this book is so weird but so was the first one so that was exactly what I was expecting. I really enjoyed the first book so I was looking forward to this and I was not disappointed. This one was just as weird and creepy as the first. I can't wait for the last book in the series!

Blog link goes live Oct 21st
Imgur link goes to graphic scheduled for around Oct 15th
Amazon and Barnes & Noble reviews will go when available
Youtube review should be up in Friday Reads on July 25th


**TL;DR**: Wonderful with one big icky
**Source**: NetGalley - Thank you to the publisher!!

**Plot**: Veronica’s revenge! This is one you definitely need to read the first book first.
**Characters**: This one focuses in on Doctor Cull, Charlie, and a new female character. I didn’t expect to enjoy our two men from book one but I really did.
**Setting:** There is less Moon time here and more Earth/Jupiter time. The Jupiter setting more than made up for this.
**Horror:** All the creepy crawlers you could want and we really get more of the space horror which is deeply exciting.
****

**Thoughts:**

This was going to be a 5 star read. In fact, if we could have removed one scene from this book it would still be a 5 star, new favorite read. We have creepy crawlers, giant space spiders, a moon full of webs, space horror, and then Io and the goodies there! So much of what this had is things I love. Unfortunately one scene did leave a bad taste in my mouth.

My one and only complaint about this is the on page rape scene. I don’t care who is getting violated, and in this case it is a man, it’s still a rape. So while I can maybe stretch my imagination to see why the argument could be had for this, I still think if we completely lifted the scene from the book it wouldn’t have been missed. It seemed to come from no where, and added very little to nothing to the characters of those involved. Could there be some repercussions in book three? Maybe. Would there have been a better way to reach whatever those were? Yes, probably.

These sort of things happen in real life, and I’m not for completely washing our literature free of everything I find uncomfortable or distasteful, but I want it to have meaning and substance. This felt like it was there to shock. The rest of this novella is fantastic. It’s filled with horror, intrigue, gore, everything you could want. Yet we still had to push to something that’s not useful to the narrative. I’m very disappointed to say the least. I will continue! I can’t tell you how much I loved the rest of this! But wow, do I wish that one/two page scene never existed.

In this sequel to Crypt of the Moon Spider, we focus on the two halves of Charlie Duchamp. One part of him is a brain in a jar, stranded on Jupiter’s jungle moon Io, who just wants to go home. The other, more murderous half of him, is left behind at Barrowfield Home on Earth’s moon and is a repeat host to the eggs of the Moon Spider.

There was a lot to unpack in this novella. This story was unique and amazingly written while also being incredibly atmospheric - all makings of a fantastic sci-fi horror story. I fell in love with Crypt of the Moon Spider for the ease in which Ballingrud shaped such a unique sci-fi world set in the 1920s. Everything felt so natural and common, that I never once questioned anything crazy that was happening, which is good, since this book continued those themes and upped the crazy.

I loved the gangster themes and enjoyed learning more about Maggie in this novella. Although I wish Veronica made a bigger appearance. But it is clear to me that this story is aligning all the stars in place for the final book and I can feel that the final installment is going to be a show stopping finale.

Overall, this made for a quick and entertaining read. I did enjoy the identity themes laced throughout this one, but as a whole, I personally enjoyed the first book more. The final book is set to release in 2026, and I can’t wait to see how Ballingrud finishes this series!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group/Tor Nightfire, and Nathan Ballingrud for the eARC of the second book of The Lunar Gothic Trilogy in exchange for my honest review!

This second novella in Ballingrud’s Lunar Gothic Trilogy picks up right after the bizarre events of CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER, as Dr. Cull joins forces with a brutal woman gangster named Maggie. She brings some intense violence to this surreal take on monsters, the mob, and the strangest substance in the universe.

Taking place between one of Jupiter’s moons, Earth’s moon, and Brooklyn in the early 1920s, we follow characters from the first novella albeit in altered forms, which adds to the series’ overall weirdness. Charlie/Grub’s dual personality is highlighted, which comes to a head in the thrilling, brilliantly written (and lengthy) sixth chapter. The Irish vs. Sicilian mob story briefly pulls readers back into reality, but things here are never fully what they seem.

