Oh, this is a crazy fun read featuring a dual time-line story of two Rachels.

In 2009, Rachel Galloway likes to draw magic pigs and she doesn't really want to write her high school history report. So, she figures she'll turn her doodles into a history "project". The only problem is...well..Renfield County is a bad place to dream up a religion where pigs eat good flesh and scary bats tear into bad flesh and expect that someone (or something) won't make your sketches into reality.

In 2019, Rachel Durwood is in the Renfield Guard and she's investigating a colleague's disappearance in Burnskidde, a town that's been cut off from the rest of the county for the last 10 years. A town taken over by a cult that worships magic flesh-eating pigs and where monstrous bats rip unbelievers apart.

It was such a treat to read the ARC. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley!

GALLOWAY’S GOSPEL by Sam Rebelein.
Release date September 16, 2025.

The thing I know about reading Rebelein is that it’s going to be fun and gory and batshit crazy. This latest tale is based in the mythical, mind bending Renfield County universe. In 2009, a young Rachel accidentally starts a cult. In 2019, another Rachel tries to take it down.

There are layers upon layers in this story. The lore is intertwined with Rebelein’s other novels but this one can be read on its own (but PLEASE go read Edenville asap). It’s a wild ride as the perspective flips back and forth between Rachels.

What I liked- having read Rebelein’s other novels, I love being back in Renfield County. The characters are flawed but lovable. The pacing makes this story fly along. It’s wildly creative, comic horror that’s uniquely its own. The nostalgia reeled me in and the horror slapped me in the face. There’s monsters and madness but somehow it’s fun?

Scooby Doo Midsommar cult meets Sam and Dean Winchester in a foggy village with pigs. Have faith in the fog!


(Edenville lore- I can hear Quinn saying “Two Rachels and the Poo Pigs is a great band name! I called it! Go Crows!” IYKYK)

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow/Harper Collins Publisher for the eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

I really loved the concept of this book. It switched between the POVs of two women, both named Rachel, but 10 years apart. 2009 Rachael accidentally starts a cult, and 2019 Rachael tries to end it.

The story reminded me of a fun mixture of the early seasons of Supernatural mixed with Stranger Things.

I generally find it hard to relate to teenage characters, but as someone who was a teenager in 2009, the nostalgia was charming.

2019 Racheal was awesome. I enjoyed the 2019 chapters much more than the 2009 ones.

What I wasn't expecting was just how gorey this book was going to be. The last 1/3 of the book was a very descriptive gorefest, which is fine, but is not something I'm into. It almost felt excessive at points. The book started off innocent and kinda silly, and then went from 0 to 100. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but it was also unexpected and not entirely to my personal tastes.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend giving it a read. If you enjoyed the vibes of Clown in a Cornfield, I think you'll really love this one.

Cults?!? I was sold! 2009-Rachel Galloway is bored in class and from a drawing, accidently begins a cult. Fast forward to 2019 and Rachel Durwood, a guard who finds a small community cut off from the rest of society and they are awaiting the apocalypse after her colleague Mark sends her a message. Both Rachels need to figure out how to save this town. I absolutely loved this book which felt quite nostalgic for a different time and place. The characters absolutely fueled this book, and it was one of the greatest I've read in a while. This is an absolute must-read for horror fans!

This book is a wild ride. I tell you, a WILD ride. It reminded in the best way of Lockwood and Co. (but for adults) and the Goosebumps novels from the 1990s. The characters are super compelling (I love the Rachels; they literally own me at this rate), the monsters are creepy in the best way and I was constantly holding my breath because I had no idea what was coming next. Things were quite dark, very gory and will give you nightmares. Even then it's one of the best books I have read this year. Worth getting a physical copy for and highlighting it on your shelves. I have no complaints about anything in this book. Gimme more!

Galloway's Gospel
A Novel
by Sam Rebelein

I enjoy every moment I spend in Sam Rebelein’s Renfield County, and I deeply appreciate the intricately woven dark mythology.

I considered Edenville a top read of 2024 and The Poorly Made is one of my favorite short story collections EVER.

Rebelein creates another Renfield County storyline in Galloway’s Gospel. The story unfolds in two timelines. Rachel Galloway, a high school student on the social fringes, who doodles and tells silly stories in her history notebook. And Rachel Durwood, a wounded and driven County Guard, fighting against the dark forces in the county.

