Okay this was amazing. Full stop, one of the best books of 2025. So suffice it to say, you know I enjoyed it! The gist is this: Vera's out there living her best life, publishing a book, happy with her fiancé, struggling a little with her mom but for the most part, everything's going pretty well. That is until she finds herself right in the middle of what comes to be known as "Low-Probability Event", which basically means that a ton of people were killed in absolutely wild and unthinkable circumstances, including Vera's mom, right before her eyes. Vera doesn't cope well, as you can imagine, because every bit of factual evidence that she built her career around was just proven incorrect.

But eventually, Vera has the chance to make a difference, to uncover why the giant Low-Probability Event happened, and perhaps even stop the smaller, more isolated incidents that have been popping up increasingly. But can she bring herself to even care about that? The story is really two things: uncovering all these absolutely bonkers events and trying to solve those mysteries, and Vera grappling with grief, unresolved relationships, and whether she can come to terms with the world around her being nothing like she expected. I loved both parts equally, and they make for such a well-rounded story that I simply could not put it down. It's exciting, it's messed up, and it's also really heartfelt and full of character development. I don't want to say much more, because the exciting bits and the twists and turns are a big part of the enjoyment!

Bottom Line: Such a delightful combination of messed up and emotive, I could not put it down!

“sometimes you can learn more from the cards they don’t show”

🎰 🃏 🎰

first off, thank you to @netgalley , @tornightfire & @chucktingle for the opportunity to read this early in exchange for an honest review!!

(swipe for a synopsis of the book) 👉🏻

i will start out by saying that sci-fi horror is largely hit or miss for me, and maybe i am not the intended audience for this specific book, but this book succeeded in having me feel existential dread throughout the entire story (& after putting the book down).

as much as i enjoyed bury your gays and camp damascus, i think this book hit it in the middle for me. i didn’t necessarily dislike the book or love it, and would probably be last in ranking chuck tingle’s books.

i also think possibly i wasn’t in the right headspace for an existential sci fi grief horror novel. the concept of the book: i enjoyed! the execution of it/plot: didn’t really hit for me.

one of the aspects of the book i truly loved was vera’s personality and character development. i do admire how chuck tingle writes his main characters and how creative he gets with storytelling, it’s just this story fell a bit flat for me unfortunately.

again, i may not be the right audience for this book!

read if you enjoy:
🫠 existential dread
🏳️‍🌈 lgbtq representation
🧪 unrealistic sci fi horror


this book is set to be published this tuesday aug 12th!!

Thank you Tor and NetGalley for the eARC!

Chuck Tingle, the icon you are. This was gross. This was funny? This had a depth I wasn't necessarily expecting and appreciated immensely.

8 million people die from like. REALLY bad luck. Vera is relatable and dark (which is why I found her relatable tbh) and the plot was so unique and interesting. PLEASE pick this up so we can yap about it.

See a penny pick it up… the cynical and statistical Vera may be about to have her luckiest day. A rare penny from her past sets into motion that today is unlike any day. When catastrophic events start happening on what should be a celebratory day, is now remembered as surviving a low probability event day.

The imagery is great especially if you enjoy any sort of horror. Not for the squeamish type. So many ridiculous things happen, you really have to pay attention so you don’t miss any of the details. Be prepared to enjoy what’s going on but to be completely confused at the same time. A fast paced interesting story but the connection never really felt established as we moved timelines, settings- like I didn’t believe the whys. I think I would have enjoyed this slowed down a little, just to sit in some of the revelations, some of the depth the writer was conveying instead of moving so quickly through.

This is a really interesting concept of survivors remorse. Like those few that survive a traumatic event, Final Destination if you will, are treated like they should be thankful, that they are “lucky”. But are they truly? The back 30% gave me a little more depth that I had been wanting. This is a horror book for your math nerd- so I was overall happy.

Vera, a stats professor, lost everything in some cosmic one-day apocalypse and now agents are dragging her back into the fray. It’s absurd, disordered, and teeters on existential dread with a wink. If you’re up for a horror trip that plays with math like a punchy joke, this is it. Things get weird, unsettling, occasionally hilarious—but never boring. A little heavy-handed in metaphor, maybe, but weird in all the right ways.

