My Name Isn’t Paul is a weird little novella that gets under your skin, sending you on a fast paced journey toward oblivion with the premise ‘what if an eldritch horror monster hated itself?’ The result is a quick journey into a hive mind of beings who only want to feel happiness and spread across humanity quietly in the shadows. I found the writing style quite fascinating, a first person look at self hatred, the desperation to be somebody else, and an eventual acceptance that no matter how hard you wish you could change your circumstances, at the end of the day you might just have to accept you’re an eldritch horror monster covered in filaments inside of a human skin sack.

A Few Thoughts

The premise of the story lent itself well to the quick 100ish page novella format. It’s almost stream of concious, leading us through the life this creature has made for itself that’s essentially all a facade for who he really is - an eldritch horror from another dimension who wants anything but his eventual destiny to breed and lay his eggs inside of a dying human. You’d expect this to be horrifying, filled with body horror, but in my opinion it didn’t stray too far into that realm. The novella sticks with the psychological aspects of a being who wants to go against the mold, who eventually gets sucked back into the hive mind.

It was especially interesting to follow creatures who only want to be happy. They’re essentially empath’s who feel everything the humans around them are feeling, from happiness to depression to the occasional horrors surrounding every day life. Beyond the monstrous aspects, it’s a commentary on the modern day American life of people sitting in their homes, passing the hours between mundane jobs just trying to make it in the hours before sleep. The main character tries so hard to grin and bear it as a false version of the horrible man he took over, but the life he’s chosen is as meaningless as that which he’s running away from and things fall apart. Ultimately, it feels like either fate has a pretty similar outcome: oblivion and an eventual demise to the next generation who will quickly forget you and move on to their own problems.

Finally, props to the author on the monster design and the cover. They’re self-described as Brillo pads, stretching enormous filaments invisibly into their surroundings to influence feelings and attack people if necessary. It sounds horrifying but when coupled with their personalities and end goals, they’re just monsters trying to get by in a world they have no desire to live in. This all plays into the cover, a hypnotic, trippy take on these creatures overtaking a human body. I honestly downloaded the book for the cover alone and do not regret it.

My Name Isn’t Paul is a body horror involving an intergalactic ‘bug’ shying away from his destiny of becoming a bug-father. Paul is convinced he’s human and can overcome his urges once he enters heat. Chaos ensues.


What a fun read!! I was glued to the story from the beginning. The middle did get somewhat repetitive but this seemed like a way for the author to emphasize the repeated thoughts Paul struggled with (is it humane to have bug-children? Does he belong anywhere?). I would have loved this to be a longer novel with more background on the side characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced read.

Stephen King would be proud of this book. I've always had this thing about people pretending to be someone else. Drew Huff takes that and raises it to the fifth power. This cosmic, H.P. Lovecraft-style horror, I confess, doesn't really grab me. But in this context, I didn't mind! I loved every second of it.
Thanks NetGalley and the author for the eARC

Changed my review because obviously it’s weird and unique and I keep thinking about it.


This book was definitely a wild and unconventional ride, and I’m still not sure if it was weird in a good way or just… weird. That said, it absolutely stands out as a unique reading experience.
At its best, the story explores fascinating themes of identity, existence, and what it means to be (or not be) human. The protagonist, Paul, who isn’t quite Paul, was compelling, especially early on, and I really appreciated the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. It gave Paul’s inner experience a raw, surreal quality that felt well-matched to the story’s offbeat horror tone.
The first part of the novella had me hooked: it was original, unsettling, and strangely funny. The writing was vivid and confidently bizarre. However, as the story progressed, the pacing began to feel rushed. A lot of things started happening in a short span, and the plot began to lose clarity for me. The lore, particularly surrounding the alien-like “mirror people”, was intriguing but underexplored. I found myself wishing the author had taken more time to flesh out the world and its strange rules.
Also, while I appreciate weird horror and absurdism, the frequent focus on the...let’s say, insectoid horniness of the characters began to wear thin. It often overshadowed the deeper themes the story introduced early on, which was disappointing because those moments of philosophical reflection were where the novella really shined.
Still, I admire the boldness of this story. It’s strange, risky, and unlike anything I’ve read recently. I think it would have benefitted from a longer format to fully develop its ideas, but it left me curious enough to want to explore more of the author's work.
Recommended for fans of surreal, experimental horror who don’t mind a little bug-lust mixed into their existential dread.

