Guys. The Monstrumologist was a YA book by Rick Yancey.

I can’t believe they let people under 14 read this book. As a 30 year old, this book scared the shit out of me, and I’m no stranger to horror books.

The story follows Will Henry, the orphaned assistant of Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, who specializes in the study of monsters. Warthrop also employed Will’s father, James. It is revealed that Will’s father had some kind of parasite in him that Will also has, that Warthrop helped him manage. The novel takes place in the 1880s in an alternate version of New England – clearly there are monsters in this America. Think Supernatural but without the humor and brotherly bond to make you feel better about things.

Will and Warthrop eventually end up hunting a pack of Anthropophagi. Anthropophagi are cannibal monsters (as it turns out they were imported by Warthrop’s father, also a Monstrumologist) decades previously. In order to stop the Anthropophagi, Warthrop enlists the help of Jack Kearns, who is fantastic at killing things. As the story goes on, it becomes clear that Kearns is a sociopath but is very good at his job, and this is typically why he is tolerated by Warthrop, although the two men are similar in certain ways.

I got through this story as an audiobook, and maybe that was part of the reason the effect was so chilling. Everything about this story freaked me out – the claustrophobic atmosphere of Warthrop and Will’s house and lives, the choice of monster, the fate of the sea captain Warthrop and Will visit, the location of the Anthropophagi den, Kearns identity…the whole thing combined into one of the most terrifying books I ever read.

It freaked me out so much that I’ve yet to finish the series, and I’m usually committed to a series if I liked the first book. I did like it. It did it’s job, and scared the shit out of me. I read the general synopsis of the series and I just know the whole thing is going to get worse. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it. It just bothered me too much.

If I’d read this at a kid I’d have had nightmares for months. I had a couple of nightmares as a 30 year old.

If you want to read a real horror book, this is it. It doesn’t matter that it’s YA. I don’t know if other people found it as scary as I did, but to me, this book was scary AF.

Tagged: authors: rick yancey, books: the monstrumologist, genre: horror/terror, genre: supernatural, genre: suspense/thriller, genre: YA