Three Words That Describe This Book: bizarre, tense, cinematic

› The cover for Lucky Day is one of my all-time favourite covers. I love the vibrant colours, and it successfully conveys the gore and chaos found in this queer horror novel. After loving Bury Your Gays, I couldn’t wait to request an advance copy for Lucky Day and am so grateful that the publisher shared a copy with me.

› The characters, settings, world-building, and mood are well-developed. I love Tingle’s writing style. It has high readability with a fast pace. The ending felt a little rushed and took a strange turn, and I’m still not sure how I think about it. I didn’t want to put it down, and I’ve never read anything like this. Some of the Sci-Fi plot points were a little confusing; however, it didn’t detract from the story for me. Overall, Lucky Day is a unique horror story that will keep you guessing to the very end.

APPEAL FACTORS
Storyline: action-packed, character-driven, plot-driven, intricate plot, detectives
Pace: fast
Tone: emotional, suspenseful, dark, mysterious, sinister, gruesome, violent
Humour: offbeat, sarcastic
Writing Style: banter-filled, conversational, engaging
Character: awkward, complex, flawed, likeable, strong female, well-developed, diverse
LGBTQIA+ Representation: bisexual, gay, lesbian, queer
Racial Representation: Multiracial

Read Alikes:
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
I am Providence by Nick Mamatas
John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin
Dr. No by Percival Everett

Although Lucky Day is absurd horror, it does talk about intelligent theoretical ideas such as historical inertia, the Butterfly Effect, the Nudge Effect, chaos and order. This is a fast-paced story about fate, luck, and bisexual eraser. It questions the existence of luck. Can it be measured? How do we find meaning and love in a world that doesn’t make sense? I highly recommend this to horror fans and can’t wait for the next book Chuck Tingle is working on that takes place in Palm Springs and tackles influencer culture and fame.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Another absolutely solid horror novel from Chuck Tingle, who has rapidly become one of my favorite horror authors in the last few years. Lucky Day is his third full horror novel, and much like Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, Lucky Day finds Chuck tackling another aspect of queer identity in the midst of absurd horror.

This time, we're tackling bi-erasure tied in with existential dread! What's the point in living life when you think that nothing, including your own identity and the things you used to care about, really matters?

Vera is in a relationship with a woman she loves and is celebrating being published, when the day is ruined by her mother. She's told her relationship is just a phase, she's not really into women, she likes men, bisexuality doesn't exist. And then the world goes absolutely fucking apeshit, like Final Destination run through a clown filter apeshit, and she survives a whole host of horrific accidents. My jaw DROPPED at some of the shit I was reading on page. Diabolical and hilarious all at the same time, the Chuck Tingle way.

Years later Vera is in a deep depression, finding no mean in her own existence. One day, Special Agent Layne walks into her home and drags her up and into the midst of a weird investigation. Apparently there's a casino that is very lucky to its patrons, it may have something to do with that horrific day, and Vera becomes a reluctant investigative consultant. As the story and the investigation moves along we peel back more layers of Vera's psyche as she's exposed to the world and starting to care about things again. It's painful and heartbreaking all at once, and I got pretty attached to Vera as she clawed her way through dealing with her existential dread and trauma.

Unfortunately, I wasn't attached to much else - and this is probably the one main issue I had with the story and the reason I gave it 4 stars. No other characters really jumped out, not even the other main character Special Agent Layne. I struggle with his portrayal here, and I struggle with how to talk about him without going into spoilers. I think that discomfort and suspicion of him was on purpose, but I didn't quite feel like I was feeling it as part of the story, if that makes sense. It's a fine line.

The reveals of everything going on, the huge mystery...they were fine. Tingle knocked it out of the park when it came to the reveal being 100% thematically linked to Vera's struggles and the book as a whole, but it didn't really move me in the moment. I didn't feel totally caught up in anything that wasn't directly tied to Vera's inner emotional turmoil.

That's not to say that this wasn't a good book - I'm giving it 4 stars! I mostly wish I had connected a bit more to everything that wasn't Vera herself. Otherwise, this is a wild absurd horror ride, where we follow a character trying to grapple with caring about life again.