A coworker recommended this book to me, and I actually enjoyed the first half of the story very much. I liked the concept of this book and the characters thinking was really interesting. But the other half seemed a bit too rushed for my liking. I would have preferred a few more pages explaining some things that left me thinking. But other than that it was a nice, short book about Paul, or should I say NOT Paul.

The main character’s journey is interesting, and there are flashes of clever writing, especially in the dialogue. However, the pacing felt uneven at times, and some plot developments seemed either rushed or underdeveloped. I found myself wanting more depth from the supporting characters and a stronger payoff in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Drew Huff for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Name Isn't Paul is a cosmic horror novella that tells the story of an alien-type being who has posed as a human for seven years. This being poses as 'Paul Cattaneo', a vacuum salesman whose body he found in the woods and decided to mimic. Insistent on denying his nature, 'Paul' fights his compulsion to mimic, absorb and control, and remains far from others of his kind. Unfortunately for him, his kind go into 'heat' every 7-10 years, and Paul's time has come. It becomes increasingly harder to fight his true nature and he must accept who and what he is.

This book is available as 'read now' on Netgalley, so anyone with an account can read it. I initially downloaded this eARC as its premise intrigued me. It was advertised as "an an emotionally raw story about an eldritch being struggling to retain his humanity in the face of impossible odds, while grieving the loss of his only friend, and also dealing with the existential crisis of becoming a parent." However, I did not feel that this is the story I read.

I do not wish to be too negative, so I will keep it succinct - this book was not for me. Firstly, I found the writing style very difficult to get on with, it felt clunky throughout which disrupted the flow of the story. The way characters interacted with each other felt very short and snappy and often didn't make full sense to me. This may be because they are alien-like beings so would communicate differently to humans, but it took me out of the story unfortunately, and I lost interest very quickly. We were often thrown into the next scene with little to no context so I felt very confused at many points during my read.

There was too much of a shift from 'Paul' wanting to retain his humanity, to an obsession with 'fucking' - which I just found crude. I didn't feel that we had enough time to witness his real nature takeover, it was just a sudden shift. His POV also did not make me sympathise with his character or his friends.

Overall, I was very intrigued by the concept but disappointed by the execution. Although listed as a horror novel, it was still advertised as a story of a non-human being trying to retain humanity but I don't think this was accurate. 'Paul' never felt remotely human and I, personally, didn't feel he put up much of a fight against his true nature. I generally enjoy horror novels but I expected more from this. I think it may be wise to update the description of this novel for potential readers to more accurately reflect the content and manage expectations.

I was truly moved by the character arc of the main protagonist, balancing humanity and eldritch terror exquisitely. The way I was able to empathize so much with beings so different to me, while being absolutely horrified by what was happening is astounding.
The format bends to transcribe a mode of communication (and relationship) so alien to human thinking and it's incredible: simple in its delivery, and perfect for conveying the complexity of it.
This story is perfect for a book club! I felt like I needed to talk to someone to get out of my system!
Although the book has some heavy topics that I usually avoid, they were handled with care in my opinion (but if animal death is a nono for you, consider skipping this one). I deeply appreciate the list of content warnings provided in the copy, and I hope it stays there in the final copy.
Definitely checking out more of Drew Huff's work in the future!

Paul (not Paul??) is a Mirror Person. A strange, bug-like cosmic being wearing a skin suit to mask his true form. But Paul doesn’t want to be a Mirror Person—and that internal conflict drives his deep self-loathing. When he attends a family reunion, buried memories surface, and everything begins to unravel. The result is gory, unsettling, and weirdly relatable.

If you read "The Divine Flesh" by this author and enjoyed seeing and learning about the Mirror People, then you should definitely give this novella a chance.

Thanks to the author for providing an ARC for me to read and review!

This book is a wild ride - it really is positively insane! In all the best ways. I loved the writing style and it‘s such a fantastic read. I hope more people will pick it up, it‘s so good!

I had to dnf this sadly. I got to 33% and just couldn’t understand what was happening at all. Like too much was going on and it was confusing my brain.

I have absolutely no idea how to rate this - it is, hands down, the weirdest thing I've ever read. It's gross and I really don't think I understood much of it, but it kept me engaged the entire time. I liked the multi-perspectives and think that broke up the pacing really nicely. And it was fun to read something just so unabashedly bizarre.

A wonderful cosmic horror novella. Bug infested Invasion of the Body Snatchers with a bit of I Heart Huckabees. I enjoyed watching Pauls crisis and growth unfold. His self loathing, desire to be what he never can be, contorting himself to fit a mold never made for him is so relatable. Fun body horror bits too, those are my fav!

