Moonflow is a book which revels in all that is weird and all that is strange, and in many ways, although it is true to many horror tropes like the ‘bury your gays’ trope it is also a celebration of everything different and everything queer.
Moonflow is the book to read this October; weird and gross and queer. What more could you really want?
Bitter Karella’s debut novel, published on the 2 September 2025, is about a cult of women who are politically lesbian and who worship the mushroom goddess, or the green lady. If that doesn’t interest you, I say read it anyway and maybe the complex gendered relationships and how they relate to real world discourse may.
Of course, as a horror there are a lot of content warnings for the book such as sexual abuse, transphobia, extreme violence etc. and so it is definitely a case of reading at your own risk. Although there has been much debate around the effectiveness of content warnings, Karella has included a content warning at the beginning themself, which is becoming increasingly commonplace in the horror genre.
Sarah is a trans woman who loves her cat, Herman, which remains her guiding star for much of the book. She is in a bad place after Jade broke up with her, and so goes to her friend Madeleine for money. Madeleine sends her on a quest to get the King’s Breakfast from the Pamogo Forest, a constantly winding forest where many have gotten lost, gone mad and died. There are so many stories about the strangeness of the Pamogo Forest, and who else to tell Sarah all about them and scare her just that bit more than well-meaning ally Andy?
Well, Andy might know a lot about the Forest but even he couldn’t expect that an all female commune/cult would be living deep in the Pamogo, having claimed the King’s Breakfast for themselves (and Mother Moonflow’s visions)
Moonflow is a book which revels in all that is weird and all that is strange, and in many ways, although it is true to many horror tropes like the ‘bury your gays’ trope it is also a celebration of everything different and everything queer.
More than that, though, it is a celebration of rich characters with real emotional depth. This is never more clear than with Sarah, our protagonist, who is Insecure, Judgemental and ultimately well meaning. She is a character who feels real despite the absurdity of the situation she has found herself in.
What I found so great about Karella’s character writing was the focus on humanity. Even the leader of the cult, Mother Moonflow was allowed to be likeable and relatable in her own ridiculous way, not simply being relegated to the evil of the novel.
I found that the realism of these characters made the novel all that more terrifying as in Moonflow no victim is just a victim and no monster is just a monster, but instead they are all wrapped together, like the twisting roots of the Pamogo Forest.
This is a book for lovers of the strange in all its glory; at times grotesque and at others heartfelt. In this debut novel, Karella dares you to be uncomfortable and then bask in your discomfort. And isn't that the foundation of all good horror? So, if you read any Horror book this Halloween season, let it be Moonflow.
