“A woman on the run from a vicious ex-fiancé; a strange hotel where some never check out; slimy, monstrous horror … this first novel has it all with heart to spare.”
The L’Arpin, a historic hotel long past its prime, wasn’t the first place Sadie thought about when raising a toddler while pregnant with another. Set along The Cut, a small Lake Erie beach, the hotel doesn’t sound like much, but Sadie’s choices are severely limited at the moment while on the run from her abusive ex-fiancé. But a housekeeping spot and free room is about the best she can do for the moment.
Things go south during the first night there. After she rushes to help a guest in the pool, Sadie finds the water calm and empty. To add to her unease, a guest goes missing, though management insists they just left without checking out.
While Sadie suspects management is covering things up, Sadie keeps digging … and uncovers missing security cameras, missing guests, and things that go bump … and drip, and slither, and squirm, in the walls, the tubs, the hallways. Everything isn’t as it seems for Sadie: she’ll need to keep her wits about her to survive and keep her toddler and unborn child safe from whatever lurks nearby.
Why we’re excited about this book:
C.J. Dotson’s debut novel is getting quite a bit of early buzz online and in the horror scene. The author of the novella These Familiar Walls, Dotson’s short fiction has been featured in such publications and anthologies as Pulp Modern Magazine, Farther Trees Fantasy Magazine, Idle Ink, Found 2: More Stories of Found Footage Horror, and 99 Tiny Terrors, among others. A woman on the run from a vicious ex-fiancé; a strange hotel where some never check out; slimy, monstrous horror … this first novel has it all with heart to spare. Cynthia Pelayo (Forgotten Sisters) says: “Creeping with twisting tight tension. The Cut by C. J. Dotson is heart hammering, breath shuddering, and full of visions of monsters along our periphery. The terrors here will leave you speechless.”, and Clay McLeod Chapman (Ghost Eaters, Kill Your Darling) says: “The Cut combines the throat-clenching tension of a domestic thriller and a soaking wet supernatural spookfest, hybridizing The Shining with Sleeping With the Enemy. I dare you to dip a toe into this one. Go on, give it five pages. You’ll plunge right in and never come back up.”
Forthcoming from St. Martin’s Press 8 April 2025, The Cut by C.J. Dotson is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA
