Noah’s family are haunted by monsters. But, lonely, neglected and left to his own devices while the rest of the family build a haunted house attraction for Halloween, Noah is the only one to let the monster inside.

The first thing I have to say about this book is that it is really well written. There are excellently spooky vibes without it being overtly scary, and plenty of horror elements but without being purely a horror story. Although the monster is a prominent character throughout the novel, the main focus is on Noah and the various struggles his family is going through, with their mental health, finances and strained relationships. There are themes of illness, suicide, kidnapping, and sexual abuse, but not described in graphic detail.

I kept expecting something different from this book; for the monster to turn out to be some metaphor for Noah’s repressed childhood traumas, but that never happened and instead the fantasy element took over. This wasn’t bad but I felt it could have pushed further into the family trauma side of things, rather than going down the actual literal monster route.

I went into this one expecting something refreshing and entertaining. Unfortunately I had to put it down as it was quite a heavy read but also I struggled with the format of the narrative. Hamill is incredibly talented in his writing but I think i'll save this one for when I want a darker tale!

"a cosmology of monsters" is a book in two halves. The first half really hooked me, but by the end, I was hoping it would be over quickly. I didn't dislike the overall story but I can't say that I liked it either. I thought the writing was good and the idea was solid but the main character, Noah, is really hard to like. I also felt like there were moments of sexualisation that were simply gross.

Thanks very much to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. Many thanks, Dave

This totally had me absorbed until all the weird sex stuff. Interesting concept, great writing style, but the main character having sex with his monster best friend just wasn't it. Think Horror is definitely the wrong category for this one.

I really wanted to enjoy this book way than I did. It had so much going for it in the horror department and the first half really drew me into a fantastically weird world that Noah and his family were inhabiting. However, when the monster of the title shows up the whole vibe of the book changed for me and I don't feel that the real life horrors (of which there were many) were handled all that well. At times it became confusing, especially at the end as I felt it was so rushed. I found Noah to be so unlikeable by the end that I had stopped caring a little about the story he was telling. I think I also missed out on a lot of old school Lovecraft horror references because I am yet to read any of his work and it was a big influence on the writing from what I could gather. It definitely had it's moments but overall the enjoyability factor was lacking.

Heavily influenced by Lovecraft, a family find themselves haunted by monsters, one's which visit each generation. These monsters are looking for something, which they all manage to avoid until one family member invites one in!
There are a great deal of themes and topics approached in this book that will make you uncomfortable, including suicide and grooming, hidden in the guise of a monster. Overall A Cosmology of Monsters follows the generations of a dysfunctional family, making the horror of this book all too real!

Noah and his family have a secret. They are all haunted by a creature not of this world. For Harry, Noah’s dad, it started the night his mom was found miles away from home in the middle of the night. Margaret, Noah’s mom, first encountered it before she married Harry. Noah’s sisters Sydney and Eunice just don’t talk about it. As for Noah, he communicates with it and now he’s invited it inside…….

I absolutely loved this book. Not small love, I’m talking big, loud, noisy love that feels like it going to burst out of me. From the first word to the last I was hypnotised by the spell cast through Noah and his family and I didn’t want it to end.

Whilst this has monsters within it, it’s not a story about monsters. Ultimately it’s a book about love, family and strength of character which will stay with me for a very long time and that suits me down to the ground.

Huge thanks to Titan Books and NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Author Shaun Hamill definitely uses the works of Stephen King for his time-spanning novel The Cosmology of Monsters.

Much the same as King’s IT and many other stories, Hamill’s tale is about growing up, realising who and what you want out of life and how the tackle darkness when it comes calling.

We follow the life of Noah Turner and his family and see almost from birth his journey, after his father dies unexpectedly, leaving the rest of the family to finish his unfinished backyard scare park.

The family fight against real-life demons such as grief, poverty and sickness in the wake of the father’s passing without knowing that real monsters could be haunting their lives.

Hamill’s tale starts quite linear but has a knack of drawing the reader into this messed up family dynamic with sprinkles of cosmic horror spliced in until we get a full grasp of the larger narrative.

Surprisingly, the two mix quite well and this fast becomes an engrossing read which feels really epic but does not step over 350 pages.

Recommended.

What a brilliant book.

Anyone who loves Stephen King or HP Lovecraft will adore this book.

I found it terrifying and touching in equal measure. Every single page is filled with imagery that you can see and feel...it feels so real, and fantastical at the same time.

