Some books creep under your skin slowly, and others grab you by the shoulders and refuse to let go. The Bog Wife somehow manages to do both.

Set in the isolated boglands of West Virginia, this curiously captivating story follows five siblings—Eda, Charlie, Wenna, Nora, and Percy—who exist in a world bounded by property lines. Their universe is claustrophobic in the most literal sense: no neighbors, no friends beyond each other, and even their sibling bonds feel more born of necessity than genuine affection.

The novel hints at becoming a full-blown horror story, but it stays firmly in the realm of unsettling. I kept waiting for the shift of tone, but it maintains a gothic atmosphere that’s consistently spooky and unsettling—like walking through a graveyard at dusk when shadows start playing tricks on your eyes. The book hints at becoming something darker, something that might make you sleep with the lights on, but it chooses restraint over shock, atmosphere over gore.

The family’s mythology is both fascinating and deeply disturbing. These siblings are raised on stories of their “ancient and noble” Scottish Highland ancestry, believing themselves to be caretakers bound to the bog through generations of patriarchal tradition. The concept of the “bog wife”—a ritualistic exchange where the dead patriarch is buried to summon a wife for the heir—is the kind of world-building that makes your skin crawl in the best possible way.

But when the bog fails to produce a wife, it’s not just a supernatural hiccup—it’s a sign that everything these siblings have been taught to believe is crumbling around them.

I can honestly say I’ve never encountered characters quite like these five siblings. They’re simultaneously victims and perpetrators of their isolated existence, shaped by traditions that feel both ancient and utterly alien. The author has created people who feel real despite living in circumstances that are anything but ordinary.

The descriptions throughout this novel are mesmerizing. The bog itself becomes a character—mysterious, demanding, and ultimately unknowable. The world-building is so thorough and atmospheric that you can practically feel the dampness seeping into your bones as you read.

The Bog Wife is the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve turned the final page. It’s a story about family, tradition, and what happens when the foundations of your world begin to shift beneath your feet. If you’re drawn to gothic fiction that prioritizes atmosphere over action, and family dramas with a supernatural twist, this one belongs on your reading list.

Just maybe don’t read it alone in a house that creaks at night.