A struggling actress, Jess, finds a runaway boy outside her apartment—and after a brutal clash with his father, they’re on the run from something far more monstrous.

When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy is a bloody, surreal descent into terror where no one is safe.

This isn’t your typical horror novel. Yes, it was creepy and gory, but it was so much more. What really got me was how much heart this book has. Underneath the fear is a story about identity, grief, and the emotional toll of facing your own darkness. It’s eerie and intimate all at once.

The protagonist’s journey is layered and emotional, haunted not just by literal ghosts but by the kind of trauma and buried truths that feel all too real. There’s a constant tension between memory and reality, fear and acceptance, and it’s in that uneasy space that the story really thrives.

The supernatural elements aren’t just scary—they’re symbolic, deeply tied to the protagonist’s internal struggles. The horror isn’t just external; it’s personal, psychological, and deeply human. That’s what makes it stick. The atmosphere is heavy and charged, the writing laced with dread that builds quietly until it suddenly becomes intense.

Cassidy drew me in and made me feel for the characters throughout. I love his writing style, and he has quickly become one of my favorite horror authors.

Thank you Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for an advanced copyin exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up.

This book is very hard to describe without spoilers, so I'll just cover the setup. Aspiring actress/current waitress Jess is having a bad night that gets much worse when she finds a scared little boy who's run away from his father. Things get extremely strange from there. This book is a wild ride.

I read it in a single sitting, so it's very propulsive. It's also very dark/bleak, despite some absurdist humor arising from the premise. I will recommend it to my customers who like horror.

WHEN THE WOLF COMES HOME by Nat Cassidy is absolutely stunning: jaw-dropping in its execution and unforgettable in its emotional depth. From the first page, it grips you with a ferocity that doesn’t let up, but what surprised me most was how tender and human it remained beneath all the horror.

This is the best thing he’s written, full stop. Stephen King hyped it for a reason, this book howls through grief, memory, and fear with both sharp teeth and a broken heart. I was blown away.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and to TOR Nightfire for the e-ARC. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long, long time. I have a signed copy from attending his NYC panel, and I couldn’t be happier!

This was not really what I was expecting, but not necessarily in a bad way. His other books have been more atmospheric, introspective, and tackling socioeconomic issues with horror. This does that as well but at a much more breakneck speed and quirky characters. I think it's important to go into this with the right expectations, because it threw me at first! Part 1 was so confusing but very intriguing, part 2 was my least favorite where things got weird, and it took me a while to decide if this was in a good way. Part 3 got into the deeper nature of the story which I really enjoyed, and part 4 brought it home! I loved the relationships between Jessa and kiddo, and thought that even though it was pretty isolated to the 2 of them, it did a great job with character development, and I was never bored. Nat Cassidy remains an autobuy author of mine, and NEVER SKIP THE AFTERWORDS.

WHEN THE WOLF COMES HOME is a fast-paced — on the edge of your seat — horror read that’s filled to the brim with surprises. Nat Cassidy is phenomenal at writing laugh-out-loud moments, along side heartbreaking situations. & of course, we can’t forget the times where you’re left wondering, “what the heck did I just read?!”

WHEN THE WOLF COMES HOME follows struggling actress, Jess, who finds a five year old boy hiding outside in the bushes. After a violent, bloody encounter with his father, she & the boy find themselves running for their lives.

I had a blast on this wild ride & can confidently say this is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. If you haven’t read Cassidy yet, please do so! & if you have, know that you will not walk away from this book disappointed.

& the audiobook is /fantastic/; the narrator does an amazing job at bringing this story to life!

Nat Cassidy has quickly become one of my favorite horror writers! He is so good at exploring fear and maintaining the perfect level of anxiety throughout. It is a werewolf novel in the most unexpected ways and to me highly surpasses other werewolf stories I've read in the past.

Anyone who’s watched 1983’s Twilight Zone: The Movie will remember Joe Dante and Richard Matheson’s segment about a teacher who meets a boy who has the power to will anything he can imagine into existence, often with horrifying results. In his latest book, author Nat Cassidy took inspiration from that story and crafted it into something more emotional, more suspenseful, and more thought-provoking.

As When the Wolf Comes Home begins, we are introduced to struggling actress / waitress Jess, whose night is off to a rough start when she accidentally pricks her finger on a used hypodermic needle while cleaning the bathroom at work. Already panicking about what she may have just infected herself with, she is further distraught when she discovers a scared five-year-old boy hiding in the bushes in her apartment complex. A naked man arrives claiming to be his father and further upsetting the child, so Jess hurries him into her home only for a large wolf to appear and go on a violent rampage. The police arrive and provide Jess enough of a distraction to flee with the boy. She struggles to formulate a plan while growing suspicious that the boy’s father and the wolf might be the same entity and learning that the boy can make manifest anything he imagines.

