Spoiler-Free Review

I love dark and scary tales that still feel human and compelling, and that’s absolutely what Slewfoot is. I’ve so far had less than a handful of 5-star reads this year, and this just made that list.

What’s Slewfoot about?

Colonial New England, 1666: Abitha, an outcast in her Puritan community, fights to retain the rights to her property after a tragedy. Meanwhile, a dark force awakens in the forest.

I was engaged from page one.

This story stirred so many emotions in me. I felt rage, betrayal, disgust, satisfaction – my eyes were glued to the page every time I picked it up.

The characters surprised me with their humanness. They were multifaceted, with virtues and flaws alike, and some characters who I was most wary of ended up becoming quite sympathetic. And it wasn’t just the humans. The creatures, the wildfolk of lore, even Slewfoot himself felt driven by goals and desires. The nuance impressed me. I’ve said before that character stakes make or break a story, and our main character had them in spades.

So, despite being a fantasy horror, it felt very much like a human tale, with flawed characters chasing and striving and fighting for what they think they want. And it was made all the better for it.

The spirituality of the book is another place that surprised me. It felt like a combination of many folkloric beliefs, creating a dark “spirit world” that was bent on destroying the humans who were infringing upon them. These themes were sort of reminiscent of Princess Mononoke in that way, if the movie had more of a horror bent and featured more fairy-like creatures than animals.

I’m no history buff, so I can’t speak so much to the historical accuracy of either the Puritan community or the folklore of the Pequot people. But much about the setting and language rang true enough that it never broke my immersion.

Should you read Slewfoot?

If a story featuring devils, wildfolk, and witchcraft set against a backdrop of Puritan colonial America is something you’d be into, definitely read Slewfoot.

I would say, tone wise, it’s less haunting and more philosophical. There are definitely scary scenes, some gore, spiders and snakes, and plenty of creeping tension, but don’t go into this expecting pure horror. It asks interesting questions too, and manages not to align itself with a moral absolute. It’s as much a story about a woman as it is about magic and devilry.