James Newman

A fire consumes the Heller Home For Children in Morganville, North Carolina. Amidst rumors of devil worship, authorities remand the teenage arsonist to a sanitarium. Unaware of the turmoil in their new hometown, the Littles -- David, Kate, and seven year-old Becca -- are moving from New York City to Morganville in hopes of repairing their own lives, which were recently shattered by a violent act.

The Wicked

Becca Futrell

Content Warnings: Rape, Suicide, References to Molestation, Homophobic Slurs. I apologize for any that I’m missing; The Wicked is full of possible triggers.

Before I dived into The Wicked by James Newman, I had an inkling that this read was gonna be fucked up; which is exactly why this is the book I requested for the Apex Publication’s Back Catalog Book Tour! & lemme tell ya, The Wicked checks all of the boxes when it comes to fucked up horror. I lost count on all of the times I caught myself reacting out loud with an ew, or jumping back in disgust.

If a horror story can elicit such reaction, then y’all, it’s doing its damn job.

Of course, I’m not saying that horror has to be absolutely disgusting, but for this particular read, I got what I expected & even more so. Plus, the villainous creature of The Wicked is so terrifying & so easy to envision. If I don’t have nightmares for the next week, I’d be surprised. Newman did so well at detailing the horror without over-detailing, that he made the entire town of Morganville come to life; all without dragging the story down with useless descriptions. I salute you, James Newman.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t born in the ’80s. & yes, I’m extremely jealous of anyone who ran to their local drugstore during that decade to pick up ridiculous horror paperbacks for a hella low-price. After finishing up The Wicked, I rushed to eBay to see if I could find an awesome-priced ’80s horror lot filled with goodies. Spoiler alert: I didn’t succeed. 🙁 🙁

Even though I wasn’t born in the ’80’s, The Wicked gifted me with a lot of secondhand nostalgic vibes. I definitely got the feel of it being like the paperbacks that I’ve once taken from my father & the few that I’ve managed to grab from a used book shop. The cover is creepy, but aesthetically-pleasing & there’s even advertisements at the end of the book! I can definitely see how The Wicked pays homage to the 80’s horror-genre.

I didn’t think that I’d find myself attached to David & his family, but alas, once the literary credits rolled, I discovered how much I truly cared. Even before moving to Morganville, this family goes through Hell & it only gets worse once arriving to this seemingly cursed town. Shit hits the fan so many times, it’s hard not to start cheering for David & his family’s survival. The entire family was so well-written, and developed. I’m also partial to their neighbor, George; a character who helped David multiple times.

The body count is high in this one. Moloch, our demon antagonist, is a very sick & twisted villain. All death scenes are very creative & highly disturbing. This is where a lot of the jumping back in disgust comes in.

I really enjoyed my introduction to James Newman, and am so excited to check out some of his other work!

The Wicked

Reviews