Withered

Wilmot debuts with a gently creepy haunted house tale. When teenage Ellis moves with their mom, Robyn, back to Robyn’s tiny hometown, Black Stone, following the death of Ellis’s father, their only focus is recovering from their eating disorder. However, their new house—which the townsfolk whisper is “haunted” while the proprietors of the local occult store claim it is instead “hunted” by a supernatural force—soon unsettles Ellis: a strange heat emanates from behind its walls, and faint voices can be heard at odd hours. Together with their new crush, Quinn, Ellis investigates the morbid history of the house and the town. Though the scares are relatively minimal, the duo’s efforts to peel back layers of town history make for a gripping mystery. Ellis’s recovery from their eating disorder cunningly intertwines with the ghost story as Wilmot interrogates the human desire for control over one’s body, natural forces, and even life and death. Readers looking for true frights may be disappointed, but others will be pleased they gave this a chance. Agent: Kelvin Kong, K2 Literary. (Apr.)