Tell Me I'm Worthless

Paperback, 276 pages

English language

Published Dec. 25, 2021 by Cipher Press.

ISBN:
978-1-8383900-2-0
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4 stars (9 reviews)

A dark, unflinching haunted house novel that takes readers from the well of the literary gothic, up through Brighton's queer scene, and out into the heart of modern day trans experience in the UK.

Three years ago, Alice spent one night in an abandoned house with her friends Ila and Hannah. Since then, things have not been going well. Alice is living a haunted existence, selling videos of herself cleaning for money, going to parties she hates, drinking herself to sleep. She hasn’t spoken to Ila since they went into the House. She hasn't seen Hannah either.

Memories of that night torment her mind and her flesh, but when Ila asks her to return to the House, past the KEEP OUT sign, over the sick earth where teenagers dare each other to venture, she knows she must go. Together Alice and Ila must face the horrifying occurrences that happened there, …

1 edition

Horrifying, upsetting and deeply uncomfortable

4 stars

My word, this book does not hold anything back. A horror story centred on the experiences of its characters with a malignant house, it explores trauma and the insidious creep of fascist attitudes, against a backdrop of the ongoing culture war in the UK.

I particularly appreciated the way chapters alternate between the perspectives of Alice, Ila, and the house itself; each cycle taking the reader deeper into their relationships and encounters with each other, ramping up the dread and horror until it spills over.

Having spent many years living in Brighton (where this is set) I was able to picture things more vividly than I ordinarily would have. That said, if there's one aspect that broke me out of the story a bit, it's the references to real-life people and events, which perhaps rooted things too much in the right-here-and-now. But maybe that's necessary for a book which is …

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Subjects

  • English literature