Cassidy writes in a compellingly simple style that keeps the pages flying and he clearly cares deeply for his characters, making it easy for readers to become wrapped up in their fates. The action moves at a relentless pace and features several horrifically grisly scenes. That said, despite some nightmarish moments it never had me feeling genuine fear, which is ironic given the very nature of fear seems to be the novel’s raison d’être. Sure, it’s suspenseful, but I didn’t feel afraid.

That aside, this is a compelling read. Jess is a flawed individual but relatable and easy to root for. Her reactions to the situations she finds herself in feel believable as does her impulse to protect the boy. He also makes for an interesting character, as he is too young to properly control his power and so winds up creating the very things that frighten him. It’s heartbreaking to witness a child realizing that they are the cause of the bad that surrounds them and that they are powerless to do anything about it.

When the Wolf Comes Home is fun and exciting but at the same time will put the reader through the emotional wringer. By examining what makes us afraid and the strength required to face our fears, as well as the often-complicated nature of family, Cassidy has left us with a lot to think about. That he has also written an ending that will permanently etch itself into your memory ensures that we do.

When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy. I have a confession - I am leaving feedback before I actually read this because I want to save it for October! Nat Cassidy is one of my favorite contemporary spooky writers, I'm sure it will be great.

This gritty, heartwarming, inflated, snow globe if a story bounced along like a square with rounded edges. It hovered just above the ground and teased reality, and I loved it. Every minute. I always wanted to know what was coming next. The characters were real and heavy, and they melted into one another beautifully. A perfect five stars for Nat Cassidy.

TW/CW: Language, child abuse, gory scenes, blood, child abandonment, alcoholism, toxic parent relationships, violence, death of child, mourning, grieving, drinking, death of parent, anxiety, depression

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
One night, Jess, a struggling actress, finds a five-year-old runaway hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a violent, bloody encounter with the boy's father, she and the boy find themselves running for their lives.

As they attempt to evade the boy's increasingly desperate father, horrifying incidents of butchery follow them. At first, Jess thinks she understands what they're up against, but she's about to learn there's more to these surreal and grisly events than she could've ever imagined. And that when the wolf finally comes home, none will be spared.
Release Date: April 22nd, 2025
Genre: Horror
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Writing style was okay
2. Ending of boy being evil
3. The ending of Jess

What I Didn't Like:
1. Sometimes the book rambled
2. Reminded me too much of Twilight Zone

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

The authors words on content warnings made me laugh.
"And, hey, if you are the sort of person who’s offended by the existence of content warnings, I’m truly sorry. Maybe next time, I’ll give you a little heads-up that they’re coming, so you’ll be able to prepare yourself."


“Just plastic,”he says, staring down at the broken Frankensteins."

Frankenstein is the doctor not the monster.

Calvert looses his teeth everytime he changes and I keep wondering if he gets new teeth that have fallen before his transformation. Also does he get his fillings back?

How does the boy not know what once upon a time is when he was reading Hans Christian Anderson books that have once upon a time in them.

Is it weird that I didn't understand why she didn't give him CBD oil to calm him down from over thinking things.

How did Marge have so much time to tell Pepsi about Jess coming? They had enough time for all of this but it seemed like a few minutes between her phone call to Jess and being killed. Pepsi even was told to stock the house and switch cars.

So he kills his son and then Jess kills him.

Final Thoughts:
Remember that episode of Twilight Zone (It's a Good Life) with the boy that could make anything he imagined come true and he held everyone hostage. I kept thinking of this book like the origin story of the boy. That's all I could think of this.

The reveal of the boy being the bad one wasn't surprising but I still enjoyed it. But then Jess being "infected" by the boys manifestion.

Love the authors notes on the book. This one dealt with his dad and how he never really got to know him.
IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

✨ Review ✨ When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy; Narrated by Helen Laser & Nat Cassidy

Thanks to Tor, Macmillan Audio and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

What happens when your nightmares come to life? This whole book feels like a fever dream where the most absurd nightmares take over the world. I absolutely loved this - couldn’t put it down! It's a great book to read with friends because you just want to shout and exclaim at every corner of the book.

