PRE-ORDER | ESTIMATED SHIPPING MID-LATE MAY 2026
 
SARAFINA By Philip Fracassi with an introduction by Nick Cutter
 
A historical horror novel where three brothers go AWOL during one of the most violent battles of the Civil War, but find something much worse waiting in the woods.
 
Choosing to risk execution rather than be killed in a losing war, three brothers desert their posts and begin a long, arduous journey back home. After weeks of dealing with rough terrain while evading bandits and home guard soldiers—starving, injured, and exhausted—the brothers find a miracle deep in the dark woods. A home.
 
Living in a remote cabin is a beautiful woman, Sarafina, and her young son, Titus. Sarafina takes the soldiers in, cares for them, feeds them, offers them a place to rest. But the youngest of the brothers is wary—something is not what it seems. After discovering a mysterious creek and a strange underground cavern, he gets a strong sense that the cabin, and the fertile land surrounding it, might be harbouring something nefarious, terrifying, and dangerous.
 
What ensues is a nightmare beyond imagination, an escalation of horrors that the brothers must somehow fight to survive. With tensions high, the country divided, and loyalties put to the test, Sarafina spotlights that Fracassi is a star of modern horror.
 
'Builds his horrific tales slowly and carefully . . . he's especially skilful at creating, and sustaining, suspense' The New York Times
 
‘A shape-shifting fever dream: part historical epic, part coming of age—
but its horrors are one-hundred-proof: pure, potent, and wholly terrifying’ Nick Cutter
 
‘A fairy tale like no other, Fracassi has crafted a nightmarish story weaving together threads of mythology, history, fantasy, and horror that explores the bonds of brotherhood through a terrifying landscape of war, religion, and the supernatural’ Scream Magazine
 
‘The literary equivalent of a cannonball that’ll leave you bruised, bloody, and broken. . . will twist your stomach and shred your nerves’ Tyler Jones
 
‘One of my favourite writers’ Neil McRobert, Talking Scared