I always appreciate Chuck Tingle! One of my friends recommended Bury Your Gays, and I love his blend of humor and horror! This one has Vera, a professor of probability who survives a worldwide tragedy, where almost 8 million people die in some of the most unlikely events. This has caused her to give up on everything, until a happy-go-lucky detective asks for her help taking down a hotel that has the best odds. Very relatable character development and look into nihilism and hope! Thank you to netgalley for the arc!

There is something just so magical about Chuck Tingle's books, and this one was no different and absolutely divine in audiobook format. Highly recommend

As a bisexual who loves probability and statistics, this feels like it was written for me. The introduction is explosive, which pulled me in but also meant nothing else that happened could quite live up to that excitement.

Overall a great time with chaos, some horror, and a bunch of weird shit mixed in. There's also some great themes, and always remember ACAB.

This was a strange, fun romp. Just how I like 'em!

Chuck Tingle’s Lucky Day is a surreal journey through a casino where luck isn’t just random—it’s a controlled commodity, monitored by bizarre government agencies. At its center is Vera, a survivor of the global “Low Probability Event,” who once excelled as a passionate statistics professor but now drifts through life, numbed by grief after her mother’s death on a day of impossible odds. When she gets pulled into the casino’s glittering, high-stakes underground world, Vera faces fate, math, and the absurdity of bureaucrats trying to control randomness itself. Part satire, part sorrow, and part absurd brilliance, Tingle offers a hand that’s strange, witty, and surprisingly emotional.

This is tough… the read itself is good. It’s interesting, engaging enough (although I didn’t connect quite as well with our leading lady as I did with our main man in Bury Your Gays—which is Chuck Tingle’s best). Likely the average person looking for a thrilling, bizarre ride will be intrigued. There is all manner of insanity here and Blake Crouch fans will be engaged if nothing else. It lacks the hard science of Crouch novels but for most that is likely a good thing. None of that is the problem I have with Lucky Day. The commentary on our existence, statistical probabilities, and philosophical musings is all more than adequate.

My issues are more personal. And so I can’t give this 5 stars like I might want to. But my reasoning may not make sense to most. The leading lady in Lucky Day is bisexual. I’m also a female bisexual. When we first meet her, the reaction from her Mother is typical. The usual ‘it’s a phase’, ‘bisexual doesn’t exist’, etc. And so I was hopeful that we would be on a journey to really look at what it means to ‘not exist’ but also not belong to any sexual identity. You’re not straight, you’re not gay, you’re not trans. You’re something in-between all of them; subject to emotional feelings most people ignore in themselves just so they can say they are heterosexual or homosexual (cause it’s easier than being bisexual and trying to explain how everyone has the chance to be attractive to you). While Tingle adequately handles the idea of non-existence he never touches on the feelings or emotions behind never belonging.

Let me explain further if I may…
I can go to a cocktail event with my husband, mostly hetero couples, and I pass. I can go to a Pride parade, dish about gorgeous girls and pass. But do I ever belong to either group?
It’s a conundrum that, even at 42 yrs old, with an insanely supportive partner, I have yet to answer. Reality is that most bisexuals end up with a straight partner because that’s just what is easier as our society caters to it. And so many turn their backs on their queer feelings and roll with that identity.
A couple years ago I decided to really embrace my queerness and be more bold that while my partner is a man I’m truly bi. In doing this, I got told, by a lesbian BFF, that I ‘don’t make sense’ and really should ‘pick a side’ because I ‘can’t have the best of both worlds’. It crushes me when I recall those words. Not unlike the continuing journey of emotions our leading lady goes through in this book.

Yet Tingle has missed the sense of ‘missing’ in the middle piece of it all; or it didn’t quite get there and resonate with me. Now this is just my journey with this book. And I think everyone will have a very different one. I just got my hopes up to have some truly honest bisexual representation (for the first time ever) and so maybe got too excited and my expectations were too high.

Lucky Day is one of those books that everyone will get something different from. Its gore factor is quite low for a horror novel. It’s less scary than Tingle’s other books and really stands better with Dark Matter by aforementioned Crouch. I think most will enjoy the insanity of this story; I wish it would rain rainbow confetti, sounds so pretty!!
I’d definitely recommend reading Lucky Day; but I’ll caveat that and say Bury Your Gays has a more gut punch queer feel to it and a lot more action. That said Tingle has cemented himself as a ‘must read’ author for me this year (when not writing ridiculous smut books); and I’ll look forward to his next one confident that not all the queer characters will be dead in the end! :)

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

WOW! Just WOW!