However, this is near impossible to review without spoilers, and even if I told you what happened here, you’d never believe me! The hotel was perhaps one of my favorite scenes. The ending felt a little frustrating to me, but overall, I adored this and would read more of his work in a heartbeat! I wish I could say more but this one really thrives when you know as little as possible, so good luck! :)

Content warning: fairly violent, gruesome horror

🎧 This book is absolutely WILD to listen to, and Helen Laser does an incredible job. You will not be able to put this one down!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: horror
Setting: Starts in California and then the MCs take off on a road trip of sorts
Length: 11 hours 4 minutes
Pub Date: April 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ wildly absurd horror
⭕️ nightmares come to life
⭕️ road trips -- on the run
⭕️ struggling actress / Hollywood-adjacent stories

I loved this so much! This is not my usual read and I was pleasantly surprised. I can’t wait to read this authors other books.

From the moment that this book popped up on my radar, I'd been telling myself "oh man, this is going to be a good one". And honestly? That was an understatement. When The Wolf Comes Home is a GREAT one. I'll be singing my praises to Nat Cassidy until the day I die, because he is truly a horror icon in the making. I believe in this man's writing with my entire heart and soul, and When The Wolf Comes Home only cements that belief further.

Let's get into it-

Concept- A little boy has the strange ability to bring his beliefs to life. This power is made all the more dangerous by the fact that his life is ruled by fear, meaning he unwillingly gives life to his own nightmares. And what's more scary than fear itself? This is the kind of concept that makes you mad that you didn't think of it yourself. Cassidy plays every element of this story in such a masterful way that you are bound to walk away with your mind blown. Wherever you thought that this book was going to take you- trust me- you're dead wrong. Strap in, because this story is one hell of a ride. 5/5

Pacing- When The Wolf Comes Home starts off like cannon fire, and the story doesn't let up up until the very end. The breakneck pacing of the book complemented the concept perfectly, and only added to the heart-pounding fear that Nat Cassidy cooked up in every chapter. And despite being consistently face-paced, I never felt fatigued. 5/5

Horror- There is some truly gruesome imagery here. The horrors that this little boy brings to life made me feel like a little kid who was afraid of the shadows in my closet and the monsters under my bed. It's literally childhood fear brought to life. And on top of that, there is this horrible, existential crisis that Jess, our main character, faces as the story nears its end that brings in a sickening psychological horror element. This is the kind of book that has something for every kind of horror reader, and it's scary scary SCARY all the way through. It made me sick. 5/5

Writing- In case I haven't yet made this clear, I think that Nat Cassidy is a genius. He has no business writing women as well as he does, and I can only assume that he's made some pact with a terrible entity in order to craft his stories the way that he does. Possible soul-selling aside, I'm obsessed with this man and his sick stories. When The Wolf Comes Home might just be my favorite of his yet (and that's saying a lot, because Rest Stop still makes my skin crawl just thinking about it). The writing, like everything else here, is phenomenal. 5/5 (duh)

All I can say is, I'm sorry in advance to my friends and followers, because they're not going to stop hearing about this book from me. I've already convinced my horror book club to pick it up as one of their summer picks, and trust me, I'm looking forward to watching all of them have their minds blown. This book will undoubtedly be one of my top reads of the year, and it's one I see myself returning to for a reread again and again.

Nat Cassidy, I eagerly await what comes next from you. Whatever it is, I trust it will be great!

Perfection. No notes. A++. 🤌

But for real, this was a perfect horror read. Gripping, terrifying, emotional, heart pounding. You may have a general sense of the story from the synopsis, but I promise you won’t guess what’s actually going to happen. 🐺

Nat *really* knows how to get you invested in his characters—their wants, needs, deepest fears, most cherished memories. I felt so deeply for Jess and the kiddo.

My honest suggestion? Go in as blind as you can. That’s what I did, just going off the rave reviews of likeminded friends. And it surely paid off. ❤️‍🔥

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: this one really is haunting. It's the kind of book that I think will stay with me for a while, both because of the horror / storytelling, and the thematic elements within it.

damn! Okay. It's hard to talk about this book without spoiling anything, and I'd recommend readers go into it relatively blind. Jess is an actress and she has a rough day. That's what I think you need to know going into this. Oh, and there's a lot of gore and death and creepy stuff - but it is a horror book so I mean, you should expect that.

The premise for the actual horror in the book was fascinating and there were so many nuances that I can't stop thinking about. The ending especially seems stuck with me and I want to talk about it with someone!

