A book as beautiful and weird as the cover would suggest - judge it so and then devour it!

I really, really loved this book. The style of writing challenged me in welcome ways, the nameless characters within who are only described by their attributes - as a child would, made it feel otherworldly.

The trippy vibes, shifting realities, the unnerving sense of mounting dread; all left me feeling like I had eaten some of the questionable mushrooms on the land of the Grandfather's property. Just wonderfully strange.

Do read this if you like being challenged with something lurking outside of linear literary boundaries. Read it if you like creepy, confusing, blurred timelines and ever changing reality. If you want cookie cutter horror spoonfed to you all neat and tidy, just move on. Unless you're ready for something a little different; something off menu. Something from the garden, the forest, perhaps?

Thank you Saskia Nislow, you are on my book radar, and thank you to Creature Publishing for the ARC privilege!

Definitely a lovely little weird one! I feel like this is meant to be read straight through and pondered at the end.
Some of the lower reviews don’t seem to get that some of the issues they had with the book were done purposely to achieve the desired effect. The author did a wonderful job of exploring family dynamics in a unique fever dream way. The characters were not meant to be developed they were meant to meld together. The naming of the character’s accomplishes exactly what the author intended.

This was such an odd little book, in a really good way. I found it hard to put down, even though I wasn't always quite sure what was happening from one moment to the next. The description is rich throughout. It immerses you in the story, and I found myself quite invested in the fates of the various cousins as the book progressed. Something about this one kept reminding me of a Grady Hendrix book (in a good way), but I can't quite put my finger on what. Definitely looking forward to seeing more from Saskia Nislow.

A sold three stars for the writing and the vibes. I'm going to be honest, I think it was more of a problem with ME than it was with the book itself. I wasn't in the right headspace (yay for colds!! yippee!!). I had no idea what was going on and I think I had to read things over and over. Again, that was probably more me than it was the writing.

BUT - I do think things were a little confusing, small info dumps that made my eyes glaze over. I wanted to like this more but I think one it's published I'll give it another shot! A creepy and short read. I will say creaure publishing has been dropping some of my favorites so far and I'm looking forward to more from them!

Thank you to netgalley, Creature Publishing and Saskia Nislow for the arc!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

Well this was incredible and not at all what I was expecting, it feels like you're gently loosing your mind to the fungi and moss....
We meet various different characters throughout and somehow they all manage to be gripping.
The book has a fantastically eerie and ominous feel all the way through.

Go into this blind and in the dark, question your sanity.
You won't regret it!

What on Earth did I just read?! Root Rot feels like stepping into a surreal fever dream; feet are on backwards, faces are sliding off, and your grandad’s property has a serious mould and fungi problem. Saskia Nislow masterfully creates a disorientating nightmare that pulls you in and keeps you guessing.

The narration, with its eerie collective “we” voice, makes you feel as bewildered as the children. Alongside that, the cryptic character nicknames create a recipe for confusion so deliciously unsettling that you can’t stop reading.

By the end, I was as disoriented as the children wandering the terror-filled forest. Time is bending, children are being gaslit by mushrooms, and my coffee went cold because I couldn’t put the book down. I’d happily spend another 100 pages being terrified, confused, and captivated by this haunting and uncomfortable story.

If you’re into body horror, family dynamics, or just enjoy asking yourself, “Why are the mushrooms bleeding?”, then this unhinged story is absolutely for you.

I got this from NetGalley and have been working my way through it quite slowly as it was a tough one to keep a track of, especially when I was on a low ebb reading wise.

The narrators point of view keeps changing throughout the book, coming from inside and outside the group of children, coming from an individual, and everything else.

This adds to the slow creep of the threads that run through this short but powerful story.

Set at the Lake House of their Grandfather we meet various children: The Liar, The Secret Keepet, Twin Brother, The Others, and more and follow a slow descent into a strange world where the boundary between group and individual becomes extremely blurred and entangled.

This sits in the cosmic fungal school of horror and really works at scratching at the back of your brain.

I wasn’t sure where this was going but the end was not what I was expecting.

Well worth a read!

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There is nothing I love more than an ominous environment and mushrooms which this novella delivers both of. The characters, despite having no names, are well developed personalities even though it does take a minute to get used to this style of character. Every part of this story had you questioning whether or not it really happened. This novella was so unique and I will definitely be thinking about it often.

“Things in the Lake House had a funny, shifting quality to them.”

I’d recommend you go in blind to this novella. You’ll have a weird wild time.

