Vervain Hollow
Ever since Vervain Hollow burned to the ground, Laura’s life has turned to ash.
All the neighbours think she’s crazy. She was in a cult, after all. And even after the fire, after they all – all except Vervain, of course – escaped with their lives, Laura still insists that everything she’d been led to believe is real. That magic exists. That Vervain, their strikingly handsome and magnetic leader, was more than simply human.
Now, three years later, Laura is trying to move on from that strange, fantastical, terrifying year, struggling to move through her trauma and the mysterious hold that Vervain had over her (that he still, somehow, has over her). But then Laura’s now estranged friend Aliyah calls with news: former acolyte Daniel has gone back to the Hollow, claiming to have received a message from Vervain. Daniel's last communication consisted of three frantic words:
He's still here.
As Laura and Aliyah venture back to the Hollow to find the truth, Laura finds herself reliving that first year. Can everything she remembers possibly be true?
And can she extricate herself from Vervain's influence, or will she finally claim the wonderful and terrifying power he promised her - at any cost?
“A dark and mind-bending tale with an atmosphere of mounting claustrophobia, Vervain Hollow is a brilliantly-paced gothic cult horror.” — Marianne Gordon, author of The Raven's Trade duology
“Profoundly unsettling, like a nightmare from which you can’t seem to wake. Silvey explores the depths of desire, loneliness, and obsessive control.” — Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book Eaters
"Sinister and all-consuming, Vervain Hollow draws you into a world of lies, doubt, desire and despair, and swallows you whole. A cult horror classic in the making." — Kat Dunn, author of the national bestseller Hungerstone
"A masterpiece of slow-creeping dread that keeps unravelling into darker, stranger layers. Magnetic, twisty and deliciously unsettling. It will draw you into its spell and then haunt you. Unforgettable. If Catriona Silvey's starting a cult, sign me the heck up." — Sam Beckbessinger, author of Femme Feral
"Sensitive yet poignant and speaks to the modern moment. This thoughtful and haunting novel is an excellent addition to the growing number of regional gothics." — Library Journal (Starred Review)
'Vervain Hollow is a delightfully twisting slice of Gothic Americana anchored by exquisitely drawn characters and relationships. Silvey deftly draws us into the toxic joy of cult-living and as we delve deeper into what happened before, and what must come next, the narrative tension is never less than fraught.' — Ian Green, Arthur C. Clarke-shortlisted author of Extremophile