Philip Fracassi

“A historical horror novel where three brothers go AWOL during one of the most violent battles of the Civil War, but find something much worse waiting in the woods."

"Sarafina" is the second Phillip Fracassi book I've read. The first time I heard of Philip Fracassi was September 25, 2025, when I heard his interview on the Talking Scared Podcast. Soon after, I read "The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre." I loved it!

"Sarafina" reads like a dark version of a Grimm's fairy tale. show more Everything about this book is perfection, starting with the intriguing cover art by Joel Amat Guell, and the introduction by Nick Cutter. Told from the perspective of the youngest brother Ethan, the historical voice is deeply immersive. It is clear that the author did a lot of research, including how people of that time period spoke and wrote. The book is exceptionally well-written, yet easy to read. The characters are multidimensional. The descriptions of Civil War brutality are the best I've ever read. The violence and body horror is visceral. The images in this book are going to stay with me for a long time. The "reveal" of Sarafina's true nature was not what I was expecting, in a good way. The book was well-paced, and had lots of interesting twists and turns. I loved the ending. "Sarafina" is one of my favorite horror book of 2026!

Thanks to CLASH Books and NetGalley for the complimentary eARC! All opinions are my own. show less

We meet Peter, a 16-year-old boy traumatized by his past following the unexpected death of both his parents. He now finds himself the eldest boy at a grueling orphanage run by the parish priests. Needless to say, he's forced to grow up quickly when evil makes its presence known, throwing the entire place into murderous chaos. One thing I particularly liked about this story is how easy it was to read, and how smoothly the plot flowed and came together. I didn't have to wait long before it show more became spine chilling. There is a fair amount of gore and violence but it's not really over the top and it won't leave those readers that are lesser inclined to these elements, horrified, shuddering and shivering in a corner. I really liked the characters...all with their own back stories and darkness to be explored. I believe my favorite was Johnson. He had an incredibly dark past and isn’t unaccustomed to being aggressive and abusive to the children, and yet there is an internal battle with shades of hope making him more than a stereotypical antagonist. My one complaint with this book is that it was too short. I really would have liked to have had more time delving into the character backgrounds. Johnson being a good example. His character was what I would call "gray"... not by any means good but yet not ready to be seen as entirely bad or even evil. If I had to describe this book, I would have to say that The Exorcist and The Lord of the Flies had a baby and named the little devil The Boys in the Valley. If you’re looking for a book that will keep you up at night and keep you turning the pages, you might try this one. show less

This is by far one of the best horror novels I've read in quite a long time. I have no words but Fracassi’s writing is absolutely brilliant. Boys in the Valley was unnerving, chaotic, spine-chilling, and so well written. I felt fully immersed in this story while reading and genuinely felt the horror and terror that the characters endured. The writing was descriptive and had me experiencing a slew of emotions while reading.
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Set in the early 1900s you follow a group who reside at St. show more Vincent’s orphanage for boys. A winter storm is coming and has blew in a lot more than expected. After the arrival of unexpected guests all hell breaks loose, literally. Half of the boys are acting strange, unnerving, and unusual — the other half are frightened, confused, and trying to survive. This story will have you sitting at the edge of your seat while taking you on a wild ride of emotions. It had me feeling scared, sad, mad, and frankly unnerved.
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Demonic possession, creepy children, dark old-school religion, coming of age — this is one of my favorite reads of the year. A tale of good vs evil, I was completely captivated by this story. This was my first read by Fracassi and definitely will not be my last. show less

I hate writing reviews like this. HATE it.

Philip Fracassi is one of the nicest guys in the business, and I've been following—and devouring—his stuff for years now. His short story collections, BEHOLD THE VOID, and BENEATH A PALE SKY have some of the finest short horror fiction I have ever read. His novels, A CHILD ALONE WITH STRANGERS, SARAFINA, and especially BOYS IN THE VALLEY are just brilliant, nuanced works that not only tell a horrifying story, but also dig deep into the human show more condition.

Fracassi has been one of my absolute favourite horror authors, and I eagerly anticipated his next release.

But with this novel? I don't know, all the way through it, I kept hearing this imagined conversation in my head between the author and his agent, and he's being told he has to write something commercial. "Just put your brain aside, and write something that's gonna sell."

Because that's what this is. This is a packaged, mass-market, leave your brain at the door, silly horror-book-that's-not-horror for the masses.

Fracassi's brilliance does occasionally burst through. There's the odd gorgeous line that I read and the sun came out briefly, before sinking back in the muck.

Overall, for me, the story dragged on far too long, the plot holes piled up, the killer became blatantly obvious, the characters that had any life in them were brought in for a scene, then fell off, forgotten, until they were needed again, hundreds of pages later.

The word "impossibly" was used at least twice, if not three times. Thankfully, no one saw something and put it down to "a trick of the light"...why does EVERY horror novel have these two stupid ingredients in them?

I guess this is a horror novel, but it's really not. It's a murder mystery. It's slasher fiction, and that's part of the problem...I don't like slasher stories, because they all inevitably fall into a steaming pile of ridiculous. And this one was no different.

Because, this morning, as I listened to the last chunk, Rose's final confrontation with the painfully obvious killer, and all the stuff that happened, there was a point where I actually stopped walking, shook my head, and said, "This is stupid."

Because—and I hate that I'm saying this, but I have to—it was. It felt like the author kind of painted himself into a corner, had an almost 80-year-old protagonist, but needed a big bang of an ending, so he pulled the silliest deus ex machina out of his butt and threw it in there. Which shocked me, because Fracassi can WRITE. The man is capable of sheer, unbridled brilliance, and yet, here, he breaks one of the most sacred codes of writing.

The hero must actively discover, solve, or confront the central problem or conflict themselves. This is a key part of the narrative arc and the hero's journey, emphasizing character growth and resolution earned through the hero’s own efforts rather than a deus ex machina or outside force solving the problem.

That does not happen here.

So, the story ran long. The antagonist did what they did for no reason. And the hero didn't solve the central issue.

Utterly disappointing.

And it'll sell like hotcakes, and readers will sing the praises of this mass market, spoon-fed pablum crap they just swallowed. show less