I had so much fun with this little queer horror novella!

Antenora is a story about Abby and Nora. They live in a town occupied by a religious cult that uses snakes in a lot of their ceremonies and services. Abby is obedient and unproblematic, but her best friend Nora is a 'rebel' and outcast of their town and cult. Throughout the story Abby reflects on all the wild things that happened during their childhood/young teen years in Bethel , Nora's choices, and their relationship.

This was quick, fun, dark, tense, and gruesome. It also had great characters and a truly loving and innocent friendship at its core.

I don't think it will be particularly memorable for me but I enjoyed my time reading it for sure.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, *Antenora* by Dori Lumpkin is a total gem! This novella grabbed me from the start with its mix of horror and deep exploration of religion and community in the American South. The writing is beautiful and pulls you right into the story.

The relationship between Abigail and Nora is so well done. Watching them navigate their feelings in such a strict and oppressive environment is both heartbreaking and compelling. Nora's struggle with her darker side adds a layer of tension that keeps you on the edge of your seat!

What I loved most is how Lumpkin shines a light on the hypocrisy of community expectations while still delivering some seriously chilling moments. It’s a perfect blend of tenderness and terror, and I couldn’t put it down!

If you’re into stories that challenge the norm and leave you thinking long after you finish, definitely check out *Antenora*. It’s an unforgettable read that showcases a fresh new voice in horror. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the Arc.
Extremely interesting! Recently I have been into horror and especially short stories with horror themes and this hits every point for me. First, we have a spooky mysterious town, second we have an ambiguous relationship and third, and last we have religious undertones. Talk about scary!

Anyway this is well written and fast to read. The narrator is the only friend of a girl ostracised by the community in which they live. Their town, an ultra conservative religious hell hole, is isolated from the rest of the world. In this town, God is all seeing and thus sees through the eyes of the collective. In their efforts to save the girl from eternal damnation, they continue to try and exorcise her. Things escalate and well… yeah.

Anyway, it's a good book but I think it had an extra page for no reason. I liked the end and then suddenly there is one more paragraph.

Dori Lumpkin's novella, Antenora, is feral girlhood at its finest. Set against the backdrop of the Appalachian South, the story follows Abigail, who is grappling with her burgeoning sexuality, and Nora, a troubled girl (to put it lightly), growing up in oppressive Bethel. Antenora is an unsettling exploration of faith and queer existence in the suffocating grip of a community steeped in religious dogma.

The novel's strength lies in its atmospheric prose and its exploration of religious extremism. Lumpkin crafts a sense of unease from the first few pages:

"When I was young, my mother used to tell me that the mountains around Bethel, Alabama were touched by angels. They protected us, she said. The way they jutted up out of the ground, sky-high and endless, keeping us in like a prison. Bethel was in a valley. A perfect valley, she said, keeping us safe from harm and the devil’s influence."

The author doesn't shy away from depicting the hypocrisy and cruelty that can fester within seemingly devout communities. The writing is vivid and pungent. While reading this, much of my time was spent highlighting passages and writing comments in the margins of my e-book.

I recommend Antenora to lovers of: atmospheric prose, complex characters, queer yearning, Southern Gothic horror, girls who can’t stop thinking about kissing, and a bit of gore.

Thanks to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

The ending left me speechless and in shock. Absolutely loved it and recommend it to everyone. Thank you Netgalley and Creature Publishing for the ARC.

Antenora by Dori Lumpkin is a dark and haunting Southern Gothic tale that’s equal parts confessional, mystery, and elegy for a friendship scorched by small-town paranoia and religious dogma. Lumpkin’s prose drips with foreboding as the narrative unfolds in Abigail Barnes’s desperate recounting of events, blurring the lines between memory and myth, truth and tragedy. This is a story about love that defies expectation—and the devastating consequences when that love is branded as a sin.

At the heart of Antenora is the bond between Abigail and Nora, a connection as fragile as it is fiery. Lumpkin captures the intensity of their relationship with a lyrical intimacy that makes it feel both timeless and inevitable. Abigail's voice, full of longing, guilt, and grief, guides the reader through a story where innocence and betrayal tangle like kudzu vines. Her plea for Nora to return feels like both an exorcism and a prayer—a desperate attempt to make sense of a world that punished them for loving each other.