Rebelein tackles religious fanaticism, grief, hopelessness, cults, bog people, body horror and monsters. It is a gloriously unhinged novel, terrifying and bloody. A wonderfully wild ride.

Thank you @NetGalley and @williammorrorwbooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

In 2009, Burnskidde High’s Rachel Galloway is just trying to get through another dull class, passing the time by sketching pigs and bats in her notebook. What starts as harmless doodling spirals out of control when her drawings—thanks to an already lurking supernatural force—become something more. The town, swept up by belief and led by a strange classmate Rachel quietly admires, forms a new faith around these creatures. Before long, Burnskidde is lost to it.

A decade later, Burnskidde has been shut off from the world—until now. When the barrier lifts, Rachel Durwood of the Renfield County Guard is sent to investigate the disappearance of a fellow Guard. What she finds is a town gripped by madness, a cult still thriving, and horrors born from a teenager’s idle imagination and we love a good scifi/horror/dark fantasy

I REALLY liked my previous journey into Renfield County, via the stories in The Poorly Made and Other Things. Despite my general lack of affinity for the short story format, I found it perfectly suited to Rebelein's writing style - and my reading of it. It was dark and twisty and fascinating, so when I saw a novel set in that universe, I was highly intrigued. Unfortunately, I struggled with this one a lot more than I expected and was ultimately not able to finish.

It's still a fabulous example of world-building. It's clever and dark and every bit as twisted as the short stories, but in long-form I found the whole thing just...weird. It was a little too out there for me - a great concept but the abstract nature of the narrative and storytelling structure was difficult for me to stay engaged with and I kept feeling lost. There were bursts of brilliance and dark snarkiness that I found fabulous, but on the whole I think this is a world best visited by me in shorter bursts!

This book was pretty good, I would definitely recommend

~This was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review………..

Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC to review.

If I didn’t know any better I would say that Sam Rebelein and I would be able to hang out and talk about nearly anything for days and never get bored. The level of nostalgia that this book gave me was easily some of the best I’ve come across in any novel I’ve read in recent times.

This one takes place in the Renfield County universe that was created in his first novel, Edenville. Personally, I feel like if I hadn’t read that book before this one, I may have been a little lost, but I did and I wasn’t, so we’ll springboard off that.

This isn’t going to be for everyone, as the lore goes VERY deep in this fast paced story. It follows two different Rachel’s, covering two separate timelines that are a decade apart.

Rachel Galloway is your typical 2009 angsty Hot Topic teenager and aspiring artist. To her, her art and the stories she makes up to go along with it are just that… made up. Until she meets Francis. Francis believes that her art and stories are actually visions, and bing bang boom, she and her art accidentally form a cult based on the art and stories she comes up with. Good flesh for good earth, have faith in the fog!

Fast forward to 2019, we have Rachel Durwood, who is a member of the County Guard. This is no normal emergency service, think like… the Men In Black, but instead of aliens, they locate and destroy cosmic entities throughout Renfield County. Following the disappearance of one of their own, Durwood finds herself investigating her missing colleague, right in the heart of the cult that has been cut off from public life, and self sustaining for the last decade.

Some might say this is dancing the line between horror and dark fantasy, but I would say it definitely leans hard into the horror side of things. Absolutely loved it, 5/5 no notes.

Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC of Sam Rebelein's 'Galloway's Gospel.'

I enjoyed Rebelein's 'Edenville' a couple of years ago so was glad to read his new one.

I found this one harder to connect and engage with. Maybe it's the split timeline structure but although several times I felt very close to getting into the swing of things, I lost the thread again.

There's a lot to enjoy about this tale of weirdness and seemingly creating worlds out of nothing. The characters are warm and likeable for the most part and there's a lot of humor throughout. The setting is a bit like Josh Malerman's Goblin - a supernaturally messed-up and monster-infested town with its own mythology and physics-defying geography - but is done with a much lighter hand.

Maybe I'll revisit at some point but this was a three from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an early eARC of this novel.

A story of two Rachels - one who inadvertently starts a cult and one who comes to investigate and dismantle it. Rachel Galloway, a teenager living in a strange town, doodles herself into creating a cult of people willing to give pieces of themselves to the Poo Pigs or Gluttonbats in return for crops and animals. 10 years later Rachel Durwood, a county Guard, receives a cryptic message from a fellow guard Mark, who has gone missing. It leads her to Galloway's cult town who are all preparing for the return of the Fogmonger. Can she save them?
Set in two timelines (2009 and 2019) this novel really surprised me. It was so much different than what I normally read and I thought it was so weird but it was super entertaining.
This won't be for everyone but I think anyone who enjoys Goosebumps, Midsommer, and weird cults with strange beasts hiding in the woods, may be into it.
You just need to have faith in the fog.

