A new era of horror genre has been born and with a new era brings new horror stories for a new generation. Award-winning author Brendan Deneen’s new horror novel, THE CHRYSALIS joins the ranks of this new era in September. The novel plays off of the fears of a new generation of millennials with a new set of existential woes and anxiety. THE CHRYSALIS is a truly modern horror tale that calls back to the classic body horror of Cronenberg’s “Shivers” and the dark side of suburban paradise in Lynch’s “Blue Velvet.” THE CHRYSALIS will go on sale from Tor September 4, 2018.
In the tradition of Lynch’s Blue Velvet and Cronenberg’s Shivers, THE CHRYSALIS exposes the underbelly of suburbia…and what really lurks in the basement of a three-bedroom Victorian on a cul-de-sac. “Adulting” has never been so hard.
Forced out of New York City by rising rents and gentrification, barely-employed millennials Tom and Jenny Decker—an artist and a personal trainer—luck into an amazingly affordable, completely furnished house in the New Jersey suburbs. Jenny doesn’t know there’s something hidden in the basement. Tom does. It soon has him in thrall.
The Deckers’ lives are suddenly on an upswing: Tom gets a big-bucks corporate job; Jenny, newly pregnant, opens a small gym catering to moms-to-be. Despite their worries about becoming boring suburbanites, they make friends and begin to acclimate to their new life.
Tom regularly visits the basement, where his secret scrambles his senses and heightens his emotions, leaving him feeling euphoric and invincible. As his obsession with the thing in the basement grows, Jenny realizes that to save her family, she must expose everything. Before it destroys them all.
If you became a fan of “10 Cloverfield Lane”, then THE CHRYSALIS will become a recognizable horror story, retold for a new generation. A classic monster-in-the-basement story as well as an exploration of the fear and anxiety that comes with becoming a parent, marriage, and “growing up.” Because no one ever really wants to grow up…but sometimes “adulting” is necessary to survive.
Brendan Deneen is the award-winning author of “The Ninth Circle”, as well as the graphic novels “Scatterbrain”, “Flash Gordon: The Mercy Wars”, and “The Island of Misfit Toys.” He’s also the author of the bestselling picture book “Night Night, Groot.” Deneen lives in New Jersey with his wife and daughters.
“THE CHRYSALIS is a creepy, powerful, wonderfully twisted tale that will chill your blood and keep you turning pages faster and faster.”- Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author
“Horror fans will love this dark, twisted, frightening story. If you loved The Amityville Horror or Heart-Shaped Box, you’ll love THE CHRYSALIS. Just keep the lights on while you read.”-Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Part Cronenbergian nightmare, part Lynchian mindbender. A brilliant and terrifying fever dream of a tale.”- Jay Bonansinga, New York Times bestselling author