So well put together with a strong voice.
This writer knows how to make you feel inner turmoil.
Be warned, this one gets deep, and will mess with your head, a lot.
Very enjoyable

I had read Fracassi's short fiction, but this was the first novel of his that I picked up. I enjoyed it and felt it would make a great film!

I gave this book 3.5 stars
First of all, omg wtf did I just read? I loved it so darn much. As a Stephen King fan girl, I was surprised by the amount of King references that's sprinkled through out. This book is a gift that kept giving. Good lord I was exhausted by the end of it. I'm really glad I don't own a work desk. I'm so glad I picked this up for the 1st week of October, it's put me well in the mood for Halloween 🎃 Overall, a very fun and entertaining read for all horror lovers.
Thank you Netgalley!

The subject of what it takes to make good art, what kind of Faustian deals are made with powers both mortal and immortal to become a great artist, and what frustrations and horrors lie along the way, has been one that has captured the public imagination probably since art began. This book tackles that subject by way of the cursed object trope and does so wonderfully. A compulsively readable occult thriller with twists you never see coming, multidimensional characters that you invest in, and an accomplished throwback to literary horror pulp novels (think King, Straub, and Simmons), I adored this one.

I discovered Philip Fracassi, with this book and I am so glad I did.

I loved the writing. This is a type of horror, that I can live with. I am not into gory and excessive description. Here I Mr Fracassi managed to make the balance between creepy, gory details and the very vivid characters. I find fascinating how Tyson's voice keeps slightly changing, but stays the same. The work he had on them is fantastic. Although, I felt kind of bad for Violet, Diana and Ben, I feel like they could have been used for more and more detailed.. Especially Diana and her family history, more of it.
But nevertheless, It was a great read, with lots of visuals to feast on and lots of feelings to attach yourself too.

The beginning was a bit slow and the ending was a bit rushed considering how well structured the rest of the book is. But it's old-school horror and that's my cup of tea. Nothing beats an unsettling and disturbing book.

3.5/5

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It's a slow burn, but that's not a bad thing. It's what I enjoy the most sometimes, and Gothic was no exception.

Famous author, Tyson Parks, has had writer’s block. He doesn’t want to write the genre that’s expected. When his wife buys him an antique desk, the writing just flows without him even thinking. He also begins to act different.

I really enjoyed the current timeline in this story. It reminded me of The Shining, with an author who is going crazy. I didn’t love the scenes that went back into the past as much and couldn’t wait to get back to the main scene. It got pretty creepy, pretty fast.

“It’s almost as if it has an aura about it, like a chest you know is filled with gold and jewels, or a piano-sized Pandora’s Box.”

Gothic comes out 2/3/23.

I predict Philip Fracassi’s latest novel Gothic will be labeled an instant classic. The novel accomplishes that rare feat of being a page-turner and a slow burn as Fracassi builds the characters, context and impending horror over the first two hundred pages. As a reader, you can see it coming, which works well in this book. What you don’t see coming is the climax and denouement of the last act that really puts that final nail in the coffin proving this is more than just a mystery thriller, earning its place alongside classic horror novels that swim in gothic themes. While the story of a writer being slowly driven mad by his craft is well-trodden ground, Fracassi has breathed new life into this familiar narrative while evoking mastery of such horror icons as Stephen King and John Carpenter. This is the first of Philip’s novels I’ve read and I’m excited to discover his other works.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

An author just wanting to reclaim his voice finds inspiration in an object that may not be an inanimate as it seems. What ensues is a spiral into madness the likes of the stories he writes.

The imagery in this book is phenomenal, and some of it is truly horrifying. I loved the flow of the story and how well it kept me guessing how it was all going to play out. Some of the scenes were so visceral, I could feel the physical pain of the characters. The characters as well were all very deep and well rounded.

My only minor criticism, would be in the storyline of the female owner of the desk, it didn’t seem to do her character justice; I can also see how it played well into the plot.

Overall, a great book that makes you feel the insanity as you’re reading and makes it a book not easily put down.

First time reading Philip Fracassi, and really enjoyed this book. It had great, well-developed, characters, and a great story and pacing. Will need to find more from Philip Fracassi. #oldschoolhorror #NetGalley

Philip Fracassi is quickly becoming one of my favorite new writers, and this book cements his place as THE up-and-coming novelist in the horror genre.

This book has the potential to be Fracassi's breakout and to hook a new generation of horror fans, just as Stephen King did with "Cujo", "Firestarter", or "The Dead Zone". Yes -- it's that good. It's that gory. It's that compelling, un-putdownable, and enjoyable in a can't look away, yet peering through hands covering your face type of way. If you are a horror fan, this book is great fun.

