What Kind of Mother

A New York Times Book Review Best Horror Book of 2023
A September 2023 Indie Next List Pick
One of Esquire’s Best Horror Books of 2023 
One of USA Today‘s Best Books To Read This Spooky Season (2023)
One of Barnes & Noble’s Best Horror Books of 2023 
A Den of Geek Best Book of 2023
One of Book Riot’s Best Horror Books Of 2023
One of CrimeReads’ Best Horror Books of 2023

“Packed with profoundly unsettling scenes that’ll slither under your skin and stay there long after you turn the last page.”—Gabino Iglesias, New York Times Book Review

“Chapman (Ghost Eaters) is becoming a not-to-miss horror novelist.”—Library Journal

“Perfectly paced.”—Booklist

“A Southern Gothic masquerading as a crime thriller…this is intelligent literary horror great for chilly nights in.”—Den of Geek

“A story that’s as harrowing as it is sad and strange, What Kind of Mother is a superb addition to McLeod’s catalog and proof that he is quickly becoming one of the strongest voices in contemporary horror fiction.”—Locus Magazine

“An ink-black story about grief, courage, and what we’ll do for those we love.”—Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial
 
“A good old-fashioned salty summer scare about the beautiful, terrifying power of belief.”—Caroline Kepnes, New York Times best-selling author of the You series
 
“What Kind of Mother mixes Southern Gothic, a missing child story, and body horror into an entertaining brew sure to inform your nightmares.”—Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts
 
“A tremendous, heartbreaking work of dark fiction, where the horror seeps in quietly until you’re left drowning. You won’t forget about this tale anytime soon. A masterpiece.”—Ronald Malfi, best-selling author of Come with Me
 
“I’m not sure how Clay McLeod Chapman manages to be both tremendously tender and brilliantly hideous in What Kind of Mother, but he does—in this strange, poetic, and gut-wrenching portrait of parenthood.”—Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse
 
“Another stunner . . . one of horror’s modern masters. Beautifully written, deftly plotted, and completely engrossing, What Kind of Mother will get under your skin and take your breath away and break your heart and chill you to the bone.”—Rachel Harrison, national best-selling author of Cackle and Such Sharp Teeth
 
“What Kind of Mother is a deeply unsettling, oddly sweet book about what love can become.”—Sarah Gailey, best-selling author of Just Like Home
  
“What Kind of Mother is a masterpiece—a beautiful, intimate work. Clay Chapman is the storyteller supreme, and I will follow him anywhere.”—Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind
 
“Equal parts terrifying and beautiful. Chapman crafts a folk tale that slides under your skin and burrows its way into your heart. Visceral. Surprising. Stunning. Not to be missed.”—Erin E. Adams, author of Jackal
 
“What Kind of Mother will make you pace the room, reconsider your own sanity, and question the stubborn instinct to nurture.”—Rachel Eve Moulton, author of The Insatiable Volt Sisters

Praise for Clay McLeod Chapman
“Chapman is a maestro at building grim suspense to the point of unimaginable consequences, proving genuine horror dwells in the world we live in today.”—Mystery and Suspense Magazine

“Chapman is the 21st century’s Richard Matheson. He’s that good.”—Richard Chizmar, New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Boogeyman