Thank you to @netgalley and @hachettemobius for this ebook. It was folk horror perfection! 🐜🐜🐜… Recovering from an abusive relationship, Josie returns to the tiny village on the edge of a forest where she grew up. But all is not well in the village as Josie soon finds out when she stumbles upon the decaying body of a woman in the forest that appears to be inhabited by a colony of ants. And this isn’t the only woman who has disappeared in this strange village where ancient folklore and strange customs are revered. And if this isn’t enough, Josie is sure the colony of ants have now taken up residence in her own body.

This novel starts off as a slow burn but once it picked up I could not put it down and absolutely loved it. A combination of folk horror and serial killer thriller…. I mean what could be better! I loved so many things about this book. The folk horror elements were well done and checked all the trope boxes for me including an ancient festival where the villagers wear elaborate and creepy masks. This is a book where the suspense builds until the final crescendo that was immensely satisfying.

I will say I guessed who the killer was very early on, but I didn’t mind, in fact I think the author intends for the reader to figure it out because this book is less about the who and more about Josie’s journey of self discovery and understanding her past.

The only slight draw back for me was the amount of body horror this book contained because there is an over abundance of it. I think it might have been more effective if there had been a little less as at times it felt repetitive. And as someone who doesn’t love insects, I found this aspect to be especially creepy. You will never look at ants the same way again and I felt like things were crawling on me multiple times while reading this- to the point that it became somewhat of an immersive experience!

Oh I loved this so much. A little bit of everything in here. You have some lore, some murder mystery, some female rage and a little bit of fantasy. Beautifully written.

5 stars. This was disturbingly good. Josie is recovering from a physically abusive relationship and is forced back to her isolated hometown that’s very keen on their traditions. Soon after her return, she stumbles across a dead woman’s decaying body with bugs feasting on the rest of what’s left. After this, she starts feeling the sensory of having bugs crawling inside her skin and her eyes as if trying to lead her to answer about the dead woman. She starts remembering blocked out memories from her childhood and realizes she knows more than she thinks she does. The cover is gorgeous and I love a good folk horror which includes a woman getting her revenge. As always, thank you so much to Mobius Books for the earc.

Josie is at the lowest point in her life, she is back home in the small village, Ellwood, she ran from after surviving being in a coma that her ex-girlfriend placed her in. As she is walking home along the Forest of Dean, she discovers a young woman's ant-infested, dead body in the path. Josie has a panic attack and things begin to go on a downward spiral for her as she soon begins to discover truths about the victim and her own past. While dealing with all of this, Josie seems to be battling her own infestation of ants that are within her mind and body. As she begins to look closer, she discovers that women's bodies have been popping up around Ellwood for years. Ellwood is already a mystery with their weird pagan traditions, and when the yearly tradition occurs when they don their masks she realizes she is closer to finding the monster than she thinks.

WTF did I just read? In a good way haha at first I was a bit confused about what was going on, but as the novel picked up and the ants begin to take over Josie's mind, I couldn't put it down. This book is folk horror, body horror, and TONS of bugs. It has you questioning what is real and what isn't throughout the story. Really great addressing how to grow into what we are meant to be without sacrificing our traditions. Also touches on misogyny and patriarchy. Just an interesting read. Amor is a great writer and I look forward to reading more by the author. It was a little bit predictive in the end with who the monster was.

Old country customs, mystery, murder body horror. All the makings of a good horror novel. From start to finish i was hooked. Intrigued if the bugs were a manifestation of her anxiety or really there. The similarity of the body she found to her own likeness. I just had to know what was happening.

A Gorgeous Creepfest That Itches Its Way Under Your Skin! 😈🕷️
If you’re the kind of horror reader who loves a story that gets under your skin and stays there, ITCH! will feel like a deliciously sinister playground. Set in an isolated town shadowed by folklore, fungi, and festering secrets, this novel blends folk horror with visceral body horror in a way that’s unflinchingly eerie and wickedly fun. The atmosphere here? Dense, damp, and crawling — not just because of the insects, but because every page feels like an unsettling whisper in your ear that you can’t unhear.
What makes this read particularly thrilling for horror fans is how it walks that fine line between psychological unease and outright grotesque fascination. The protagonist’s descent — both mental and physical — is haunting in its tenderness and terrifying in its intensity, giving the book emotional teeth as well as thematic bite. While some bits lean familiar within the folk horror tradition, the execution is so sharp and the mood so thick you’ll be both horrified and delighted to keep turning pages. A must-read for anyone who relishes dark folklore, creeping dread, and stories that linger long after midnight.

A story of a woman who finds a dead body while on a walk through the woods.
Everything to follow leads Josie deeper down the ant hill to find a horrible monster who's been haunting the woods surrounding her small town.

Itch! is a folk horror mixed with murder mystery tossing in body horror and abusive relationships.

