We Ate the Dark: A Novel

Four women investigating the haunting murder of their friend discover more than they ever imagined in a terrifying novel about good and evil, love and death, and the spaces between.Five years after Sofia Lyon disappeared, her remains are found stuffed into the hollow of a tree bursting through the floorboards of an abandoned house in the woods. The women who loved her flock home to the North Carolina hills to face their grief.Frankie, Sofia’s twin, is in furious mourning. Poppy is heartbroken. Cass has never felt more homesick. And Marya knows something the rest of them don’t. Determined to find Sofia’s murderer, they share more than a need to see justice done for their friend. Each woman is haunted, bound to the next by something both cruel and kind, and now stalked by a shadowy presence they’ve yet to understand. Only to question, and to fear.As Sofia’s secrets unravel, so do those of the woods, and the women soon realize that Sofia might not be who they thought she was at all. And that whoever—or whatever—killed her is coming after them.

Library Journal

“With stunning prose, Pearson draws readers into the lives of her characters and weaves a horror-esque fantasy tale.”

Booklist

“The two story lines wind and twist and eventually connect in this leisurely paced, lyrically written paean to the power of friendship and chosen family.”

Genevieve Hudson, author of Boys of Alabama and Pretend We Live Here

“We Ate the Dark is a gripping tale of friendship and grief and the real and imagined ghosts from the past that come to haunt us. Deliciously queer and wildly Southern, this book had me turning pages fast, lost in its poetic language, immersed in the lush landscape, holding my breath in anticipation. Mallory Pearson has written a stunning debut filled with sentences that continued to surprise me with their beauty and generosity until the very last page.”

Marisa Crane, author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

“Written with gorgeous, hypnotic prose, We Ate the Dark is a piece of uncategorizable beauty and a masterclass in suspense: a ghost story inside a mystery inside a story of queer love, friendship, and family. Pearson has added to the queer horror canon with a deeply felt, deeply human masterpiece about grief, magic, connection, and all the things that keep us coming back to one another. Spooky, tender, and heartbreaking, it’ll have you turning the pages like an incantation.”

From the Publisher

Midwinter is about the time I usually start dreaming of summer—warm nights spent outside with friends, reminiscing about our younger days. But what if one summer, something so terrible happened that you’d rather forget? For one group of women, when their friend disappears, they spend years trying to do just that—until the day that her body is found. Frankie, Poppy, and Cass realize they never really knew Sofia Lyon. And Marya brings her own secrets when she moves to town—secrets that could help the friends finally figure out who, or what, killed Sofia. Because whatever Sofia was dabbling in, it’s after them now. They must call upon powers long buried in order to defeat the evil that claimed her. Debut author Mallory Pearson has written a novel that is both beautiful and terrifying. It had me reading with the lights on, utterly haunted by the gorgeousness of the prose. After this, like me, you may be glad for more cozy, cold days ahead—I certainly won’t be wishing for summer any time soon. —Adrienne Procaccini, Editor

About the Author

Mallory Pearson is a writer and artist portraying themes of folklore, queer identity, loss, and the interaction of these elements with the southern United States. She studied painting and bookbinding, and she now spends her time translating visual art into prose. She is an avid fan of horror movies and elaborate stews cooked in big witchy pots. Her work has appeared in Electric Literature, Capsule Stories, and Haverthorn Press, among others. Mallory lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her dearest friends. For more information, visit https://mallorypearson.com/.

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