The setting of Bethel, Alabama, is rendered with the oppressive weight of a small town steeped in religious fervor and superstition. The town's whispers and judgment loom over every page, creating an atmosphere of dread. Lumpkin skillfully uses Southern Gothic tropes—the oppressive heat, the snakes, the lake that hides more than it reveals—to underscore the spiritual and emotional decay lurking beneath Bethel’s pious facade.

Nora herself is a fascinating, enigmatic figure—a girl who defies easy categorization. Is she troubled, mystical, or something more monstrous? Lumpkin leans into this ambiguity, letting Abigail’s version of events paint a picture of a girl both fragile and terrifying. Nora’s strange, snake-like connection to nature and her unnerving ability to "revive" things injects the story with an eerie, almost supernatural undertone. Whether Nora’s powers are real or simply the distorted memory of a girl in love with someone doomed from the start is left tantalizingly unresolved.

The religious hysteria surrounding Nora’s "deliverance ceremony" is one of the most harrowing parts of the novel. Lumpkin doesn’t pull punches when exploring the community’s fear-driven cruelty, showing how dogma can twist even the purest emotions into something grotesque. The moments leading up to the horrific incident that turned Nora into a ghost in Abigail’s life are tense and tragic, layered with inevitability yet tinged with hope that things could have turned out differently.

If there’s any critique, it’s that the fragmented narrative structure—while poetic—can be disorienting at times. Abigail’s memories and pleas blur together in a way that enhances the emotional weight of the story but occasionally leaves key events feeling murky. Some readers may find themselves wishing for more clarity about the incident at the heart of the tragedy. However, for those who appreciate an unreliable narrator and stories steeped in emotional ambiguity, this approach feels entirely fitting.

At 4 stars, Antenora is a powerful debut that explores themes of betrayal, desire, and loss with a voice as sharp and sorrowful as a snakebite. Dori Lumpkin captures the insidious nature of fear and how love—innocent or otherwise—can be branded as treason in a place that worships conformity. Fans of The Girls by Emma Cline or The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon will be captivated by this story of two girls whose private world was destroyed by the very people meant to protect them. Antenora is a brutal but tender reminder that some truths are too dangerous for the world—but they live on in those who carry them.

Antenora
Dori Lumpkin

4.75 / 5

Antenora: Dante's ninth circle of hell, reserved for traitors to their country. {A.k.a. Trump's "final destination"}

Antenora is a novella that manages to balance a delicate line between [im]pure terrors and objective tenderness.
I'm always attracted to horror with religious themes, and this one certainly did not disappoint. Not in the slightest.

Now, would I have preferred more horror?
Well, yes!
But do I think this novella was exactly what it needed to be?
Very much so.

The book so poetically gets across the idea that the very things that can bring us comfort in some ways can be the very things poisoning us in others.

Fresh, bold, frightening and compellingly complex, I highly recommend checking Antenora out.

4.75 / 5

This is definitely a me problem, and not a knock on the book but religious based horror can either be hit or miss for me and this time it missed. I really enjoyed the core story but I found the religious setting and elements more distracting and a bummer than something that enhanced the story.

The story had a dreamlike quality that added to the distractable nature of the story. I'm not sure if I believe all the events occured as they were written or if we had an unreliable narrator.

It sounds like I had a bad time but I really didn't! Overall I liked this horror novella, it moved quickly and the main characters were giving Jennifer/Needy vibes, it just left me wondering and a little disappointed but maybe that was the point!

I was approved to read this novella awhile ago through NetGalley, and I’m not sure what took me so long to read it. This story was so bizarre, and I absolutely loved it! I will be thinking about this for a very long time. I am still trying to gather all of my thoughts. Between the religious persecution and the struggles of female identity, Nora’s horrific story told through the perspective of Abigail was captivating. From the beginning, you could tell this would be heavy. I was not disappointed. Thank you NetGalley and Creature Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I truly enjoyed this novella.

I think the story would’ve been strengthened if the snake motif went deeper than it did. With the religious thematics, I would’ve expected an Eve allusion at some point in the story, at least to give some meaning to Nora’s supposed evil vs the innocence that Abigail believes Nora has. Also, the story and the title clash; “ante” means “before,” and there wasn’t any story before Nora. The background history of Bethel would’ve been a good addition to the story and tie into the title (unless the author meant it as the Antichrist, which should’ve been “Antinora).