I think this book has a lot to do with repressed anger, dealing with abuse and keeping that shoved down. How manipulative abusers can be, how dealing with abuse can change other relationships, how you view other people and yourself.

I thought I wouldn't enjoy the crime procedural aspect, as I'm not much into the whodunnit and murder mysteries, but this stayed grounded enough in the horrors of it all to keep it's claws in me.

A good one, innit?

4.5. A forested, fanged, flaying, full-tilt, fulminating, formicating (and that’s no misspelling), frenzied, fantastical, feminist and folkloric feat of a fable about individual and community trauma and efforts toward survival, understanding, perseverance, integration, and healing.

Walking a woodsy shortcut between her remote hamlet cottage to her tavern job, protagonist Josie encounters what first appears to be a mutilated and discarded mannequin of a young woman - but isn’t. This grim finding sets off a domino effect of additional traumatic memories and morbid discoveries, both for Josie and throughout her small traditional village with its ancient roots, compelling Josie and others to question their personal and communal history.

Already a survivor of past and recent trauma, and having only recently returned to her childhood home to recover from a violent incident, Josie’s finding in the woods seems to trigger somatic symptoms and vivid sensory hallucinations, in particular a type of tactile hallucination or parathesia known as formication in which one experiences insect-like sensations. But, where is the line between hallucination and delusion, reality and memory? Josie must wrestle with these questions and her condition as she continues to work toward recovery by trying to piece together past mysteries, along the way intersecting with other village characters including an enigmatic cantankerous elder historian and a cottagecore but still very badass tavernkeeper - somewhat like a very dark version of Stardew Valley.

The book lands at the extremely far end of the spectrum of descriptive and visually graphic writing. This is not a subtle book: it’s hyperbolic, maximalist, and excessive, but in the best way. The author’s expressive talents support three exceptional components of the book that help it stand out and make a lasting impression.

First, the book spectacularly portrays a scenic and appropriately atmospheric setting in the Forest of Dean/Wye Valley area in Gloucestershire, southwest England, near the Welsh border. Think: The Dark Crystal, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Tintern Abbey.

Second, the novel evocatively portrays examples of folkloric traditions still honored in these ancient communities, including ceremonies involving costumes, masques, marches, and effigy burning that represent a melding of pagan and Christian beliefs and rituals about the forces of nature, fate, good and evil, life and death.

Finally, via the formication angle, the book integrates pretty masterful and original, if lurid and a tad abundant, metaphorical exploration of the psychological impacts of complex trauma.

Upon reading this book, I was probably most reminded of one of my absolute favorite novels from last year, Bat Eater and Other Names For Cora Zeng, by Kylie Lee Baker - whom I then discovered has also endorsed this book, along with another favorite author of mine, Rachel Harrison, whose readers may also appreciate this book. I also think this book may appeal to Grady Hendrix fans and could have been written by Grady Hendrix’s punk rock green witch sister, if he had one.

If this book were music, it would be P.J. Harvey? Or Florence and the Machine if she played a solstice concert in hell?

I would be completely remiss if I did not provide a major, if probably obvious, entomophobia alert and the reddest possible flag of a trigger warning for body horror, especially of the insect-related sort. Expect all the multi-legged and winged little visitors. And we aren’t talking a one and done, “OMG, how about that part on page XX” kind of thing: there will be continued and sustained gruesome bug episodes all throughout the whole book. I will say that typically I have limited tolerance for body horror and especially the buggy kind, but I managed to get through it because it was well incorporated overall into the story: the author was clearly committed, creative, and passionate when it came to including this content, but it is grounded in the narrative and themes and not gratuitously done. Other trigger warnings might include sexual assault, abuse, substance use, violence, injury, murder, death, mental health crisis and depression, and self harm.

I will give reassurance that no non-insect animals are harmed in this book. (And there is a dog.) There are so many bugs that some seem bound to be squashed. (But then again, are they even real?!)

This would be a fantastic book club selection and spooky season read (although appropriate for all seasons, since seasonal cycles play a role). And goddess willing they make this into a movie!

And - that cover!! Give that one an award!

ITCH! is scheduled for release on January 13, 2026, and my sincere appreciation to the author, Mobius Books, and NetGalley for providing the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This luscious folk horror is threaded with the best aspects of a psychological thriller, and will have your skin crawling as you slip into the world of our FMC Josie. The fervor in which she believes that she is a living containment for the colony of ants that lives within her, and the part they play in her story, has the reader both mentally and physically affected. To say I didn’t scratch at my own skin a few times would truthfully be a lie.

I loved the depiction of how modern times threaten the old beliefs and traditions of these quaint small communities. It really lent to the eerie atmosphere and had me considering their truths.