This is such a vivid and well written book...the last quarter of the book made me thrilled and anxious and actually was heart pounding.

There isn't much I can say as its definitely a reading experience and explanation will only spoil it...you have to experience it yourself.

I literally couldn't put it down and now its the early hours of the morning and it's scared me silly...I definitely feel like I've been on an adventure and cannot get over how talented Shaun Hamill is...

I've read Stephen King (who hasn't!) And can honestly say this is up there with the best of them.

Its a very clever weaving of Lovecraft and lore and horror ...whilst at the same time being emotional and real. I loved it

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In A Cosmology of Monsters Hamill has created a creepy blend of horror mashup and family drama, leaving the reader to ultimately decide whether the story is one of paranormal horror, or the everyday, real horror that is often more chilling.

The Turner family have some serious problems from the outset. Noah takes us all the way through his parent’s first meeting and subsequent relationship, then the history of his dad’s obsession with building the ultimate haunted house experience and his slow descent into madness that follows. We find out about Noah’s sister’s troubles – suicide notes, a disappearance – as well as the family’s struggles with long-term illness, bereavement and poverty. Through it all, Noah is our narrator as he lurks on the outskirts at school, at home and in the family haunted house. Until he meets a fellow outsider and makes a FRIEND.

This is one of the areas of the book that I found a little problematic. There is more than one exploitative, or downright abusive, relationship in this story and the way they are portrayed made me feel pretty uncomfortable. I find it hard to believe in ‘love’ or ‘soul mates’ when a relationship is based on a dramatic imbalance of power. Still, I’m not sure that feeling uncomfortable isn’t exactly what the author was aiming for throughout as there are many, many other dark, triggery subjects explored and/or skimmed over, including but not limited to: suicide, rape, child abuse, death, bigotry, violence and murder. The book title refers to a universe of monsters, and that is definitely no exaggeration – whether it refers to the monsters out there, in here, under our beds, or inside our heads.

For, of course, there is also the issue of the reliability of the narrator. Noah has been subjected to incredible stresses, almost since birth, and it is clear that mental health issues run in his family, so there is the possibility that the ‘monsters’ he describes are actually symbolic of the madness inherent in dark human emotions (lust, jealousy, anger, depression, loneliness) or products of his own tortured mind: nightmares and hallucinations, inhabiting the gaps between perception, reality and imagination.

The horror elements are a love song to many, many horror-classics: Ira Levin; Dracula; Frankenstein; haunted houses; the Addams Family; bodysnatchers; Lovecraft; the Matrix; Monsters Inc; B movies… there’s a bit of something for most tastes, all lovingly represented in a fresh and interesting story about the symbiotic relationship between humanity and our darknesses.

And, like I said, the reader can decide whether the City and the events there are real, or whether this is really a story of mental illness colliding with very human vice. Like many people, I prefer to place the blame on the monsters. It’s working out who the monsters are that’s the tricky part!



'I started collecting my older sister Eunice’s suicide notes when I was seven years old. I still keep them all in my bottom desk drawer, held together with a black binder clip. They were among the only things I was allowed to bring with me, and I’ve read through them often the last few months, searching for comfort, wisdom, or even just a hint that I’ve made the right choices for all of us.
Eunice eventually discovered that I was saving her missives and began addressing them to me. In one of my favourites, she writes, “Noah, there is no such thing as a happy ending. There are only good stopping places.”'

– Shaun Hamill, A Cosmology of Monsters


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Why do we love horror? The adrenaline rush of fear, the idea of staring back at the dark and possibly that the fantastical takes you away from the horrors of everyday life to better understand it. My uncle got me into the idea of enjoying being scared with Hammer. Universal and at a young age weirdly Dawn of the Dead which made an impression and then I discovered reading! Horror changes while growing up what scares me now is very different to what got me as a kid…ok giant spiders always will… but fear is malleable and changing. In Shaun Hamill’s bittersweet novel A Cosmology of Monsters we wander through a family’s creation and eventual break-up over forty years where something has got their scent. An intriguing novel but one that I think repeats some of classic horror’s mistakes.

In the late sixties struggling impoverished middle-class student Margaret works in a bookstore and meets Harry Turner a poor guy working through a burger bar and obsessed with horror. The two click and after a memorable date in a less than scary haunted house attraction that suddenly got unusually scary the two fall in love. The newly married couple had two twins Sydney and Eunice and then before tragedy strikes for the first-time young Noah is born. Noah then relates to us the history of the family as its remaining members are compelled to build their own haunted house ride known the Wandering Dark but there are other things in the world that feels this family needs close attention. Noah starts to piece together a mystery that has been going on for decades and finds a decision with a high cost may be required if he wants to save the ones he loves.