There are a lot of things happening here, so new comers are urged to read the first installment before venturing into this trippy, grotesque, multi-genre series. The finale here is as horrifying as it gets, yet oddly beautiful, and the descriptions of alien-like creatures will fuel nightmares.

The final chapter can’t get here fast enough.

Such a fantastic sequel to Crypt of the Moon Spider. I think one thing I’m loving about this series is that even though the most front and center aspect are spiders in people’s brains, both main characters have this aspect of being empathetic in a world that punishes that and I’m fascinated to see whether there will be any triumph in that direction when the trilogy ends… it’s so horrific with the awful people who have power plus the cosmic beings that are somehow connected to gargantuan vermin — we get a centipede, The Bishop, in this one — but there’s also been a weird thread of maybe finding home or self or something…? It’s hard to explain without spoilers so I do need someone to read these and debate them with me! The universe building is incredibly compelling and I can’t even guess what’s going to be revealed next. But it will be something big! And possibly with too many legs. At any rate, a creepy, moving, and sometimes gross good time!

I actually liked this a lot more than Crypt of the Moon Spider. I did enjoy that book too, but I was expecting something a lot different than what it was. Knowing that this is more sci-fi gangster book than straight up horror really helped me enjoy it more. I think the only gripes I have with it are things that are just gonna happen with novellas sometimes since they're so short. Like, I got a little confused a few times because things happen so fast and there were a few parts that I wish I could have spent more time with. Wanting more of something is usually a good sign that what is there is super fun, though. The imagery in particular is super cool with the creepy cathedral spaceships and teleporting assassins and everything. I actually think this would make a really neat graphic novel. I have no idea where it's going to go in the final book, but I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for that. Thanks for the ARC! I enjoyed this quite a bit!

Book two in the spider and madness driven Lunar Gothic Trilogy

The Strange (2023) was an eye catching introduction to the weird fiction of Nathan Ballingrud, which was one of my favourite novels of 2023, featuring in my annual Horror DNA Top Ten, an unsettling science fiction tale set on the desolate dustbowl of Mars. This fascinating author is particularly well known for his short stories, brought together in the collections North American Lake Monsters (2013, also recently rereleased in the UK by top indie publisher Dead Ink) and Wounds (2019).

In 2007 his short story ‘The Monsters of Heaven’ won the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award, later securing a second Jackson gong in 2013 for North American Lake Monsters. Ballingrud’s widely admired weird fiction has also been nominated for numerous other top prizes, including the Bram Stoker, the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award.

After The Strange Ballingrud returned to novella length fiction with Crypt of the Moon Spider, which was highly commended in my 2024 annual Horror DNA best of list. This is the first in his Lunar Gothic Trilogy, with Cathedral of the Drowned being a direct continuation. These are bizarre books, even by Ballingrud’s exulted standards of weirdness, which should be read in the correct order, and even doing so is no guarantee the books will be understood. They are confusing, jarring, and hallucinogenic, with Crypt of the Spider Moon being a significantly stronger read. From what I understood of Cathedral of the Drowned the plot is as flimsy as it is incoherent, feeling akin to a middle section of a longer work.

The Crypt of the Spider Moon is set in an alternative version of 1923 at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy where Veronica is treated by Dr Barrington Cull, a medical practitioner known for his invasive and successful treatments which have been widely lauded. A key part of the treatment involves inserting a certain type of spiderweb into the brain, which originates with a long dead giant spider which once lived on the moon. Even though the spider has been dead for years, it still has followers who worship it like a god.

Little background is given to this version of 1923 and this continues in Cathedral of the Drowned. Many of the characters from the first novella return with the initial stages involving a plot to return to the moon, following the chaos of what happened at the wild conclusion of the first story. This opening section drags, with the narrative picking up when the story moves elsewhere and we catch up with Charlie Duchamp and the strengthening spiders.

