Daphne

Name: Daphne
Rating: 3.442 (1061 reviews)
ISBN: 9780593157022

By Josh Malerman

Publisher Description

Horror has a new name: Daphne. A brutal, enigmatic woman stalks a high school basketball team in a reimagining of the slasher genre by the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box.

“A superb serial killer novel and a great coming-of-age story.”—Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Paste

It’s the last summer for Kit Lamb: The last summer before college. The last summer with her high school basketball team, and with Dana, her best friend. The last summer before her life begins.

But the night before the big game, one of the players tells a ghost story about Daphne, a girl who went to their school many years ago and died under mysterious circumstances. Some say she was murdered, others that she died by her own hand. And some say that Daphne is a murderer herself. They also say that Daphne is still out there, obsessed with revenge, and will appear to kill again anytime someone thinks about her.

After Kit hears the story, her teammates vanish, one by one, and Kit begins to suspect that the stories about Daphne are real . . . and to fear that her own mind is conjuring the killer. Now it’s a race against time as Kit searches for the truth behind the legend and learns to face her own fears—before the summer of her lifetime becomes the last summer of her life.

Mixing a nostalgic coming-of-age story and an instantly iconic female villain with an innovative new vision of classic horror, Daphne is an unforgettable thriller as only Josh Malerman could imagine it.

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Daphne Reviews

3.0

Xer🏴‍☠️

Created 8 days ago

“disturbing? oh absolutely. the book has moments where you need to set it down, take a lap, maybe light a candle. but as a horror icon? daphne’s got that “giant shadow in the doorway” charisma. the kind of gal you wouldn’t hold hands with so much as… hope she doesn’t crush your spine while doing it❤ Heh heh heh…🤫”

Circlehugs

Esai Arasi

Amber Reu

“The first time I read Josh Malerman’s DAPHNE, I was paralyzed with fear. I started the book at night, right after receiving a review copy. I had nightmares of Daphne. I decided to finish the book during my lunch break; I work from home, and I can still remember sitting on our couch downstairs and thinking, “I can’t go upstairs because the fear is too overwhelming.” But I also remember feeling an immense amount of gratitude to Josh for writing a book as vulnerable and honest as DAPHNE. To this day, I haven’t read any book that so clearly addresses and details how anxiety feels and manifests, and for that, I’ll forever be thankful to Josh. I re-read DAPHNE for Novel Nightmares May Hauntings. I’ve lost track of the number of re-reads I’ve done of DAPHNE at this point, but this is at least my third. There’s something about Malerman’s writing that makes his books the rarest books that I can hear calling my name from my shelves, pulling me in for a re-read; I can hear his writing singing out to me, each with its distinct melody and rhythm ringing out and posing the question through its lyrical writing of “what I will discover this time?”. And it’s true, each new journey in the Malerman universe renders new ideas, new inspiration, new fear, and emotions. For as many times as I’ve read DAPHNE, the fear, and admittedly panic, that it brings me never fades. DAPHNE is genuinely terrifying; as an antagonist, Daphne is brutal and vicious, and I can feel her energy as I read, leaving me checking behind shower curtains and closet doors and feeling antsy because I can’t stop thinking about Daphne. The kills in DAPHNE are horrific, and there are genuine jump scares throughout. There is also an underlying emotional fear in DAPHNE; there is the fear that Kit’s anxiety produces in her. The depictions of Kit and her anxiety, including her journal entries, are so spot on that I felt at times Malerman had taken my journal and read my thoughts. The fear that the townspeople of Samhattan feel about Daphne, and how that unspoken, unresolved fear has lingered and contributed to the demise of the ballers. But there’s also our own emotional fear that we, the readers, confront. DAPHNE forces us to examine our own anxieties that we’ve kept secret and asks us what power those anxieties hold over us. Because to know how anxiety feels and to live with it, it becomes part of our identity, but to me, one of the key takeaways of DAPHNE is so what? So what if anxiety is part of your identity? There’s power in knowing that and knowing who you are and owning every part of it. So often we treat anxiety as though it’s a shameful thing or a weakness, but it isn’t, and I think once we put those anxieties out in the light and we talk about them, we take some of their power over us away. DAPHNE shows us that we can ask questions for others to tell us our fate (or, in the case of DAPHNE, we can ask the rim), but that answer is left for interpretation. At the end of the day, we control our own destiny and power. DAPHNE is also a love letter to basketball, and I am so thankful for that. More sports in horror, please. One of the greatest sports, and a sport that I love, basketball is its own character in DAPHNE. Malerman is masterful at writing terrifying stories, there is no denying this. In addition, every book in the Malerman universe contains beautiful prose. DAPHNE is no exception; at the time of this review, my e-book of DAPHNE has 144 highlights. There are so many beautifully written passages in DAPHNE about anxiety and about growing up. Malerman is also an expert in creating characters that are relatable and believable, with their distinct voices, which is made more exceptional by the fact that most of his books have multiple characters and perspectives. His books also each have immersive settings, without bogging the reader down. Admittedly, I am a reader who struggles with world building, but I don’t with Malerman’s books. He trusts us as readers and gives us enough detail to set us in the world without over-explanation. DAPHNE proves this because we never lose any character’s voice, and it feels as though we are walking hand in hand with Kit through Samhattan. There are other aspects of Malerman’s writing and his books that set him apart in the best way from other writers, but I want to focus on one in particular. Each of Malerman’s books stays with you; even if I hadn’t just finished a re-read of DAPHNE, I would still find myself thinking about Daphne while I watch basketball or the next time that I’m feeling anxious. And the same is true with each of his books; I find myself thinking of the characters and places every day. I think this is due to the same reason I can re-read his books and take something new away; there is a richness to the writing that leaves you wanting to stay in that world, and I haven’t found another author to accomplish this.”

Austin Winnett

Created 20 days ago

About Josh Malerman

Josh Malerman is a New York Times bestselling author and one of two singer-songwriters for the rock band The High Strung. His debut novel, Bird Box, is the inspiration for the hit Netflix film of the same name. His other novels include Unbury Carol, Inspection, A House at the Bottom of a Lake, and Malorie, the sequel to Bird Box. Malerman lives in Michigan with his fiancée, the artist-musician Allison Laakko.