I want to thank William Morrow and Sam Rebelein for this ARC in exchange for and honest review.
4 Stars

"This is s story of two Rachel's.
2009 Rachel Galloway is a typical high school girl doodling in class bored to death and trying to find any bit of escapism she can in her imaginary world she doodles in her notebook instead of paying attention in class. However when this imaginary world gains first attention and then faith all of Burnskidde will be turned upside down. Soon this town is split into believers and non believers and Rachel has no way out especially when her imaginary 'visions' start coming true.

2019 Rachel Durwood receives a cryptic last message from her colleague in the Renfield County Guard. He had been missing and now she had a lead to Burnskidde, a town famously sealed off 10 years ago, as his last location. Renfield wasn't unused to missing people, strange happenings, but Mark wasn't a without skill, something bad had to have happened to him. And when Rachel gains access to the old town, she has to decide if anything is what it seems.

As Rachel Galloway watches her life spiral out of control, Rachel Durwood navigates a world where history, horror, and faith collide. Despite being separated by a decade, Galloway and Durwood may be closer to each other than they realize. But even together, will they be able to stop Burnskidde’s impending doom?"

Supernatural! Suspense! Mystery! Monsters!
This was a really good one. This had tons of things I'm a huge fan of. I love the monsters and the Supernatural/Winchester vibes coming off the Renfield County Guard. I loved Renfield and it's creepy history and both Rachels were absolutely badass in their own way. The cult and how it grows out of control is so well done. And FRANCIS! I could say so many things about Francis but he's also well done I just kind of wish it had more personal confrontation between him and Galloway before everything goes off the rails. This book was everything I wanted the first 70%.

The ending however didn't sit well with me. It's... okay, but it was just all this hype and finding out some insane things and it didn't really feel like any of that paid off. I really love this book but the ending has me all messed up and now I'm not sure what to rate it as it was going on five stars until the last 20%.

If anyone is a fan of cults, monsters, and loved shows like the X-Files/Supernatural I think you'll find something to love about this book. It has a lot of great things going for it.

Kindle Copy for Review from NetGalley and William Morrow.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.
The horrors of a cult that was formed accidentally as a teenager and years later a horrifying tale. It will keep you on your ties as you go on this rollercoaster ride. You are never quite sure where thins will lead. A must read for those who enjoy horror.irl who tries to destroy t. They both share the same first name n this

I received a free copy of, Galloway's Gospel, by Sam Rebelein, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was confusing and a bit pointless to me. It was not scary at all. I did not care for the language in this book at all. This book is not for me.

After finishing Edenville earlier this year, I found certain similarities to Stephen King in the writing, and Renfield County is shaping up to be Sam Rebelein’s Castle Rock. When I learned it was taking place in Renfield County I thought it might be similar to Edenville. Rebelein, however, outdid himself. While this does take place in Renfield County, it is a whole new world of horror that we are introduced to, and this time around we get an insiders view.

We get to read two viewpoints, in 2009 Rachel Galloway’s classroom doodles take on a life of their own when her crush starts to speak about them as reality, and in Renfield anything can become real. The other viewpoint takes place in 2019 following a (different) Rachel, a member of the Renfield County Guard, a citizen militia that helps the town keep its supernatural occurrences in check. I won’t say much more in order to not spoil anything, but the Renfield family and the haunted wood from Edenville make a nice tie-in for those who also read Edenville.

This book is definitely not for everyone, but I highly recommend this to anyone who likes horror of the cosmic, bordering on science fiction variety, as well as monster horror. I will be waiting for Rebelein’s next book and will be making sure to grab a physical copy of this when it releases in October!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC of this novel.

I was so excited to return to Renfield County after reading The Poorly Made and Other Things! I loved seeing the return of Rachel Durwood and the addition of Rachel Galloway was a delight. The tale of the two Rachels in Galloway's Gospel was funny, creepy, scary, and thought provoking. While at times goofy, the story does press the reader to consider how desperation feeds into wild ideas that can take on lives of their own, ie cults! I wasn't sure what to expect, but Rebelein did not disappoint in this epic return to Renfield County. Cannot wait to see what horrors will unfold in future works!