Finding out more about the dangerous cult which follows the spiders was interesting, but overall I found this novella underwhelming and just too confusing. It lacks the freshness of the original and even the introduction of new monstrosities, such as a giant centipede, ‘The Bishop,’ failed to add spark. As with Crypt of the Spider Moon, this was a violent book with deeply grotesque imagery and body horror, if you think spiders are gross, definitely avoid Cathedral of the Drowned. Many of the features which made the original so endearing in the original return here, but they fail to click in the same way in a story which never really gets going.

I read Crypt of the Moon Spider earlier this year and it is still one of my favorite reads of the year so far! I am so excited to be able to read Cathedral of the Drowned early.

This sequel proves to be as weird, unsettling, gory, and disorienting as the first book. We visit characters from the last story but they’re in new forms. We see new locations of moon and experience its creepiness all over again.

We also have a new story-line happening on Earth. While these parts weren’t as unusual or mind-bending as the scenes on the moon, it added an interesting perspective to the story. I’m interested to see where it goes in the third book.

Overall, this was still dark and bizarre- just what I wanted from it!

This horror scientific gothic novella is definitely a compelling, bizarre and a very strange one! This book is a sequel to the “Crypt of the Moon Spider”. It is a story that centers around Charlie Duchamp’s brain. It explores two parts of Charlie’s brain. As both sides of his brain are drawn to a flooded wreckage of a cathedral ship on lo, the two parts also differ in many ways. One side of his brain is a host to moon spider eggs and is driven by a murderous rage and is also hanging on the wall of Barrowfield’s house on Earth’s own moon. The other side of his brain seeks to return home on Jupiter’s jungle moon and is in a jar. Some of the themes expressed in this book are isolation and loneliness, duality and identity, body horror and the unknown. As this story unfolds, a lot of chilling and intense things begin to happen. Overall, I give this a 3 out of 5 stars.

This book is uniquely written, dark and has psychological tension. I found that it has ethical implications of advanced technology and it contained gothic and noir elements. It is like a nightmare that you want to wake up from. It’s gruesome, hard to stomach, not comfortable to read and surreal. I found this to have mysterious and adventurous vibes. I was not fully immersed while reading this book. This book is very sad and reflective. This is a very fast paced, short read that contained vivid imagery.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Nathan Ballingrud and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Nightfire for this electronic arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I think fans of science fiction, mixed in with fantasy and psychological elements, would really enjoy reading this. There is a huge audience that would really love this book, it just didn’t connect with me. Content warnings include body horror, violence, gore and blood.

This book is expected to be published on October 21, 2025! Just around Halloween time!!

You might not expect poignant sub-text and strong theme from a novella that includes a washed-up mad scientist, gangsters in the spider silk trade, a giant centipede, and Catholic missions that involve launching cathedrals into space. But Ballingrud delivers on all of this in his pulpy and intelligent sequel to Crypt of the Moon Spider. Not only do we learn more about the moon spider silk introduced in Crypt, but this is a story about people struggling with their identity when they recognize that the different sides of their personalities and psychologies stand in deep tension with one another. The novella manages to breathe fresh life into the old sci-fi fixture of a collective mind by taking it on in the context of individuals trying to integrate their own fragmented personalities into a cohesive whole. Enjoyable on so many levels!

A spectacular follow-up to Crypt of the Moon Spider! I'm so happy that we got to return to Ballingrud's eerie moonworld and learn more about the characters from the previous book. This lil novella is bizarre in the best of ways and difficult to describe in words, which is the mark of all of the best books in my opinion. I so look forward to the third and final piece in the series!

All of my thanks to Netgalley & Tor Publishing for the ARC!

