rachel is called out to a horrifying scene in the woods. A man has been nailed to a tree. Whatever happened to him is like nothing she's encountered before.

And now little Abby Grayson is missing. Rachel searches frantically, but before long more of Dahlmouth's children disappear. And soon, the locals' wariness turns to fear and contempt, and Rachel and Finn must rely on each other if they have any hope of getting what's left of their family through this . . .

Whispers in the Dark is a haunting debut horror and a disquieting exploration of grief, Appalachian folklore, and the terror of everyday domesticity, perfect for fans of Stephen King, We Used to Live Here, The Twisted Ones and The Whistling.

Readers have been up all night, terrified, after reading Whispers in the Dark!

'Now THIS is my kind of horror! . . . The creepiness practically drips off the pages throughout, there were also a few jaw-dropping stand-out passages that really cemented Whispers In The Dark as one of my fave reads of the year so far.' Reader review, 5*

'You won't find me in any woods for a while . . . Eerie creepy and oh so good, the writing added to the whole atmospheric horror, small town, missing children, past trauma, I'm really trying not to give spoilers but oh my gosh that ending!' Reader review, 5*

'Dark, gory, eerie, and deliciously creepy, it ticks all the boxes in the best possible way. Reading it at night was a definite mistake!' Reader review, 5*

'A genuinely scary paranormal horror which quickly got under my skin and made it impossible for me to read it when it was dark outside!' Reader review, 5*

'This was SO creepy! Eerie with horrific imagery, an absolute masterpiece in edge-of-your intensity. This would be an absolutely incredible film!' Reader review, 5*

'Her writing reminds me of Stephen King one moment, and Shirley Jackson the next. The final scene still haunts me. If you are a lover of horror, Whispers in the Dark is for you.' Reader review, 5*

'I've got chills! Holy freaking crap . . . Once I reached the end, I felt like I needed to just sit and take a few calming breaths.' Reader review, 5*

'A creepy, atmospheric, supernatural horror novel debut that you don't want to miss!!' Reader review, 5*

'What a ride. If there was a creepiness scale for rating books, this one would get a ten.' Reader review, 5*

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Prologue
• One
• Two
• Three
• Four
• Five
• Six
• Seven
• Eight
• Nine
• Ten
• Eleven
• Twelve
• Thirteen
• Fourteen
• Fifteen
• Sixteen
• Seventeen
• Eighteen
• Nineteen
• Twenty
• Twenty-One
• Twenty-Two
• Twenty-Three
• Twenty-Four
• Twenty-Five
• Twenty-Six
• Twenty-Seven
• Twenty-Eight
• Twenty-Nine
• Thirty
• Thirty-One
• Thirty-Two
• Thirty-Three
• Thirty-Four
• Thirty-Five
• Thirty-Six
• Thirty-Seven
• Thirty-Eight
• Thirty-Nine
• Forty
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgements
• Author’s Note
• About the Author
• About Embla Books