Jess as a character did sort of bug me - something about her felt off in a way I couldn't quite understand. I think her motives weren't fully fleshed out, and it made me kind of think "huh" to myself relatively often. that's my main complaint though - otherwise this book is haunting (pun intended) and explores some heavy stuff in a really interesting way.

If you want a horror that reflects human nature in all the darkest ways, and if you want to think while reading your book, this is a good story! If you need horror that is character driven, this might not be a good fit - it's idea and thematically driven. Also, this is a crazy unique horror story so I would highly recommend it to horror aficionados who want something weird and wonderful.

It pains me to say this, but this book was a big miss for me.

I went into this book with the expectation that it might get a little campy and silly given that there was a literal werewolf lurking around in it. Although I am not typically into creature horror, I trusted that Nat Cassidy would deliver something that would at least be entertaining and unsettling. And, at first, that is exactly what he delivered. But then it quickly devolved into something silly and distractingly cheesy.

As someone who grew up with Who Framed Roger Rabbit as one of their favorite movies to watch, the twist that happens about halfway through the book REALLY threw me off and pulled me out of any tension the story provided. How can I be scared or unsettled when childhood cartoon characters are suddenly villains beyond what was already going to be a werewolf situation? Any and all tension and intrigue was immediately gone for me and I decided to set the book down because I couldn't get back into the story.

I am disappointed that this book didn't work for me, especially given how many other people seemed to love it.

This was such an intense, heartbreaking & thought-provoking novel, exploring themes of generational trauma, family dynamics, & inherited fear. It’s about the monsters we create & the ones we try to escape from. The therapist in me felt for the characters, & for all my clients who have to be the parent to their own parents (4.75★)

Thank you so so so much NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Thank you Nat Cassidy. Nat! Cassidy! One of my favorite horror authors. Nobody does horror like Nat! I devoured this book. The storytelling and sheer uniqueness of this book was top tier. 5/5 for vibes. 5/5 for characters. 5/5 for plot. I wish I could read this book again for the first time. There was a lot of play on the thought of "who's the bad guy in your story", and I loved that. I think Nat really did a great job at making the reader think outside the box. Expect the unexpected...whenever it comes to Cassidy's writings. Man, literally can't praise this book or the author enough. Love every minute of it.

“As talented as children can be when it comes to being afraid, there’s really no comparison to how they love, is there?”

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I’ve been saying for months that I knew this book would be amazing, but I had no idea how transformative it would be too. I went into it kind of blind, just knowing the blurb and general vibe so that’s what I’ll leave you with if you haven’t read the book yet. I recommend just opening to the first page and diving in.

Just know it’s an easy 5 stars and, in my opinion, Nat’s best work to date.

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Now getting into some spoilers below (light ones, anyway!) and my full thoughts.
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Kids are truly magical thinkers. I see it every time my kids wish for something that comes true. They’re the best at manifesting because nothing in their lives has told them that their dreams can’t be real. I saw it when my son was 3 and wished to see a hot air balloon (a VERY uncommon occurrence around our parts). Not even 2 hours later one flew overhead. I see it every time my 4 year old wishes to see a randomly colored car or special vehicle on a drive around town and sees one within minutes.

This book speaks to that power and what can happen when a child isn’t told that their power is true and good. What happens when a child is raised in fear.

Not only is this an exceptional work of horror, it’s also very powerful as a parent in regards the importance of working on generational traumas and telling kids, at all times, that they are immensely good and can change the world for the better.

If you’re someone’s child, read it. If you’re responsible for children, read it. If you love horror, read it. If you want to cry buckets and buckets, read it. It’s perfect.

When the Wolf Comes Home might be my favorite Nat Cassidy novel so far. The story follows a struggling young actress who ends up responsible for a five-year-old boy with a terrifying superpower: whatever he believes becomes reality. Since he’s a child, that means his world is shaped by imagination, confusion, and, most intensely, fear. And when a scared child’s imagination controls reality, things get horrifying very quickly.

What really stood out to me about this book—aside from the nightmare logic and genuinely creepy imagery—was how neatly the plot comes together. Compared to Cassidy’s previous work, this one feels especially well-constructed and intentional. Beneath the horror, it’s also a thoughtful exploration of identity and fear—how much of who we are is shaped by what we’re afraid of, or what we’re afraid we might be.

There’s also a really lovely afterword where Cassidy connects this novel to his personal journey, much like he did with his earlier books. That added context made the whole thing land even more deeply. Highly recommend this one if you’re in the mood for something unusually unsettling and heartfelt.