I acquired a evaluate copy from the writer. This doesn’t have an effect on the contents of my evaluate and all opinions are my very own.

A Field Filled with Darkness by Simone St. James

Mogsy’s Ranking (Total): 4.5 of 5 stars

Style: Thriller, Horror

Sequence: Stand Alone

Writer: Penguin Audio (January 20, 2026)

Size: 10 hrs and 17 minutes

Creator Info: Web site

Narrators: Anna Caputo, Saskia Maarleveld, Ari Fliakos

Simone St. James is a type of authors whose work I’ll fortunately learn while not having to know a lot moving into as a result of I’m simply so assured that she’ll ship. Which is why I went into A Field Filled with Darkness nearly utterly blind, preferring to be shocked. As such, it’s secure to say I had excessive expectations, however this ebook nonetheless managed to blow me away. From the beginning, the very second I noticed we’d be heading again to Fell, New York, I simply knew this was going to be one thing particular.

Should you’ve learn the creator’s The Solar Down Motel, the setting goes to really feel acquainted. Whereas it’s not a perquisite, returning readers will catch the refined references and perceive the layers of uneasiness that appear to permeate the small city. A Field Filled with Darkness is a brand new story, centering on Violet, Vail, and Dodie Esmie, three siblings who reunite at their childhood house in Fell after being summoned by what they consider is the specter of their youthful brother Ben, who disappeared years in the past when he was solely six years outdated. “Come house,” was what the message had stated. The siblings had by no means been capable of deny their beloved Ben something when he was nonetheless with them, and so they can’t now both.

Violet, the oldest, has at all times seen ghosts, and he or she has little question within the significance of these two easy phrases. Vail, the center youngster, has been making a dwelling as a UFO investigator, drawn to the otherworldly and unexplained in an effort to fill the void left by Ben’s mysterious disappearance. After which there’s Dodie, a hand and hair mannequin whose unresolved grief from dropping her little brother has left her unable to kind wholesome emotional relationships. In fact, every little thing modifications now that it seems Ben is again, even when it’s not in the way in which they’d hoped. However is the message actually from him? Or would possibly or not it’s one thing way more sinister?

That hook alone is tough to withstand, containing echoes of a haunted home story but in addition with sturdy emphasis on household relationships and shared trauma. Every sibling carries the lack of Ben in a different way, with the majority of the primary half delving into how the boy’s disappearance has outlined their lives in separate methods. To be clear, when you’re on the lookout for a horror novel that dives straight into the thrills and chills, this isn’t that form of ebook. It’s slower, extra deliberate, and really a lot character pushed. That’s what finally provides this story its weight.

It’s additionally why the a number of views work so properly right here. Alternating POVs between the siblings reinforces the tensions embedded of their shared historical past, and St. James provides every of them a definite voice, their particular person personalities coming by loud and clear within the audiobook. Dodie’s narration is flippant and performative, projecting a confidence that masks her fragility. Vail carries a heavy burden of guilt, satisfied that if he had acted in a different way, the end result may need modified. After which there’s Violet, whose means to see ghosts has formed her life in probably the most heartbreaking methods, forcing her to cover part of herself, resulting in a breakdown, a divorce, and a strained relationship together with her daughter. At instances, we expertise the identical reminiscence or occasion in barely alternative ways, relying on how it’s remembered.

The horror itself is traditional St. James. This can be a paranormal story, however doesn’t play out like a standard haunting, even when it does comprise a number of acquainted parts. The thriller surrounding Ben unfolds in ways in which really feel surprising, and I appreciated that it avoids probably the most predictable concepts. The fashion right here is refined, eerie, and atmosphere-heavy, good for creating a way of dread by accumulation, the place each odd sighting or fragment of native lore provides to the city’s mystique. Fell turns into very similar to Stephen King’s Derry or Hawkins in Stranger Issues, a spot that feels complicit within the horror.

Ultimately, A Field Filled with Darkness is unquestionably one among Simone St. James’ stronger novels, and it made for a fully good hear in audio format. It’s a mystical horror that hits all the precise notes, with household drama and a payoff that’s completely value it. If we get extra books set in Fell, I’m all for it. Already trying ahead to what she writes subsequent.