Oh Mary!

💀Mary by Nat Cassidy: A Horror Book That Will Haunt Your Every Waking Thought (And Probably Your Dreams, Too)💀

Listen up, horror fiends and unsuspecting bookworms who accidentally wandered into this review. Mary by Nat Cassidy is a novel that will crawl under your skin, set up a nice little Airbnb in your nightmares, and refuse to pay rent. It’s weird, it’s gross, it’s unsettling, and it’s an absolute banger of a book.

💀Who’s Mary, and Why Is She Like This?💀

Mary is a middle-aged woman just trying to vibe. She’s quiet, unassuming, and working a dead-end job where people forget she exists the second she leaves the room. Oh, and she’s also experiencing horrifying visions, hearing creepy voices, and randomly blacking out like a possessed Sims character. Y’know, just normal perimenopausal stuff!

When Mary gets fired and moves back to her hometown to take care of her ailing aunt, things go from “Oh no, I might be losing my mind” to “Oh no, I might be something much, much worse.” There’s a murder-y past lurking in the shadows, a mysterious connection to a serial killer, and a body count that keeps rising. And through it all, Mary’s just trying to figure out who she really is—without, you know, completely losing her marbles or stabbing someone (again?).

💀This Book is Body Horror for the Girlies (and the Girlies Are Screaming)💀

If you love horror that makes you squirm in your seat like you just sat on a wet public restroom toilet, Mary is for you. The body horror in this book is chef’s kiss—oozing, pulsating, and deeply, deeply uncomfortable in a way that will make you want to peel your own skin off. Cassidy leans all the way in on themes of aging, womanhood, and bodily betrayal. It’s like Kafka’s Metamorphosis, but instead of turning into a bug, you turn into a walking existential crisis covered in blood.

There’s something so deeply, existentially upsetting about this book that sticks with you long after you finish it. Part of it is the gore, sure. Part of it is the psychological horror of realizing that the things you hate most about yourself might not just be in your head. And part of it is the creeping realization that, oh god, getting older is actually terrifying.

If Carrie and Hereditary had a freaky little book baby, and that baby got possessed by The Yellow Wallpaper, you’d have Mary. It’s grotesque, it’s unhinged, and it’s one of the best horror novels in recent years.

Final Rating: 10/10 Existential Crises

4⭐️

If you like books that make you feel like you need to take a shower and rethink your entire existence, read Mary. If you don’t like that… well, read it anyway. It’s fun to suffer sometimes.