Darker Days

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When the darker days fall, the debt must be paid, . . . get ready for the chilling new folk horror from the Hugo Award-winning, bestselling author of HEX - from the publisher of The Exorcist and perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King.

‘One of the most vital and exciting voices in modern horror.’ Mike Flanagan, award-winning director of ‘Doctor Sleep’ and ‘The Haunting of Hill House’

'No one builds agonizing tension like Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Darker Days is his best yet.' Catriona Ward, bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street

In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, there is a very special street.
Bird Street. The residents of Bird Street are all successful, wealthy, healthy and happy. And their children are all well-mannered and smart and high achievers.

At least they are for eleven months of the year.

In November, however, the ‘Darker Days’ begin. For November’s the month when things take a turn for the worse: accidents, bad luck, familial conflict and illness take hold. And it is in November that a stranger comes to Bird Street to collect the debt owed by the residents.

Because, you see, there is a price that must be paid for all the happiness and good fortune they enjoy for the other eleven months of year. And that price is one human life. Every November. Without fail.

And so it has been for over a hundred years. To ease their guilt, the residents of Bird Street seek out individuals – usually the elderly or the terminally ill – who wish to die with dignity and are content to be helped on their way.

But this year, things don’t go to plan. This year events take a terrifying turn . . .

Propulsive and haunting, Darker Days is a devastating modern take on the Faustian pact, and begs the question: how far would you go for your own happiness?

Praise for Darker Days and Thomas Olde Heuvelt

‘Totally, brilliantly original’ Stephen King, bestselling author of It and Carrie

‘Possibly the most frightening prologue ever written’ Guardian

'This is Olde Heuvelt at the height of his powers.' Alma Katsu, award-winning author of The Hunger

‘A daring and uncompromising jewel of horror fiction.’ Eric LaRocca, award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

‘Creepy, gripping, and original.’ George R. R. Martin, bestselling author of Game of Thrones

‘Takes the horror/thriller genre to a whole new level.' Sarah Lotz, award-winning author of The White Road

No one builds agonizing tension like Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Darker Days is his best yet - a terrible sacrificial offering that doesn’t reveal its shocking nature until the very last page.
CATRIONA WARD, author of The Last House on Needless Street

‘Darker Days begins on an uncomfortably grim and mysterious note. Olde Heuvelt increases the dread and tension over the course of this labyrinthine and distressing novel until the pressure is almost unbearable. There’s a distinctly unpleasant current of inevitability coursing beneath every page of this genuinely distressing work—the inevitability of ritual, retribution, sacrifice, and death. This is a daring and uncompromising jewel of horror fiction. Reminiscent of the flawless work of Stephen King, Michael McDowell, and Robert R. McCammon, but still completely its own singular and disturbing vision.’
ERIC LaROCCA, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

Darker Days is a classic horror story, but its deal-with-the-devil couldn’t be more timely. With a beautifully-rendered, struggling family and a murderous pact at its core, the suspense is killer, and the central question – what are you willing to do in exchange for your own comfort and happiness – is chilling and deeply disturbing. This one will haunt me.
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN, author of Road of Bones and The Night Birds

About Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Thomas Olde Heuvelt is an international bestselling author from The Netherlands. His breakthrough novel Hex was published in over twenty-five countries and hailed as 'totally, brilliantly original' by Stephen King and as 'phenomenal, phenomenal' by film director Mike Flanagan. His follow-up novels Echo and Oracle have since seen global publication, the former boasts, according to the Guardian, 'possibly the most frightening prologue ever written', while the latter was judged by The New York Times to be his 'sharpest, most compelling work to date'.

Olde Heuvelt, whose last name in Dutch dialect means 'Old Hill', was the first translated author to win a Hugo Award (for his short fiction, in 2015). He lives in the south of France with his partner and pet lizard.

Details

Imprint: Transworld Digital
Published: 23/10/2025
ISBN: 9781529962017
Length: 416 pages
Price: £10.99

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Darker Days

Format:

Pre-order:

**No one builds agonizing tension like Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Darker Days is his best yet - a terrible sacrificial offering that doesn’t reveal its shocking nature until the very last page.**

Thomas Olde Heuvelt is back with another wicked, fascinating, chilling tale, expertly balancing the supernatural with the horrors inherent in human nature. Darker Days reinforces that Olde Heuvelt is one of the most vital and exciting voices in modern horror.

What price would you pay for a life of privilege? Darker Days is a new take on the Faustian bargain completely in keeping with our new age of greed and entitlement, with a twist at the end you won't see coming. This is Olde Heuvelt at the height of his powers.

Darker Days is a remarkable and disturbing morality tale about the true cost of lucky lives. It’s a tremendous achievement by Thomas Olde Heuvelt as well as a frightening gift for readers.

On the surface Darker Days is a deliciously grim and twisted fable about a bargain with a Devil. But it is also an unflinching examination of human nature and how easy it can be to look away from the suffering of others, which is a very timely and poignant reminder in this particular moment in time.

Darker Days is a novel of reckoning, calculating the balance between what you want and what it will cost, and a meditation on unthinkable bargains. An ingeniously constructed chronicle of fear from a master storyteller.

About Thomas Olde Heuvelt

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