Picking up immediately where Crypt of the Moon Spider left off, Cathedral of the Drowned follows Dr. Cull’s return to Red Hook where he joins up with local mobster Goodnight Maggie, seeking protection from the Moon Spider and her murderous cultists, the Alabaster Scholars. Maggie has problems of her own, as she begins to feel the squeeze of the Sicilian’s growing power, which has left two of her men dead. At night, she’s haunted by the ghost of Charlie, an enforcer she had sent to the moon to work for Cull, and who instead became a lab rat in the bad doctor’s various experiments revolving around the human brain and moonsilk. A section of Charlie’s brain has been removed and sent to Io, one of Jupiter’s many moons, where frightening discoveries await.

Oh yeah, all this is set in the 1920s, too.

If it sounds like there’s a lot going on, well… there is. Somehow Ballingrud makes it all digestible and easy to follow, keeping all of the very high weirdness remarkably grounded. Cathedral of the Drowned, however, is not a proper starting point for the uninitiated, with Crypt of the Moon Spider, the first entry in Ballingrud’s Lunar Gothic Trilogy, being a must-read prior to starting this one. Woe to the poor reader who picks up this book expecting a complete and self-contained story! The looks of confusion upon their faces are sure to be hilarious, though, as they try to figure out what they surely must have been drugged with prior to descending into this dream-occluded nightmare.

For those who might need some selling on The Lunar Gothic Trilogy, which upon Cathedral‘s release in October will be two-thirds completed, Ballingrud forgoes any modern scientific realism in favor of crafting a pulpy retrofuturistic horror story that owes far more to Edgar Rice Burroughs than Neil deGrasse Tyson. Where Burroughs had John Carter of Mars, Ballingrud has his Spider Woman of the Moon. The first book in his trilogy dove into the spider-webbed forests and Dr. Cull’s sanitarium on Earth’s moon. Here, Charlie’s dissected brain pilots a satellite to Io, the Jungle Moon of Jupiter, where a massive Cathedral ship from Earth has crashed and its crew of dead priests roam under the control of a titanic centipede god known as The Bishop.

All-in-all, it’s a throwback to classic pulp adventures from the early 1900s up through the black-and-white sci-fi flicks of the 50s. Ballingrud plays it all straight, too. He doesn’t try to explain anything away, like the hows and whys of regular, routine space travel for the common man and woman of the 1920s. It all just is. Readers are trusted to accept it without any fussy hand-holding. And unlike the retrofuturistic 1950s-inspired Fallout series of video games and TV show, there’s no tongue-in-cheek whimsy or self-referential silliness. Both this and the previous Crypt of the Moon Spider are hard-edged, cut-your-throat serious works of alt-history that pays terrific, and terrifying, homage to the stories and creators of yesteryear. While it shares some superficial similarities to Ballingrud’s other fantastical, alt-history sci-fier, The Strange, he also brings in plenty of horror, both body and cosmic, not to mention the plain old savage kinds, too. In some ways, these two Lunar Gothic stories feels like a marvelous blend of both The Strange and Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell. Certain passages here can’t help but remind one of “The Atlas of Hell” or his diabolical surgeons from “The Maw.” Ballingrud’s revisionism of the 1920s feels both real and ethereal, as degrees of the familiar coexist alongside nightmarish otherness. The more one buys into this world, the more they’ll be greatly rewarded.

Cathedral of the Drowned is also very much the middle child of this trilogy. It’s the essential middle part in Ballingrud’s narrative and readers are expected to already be familiar with this crazy world and what’s come before. They’re also expected to understand that this entry is, by its very nature, an incomplete story. Cathedral is a fine entry on its own, and a great follow-up to Crypt, but it also exists within the context of an as-yet-unfinished three-book cycle and how good or worthwhile it is depends on how well the third book lands. While Cathedral ends with a bang, it’s not THE ending to this story. There’s another book coming in 2026, and Cathedral does the necessary work to position these characters and align the stars for whatever weirdness comes next. If the first two books are any indication, we can expect the grand finale to be absolutely bonkers.

This was not as good as part one and splitting the story arbitrarily into these three parts rather than one novel is making it weaker. If you snipped out the middle few chapters of any narrative and read them alone it would be underwhelming, and there wasn’t much effort to make this into anything else. Deeply grotesque imagery though, gotta hand it to him.