Antenora is told using one of my favorite storytelling styles, especially for a shorter narrative: our main character Abigail is speaking directly to the reader. A confessional and a plea to understand what really happened during a series of devastating events involving her best friend Nora; events that the small town of Bethel believes were brought on by demonic possession.

The climax was sudden and I respect the narration choice of brevity, although I wish it had been longer. The pacing in this novella is great but it is one where I am craving more after finishing, as sometimes the storytelling style felt like a narrative shortcut in places where I would have liked more detail/page time. This story is raw - both in body horror and intimate details between Abby and Nora.

Even though this story is contained within a short novella, there’s still an emotional weight within the pages that demands to be felt. Antenora is culty, religious horror, with queer grief, defiance, and even bits of small joy throughout.

I feel like the execution of this story did not do the idea justice. There was a lot of background for characters we did not yet know, and therefore had no investment in, which made the book feel slow and then rushed at the conclusion

Damn, this book hit hard. Antenora is a dark, witchy, and unapologetically queer story that stays with you long after you finish. It’s about Abby and Nora, two girls trying to survive in a suffocating, cult-like community obsessed with exorcisms and demons. Their love is raw, fragile, and totally taboo, and the way it’s woven into this tense, Gothic horror setting is just perfection.

The vibe is pure dread—think oppressive religion, witchy whispers, and snakes that might not stay dead. The horror isn’t just in the creepy, supernatural moments, but in the way the people around Abby and Nora weaponize faith and fear. It’s haunting, rebellious, and heartbreakingly queer in all the best ways.

If I had one complaint, it’s that it’s too short—I wanted more time in this eerie world, more depth to the story. But even at novella length, Antenora delivers a punch. It’s unsettling, emotional, and so beautifully queer. If you’re into sapphic love stories with cult vibes and a touch of witchcraft, this one’s a must-read.

Antenora is an intentionally crafted, small town horror story that explores female identity, queerness, and religion. For such a short book, the story is deeply layered with symbolism and meaning. I absolutely loved it.

This style of prose isn’t to my taste (a very direct to reader first person) which has definitely coloured my opinions of this. The author is great at creating an atmosphere for the reader and establishing character relationships but the style of this just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

I thought this was okay. It wasn’t really my vibe but it wasn’t bad either.

4.5 stars

Nora and Abigail meet and form a friendship as young girls in their small Pentecostal town of Bethel. Abigail recounts their lives before and after Nora murders 3 people and commits inhuman acts. The church and its people make it their mission to save Nora from the devil that has possessed her, or short of that save their town from Nora.

Abigail’s narration is equal parts plea and confession as she yearns for the girl she loves and shoulders heavy guilt of her inactions that contributed to Nora’s atrocities. The dynamic between Abigail and Nora was incredibly developed considering this is a novella, and I could empathise with both characters throughout.

Antenora places a queer reckoning inside horrific circumstances and a dangerous environment that you know will spell their doom. Abigail’s perspective of the people within the church almost paints them as an indistinguishable being, which helps Abigail and Nora stand apart as ‘the others’ in a hive mind religious sect. The author beautifully weaves together the real life horror of religious persecution and the fear of otherworldly forces.

I really recommend this for literary fiction & literary horror fans! If you like heavy atmosphere and foreboding, this definitely delivers.

What an emotional read with deep insights into religious trauma. I truly appreciated hearing the story from one of the main characters’ perspectives rather than the character it primarily focused on. This choice significantly enriched the dynamic between the two characters. Additionally, it features a Sapphic relationship, which I love seeing in the horror genre. The only reason I can’t give it 5 stars is that I didn’t fully understand or relate to the religious trauma, and felt this could have been elaborated on a bit more.
 
However, I’m eager to read more from this author, as this novella had a lot to say.

Beneath the façade of piety and restraint, the novel exposes a world of oppression, repression, and violence. With complex, beautifully crafted characters, the story delves into the devastating consequences of forced submission and repressed sexuality. While delivering the expected chills and tension of a horror story, Antenora also breaks your heart with its poignant and thought-provoking portrayal of humanity. truly unforgettable

There is so much story in this novella! I have never read a book like this before and after I was finished, I could not stop thinking back to it. The bond the two main characters had was definitely heart wrenching as they live in a very religious town in the south.