Galloway’s Gospel is a gripping, unsettling exploration of belief, power, and the way one strange idea can reshape an entire town—and maybe reality itself. It’s a cult horror story told with eerie precision, dark humor, and a creeping sense of dread that builds across two timelines until it becomes downright apocalyptic.

In 2009, we meet Rachel Galloway, a disillusioned high schooler sketching pigs in her notebook and fantasizing about a better world—one where her boring teachers and brutal peers don’t exist. It’s a harmless escape until her drawings start to feel prophetic, and her classmates begin to treat them as scripture. Before long, Rachel’s imaginary utopia becomes Galloway’s Gospel, a full-blown belief system with rituals, followers, and a growing sense of urgency. What starts as satire becomes salvation—at least for those who believe.

Fast forward to 2019, when county guard Rachel Durwood receives a cryptic message—“BURNSKIDDE: CULTWATCH”—from a colleague who vanishes soon after. The trail leads her to Burnskidde, now a walled-off, time-locked community on the brink of a final reckoning. As Durwood investigates, she begins to see uncanny parallels between herself and the girl who started it all—and realizes she may be walking straight into the gospel’s last chapter.

This novel is smart, strange, and utterly absorbing. It captures the terrifying logic of cult thinking and how easy it is to slip from skepticism into fervor. The dual narrative structure is handled masterfully, with both Rachel's feeling distinct but eerily connected. The horror is slow-burn but powerful, rooted less in gore and more in psychological erosion and existential fear.

But what really makes Galloway’s Gospel shine is its emotional weight. At its heart, this is a story about lonely people trying to make sense of a senseless world—and what happens when someone gives them an answer that’s just convincing enough. It’s about the stories we tell to survive, and what happens when those stories become belief, then dogma, then destiny.

If you’re a fan of The Returned, The Lottery, or The Chosen One (with a touch of Donnie Darko), this is one to read with the lights on—and maybe a little skepticism of your own. An instant favorite.

*Galloway’s Gospel* is a wild, grotesque, and absolutely unholy ride—and I mean that in the best possible way. Sam Rebelein has created something that feels part cosmic horror, part fever dream, and part satirical sermon delivered from the edge of the abyss.

From the very beginning, I knew I wasn’t in for a traditional horror story. This book *preaches*—but its gospel is madness, body horror, and something ancient squirming just beneath the surface of reality. The voice is electric, weird, and self-aware in all the right ways, and I found myself equal parts horrified and hooked. It’s not a book that asks you to sit comfortably—it wants you squirming, laughing nervously, and questioning what you just read.

There’s a sharp intelligence behind the chaos. Underneath the slime and the screams is a biting critique of cultish devotion, toxic charisma, and the human need to believe in *something*, even if that something is a teeth-filled void in the sky. And Galloway himself? Unforgettable. I hated him, feared him, and couldn’t stop reading about him.

*Galloway’s Gospel* is loud, grotesque, and gloriously blasphemous. It’s the kind of horror that shakes you loose from the familiar and forces you to look at the world sideways. If you like your horror unhinged, philosophical, and dripping with dread (and probably other fluids too), this one’s a revelation.

1 star

This…. Is a very hard book to describe, but I’ll give it a go, this being a site where we describe books and react to them and all (I DO have a reaction…no surprise there, I guess.) The time frame is divide between 2009 and 2019 and between two Rachels, which may be significant, but I’m not sure how.

Anyway, in 2009, Burnskidde high school student Rachel Galloway is bored in class and is doodling. She sketches cute pigs and bats and then, things happen and somehow her classmates, then loads of adults, too (led by one of her slightly odd peers, who Rachel has a bit of a crush on) decides that these things might be real and, due some pre-existing supernatural means, they suddenly ARE real. And a sort-of religion quickly springs up around them and the entire town succumbs, which leads us to….

2019 - Renfield County Guard Rachel Durwood gets a message from a fellow Guard about the town of Burnskidde, which has been sealed off from the rest of the county for a decade. Now it is open and, well, it’s madness there. And a cult. Rachel goes to investigate the Guard’s disappearance.

The book was classified as horror, and it is, but much more dark fantasy, I think, and that is NOT my genre. Maybe it’s your thing, though, in which case you should take my star rating with a grain of salt, maybe you’ll really like this. I really didn’t hate the high school portions but, boy did I dislike everything in 2019 and that is the largest part of the book. There were portions I didn’t even really understand, the Renfield family’s connection to the Galloways, for example. So, for me, ugh. A slog.