The characters are complex and provide such a depth to the story. Leaving you attached and rooting for justice to win out. I especially enjoyed how the author showed Josie’s metamorphosis into her new confidence and take on life. It fit so perfectly with the themes of the story.

Itch! is truly a top notch horror novel to kick off 2026 with! Absolutely blown away and can’t wait to adventure through Gemma Amor’s backlog.

Gemma Amor is such a fantastic writer, especially with this book crawling with bugs! The story of a woman returning to her obscure small town, after being terribly injured by an ex-girlfriend, and discovering a body, was very intriguing. The moments of terror in Josie, our main character, were greatly portrayed as she struggles with what she found and how she begins to fear that her skin is crawling, bugs making their way around her. The descriptions of the town, the terror done to them, and the itching burrowing its way deeper and deeper into Josie were delightfully disgusting and hard to look away from. The additional characters, like Angela and Old Man Jacob, were nice to include in the story and provided more to the small, unsettling town, which also bears an old ritual of carrying a straw effigy and tossing it over a cliff, and its old folkloric values. Overall, I really enjoyed this twisted horror book filled with murder and itching under the skin.

This book made it feel like actual ants were crawling under my skin, just like the main character. Absolutely loved it!

First off, love the color! Secondly, great book! Horror and bugs galore (I’m still itching!). This book is definitely not for the squeamish but if you can handle bugs, you’ll love this book.

An extremely well written story about which I have no complaints. This was some of the best amongst the best and I highly recommend it to all readers who are looking for a sign to read this. Full review to be posted in Goodreads or Instagram.

I thoroughly enjoyed ITCH. I enjoyed the main character and her character development. The plot was riveting and set in modern England in a less than modern, rural town where the protagonist grew up. A woman at rock bottom heads back to her hometown where strange things keep happening in this folk horror with creepy crawlies. The cover really hooked me as did the book. I kept wanting to see what happened next!


Be warned this is bug horror and if that is not for you I would NOT pick up this book.

"It seemed no part of her was free of infestation. She was a vessel now, for parasites."

After literally surviving her abusive relationship (her ex put her in the hospital by throwing a brick at her head), Josie leaves London and returns home to her little rural village. But her fresh start back home is marred when she comes across a dead body on her shortcut home. The body couldn't have been in the woods long since the day before was the village's Devil’s March, an event that has locals and tourists alike traipsing through the woods, along the very path she was on. But the insect infestation of the body is rampant - ants and maggots climbing around until Josie passes out and gives them a new place to roam... Or does she? Since the incident, Josie knows there are ants crawling around inside her. She can feel them everywhere; sees them fall out around her.

"She scratched herself violently, all the time, even in her sleep."

Josie is trying to come to terms with everything - her abusive ex, finding the body, her itchy friends crawling around and through her - and things are beginning to get better. That is, until Josie visits the mother of the woman she found in the woods. In the girl's notebook, she finds pictures of ants. Dozens of ants. Then her father invites her ex for a visit and Josie ends up running into a second body - this one merely bones. What is going on in her little village?

"She longed to run a cheese grater over the length of her body."

It seems to me that some books and/or movies hit harder based on your situation when you read/watch them. I saw this book and absolutely had to read it - primarily because I am 6 weeks into an allergic reaction to something that has me itching across most of my body. I was walking on the treadmill reading about Josie absent-mindedly scratching the back of her hand and only to look down and see that I am also absent-mindedly scratching the back of my hand. The body horror in this one totally creeped me out - and I loved it. My only qualms with the story was the mystery part. I knew exactly where the author was going with the dead girls, and it seemed quite obvious. If it weren't, this would have been a solid 5 stars. Really enjoyed the story though!

Itch! by Gemma Amor was everything I wanted it to be, in theory. The idea for the book was compelling. The author lost me a bit with the constant flashbacks and abuse but it did serve a purpose; explaining the main character's manner. In short, I wanted it to be more folk horror and less domestic drama. I did like the book though. The Emmett aspects hooked me, as did Josie's hallucinations and the murder mysteries. Amor was on point with her descriptive detailed gore and smart writing style but the violence was too stomach churning for me honestly. If you're sensitive to child abuse or SA take heed. I didn't find it that hard to figure out but all in all a good offering otherwise (see what I did there).

ITCH! follows Josie, who has recently returned to her hometown that is wreathed in strange traditions and yearly rituals, as she navigates putting her recently uprooted life back together and is attempting to forge down a new path. That is, until she finds a dead body in the forest and starts noticing bugs everywhere in her body.

I love a good folk horror, and the insect elements were so grotesque yet...empowering?? You're just going to have to read it to understand 🤭 The characters in this were really compelling (in both positive and negative ways) and the atmosphere was strangely cozy given the context.

