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.
An Evil Premise by T. Marie Vandelly Published by Blackstone Publishing on August 12 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 362
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: An ambitious, entertaining and bloody tale about publishing, demons and the lengths one woman will go to for success.
“Hopefully, you’re stronger than I was. Not so easily carried away. Still, you might want to grip the book a little tighter at this point. For this is your horror story now. The reader is the main character in this nasty tale.
And for that, I am truly sorry.”
An Evil Premise is probably the most unusual demonic possession story I’ve ever read, so kudos to the author for coming up with such a wild idea! This is a twisty, reality-bending tale about a manuscript that just might be possessed by a demon and the carnage that follows when a success-hungry self-published writer gets a hold of it. I have heard good things about Vandelly’s Theme Music but haven’t read it, so I’m very glad I had the chance to read her latest.
Jewel has written a handful of books that never achieved any sort of success. Her sister Deidre, however, is a best-selling fantasy author, a fact that Jewel struggles with because she considers Deidre to be a mediocre writer at best. But everything changes when Deidre is hit by a car and winds up in a coma. Jewel makes the trip to check on her sister, who lives in their childhood home (which has been sold and turned into an apartment complex), but when she arrives at the hospital, she’s shocked at Deidre’s appearance. Her face is covered in a horrible rash that has nothing to do with her accident.
Back at Deidre’s apartment, Jewel picks up a call from her sister’s literary agent Emily, who is frantically trying to reach Deidre. The deadline for her next book is looming, and in a bizarre twist, the agent asks Jewel if she thinks she can help finish the book. Jewel finds Unspeakable Demons, the unfinished manuscript, on Deidre’s laptop, but when she reads it, strange things start to happen. The sound of someone typing echoes through the apartment at night, even though Jewel is alone, and when she checks the document the next day, the word count has gone up. Jewel is also seeing things, like shadowy figures sitting at Deidre’s desk, and odd visions in the bathroom mirror.
Even weirder, the story itself is odd, an unsettling parade of murders that revolve around a writer who finds an old manuscript in a bookstore and decides to take it home. As Jewel continues to read, it seems as if the manuscript is echoing what’s happening to Jewel in the present. People around her, including hospital orderlies and even other tenants in the apartment building, are dying in horrifying ways. Jewel desperately wants to finish the manuscript and elevate her writing career, but the manuscript has other plans…
An Evil Premise is a meta story-within-a-story that winds around itself in some mind-blowing ways. What starts as a typical narrative soon turns into something very different, as the reader is thrown into a weird fever dream of a tale. Is Jewel really the main character of An Evil Premise, or is she the main character in Unspeakable Demons? How does Jewel’s and Deidre’s mother tie into everything? Is the manuscript responsible for everything that’s happening? Vandelly eventually answers all these questions, although the road that leads to the answers is just as twisty as the rest of the story.
A host of side characters populate the tale, including several of the other residents at the house who find themselves literally part of the story. Every time Jewel picks up the manuscript to read more, she finds that her thoughts and actions and even her neighbors have been written into Unspeakable Demons. Gory and shocking deaths pepper the manuscript and later occur in real life, almost exactly the way they’re described in the book.
Deidre, although in a coma for most of the story, pops up in some of Jewel’s memories about her past growing up in an unstable family. I loved the dynamic between the two women, which is “off” just enough to unsettle the reader (did Deidre really do that thing to Jewel when they were kids?). Deidre is desperate to be a traditionally published writer, and her jealousy over Deidre’s success is palpable.
The story becomes a little convoluted in the last section, as the action and carnage ramp up, and by the time I got to the final twist, I have to admit my head was spinning. But I did like the ending a lot, and I thought it was perfect for this twisted tale.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy. Above quote was taken from an uncorrected proof and may differ in the final version of the book.
This sounds SO cool and creepy! You always find the coolest horror books
It was a great surprise!
Great review, Tammy! I really like the premise of this story. It reminds me of those books about cursed music but about a manuscript which makes it even more eerie to me since we’re such booknerds, you know? And that quote on top is really perfect, I think. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Stephanie! The book and publishing parts were fun, especially for book nerds:-)
This sounds brilliant! And your review is really captivating!! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks Susy!
This sounds amazing! So twisted! Thanks for sharing the review 🙂
It was so much fun:-)
Great review and you’ve sold me on this one. I’m pretty sure I own a copy of Theme Music on my Kindle. Also, see you are reading Breathe In, Bleed Out. Anxious to hear your thoughts. I just finished it last night. Oh and even though he is small, did you catch booksnake on the cover????
I did see book snake! and I’ve also read that one snake part, lol.
This sounds a little crazy and a lot of fun. I love an unexpected and twisty read with a satisfying end. 😀
The author definitely kept me guessing:-)
This sounds wild! And I love me some metafiction. Putting it on my list.
It was wild!
I hadn’t heard of this but you’ve caught my attention with this review. This sounds so good.
Lynn 😀
I think you’d enjoy it!
Chilling! I’m not sure if I’ll read it. Might lose sleep. Lol!
It had some very creepy vibes for sure!
Oooh, this sounds fascinating!
It was such a unique story:-)
That sounds really intriguing!
I really like that idea of a story-within-a-story, and the blending between the two. And of course, a potentially possessed manuscript is another great addition. Sounds like a fun one, for sure.
Great review Tammy! But gory deaths is not for me as you know LOL
This sounds really interesting. It could potentially be too strange for me but at the same time it sounds like the sort of book that really gets beneath your skin and makes you question everything which is very intriguing. The premise sounds very original too which is great.
Love the cover. Sounds good except for maybe the issue you had towards the end. Great review!