I really loved the first half of this novel. The narration of how Noah’s parents met is a wonderful piece of character work focused on Margaret finding herself attracted to this kid who she knows she shouldn’t date is just a lovely heartfelt bit of writing and despite that tenderness Hamill throws in a darkening shade as we find out the family is about to be reduced unexpectedly. We see circa ten-year jumps and watch the family’s fortunes wax and wane. Hamill creates in Sydney and Eunice two fascinating characters. Sydney rebelling about her mother’s authority figure feels a character who is about to explode while the bookish and quiet Eunice is working out her sexuality that Hamill reminds us in 90’s Texas could lead to a very dangerous situation if it became well known. Eunice is a complex character with mental health issues and yet a very kind focus on her younger brother was an emotional draw to the story.

This pays dividends when we see the forces that are surrounding the family. There is an air of something forever watching and playing with the Turners for unexpected reasons. Hamill throws Noah into this strange situation when he meets something monstrous yet compelling and that relationship then drives the final stages of the book. This is less horror in terms of blood and gore but psychological – watching characters under pressure, a sense of no escape and eerie scenes in a different place that seems to know too much. Hamill has a great ear for atmosphere and building tension. I also liked that horror here is not supernatural and in one memorable scene we see a disturbing religious group use their own horror rooms to scare teens into the ways of the Lord reminding us that some horrors are very down to earth.

But I do have a major issue with the novel and that is because with Margaret, Sydney and in particular Eunice we get three great very different female characters that the novel I felt abandoned in favour of Noah’s own arc and I didn’t feel that situation was earned. These women all have their own struggles to face and in particular Eunice’s battles I would have loved to see the women given more agency but despite Hamill’s very respectful and loving description of the characters he leaves it to Noah to get involved in the resolution. While in horror I appreciate there is not always going to be a happy ending but I was less than pleased with a attempted suicide scene for Eunice which I unfortunately felt was falling dangerously into a bury your gays scenario. My frustration is that Hamill in this book shows they are an accomplished author who clearly can write believable and varied female characters but ended up pulling the focus onto the young hormonal teen Noah who I found the least interesting of the family. To explore how Margaret saw her family or perhaps events from Eunice’s perspective I feel would have been a much better choice.

Overall, this is a fine novel but falls into the trap that much older horror novels have of women being used to serve a man’s arc. Once that point is reached, I found the nostalgia fell away into a very predictable finale (but with one memorable reveal). The story makes great reference to Lovecraft and I wish Hamill had challenged older horror for its myopic approach to women a little more than done here and made them more active in the story. I will be intrigued with what Hamill delivers in the future but this I felt became more a re-tread of an already well-trodden path in the end.

My final book in this year’s Halloween Reading Roundup was by far the most difficult to read, and also to summarize here, but I’ll give it a try.

A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill follows one family over the course of many decades, beginning in the late 1960s and concluding in 2013. Broken up into seven parts, each part is set in a different year with some parts following just a few years after its predecessor and others leaping a decade or more ahead. Each one is narrated by Noah, the youngest child of the family. In the early parts that focus on his parents and older sisters, he tells their story to the best of his knowledge, and the story moves to his first-hand point of view around a third of the way in.

All through his life, Noah has seen monsters. All his family sees them, catching glimpses in the corners of their eyes, but Noah really sees them. As his family suffers tragedy after tragedy, his monster friend is a constant in his life, a playmate, confidant, and even – later on – a lover. Their relationship continues until Noah begins to suspect that the darkness he knows has been encroaching upon him all his life might be too powerful and he begins to distrust his friend and the otherworldly Lovecraftian city she inhabits.

As he grows older and tries to live something approaching a normal life, Noah can’t help but feel that something is missing from his life. Turning a corner no longer leads him to places it shouldn’t, but when a final tragedy strikes at home, Noah realizes what he must do to set things right.

Any book that opens with the line, “I started collecting my older sister Eunice’s suicide notes when I was seven-years-old,” is immediately signposting that it will not be an easy read, and A Cosmology of Monsters is challenging in the extreme. It would be easier to list the trigger warnings that don’t apply to this book but key ones that readers should be aware of include suicide, depression, statutory rape, the murder of young children, child abuse, and religious homophobia. A number of sexually explicit scenes are also scattered throughout, some with dubious consent issues. The real horrors in this book are therefore often horrifyingly mundane but tinged with an element of the supernatural. Is it worse to imagine that a human is capable of murder without supernatural intervention, or to imagine our actions are being manipulated by monsters that we are powerless to resist?