What drew me to this books was first, the gorgeous cover and second, a cosmic horror novella with bugs? Count me in. "It's A Bug-Eat-Bug World" Paul is living in his house, with his wife, in this human body for seven years - but transformation is about to come and he can't do anything about it - the Breeding Season for Mirror People (aka Bugs) is starting and it's gonna be a hell of a ride. It's a very surreal but also kind of realistic story about how to deal with grief, parenthood and struggeling to fit in, always feeling like "an alien" amongst humans. Paul, or the one inside Pauls skinsuit, is an acutal being not from earth but it's also a way of telling a story of how it can feel living a neurodivergent life (to an extend as it as, well, a horror novella). I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting - great story and I can only highly recommend if you are into cosmic horror!

This was a fun and unique little novella.

We are following Paul, just an average human man - nothing to see here. Except, actually, his name isn't Paul, and he's some weird bug alien creature just puppeting Paul's body. Most of the novella is just Paul's inner monologue, with one perspective change during the middle. Paul knows it is in his nature to seek meat, to reproduce, and to kill. But, he doesn't want to do that. He has fallen into a comfortable life as Paul the human and ends up trying hard to suppress his nature before he gives in and let's just say, shit hits the fan.

I really enjoyed the concept of this story and found the setup super intriguing. It does come off a little 'info dumpy' at first as we are provided with all the inner workings of these creatures, where they came from, what they do, and how they function - but I kinda loved it! Paul was an interesting character to follow, and some moments had me laughing out loud at the absurdity of the situations & dialogue of the characters. Things are tense, hectic, and bloody, yet the tone is very nonchalant throughout and it all blended together well.

I will definitely be recommending this novella as a quick read to lovers of the weird and cosmic horror fans.

I'm sorry to say that this book didn't work for me, which is truly sad because it was very creative and it explored interesting themes.

On the surface, this story is about Paul, who is actually not Paul but Uxon, a Mirror Person (or, as he would say, an alien bug) who inhabits Paul's body. However, he doesn't feel like a bug, he feels like Paul, and this leads to an identity crisis that is explored through - weirdly enough - the concept of going into heat.

Throughout the story, Paul/Uxon he battles with depression, self-doubt, guilt and a sort of dysphoria that wrecks him. The way he does is... so absolutely WEIRD. That's no other way to describe this book. It's absolutely weird and makes no sense, but it also... makes sense in a convoluted way.

I truly enjoyed Paul's journey, and I loved the descriptions of the bug people and the concept of the book, but I couldn't connect with the disjointed writing style that kept me at arm's lenght.

I do think that this is a great cosmic horror novella and that it will be loved by anyone who doesn't need a coherent narrative to connect to a story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC copy of the book!

I don’t seem to be the target audience and the general theme once it went into plot and place threw me off. I don’t want to promote something I can’t speak to enjoying, especially for a new author — so in this case I’ll just pass over it and act like it didn’t happen. I know tons of people will love this but it just wasn’t for me.

This was available to read now on NetGalley, and I thought the premise was so interesting, I jumped on it. Unfortunately, it was immediately clear this wasn't for me.

The writing style was grating to me, and I got to 24% before I decided I had no interest in where this story was going whatsoever. The concept of the creatures was cool, I give it that, but nothing else worked for me.

Hard pass, but I do hope this weird, trippy novella finds its audience!

It’s giving…if a bug had body dysmorphia

The story follows Paul, a creature similar to an alien race that disguises itself in a human body, specifically the body of a man named Paul who died.

It shows a portrayal of Paul Struggling with severe body dysmorphia, Paul hates his existence as a "mirror person,"

The narrative dives into his disdain for the world around him, in particular, the dreaded mating season

He prefers to go by the name Paul, clinging to the identity of the deceased man instead of embracing his own true nature.

My name isn’t Paul is an exploration of identity, self-acceptance, and the challenges of living in a body that feels foreign.

Overall it gets a strong 3.5 out 5 from me.

Immediately upon finishing this, I wasn't really sure if I loved it or hated it. This is really freaking weird (but also that's the point). Upon reflection, I think I've decided this is exactly my type of weird. I'm landing on 4 stars I think. I'm definitely interested in checking out the author's other works.

If I sat and pondered, I'm sure I could think of lots of interesting commentary that this story had on depression, purpose, and what it means to be human. I have seen some reviews saying that this was too short and that they wish we had gotten to know the characters more. I strongly disagree with that. I think a novella was the perfect choice for telling this kind of story and any longer would have felt gratuitous and too repetitive.

Thank you to Drew Huff for an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.