Lucky Day is Chuck Tingle at his finest—and strangest. It’s grotesquely creative, deeply philosophical, and bizarrely touching. Underneath the blood and absurdity lies a tender message: even in a world where nothing makes sense, connection and meaning can emerge.

I adored this book. Tingle manages to take the most outrageous, surreal scenarios—people dying in statistically impossible ways, a casino that defies the laws of probability—and use them as mirrors for our deepest fears about randomness, grief, and identity. The horror is outrageous and often laugh-out-loud bizarre, but it is never without heart. Beneath the spectacle beats a profoundly human story about survival, love, and the search for meaning when logic fails us.

What impressed me most was how Lucky Day balances extremes: grotesque body horror with moments of tenderness, absurd comedy with existential despair, and cosmic chaos with quiet human resilience. Vera’s journey is as much about reclaiming identity and self-worth as it is about solving the mysteries of probability gone awry.

This is a novel that shocks, unsettles, and occasionally overwhelms, but also one that comforts in its reminder that meaning can be created in the unlikeliest places. It’s rare to find a book that can make you laugh, squirm, and tear up in equal measure—but Lucky Day does just that.

A triumph of surrealist horror and storytelling. Easily one of Chuck Tingle’s most ambitious and rewarding works—an unforgettable ride I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Chuck Tingle has been on my radar for a while and in one month I’ve read both his newest horror release and Camp Damascus. Of the two, I really vibed with this one! Lucky Day is great mix of sci-fi and absurdist survival horror. As someone new to the genre, this was definitely unlike any horror I’ve read before (not to mention, it was the first book I’ve read that mentioned Chappell Roan lol)

The synopsis gives you almost nothing but it’s best to go into this book knowing very little and just be taken along for the ride.

The creativity involved in this book is something only Mr. Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt could create! Plus Vera is such a strong character that it made following her adventure that much easier. The second half of the book did lull a bit for me, otherwise I think this could have been a 5 star read, but I did find the ending very satisfying.

The audiobook was really well done. My second Chuck Tingle narrated by Mara Wilson (yes, Matilda herself!) and I look forward to more of their collabs in the future.

I would check content warnings, especially if you don’t have the stomach for gore. Although imo the most horrifying part of this book was that a character could think “I can’t have toxic masculinity. I’m gay.”

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for a chance to listen to one of my most anticipated audiobooks!

Bury Your Gays was in my top 5 reads last year, and that audiobook was top notch. So I had high expectations going into Lucky Day.

I loved loved loved it. Our MC is relatable and funny and smart. The scares are gory. What I loved even more about Chuck Tingle’s newest is the philosophical undertones driving the plot. What is chance? Fate? Luck? What’s the point of it all if there is no defining rules to the universe?

I’ve recommended this book several times and will be picking up a physical copy. Love is real.

**3.5-stars**

Lucky Day follows MC, Vera, a lover of statistics and her fiance, Annie. Vera sees the world in an interesting way, via numbers and stats. As an academic, she's found a great niche for herself and a peaceful domestic life. On a day they are supposed to be celebrating the publication of her book, and she's prepping to come out to her Mom, a world-wide cataclysmic event occurs. Countless individuals across the globe are killed in truly horrific ways, yet Vera survives. The event comes to be known as the Low Probability Event.

A few years later, though Vera survived, she's certainly not thriving. She's negative, bitter, secluded and hardly-functioning. When a government agent shows up at her home to recruit her to help study the event, she's apathetic about it at best. However, she does agree and sets out with Agent Layne as they investigate the LPE. Their relationship evolves into a sort of buddy cop movie dynamic as they examine the most chaotic events ever penned.

This was a strange one. It was good. Tingle is a great writer, there's no denying that. For my personal taste though, it wasn't quite a hit. It felt like Tingle wrote it as a way to work through an existential crisis. It was compelling in that way, but never succeeded in holding my interest.
I can appreciate the thought and skill that went into the creation of the story, but it continually lost my attention the longer it went on. Certain concepts would capture my attention, but then those would play out and it would be on to the next thing, and my interest would wane again.

I loved the set-up; meeting Vera and quickly getting to the LPEs that started it all. That was wild. It's one of those, 'what the hell am I reading' moments, which is always fun.

I also could understand Vera's reaction to the events. She was easily the most apathetic MC I've ever read from, but considering the circumstances, it made sense, NGL. I try to always stay positive, but I'm not sure where my headspace would be had I been through the series of events she's been through. So, that aspect, the trajectory of her character, was quite believable.

I also enjoyed Agent Layne and the dynamic that develops between the two. I think for me, it was just a little too chaotic and uneven as far as keeping my interest. Overall though, it's solid and creative. The audiobook narration was great, and I know a ton of Readers are going to love this one. Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

Even though this isn't a new favorite for me, I truly appreciate Tingle's creative energy and fluid writing style. I will most definitely be returning for more!!

