NESTLINGS by Nat Cassidy – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy
Published by Tor Nightfire on October 31 2023
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Disturbing and creepy, Nestlings is the perfect horror story to curl up with this Halloween.

“What does it mean to be a mother?

This, she realized. Doing what was best even though it killed you.”

Nestlings arrives just in time for Halloween, and I couldn’t have picked a better book to end October with. Nat Cassidy takes inspiration from several familiar horror stories and combines them into a thoroughly unique, imaginative and creepy tale. And when I say “creepy,” I mean it. Cassidy’s imagery is terrifying at times, and he’s tapped into a couple of my personal fears (weird creatures running up and down walls and on the ceiling will never fail to scare me to death! Probably a hangover from the Buffy episode “Listening to Fear”.) Nestlings has an old school horror vibe that I loved—think vintage Stephen King—but it’s set in the present. 

Ana and Reid Greene have just won the housing lottery. After a long wait, they’ve finally been accepted to the swanky Deptford Apartments, a historical building with views of Manhattan’s Central Park. They move into their 18th floor apartment with their one-year-old daughter Charlie, excited to be leaving Brooklyn (and a horrible landlord) behind. Ana feels some stress being up so high, because she’s been in a wheelchair for the past eleven months, but she’s eager to make a fresh start with her family after a very tough year.

Right away, however, Ana senses something “off” about the Deptford. Charlie seems upset and won’t stop crying. Ana looks out the window one day and notices the building’s famous gargoyles—which were there the day before—are gone. When Reid orders take-out, the delivery people refuse to enter the building. One day, Ana hears crying coming from the apartment next door, and she discovers something very unsettling. And what’s up with the creepy concierge? Ana knows they don’t belong here, but how to convince Reid?

Reid, on the other hand, is fascinated by the history of the Deptford, although as far as he can tell, only one book about it has been published. When he wanders into a hidden corridor off the lobby and meets a charismatic older woman named Camilla Varné, he’s drawn into a secret world of glamor. But when Charlie attacks and bites another child at her birthday party, Ana and Reid know something has to be done. Something terrible is wrong with their daughter, and as a mother, Ana will do anything to protect her.

Cassidy’s Deptford reminded me of the Bramford from Rosemary’s Baby, and he did a great job of creating a creepy atmosphere right from the first page. From the outside, tourists stop and gawk at the building and the stone gargoyles that adorn the rooftops. But inside, things get weird. The highly sought after apartments are oddly quiet; hallways disappear into the dark, only to become dead ends; in one disturbing scene, Ana takes a stroll in the building’s courtyard and finds herself lost and trapped. Yes, there is something wrong with the Deptford, and all these little “wrong” things slowly add up to something horrific. The author lives in New York City, and he’s done a great job of making the descriptions and ambiance of the city feel authentic.

Ana and Reid are the perfect married couple—at first. They have been through a lot. Ana went through IVF in order to get pregnant, which was a struggle in itself. And then during labor, her legs became paralyzed after a weird reaction to the epidural she was given. And so she left the hospital in a wheelchair, not knowing if the paralysis was temporary or not. Reid was suddenly faced with not only a newborn to care for, but a wife who required constant care. On top of all this, they lived in a Brooklyn apartment that came with an asshole of an apartment manger named Frank. Moving into the Deptford meant they could leave Frank behind—that is until Frank shows up at their new place to terrorize them. The Deptford should have been a fresh start for the family, but this is horror, so nope. Moving only made everything worse.

Ana was my favorite character. Not only has she gritted her teeth and adapted to life in a wheelchair, but she’s embraced her new lifestyle, which I thought was a nice way to approach her disability. And if you think running from creepy monster-like creatures is scary, try running from them in a wheelchair when you’re on the top floor of an apartment building. There is one nail-biting scene where Ana has to crawl down eighteen flights of steps, and it was one of my favorite scenes in the book. Ana has also dealt with postpartum depression (on top of everything else!), and she still has flashes of wishing she didn’t have a baby. It was heartbreaking to read about, and Cassidy puts a horrific spin on it by making it true: there is something wrong with Charlie, so maybe her feelings are justified.

Reid’s character is the perfect foil for Ana. He sort of reminded me of Jack Torrance in The Shining. Not the crazy, killer Jack Torrance, but the one who is seduced by the Overlook Hotel. Reid is obsessed with the Deptford, especially a tragic event that happened on the roof called the Plummet of 1919, and you can see he’s slowly pulling away from the rest of his family, especially when he meets Camilla.

The final climax, when the reader finally learns the truth about the Deptford, is very weird and to be honest didn’t completely make sense. But it was suitably gross, and I thought it worked. What I loved, though, was the ending, which jumps ahead five years. That’s where the emotional punch hits hard, and I thought it was so well done.

Nat Cassidy includes a rather long Author’s Note at the end, explaining his personal reasons for writing the story as well as a list of influences. He mentions Rosemary’s Baby and Salem’s Lot in particular, but savvy readers will recognize other well known books and movies as well. It was the personal bits that interested me the most. I always appreciate when authors open up about their struggles, and some of the things Ana and Reid experience in the story echo the author’s experiences. I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s definitely worth reading.

I had a blast reading Nestlings, and I can’t wait to see what Nat Cassidy does next.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.