I won't re-hash the plot here (other reviews have certainly done a better job there than I could do), but the atmospherics and pacing were perfect, in my opinion. And I loved the Easter eggs (or tips of the hat) to so many horror landmarks scattered throughout the book.

Keep up the outstanding work, Philip, and congratulations on a superb modern classic horror novel!

I'm rating this one 3 1/2 stars. While I loved the story and character building, it started out a bit slow and the ending felt unfinished.

This book reminded me of why I initially fell in love with the horror genre. It'd been a long time since I read a book that took me back to my early days of reading anything and everything horror related that I could get my hands on. The excitement of discovering a new author who could make me both care about the characters and feel I was living the horror alongside them has become a rare occurrence. This book did that and more.

The story simmered at a slow burn for the first third of the book. The pace allowed me to learn the characters, grow to like them, and begin to feel a slowly building sense of dread and impending doom. I wanted to both look away, because If I didn't read the words then all would remain okay, and keep reading out of dark curiosity to see how the story would unfold. When the action moved into high gear around the halfway point, anxiety was my constant companion and there was no setting aside the book until the story was finished.

A writer who fears his best days are behind him, an evil relic that promises a 2nd chance but with string attached, family and friends who love him and yet are powerless to intervene as madness sets in. I've read a few similar plots over the years, but Fracassi brought something fresh and compelling to this story. He crafted a bleak tale of obsession and loss that's wholly his own. I'll be buying a physical copy for my shelf and reading more from this author.

OH MY GOSH. The narrative style of Philip Fracassi's "Gothic" gripped me from the first page. Between the stream-of-consciousness descent into madness and the elusive mystery based in myth and history and the gory details provided throughout this novel, this has immediately become one of my favorite reads of the year, and by far my favorite horror release. I've never read anything by Fracassi before, but I will now be poring over all his previous and upcoming releases.

What truly gripped me are the believable characters. I found myself on edge with worry and tension, always hoping for the best outcome for each because I became so fully invested in each one.

I tend not to take a position on trigger warnings in horror. I understand why they’re useful, and I also understand that horror is often built to trigger. That being said, I tried to get over a very triggering scene about halfway in and I could not. I’m not easily shaken but this scene got to me and I can not finish this particular story. That being said, I will keep an eye on Fracassi as the writing is of remarkable quality and, evidently, quite vivid.

Gothic is my introduction to Fracassi’s work, and it did not disappoint! It took me a couple chapters to get into this book, once I was in it I couldn’t stop reading. The constant sense of doom and gloom, and the author was able to creat isn’t easy and it’s done well in this book.

I do want to thank NetGalley & Cemetery Dance Publications

The writing style is a bit hard to get used too, but storywise good job! Unique enough to stand out and still familiar to horror fans

Fracassi takes the horror writer encounters real-life horrors trope to new and exciting places with Gothic. This is a book that needs length to lay out as Fracassi drags us along on a slow descent into madness. The characters, especially Tyson and Sarah, are given room to breathe and bare their souls to the reader, making this story all the more terrifying when things go wrong. It could be argued that a 2023 release that spans 400 pages needs to earn that runtime more than ever before, and Gothic more than lives up to that challenge. While psychological terror abounds, Fracassi is not afraid to get graphic with a later scene in the book being one of the most intense and gripping in recent memory. My only detraction, and it's on personal preference is when the book cuts away for a long stretch of time to take care of backstory. The flashback is intriguing and crucial, but invested as I was, I found myself wanting to return to the main characters. All in all, expect Gothic to be on a fair few best of 2023 lists. One of the most frightening stories of the year.

Though well written, I found that I didn't fall into the story as I had hoped. This definitely felt very much like a kind of 80s or 90s horror novel, straightforward in plot, character, and haunting. A struggling writer is gifted a cursed desk which makes him a success again, but at great cost and with evil designs of its own. However, beyond a kind of generic gothic backstory, we never quite understand the demon desk's goals or the true stakes. For me, none of the characters felt that compelling and the novel lacked the kind of hero those old school horror novels usually put at the center. The novel also seems to have a few plot build-ups that play themselves out too quickly and anticlimactically in ways that don't really fully make sense (especially the plot line with the iris-less rightful owner of the alter-cum-desk. The end isn't ambiguous as much as it's left open for a sequel or series, which I found disappointing b/c the world wasn't compelling enough for me to want to enter back into it.

It's a well written, old school cursed object/writer tale that I just wish would have taken more time and space to sprawl out to completion.