I will say I did catch onto where it was going rather quickly, but that didn't detract from the experience at all. If anything, it made it more satisfying to see how the story played out without having to pay attention to hints/foreshadowing or keep an eye out for red herrings. I felt like I was putting the pieces together along with Josie, and it all came together beautifully.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Book Group for this ARC!!! 🖤

Josie, who has just ended an abusive relationship, finds herself back in her small hometown near the Forest of Dean. While on a walk, Josie stumbles upon a decaying body in the forest. What follows are harrowing secrets and never-ending questions, and the answers that Josie finds could upend all she thought she knew.

What I Loved:
Crime and horror together is one of my favorite subgenres, and Amor was able to blend the two very well.
Nerdy, but I loved Amor’s short sentence structure. It added to the story’s pacing in a way that made it to where I literally couldn’t put this book down.
The folk horror elements. Sometimes books labeled as “folk horror” fail to deliver, but I felt that Amor’s story was able to capture the vibes of folk horror without feeling heavy-handed.
Josie herself. I felt that Josie’s character was explored expertly throughout the novel, and the way Amor incorporated insect horror to comment on Josie’s mental health and reclaiming of herself was done so well.

Overall, if you’re into small-town folk horror mixed with a bit of insects and murder, you’ve come to the right place. ITCH! was a delight.

This was my first Gemma Amor book and it made me excited to read more of her backlist! I've always been interested in her books but I've never been pushed to read them. Now I'm super excited to go back and read more she's written! This is the perfect book for the girlies who love weird girl horror. The vibes were immaculate (who doesn't love a tradition seeped small town full of superstitions and townies who are all a bit strange?), there were a lot of important conversation about trauma and DV, and seemingly the main character is losing her mind. The reason this didn't get a full 5 stars is because it felt like it dragged in some places. I wanted the action to move faster and I wanted all the secrets to come to light, but that's mostly personal preference. I found the main character, Josie, to be super interesting to follow. You're in her head with her while she tries to grapple with leaving an abusive relationship and wondering if her memories are real. Most of the characters in this book are looking out for her, supporting her in whatever way they can and it was nice to see the sense of community build around Josie after the plot starts taking off. This book is definitely for a specific type of reader and I'm happy to say that reader is me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mobius Books for an eARC of ITCH! by Gemma Amor! 🐜

Obviously, the cover drew me into this one. The *itch* and body horror was delivered beyond my expectations! I was well and truly creeped and grossed out. And for that, I really enjoyed the book!

Josie just moved home in a small town after leaving her abusive relationship with her girlfriend. Her dad is still very cold to her but the locals that have seen Josie grow up become her family.

Josie finds a dead body and from there, she starts experiencing horrifying, truly and sincerely AWFUL, bodily sensations and nightmares. Also, she tries to figure out what happened to the poor woman and that snowballs into a life-changing revelation.

I enjoyed the folkloric conversations and imagery. I enjoyed the British country-side forest setting and cozy pub vibes. Josie as a character was a bit naive but her itchy experiences would drive anyone absolutely insane and out of their minds so I didn’t blame her too much for not connecting dots sooner.

Overall, this was a solid serial killer and insecty horror! Justice for Josie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Book Group for this ARC!

This was my first read by Gemma and I can say that I was blown away. I went into ITCH! blind so I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to read. Amor writes a perfectly weaved mystery with plenty of horror and my favorite, feminine rage!!

I would not recommend this book to everyone, especially not if creepy crawlers aren’t your thing, but ITCH! will definitely keep you up at night!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 5
Pace: 4
Plot development: 4
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

The first page opens with a dark and twisted conversation that will immediately set the tone for the shivers to ache between your shoulder blades. This narrative is a body horror that you can hear and taste – and the type of horror you will not forget about. Gemma’s plot devices to create this eerie setting from the first moments we are introduced to the narrative truly speaks to her curation of true horror. She takes our insecurities and our fears and makes a setting from those very unsettling moments. Your fears are about to feel real as they give you something to think about in your nightmares.
Itch! will make you think your goosebumps are crawling inside your veins. This is the way horror settings should be written. What I wanted to see stronger throughout this narrative is the dialogue itself. The dialogue is frail in comparison to the vivid language used to create the ambience. I would love to see Gemma weld the two types of writing and make it even stronger. But that does not take away from how downright eerie this story is. This is the type of horror that gets stuck in your mind and blends body horror with the likes of psychological horror.
Furthermore, you will fall in love with the taste for detail the author weaves into her narrative. As you dive further into each chapter you are left wondering when something unsettling will happen next. There are some chapters that feel extend for too long and I think that speaks to the dialogue between the two characters and needing more time to cut the unnecessary fats from the story. A creepy narrative to start your to be read lists! Thank you Gemma Amor, Netgalley, and Hachette Book Group for this advanced digital copy. 3.5 rated up!
Read more reviews, impressions, and tarot readings at my blog, https://brujerialibrary.wordpress.com/