“All the fun of ’80s horror through a modern lens: wild, gleeful horror at its best.”
—Sarah Langan, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of GOOD NEIGHBORS
Goodreads Editors’ Pick
Goodreads Readers’ Most Anticipated Horror Novels of 2025
“A couple grapples with monstrosity in this tense horror novel . . . Mahoney pulls it off beautifully, with legitimately terrifying action scenes and a creeping sense of horror threaded through the book. But where he shines brightest is in his depiction—sensitive and accurate—of post-traumatic stress and anxiety . . . Smart, sensitive, and scary as hell.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
Chilling holiday horror about an unhappy couple running from their problems and straight into the maw of a terrifying beast
For the last year, Holly and Brian have been out of sync. Neither can forget what happened that one winter evening; neither can forgive what’s happened since. Tonight, Holly and Brian race toward Pinebuck, New York, trying to outrun a blizzard on their way to the ski village getaway they hope will save their relationship. But soon they lose control of the car—and then of themselves.
Now Sheriff Kendra Book is getting calls about a couple in trouble—along with reports of a brutal and mysterious creature rampaging through town, leaving a trail of crushed cars, wrecked buildings, and mangled bodies in the snow.
To Kendra, who lost another couple to the snow just seven weeks ago, the danger feels personal. But not as personal as it feels to Holly and Brian, who are starting to see the past, the present, and themselves in a monstrous new light.
Coming January 28, 2025
More Praise for Our Winter Monster
“At its bitter, frosty heart, Our Winter Monster is an exploration of the human condition. Holly and Brian’s tumultuous relationship is painted with unflinching honesty . . . A compelling read that is icily introspective, quietly horrific in some areas, and unapologetically terrifying in others.”
—FanFiAddict
“Our Winter Monster merges two classic horror tropes, the small town and the monster of the week, to lay the groundwork for a tale that is at once somber and frightening . . . Mahoney’s narrative spell is empathetic.”
—The Lineup
“Ideal for fans of horror like Darcy Coates’s Dead of Winter, this novel is crime fiction blended with horror and psychological suspense. Mahoney has created a work that combines a monster story with the claustrophobia of a massive blizzard while also exploring PTSD and its effects on relationships and individuals.”
—Library Journal
“Horrific scenes of blood-strewn havoc are eased by plaintive scenes of clarity wherein the balance between being in control, forgetting yourself, and the unstoppable burden of change is cast in a flurrying light. With a broken relationship as its psychological bedrock, the horror novel Our Winter Monster is like a nightmare couple’s therapy session you can’t help but spy on.”
—Foreword Reviews
“Plenty of in-the-moment tension to hook readers’ interest . . . [and] plenty of blood and guts to keep horror fans happy.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Like a couples therapy session straight out from our nightmares, OUR WINTER MONSTER serves up a slab of profoundly unsettling relationship terror—probing into the very nature of love by exploring what brings us together and what tears us apart—while ripping the reader to pieces in the process. Dennis Mahoney is just the horror counselor we readers need to see us through this gripping chiller and survive.”
—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters
“While OUR WINTER MONSTER is a full-tilt horror story, it’s also a moving, nuanced character study of trauma and grief, and what happens when our hearts insist on beating after the worst days of our lives. Mahoney’s a craftsman.”
—Keith Rosson, author of Fever House
“A fun and frightening descent into the complexities of human connection and the monsters that reveal our innermost worries. Dennis Mahoney’s OUR WINTER MONSTER blends a blistering pace with tremendous heart and empathy, the kind that feels like a guiding hand through the darkness. Mahoney’s got the chops; he’s here to scare you shitless while also proving that nobody is ever lost to the frigid temperatures.”
—Michael J. Seidlinger, author of Anybody Home? and The Body Harvest
“Our Winter Monster is a truly satisfying blend of supernatural, survival, and physiological horror. Just as surprising as it is heartbreaking, every page pulls you deeper into a storm that you’ll never forget.”
—Erin E. Adams, author of Jackal