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Book: “Wolf Worm” by T. Kingfisher
Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, March 2026
Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: The year is 1899 and Sonia Wilson is a scientific illustrator without work, prospects, or hope. When the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. But soon enough she finds that there are darker things at work than the Carolina woods. What happened to her predecessor, Halder’s wife? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thiefs?”
With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder’s entomological studies have taken him down a dark road full of parasitic maggots that burrow into human flesh, and that his monstrous experiments may grow to encompass his newest illustrator as well.
Review: Here I am, back with another T. Kingfisher review! Honestly, this one might have fallen better under Kate’s genres, but I got here first! Seems like every other month I’m reviewing a book by this author, but that’s the great thing about prolific authors, especially when they always deliver.
There was a lot to enjoy about this one for sure. Most especially, I enjoyed the combination of the time period of history alongside the classic gothic trappings of a mysterious house hidden away in the woods and under the care of an even more mysterious owner. But unlike the typical gothic story, there’s no romance to be found here, just body horror galore.
I wouldn’t say that I’m the sort of person who is squeamish about bugs. If anything, my husband is always busy squashing them on first sight while I quietly work behind the scenes to simply transport them to safety outside. All my protestations about spiders being useful bugs seem to fall on deaf ears. THAT SAID, Kingfisher may have turned me around on all things creepy crawly. I don’t live in the south (obviously), but after reading this book, I pretty much never want to visit there again. Bot flies?? No thank you! Forget the creepy mushrooms that reanimated the dead, this thing takes body horror to an entirely new level and man, was it gross at times. Even thinking about some of the scenes now gives me a major ick. That said, it was definitely successful in being creepy for this very same reason. Your fear factor will likely greatly depend on your relationship to bugs, but, like I said, even the most hardened are likely to be grossed out here.
As for the rest of it, we have many of the staples of Kingfisher books. A solid, sympathetic, yet funny, leading lady character. A cast of assorted quirky side characters. And a villainous presence lurking behind it all. Of these all, I think the main character stood out the most. I enjoyed the side characters and villain (such as it was), but they also felt fairly familiar at this point. The main character also felt familiar, but her experiences as a woman working in a male-dominated world and her struggles with imposter syndrome were a compelling personal arc to follow.
I will say that this book is on the slower side. While the characters are the true heart of the story and were enough to pull me in right away, the story takes a while to truly set its scene. There’s a lot of slow buildup as Sonia begins her work and only gradually begins to suspect that all is not right around her. Once the midpoint of the book hits, things pick up from there. But it does create a situation where readers really need to stick with it through some of the quieter moments in the beginning to get to the payoff in the end. For my part, I feel that a lot of this slow buildup is a staple of gothic horror, slowly ratcheting up tension and atmosphere before building to a crisis point. However, it does leave for a bit of an uneven reading experience.
Overall, this was an excellent horror, gothic novel. The bug stuff was truly horrifying, and there are more than one scenes that I wish to scrub from my memory permanently. I have been missing the romance in the last few Kingfisher books I’ve read, but this one is a solid entry in the gothic genre and well worth checking out, especially for those who enjoy body horror.
Rating 8: Bugs have never been more gross, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Wolf Worm” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Horror to Look Forward to in 2026 and Nature Horror.
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