She lives with her wife in Maryland, where their mad science experiments are secret. She is an active member of the HWA, with over ninety short stories appearing in Pseudopod, Vastarien, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and other publications. All this was embodied in a beautiful main character, who I was cheering on from chapter one, and an array of other complex characters who all contributed to this being such an addictive read.Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, The Worm and His Kings, No Gods for Drowning, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, and other books of dark fiction.

And a larger theme, I think, was about embracing the human soul and condition in all it's messiness, rather than trying to sterilize it. This is a story about identity, about refusing to chip yourself away in order to fit the role other's demand you to play for their own narrative. The writing itself is as stunning and reflective as always I connected with it in so many ways. Piper's an expert at messing with her readers' perception of reality - trust me, you really are going down the wormhole with this one - and she is the queen of unexpected endings. Creature-features, body-horror, cosmic horror, cult horror, urban-fantasy and most importantly, it is queer AF. But I try to be objective enough to recognize my own subjectivity, and for other people this will hit the perfect spot and become a well-worn favorite. I probably won't reread this one, although I don't regret reading it or buying it. Subjectively, personally speaking, I think the book was good but I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. I was alternating this with another book, and I found that one, despite being longer and more languid, held my attention better. If I find fault with the book, it's probably the pacing.

Hailey knows precisely how much lifeline to give you. Most importantly, while it's dark and desperate, there's just enough light of hope that the narrative doesn't get eaten by the Gru of Indifference. I love the elements of ambiguity, the cosmic scale, the mythology of a pre-human civilization. Now ask me how much I enjoyed the book as a whole. The conclusion is emotionally satisfying, narratively justified, and brings all the themes of the work to a beautiful fulfillment. Hailey Piper unquestionably nailed the landing. There's so much horror out there that builds up to a powerful climax, then whizzes everything down its leg with the end, whether it's a diabolis-ex-machina, a desperate 'twist' that doesn't hold up to scrutiny, a whimper or a head-scratcher.

The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper