CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER by Nathan Ballingrud – 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.

Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
Series: Lunar Gothic Trilogy #1
Published by Tor Nightfire on August 27 2024
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 112
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

The nitty-gritty: A surreal take on the asylum trope, Crypt of the Moon Spider is an unsettling, shudder-worthy start to a new series.

This must be my “week of weird,” because I have a review for yet another very weird book. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. Crypt of the Moon Spider is a short novella dripping with gothic atmosphere and dread, and it’s the start of a series. How’s this for a concept: a man forcibly admits his wife to an insane asylum to cure her bouts of “melancholy,” which doesn’t sound that odd, but here’s the twist: the asylum is on the moon. And the story is set in an alternate 1923, where (obviously) moon travel is a common thing. Add in some disturbing body horror and spiders (!) and you have an unusual story unlike anything I’ve read before.

Veronica Brinkley arrives at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of Melancholy, hoping to be cured of her “black spells.” Her husband insists it’s the best thing for her, but when she meets an orderly named Charlie Duchamp, she’s not sure it is. Forced to stay in a small, cell-like room, Veronica is finally taken to Dr. Cull, the Home’s doctor, who explains that in order to cure her, he will have to remove the bad parts of her brain and replace them with something else. Veronica is horrified to discover he’s using spider silk from a creature called the Moon Spider to rewire his patients’ brains, and when she goes though her own surgical procedure, things get really weird. Who are the Alabaster Scholars, and what do they have to do with Dr. Cull’s experiments? Veronica is about to find out.

This is one of those stories where you don’t want to ask too many questions, or you might drive yourself crazy (and trust me, you do not want to end up at Barrowfield Home!) A lot of strange things happen in Crypt of the Moon Spider, and the sequence of events didn’t always make sense. The story has an interesting retro vibe with shades of Frankenstein and other classic horror stories, but the presence of a horrifying spider god on the moon puts this into sci-fi territory. I loved Ballingrud’s twist on the classic 1920s asylum trope, where (mostly) women are considered to be crazy so their husbands have a convenient place to legally lock them away. This time, Veronica starts as the victim but the tables turn when we learn what Dr. Cull’s procedure has done to her, and I thought it was brilliant.

The other character that Ballingrud’s story focuses on is Charlie Duchamp, or “Grub” as Veronica calls him. Through flashbacks, we learn about how he came to work for Dr. Cull and his job at the asylum, which involves keeping an eye on the Alabaster Scholars, who are trying to bring back the long dead Moon Spider they worship. Dr. Cull is equally frightening, as he goes about “treating” the patients at Barrowfield Home, using spider silk from the tunnels below in his diabolical experiments.

Squeamish readers should know going in that there are graphic scenes of brain surgery—and not the normal kind—that involve the previously mentioned spider silk, steel rods and more. And you know what comes with spider silk? Yep, spiders. (shudders)

The violent ending is rather abrupt, and unfortunately we have to wait another year for the sequel, but I’m here for it! Despite my confusion at times, Crypt of the Moon Spider dug its spidery legs into me, and I’m so curious to see what comes next.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.