On May 23, four years ago the world (but mostly the U.S.) suffered a major disaster, the Low-Probability Event, where nearly eight million people died in improbable and totally bizarre ways. Fish raining down on the streets of Chicago. Escaped chimps eating faces. All the Boeing 777s crashing into each other. That sort of thing.
Vera Norrie was celebrating being named the youngest professor at the University of Chicago (in statistics and probability) and the publication of her book (on a potentially shady casino) when the disaster struck. She lost everything and she cannot come to any sort of terms with it. One day Special Agent Jonah Layne, with the Low-Probability Event Commission, which has an extremely broad mandate and incredible latitude (“the LPEC decides what’s legal.”) comes calling. He’s investigating that statistically lucky casino that Vera wrote about. He believes it’s connected with the LPE and he needs Vera’s help before another event occurs.

*Special thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for this digital e-arc*

Alright I think I just don’t get Chuck Tingle books. Because I’m definitely in the minority on not quite liking this book. People are RAVING about it. I thought it was … fine.

I appreciate that his books are always completely bonkers. I genuinely never have any idea what is going to happen. The imagery in this one was particularly vivid. But idk. There’s something about it that doesn’t work for me. I just don’t click with his stories I think. And maybe you will so, if you want something absurd to read, definitely check this out!

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for this ARC. Lucky Day is out 8/12!

Lucky Day is a fantastic read. In a single day, eight million people died in horrific and improbably ways. A mysterious Fed appears on statistician Vera's doorstep four years later to recruit her help in investigating a Vegas casino that might be involved. The discussions of chance and probability and mathematics made this little math nerd's heart flutter, and Vera's response to the trauma she survived made her prickly-yet-lovable. I felt like I was in a CSI/X-Files crossover episode and I enjoyed every gory, beautiful, or weird moment.

I became an official Chuck Tingle fan after reading Bury Your Gays. His brand of horror is right up my alley and I might be willing to read anything he writes!
With his upcoming book, Lucky Day, he managed to make me care about statistics and probability while also filling the book with a very Final Destination-esque level of gore and terror!

On a fated day four years ago, there’s a series of bizarre but disastrous events that lead to millions of people dying in the most gruesome ways. Now, four years later, the protagonist, Vera, is on a mission to unravel what (or who) may have caused it, possibly toppling a powerful corporate entity in the process.
If the synopsis sounds wild, wait until you read the book. Nothing prepares you for the blend of outrageous carnage and philosophy that Chuck unleashes in these pages. As someone who grew up watching all kinds of horror, I truly enjoyed the gore and mayhem throughout this book. It was as delightful as it was horrifying!

Only major issue, for me, would be that it wasn’t as “fun” as Bury Your Gays – the television/movie industry as a setting felt so relatable in it, compared to the dry, dull probability concepts in Lucky Day. I was worried I’d be bored when I felt a bit lost in the first half, but the second half more than made up for it.

Would I recommend it? Yes. Especially if you’re a horror fan!
Pick it up if you’re in the mood for: outlandish + horror

4/5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this ARC!

One thing about a Chuck Tingle book is you’re in for a wild ride! Lucky Day is the wildest book I’ve read this year. I enjoyed how fast paced this one was and the setting fit perfectly.

Loved this one! Perfect read for summerween 🎃

Thank you to Chuck Tingle, Tor Publishing Group, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review (unpaid).

I found Vera incredibly relatable as someone who struggles with anxiety and OCD.

LOVE IS REAL !

Chuck Tingle has done it again, weaving social commentaries amidst the grimmest of bloody horror activating the think zones alongside the "oh my god" zones.

Vera Norrie, on the almost eve of her book release, is swept up in what is later called a "Low Probability Event" - chaos and death in the most cartoonish manner sweeping the city of Chicago. We find out then that this event does not just happen in Chicago, but the entire world and the trauma of it has spread from lotteries to casinos because now luck... is real.

But what is real? Is luck REALLY real? Is it manufactured by a certain above-odds casino, out in the shining Las Vegas Strip? Or from somewhere else completely?

Lucky Day is part X-Files (or... Dark Encounters...), part buddy road trip, part police procedural, and enjoyable basically the whole time - even the crazy gory parts.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the eARC - I'm glad I was able to read this before going to the Lucky Day tour next month! Can't wait to hold this book in my hands!