A Cosmology of Monsters uses the universe created by H.P. Lovecraft as an initial structure, imagining how that shadow world might press in on our own and cause the slow but inevitable destruction of a family able to see through the veil into it and witness things no human should. The entire thing could be seen as an extended metaphor for the fear caused by hereditary mental health conditions, or it could be taken literally. Honestly, I’m not sure which is more terrifying.

This is a slow burn of a story that traces less a descent into madness and more the destruction and eventual restoration of one family, and the price paid by that family and those around them for that restoration. I found the ending difficult to parse: was it happy, or was it the most unimaginably awful thing I had ever read? – however strange this may sound, I can’t actually tell.

A Cosmology of Monsters is powerful, provocative, and one of the best books I have read this year. Despite the visceral feelings of disgust it frequently stirred up, I know I will be reading it again in the future in order to better understand many of the earlier scenes. I cannot recommend it broadly; it will be far too much for many readers, yet for those able and willing to read through, it is a true gem.

GeekMom received copies of these books for review purposes.

I loved this book! A brilliant tender, heartbreaking, perfectly weird hybrid. Hamill's love of the horror genre shines through in this original take on the haunted house and family-in-peril themes. I cared for his cast of characters and enjoyed his exploration of family, love, what makes a monster, sacrifice, and the opportunity for second chances. Great stuff!

I really enjoyed A Cosmology of Monsters, I read it as part of my spooky season reading in October and it was the perfect fit. It's not really full on horror or fantasy but a mixture of both. Dealing with mental health, child abductions, teenage and family dramas this book takes you on a journey from beginning to End.

Noah's relationship with the monster was...interesting..as they got older; I certainly wasn't expecting that but it added another layer to the story and an explanation of events.

Beautifully written and steeped in Lovecraftian horror, this was a great Halloween read. It dipped slightly in the second half, but was still an enjoyably creepy family saga with memorable characters and great writing.

Unfortunately for personal reasons, circumstances I was unable to read this book that was granted for me. I was really looking forward to read this and experience the magic of it.

Wow, it was a great travel: disturbing, creepy, exciting and gripping.
I can go on with a long list of adjectives but it was a hell of a great horror story that kept me hooked and involved in the nightmare and turns of the plot.
The author is a talented storyteller and he's able to bring to life a world that reminded of Lovecraft and Gaiman.
The characters are well thought and interesting, the world building is amazing and the plot flows with a growing tensiong.
A great story and an excellent read that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Wow! Now that's how you deliver a knockout debut.
Shaun Hamill delivers an emotional powerhouse with A Cosmology of Monsters - a dark coming of age fantasy/horror that follows the lives of a Texan family who run a haunted house attraction and their connection with a mysterious wolf-like creature.
Much more than just a monster story, Hamill fills the pages with the heartfelt and, at times, harrowing account of the Turner family - told through the eyes of Noah Turner - as he deals with love, loss and mental illness while under the shadow of an unnamed beast.
Hamill has a clear love of horror and he injects it onto every page as he slowly pulls back the curtain in a series of surprising turns.
But the reveals aren't done for scares, instead constructing a rich and bittersweet story of family and sacrifice.
Highly recommended.

This book has everything I love – a haunted house attraction, intricate family saga, fully dimensional characters, realistic siblings’ relationship, and a secret monster. I loved the way the book traced the beginning of the Turner family and how Harry Turner later where Harry comes up with a haunted house attraction that becomes a family business. The darkness that descends upon the family is reflected in how the house is built, plank by plank.

Then the second half of the book arrives and suffice to say I was not a fan. The story takes a turn that feels unnecessary. In essence, the book portrays the grooming of two children, a boy and a girl. But it only condemns the grooming of the girl. whereas the grooming of the boy is treated like a love story. In terms of the plot itself, I wish the haunted house aspect actually connects to the main story. There is so much potential in that storyline thread that is not picked up. I found the monster mythology simultaneously vague yet overbearing.

However, I truly enjoyed the writing and I thought the book handled the themes of family, grief, and memories really well. Sections that are written as scripts in the book are dreamy and haunting. The ending is perfect, with a bleak, aching note to the resolution. The scariest monster in the book is the threat of loss and a life unlived, and in that sense, the book successfully leaves a mark.