I don’t even know if I fully get what happened, but I kinda like it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

3.75 stars

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it was not this. In a great way though. This was like some bizarre acid trip. I loved that the characters were called by their traits instead of names, something I do regularly 😬 to people, so it resonated well for me. There were parts it seemed difficult to keep track but the overall was awesome. It didn’t feel like a short story, it felt fully developed and thought out like a full novel. I look forward to more by Nislow in the future.

I love the cover! Red on red is so eye catching without being too much. The novella is nice and I especially like the way the narrator names the different characters. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I walked into the start of this book expecting horror, and indeed, expecting something a little more cohesive than what I got. The odd dynamic and the use of the names in the style that they were used made me think that this book was following some kind of cult, then I felt we were into fae territory, then we went down a totally different avenue. It definitely kept me guessing - but perhaps a little too much! I didn't know what was left and right, up and down by the end of this book, and instead of leaving me with a creeping feeling, it just left me feeling a bit 'meh'.

I think the characters could have been drawn out a little better, and while the writing style has a certain novelty, it also ended up falling into the pit of confusing the events and characters a little too much. I did enjoy parts of it, and, don't get me wrong, the ending allows you to fully understand the story, but this was not a shining gem like I expected it to be.

I did enjoy the parts of this in the forest and the confusion and terror the characters clearly felt, but the ending doesn't wrap things quite as neatly as you would expect, and I was left wanting more (or, perhaps, in some things, less).

This was a wild ride and I think I loved being along for it. The narrator calling each character by a trait (e.g. the Baby, the Liar) was really interesting and I liked how it almost kept me at an arm's length throughout the novella.
The imagery was creepy and vivid and I'd love to read more from Saskia Nislow.

This was a wild ride, made even wilder by the fact that it felt like nothing made sense, and I could not, for the life of me, keep track of who was who. It definitely didnt feel like a short story.

I hate giving low ratings. Absolutely hate doing it.

So, here's what I liked first. If any of this resonates with you, check this one out. The concept itself is interesting. I'm a lover of fungi in horror and you certainly get that here. If you like multiple characters and shifting POV, this might be for you.

For me, I found the lack of names and gaggle of characters hard to keep track of. The idea of giving them a description instead of a name to separate them from one another seems like it'd help but it really just made for an overuse of "the" and extra words where a name would have probably done well enough. Their descriptors could have been revealed through their actions instead. If there were fewer characters this would have been easier to follow. I was a little confused why so many children were utterly unsupervised as well.

Ultimately this wasn't for me, but it could be for you. So, give it a go if the blurb strikes your fancy.

Have you ever tripped on acid? Neither have I but I feel like this book is what it feels like. I didn't hate it at all. I love weird stuff. And this was definitely it. I psychedelic ride through a forest and a lake house? I'm here for it.

There are definitely glimmers of something really unique here, but overall this wasn't something I'd read again.

I absolutely love the way Saskia names characters & locations (can't say more w/o spoiling it). Admittedly a little confusing at the start, it quickly became easy to track.

More often than not Saskia used "or is it?" kinda sentences to convey suspicion, which ended up feeling like an easy way out after the first few.

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Saskia Noslow and Creature Publishing for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!}

Root Rot
Saskia Nislow

4.25 / 5

This story reads like a ketamine-fueled journey I unknowingly took once, in my early 20's. (Don't ask, it's a long story.)
Odd as that may sound, I mean it as the biggest compliment. 

When I think of "weird fiction", THIS is what I'm talkin about!!

Go in blind ... You'll enjoy getting lost ... And the effort it takes to find your way back out of the woods to the real world is more than worth it.

I had a blast trying to figure out what the hell was going on at The Lake House and in those Woods. (I'm still not sure I understand, but I can't wait to reread this weird-ass, trippy, familial nightmare again.)

And I eagerly await what Saskia writes in the future! 

Recommended for my fellow lovers of weird horror lit.

4.25 / 5

First of all the cover is so good. Its what drawn me to this book. As well as the name. I deff was so excited to read just based on that.
Secondly, I loved this book. I had no idea what was happening next. A lot of people say its a unique story and I agree. But I love that.

Thank you so much for this ARC

Root Rot is a brilliant and unique novella that reads like a fairy tale. It has a timeless, fable-like narrative style and archetypal characters, and it's thick with subtext and magical realism. It's difficult to discuss, though, because I had a hard time following the literal plot. The vibes came across perfectly, and it filled me with an eerie, forest-witch feeling, but if you asked me what actually *happens,* I don't think I could answer with more than a couple sentences. Fortunately the length allowed me to enjoy it without worrying too much about what I may have missed.

I would absolutely recommend Root Rot to readers who love familial stories, fungal horror, witchy vibes, and dark forests, but with the disclaimer that I don't quite know exactly what I read.