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4.5 

Crypt of the Moon Spider

By Nathan Ballingrud
Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

Crypt of the Moon Spider is a dark and dreamy tale of horror, corruption, and identity spun into the stickiest of webs.

Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe.

It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas.

But patients aren’t the only ones with trouble on their minds, and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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2 Reviews

4.5
“TL;DR: I found myself cheering for the ‘monsters’ in this one, but I can definitely see how the spider-ness of it all is going to mess with people Source: Many thanks to the publisher for my eARC copy! Plot: Veronica is dropped at a mental health hospital on the moon by her husband. They propose to replace the portion of her mind that ‘causes’ her mental illness with spider silk. Clearly that’s not going to work. Characters: I did really enjoy how the characters were built here. Each one felt distinct and unique. It helped that this is a very small cast. Setting: The moon! It seems quite strange to what you might expect as it’s a forested one and we’re mostly in an asylum but an interesting setting nevertheless. Magic/Horror: This was unique for me. It’s all based around a giant psychic spider and I suspect we’re going to get more details on it in further books. Thoughts: What a fun, creepy ride this was. Crypt of the Moon Spider gives me vibes almost similar to The Yellow Wallpaper, a horror classic I can’t recommend enough. Veronica is dropped at an asylum on the moon in hopes that they’ll ‘fix’ her bouts of depression. You quickly find out the doctor in charge wants to ‘scoop’ out the part of her brain that causes these feelings and replace it with Spider Silk from a giant deceased psychic spider. What could go wrong? The story manages to fit a lot more into it than that. We have the unwell attendant who assist Dr. Grub. And Dr. Grub himself, a bit of a mad scientist type with ulterior motives. The two of them present an interesting and aggressive foil to Veronica who is scared and left at their mercy. Then the spiders and horror itself begins to seep in and take over and the final scenes are very… vivid. I’m fairly sure some of those images are going to live rent free in my mind. Crypt of the Moon Spider is delightfully creepy. I will most definitely be continuing this series, as I believe we’re getting two more. It doesn’t have much of a resolution but what it sets up and shows us is very tempting and horrifying. I can’t wait for more.”

About Nathan Ballingrud

Nathan Ballingrud is the author of The Strange, Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, and North American Lake Monsters. He’s twice won the Shirley Jackson Award, and has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, British Fantasy, Bram Stoker, and Locus Awards. His stories have been adapted into the Hulu limited series Monsterland and the film Wounds. He lives in Asheville, NC.

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