Bethesda is a chaotic, fast paced horror novella that fully embraces its own weirdness. It has the uncanny, “something is very wrong here” energy of The Twilight Zone, paired with the glossy, macabre spectacle of House of Wax (but with far more self awareness and payoff). When Tryss and Aiden find themselves stranded in the eerie town of Bethesda, they quickly realize they’re not just dealing with an isolated location, but a deeply unsettling pattern: identical women, all named Barb, and a town filled with preserved taxidermized, plasticized, and frozen in time bodies.

Lisa Morris leans hard into the strangeness. The discovery of bodies and abandoned cars stretching back to the 1940's builds a creeping sense of dread beneath the novella’s almost campy surface. There’s a constant question humming underneath it all: what happened here? And the story keeps you hooked as it spirals further into the bizarre. It’s a wild ride from start to finish: unsettling, absurd, and darkly entertaining. The novella doesn’t overstay its welcome, delivering a punchy, memorable horror experience that’s as fun as it is strange.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Lisa Morris, and Quill and Crow Publishing House for the ARC. All opinions are my own.