If I never see a centipede again, it would be too soon! I will continue to stay out of casinos as well. Lucky Day felt like X-Files mixed with Final Destination and statistics sprinkled in. This book goes b a n a n a s with things that nightmares are made of. I truly never knew what was going to happen next. Vera, the MC, is far stronger than I could ever be. If you constantly feel existential dread, then this book is for you. Chuck Tingle may be the voice of love but also the voice of weird.

The audiobook was great as usual. Listening to Mara Wilson’s narration just made me happy. She sounded so pleasant while describing some heinous scenes so, for me, that’s the sign of a great performance. Plus, my millennial heart was soaring after finding out Wilson was narrating.

Again, Tingle reminds us and leaves us KNOWING that Love is Real.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½/5, so I have rounded up.

As this was my first time reading Chuck Tingle (and honestly, I'm kicking myself for waiting so long). I have had friends recommend his work for some time, and now I finally understand what the hype is about. Lucky Day completely blew me away. I'm so grateful to have received an advance copy of the audiobook, because this wild, weird, fantastic ride was precisely the kind of story I didn't know I needed.

The premise is already gripping: four years after a freak catastrophe known as the Low-Probability Event, a day where eight million people died in the most absurd, impossible ways, the world is still trying to make sense of a reality where luck is real, and deadly. Vera, a former professor of statistics, lost everything that Day. When an agent shows up at her door asking for help investigating a suspiciously lucky casino, Vera is pulled into a conspiracy that goes far beyond Las Vegas. It's a perfect storm of mystery, horror, tension, and absurdity, and somehow, it all works.

What surprised me most was how quickly I got hooked. I went in relatively blind, expecting something quirky or offbeat, but within minutes, the story turned sharp. It wastes no time pulling you into the action.
There's chaos early on, but it's not chaos for chaos's sake; there's structure and depth, and it keeps building in really smart ways. It had all the elements I love in horror: tension that creeps up on you, moments of absolute dread, a splash of gore, and an atmosphere that never lets up.

And then there's the narration. Mara Wilson absolutely nails it. Her pacing is spot-on, and she brings a real emotional depth to Vera's character, the fear, the confusion, the quiet moments of resolve. She handles the tonal shifts in the story effortlessly. I could feel the unease in her voice when things started to spiral, and it elevated the whole experience for me.

Chuck Tingle's writing style caught me off guard in the best way. It's sharp, strange, emotional, and full of surprises. For a book that leans into the bizarre, it still manages to say something about grief, randomness, and control without getting bogged down or preachy. It's clever and chaotic in equal measure.

I can easily give this as a recommendation for fans of campy, intelligent horror. If you're already a Chuck Tingle fan, you won't be disappointed. And if you've never read him before, like me, Lucky Day is a fantastic place to start. I'm already planning to work through his back catalogue after this.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest thoughts. A solid 4.5-star experience for me, and one I won't forget any time soon.

This story was just as exciting as it sounds. There was suspense that was to DIE for. I really appreciated the world building that occurred. I think it was fun and definitely worth a read.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the complimentary ALC!

This book is out now!

I had been looking forward to reading my first Chuck Tingle book as I had such high praise (and I still plan on reading Bury Your Gays) on this one but ultimately this book was not for me.

I felt like this just didn't make sense to me at all. These things were happening in this woman's life and life just went on? It just didn't seem like anyone was making a big deal out of it when I felt like they should have been. I also felt like there was a lot of math and logic involved that just went right over my head. I know one of the phrases in the description states "When it comes to Chuck Tingle, the only thing more terrifying than a serious horror novel is an absurd one..." so perhaps that is I why I struggled. I was trying to make sense of it all when in reality there was nothing to make sense over.
And for some people that worked (clearly from the raving reviews) but for me I just couldn't move past it.

Mara Wilson was the narrator for this and I love seeing her break through a voice actor for books! She always does such a great job in all the books I have read with her doing the narration. And I think for this one she was able to bring Vera's confused state and just trying to make sense of it all.

Perhaps this would work better for me in a movie so I could visual see everything happening. And like I said maybe I understood more than I am letting on because of the absurdity of it. I just don't like the feeling of thinking I hadn't understood it (if that makes any sense LOL).

Please refer to other reviews if contemplating on reading this. I know they helped me after the fact to understand what exactly I read and could give you more of an idea of what to expect when you read it.

2.5

Lucky Day is an absurdist tale about a world changed by a day of extraordinarily improbable events that changed the world enough to create a government agency that can investigate with near impunity. A probability professor/author who was on the verge of coming out to her mother when the randomness broke out gets tapped by an agent to consult on some crazy phenomena, like black dots hole portals appearing on people's bodies and attempts to find connections to the events and a casino famed for having better odds than the norm. Descriptions are vivid and twists are great - very entertaining and intriguing.

Chuck Tingle without fails creates some of the best horror novels out there. Lucky Day is a story of loss and recovery while still remaining funny. The narrator was excellent at conveying the contrasting emotions. The story itself was so skillfully creative!!

This ended up being a fairly quick read from the library that I admittedly ended up sprinting through. Not only do we get a great book about the inertia of grief and trauma and dealing with that, we also get a great investigation into a seemingly too lucky casino and the absolutely insane "low probability event" from a few years ago in Chicago that ended up killing our main character's shitty mother. I think this is the most openly autistic character Tingle has written in a while. The unraveling of the central mystery is really well done, and also vaguely ties into some of his other books. Mara Wilson also does an amazing job as the narrator on this audiobook. Pick this up when you get the chance!

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC, all opinions are my own.

What another wild ride with Chuck Tingle. Gruesome, gory, and just plain weird.

Vera survived the low-probability event and has been recruited by Agent Layne to help investigate a particular casino that is always lucky. For each incredibly lucky event... there's an equally unlucky.

CW: biphobia, body horror, gore, death of a parent (on-page), suicidal ideation, alcoholism (mentioned), depression, murder, violence, gun violence, car accident (on-page), torture, panic attacks

I would like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a free audio e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Four years ago, a rising statistics professor losing everything during the Low Probability Event, a global catastrophe that resulted in nearly eight million unusual deaths around the world. Now, a mysterious government agent appears on her door to convince her to come to Las Vegas with him in order to investigate an unnaturally lucky hotel that may have something to do with the Low Probability Event.

Never would I think a horror novel could give me such emotional whiplash. And I mean that in a good way!

Lucky Day is a sci-fi absurdist horror novel that will make you both laugh and shudder. Tingle's writing is very easy to understand and allows for readers to get into the story. At the same time, I think what makes Tingle's writing (and ultimately the book itself) stand out is that there’s a mixture of horror and absurdism in this book that leaves you feeling dumbstruck. For example, one moment Tingle could be describing some highly unlikely phenomenon that comes across as purely comical and then the next Tingle takes that same phenomenon turns it into something absolutely terrifying. Since I listened to the audiobook version, Mara Wilson's narration craftily captures Tingle's writing and helps bring this story to life.

While Lucky Day contains all the thrills horror readers coming to expect of a horror novel, Tingle's Lucky Day is ultimately a message of hope and a fulfillment of his artistic vision "Love is Real". Examining themes of nihilistic self-destruction as a result of a person's life being turned completely upside down as well as how love and community being means of combating against nihilism/nihilistic existentialism, you can't help but feel the hope Lucky Day radiates with by the time you finish.

That being said, I can't wait to see what Tingle creates in the future and I will definitely be keeping an eye on his other work.

💭:
I finished this audiobook a few days ago, and is still circulating in my noggin’. Time to pay rent, Mr. Tingle!
(Jk 😘)

🎙️5 ⭐️ narration:
I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator’s voice! She did a great job of keeping the dialogue interesting and alive with her performance.

This book is meant to be propulsive, zany, and lively, and she didn’t miss a beat. 🏆

🎵:
Lucky 🍀 Day is the first book I have read by this author, but it won’t be the last! I already have one of his backlist (Bury Your Gays) on my shelves raring to go.

💭:
What can I say except that I loved this book! I’m not finding it easy to review due to the complexities, and the wildness of it.

Complex as in a little absurd (but intentional) and over the top - with the writing giving the reader a lot to think about.

I found the use of satire and dark humour, to show the flaws in our society, to be evident.

𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝙸 𝚓𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐:
-The writing is smart, with a unique premise
-Chuck is a master storyteller
-horror in all of its glory
-If I were a zombie I’d eat his brains.
-I want to live in his mind
-Reading his book (to me) is like meeting someone that would get me in rl.

Chuck Tingle books are always an adventure, and this one definitely is! The audiobook is narrated by Mara Wilson, and she did a fantastic job. Vera is a bisexual statistics professor with a fiancé that her mother thinks is just a phase. She survives a horrific global catastrophe, and then kind of gives up. The events of that day were absolutely absurd, so the book starts out with a bang. If you like horror, sci-fi, and a little bit of the absurd, you will love this book. You will also love Chuck Tingle in general.