"Maybe getting our hands dirty is the only way to fight back against these people who've made a fortune playing in the mud."

What are the odds that Chuck Tingle would come up with a wildly imaginative, absurdly funny new book?
Pretty darned good, I'd say.

The fact that I honestly didn't care about what happened to the main character (Agent Layne was more to my liking), did dampen my enthusiasm a bit, but the wackadoodle events that kept occurring, well, there's no way I was gonna stop turning those pages..

Well paced, and, dare I say . . . invigorating.

I can't wait to see what the Tingler dreams up next.

Vera, a statistics and probability professor, witnesses her mom die in a bizarre accident on a day when 8 million others around the world also die. Four years later, she teams up with a special agent to investigate the connection between that day and a casino. Despite the oddness and gore of this book, I was invested in the first half of the book, but my interest waned as the book progressed. This was my first Chuck Tingle book, and I probably won't read another - not the author for me!

This was one of my most anticipated reads this year, and it did not disappoint. Think cosmic horror meets X-Files with Final-Destination vibes.

Vera, a former statistics and probability professor, just published her first book hoping to bring light to the shady dealings of Everett Vacation and Entetainment and their casinos. However, what should have been a celebratory gathering descends into absolute horrific chaos, in what will come to be known as the Low-Probability Event (LPE).

On that day, 8 million people die in bizarre, wildly improbable freak accidents. From people being strangled by runaway parade balloon strings to heads bashed in by a typewriter-wielding chimpanzee, the scenes are absurd, grotesque, and haunting. Escaping with her life, Vera runs and doesn’t look back. Barely hanging on and a ghost of her former self Vera is living a bleak nihilistic existence, until Special Agent Layne enters the picture asking for her expertise in investigating a statistically impossible casino case with potential links to the LPE.

Right from the beginning there is no question about what you are getting into, and it is dark and strange, nihilistic yet hopeful. There are some gnarly gory moments laced with complete absurdity, both tragic and darkly humorous. The cosmic horror and exploration of existential dread and the call of the void is absolutely dread inducing. Vera’s character journey and progression was really compelling and satisfying. It was such a great read!

I think this would really appeal to readers who enjoyed When the Wolf Comes Home, or anyone looking for a perfect Summerween read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy. This review was written voluntarily.

This was gruesome and completely unhinged. It’s the kind of horror that’s messy, ridiculous, and so over the top you can’t look away. Gave me serious Final Destination vibes the whole time. Totally chaotic, wildly creative, and straight up entertaining as hell. Chuck Tingle delivered the wild ride I didn’t even know I needed. Huge shoutout to the narrator Mara for capturing every twisted moment perfectly. Her energy and tone made the madness even more immersive and wild.

Lucky Day is a new queer horror by author Chuck Tingle . I really enjoyed his previous horror novels but something about this one didn't work for me. I enjoyed the writing, I highlighted many quotes, I liked our main character, I even liked the gruesome scenes. So you're wondering what didn't I like I can't fully pinpoint it except to say that I was bored quite frequently while reading. I would find myself skimming to get to the next interesting part. Even though this one didn't fully work for me I look forward to whatever horror Tingle comes up with next.

ARC REVIEW (8/12/25): lucky day by chuck tingle 🍀 after a global disaster with improbable deaths, a statistician teams up with a government agent to investigate the low-probability event and stop another deadly catastrophe.

🎰 arguably absurd and all types of me. get ready to ride the spin of a roulette wheel from page one! the entire book is centered around statistics & probability but explained in a way those who are numerically challenged (me) understand.

talk about a fun setting! a vegas casino with impossibly lucky odds that might just be gambling with people’s lives. I love a horror that simply goes off the rails but is also filled with heart & relatability. you’re left with a dash of hope after enduring a whole lot of chaos. if you don’t like detective centered stories, this might not be the one for you 👽

simply spitballing here: 🐟 I’d devour a sequel where vera recounts & investigates the 8 million deaths from the low-probability event. the moments we got in here weren't enough, give me an additional 300 pages of the absurdly fun deaths.

is life truly just one big question mark? tingle deserves all of the forehead kisses for this one 💓 thank you tor nightfire for the early copy! 5 stars!