Premee Mohamed, Titan Books, (128p) ISBN: 9781803369464. Horror Fantasy, read 09/03/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

The Butcher of the Forest

I’d followed Premee on Bluesky for quite a while now but never had read any of her work.

Thought I would change that with the first physical book read of the holiday.

and what a cracker to start off with, a dark brooding fairy tale of hope and redemption.

A Tyrant, lost children in a dark wood, a reluctant hero, we have a lot of traditional form to this tale but it is so well written these forms work really well together, especially with the emotional depth Premee brings to Veris.

The forest has it’s rules and inhabitants, not all terrible but all different. I especially loved the creatures at the house and how the Lord of the Forest viewed them.

The Tyrant wants Veris to find his to children and will burn her village to the ground and slaughter her family if she doesn’t, he wants this as Veris has, to his knowledge, successfully rescued a child from the forest before. But that is a secret that eventually unfolds.

Dark trades and dark memories help Veris throughout, but will it be enough?

A dark twisty tale, as dark and twisty as the forest itself, really really enjoyed this novella and looking forward to reading more of Premee’s work.