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Cosmic & Eldritch

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young

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A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young
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A bodyguard takes a chance: running with her young niece into a disaster area to prevent the girl from being raised by her mother. After the earthquake and flood, a disease strikes Haewon Village, and Mu-young helps enforce strict quarantine measures. She loses her niece to the plague. When an irritating bureaucrat from Seoul visits the quarantined community, he brings even greater danger. H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth, reimagined through the lens of COVID and a government’s abandonment of its citizens, has a fishy chill as deep as the bottom of an ocean.

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young, (List Price: $24.99, Tor Nightfire, 9781250380753, August 2026)

Reviewed by Kelly, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA

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A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young

, , ,
A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

If you’ve enjoyed contemporary Lovecraftian stories like The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, N.K. Jemesin’s The City We Became, Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark, or Hiron Ennes’ Leech, then Kim Bo-Young’s A Plagued Sea should tickle your cosmic horror fancy with its Korean cultural take on oceanic terrors, and smart twists on classic tropes of the subgenre.

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young, (List Price: $24.99, Tor Nightfire, 9781250380753, August 2026)

Reviewed by Jonathan, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, KY

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The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager

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The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager
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Meandering and claustrophobic, you will be lost in more ways than one along with Professor Beck and his crew. Caro’s dark past hangs over her head as horribly as it hollows her out– and yet the others on the expedition allude to some less than savory backgrounds themselves. Do we deserve retribution for our sins? Or are the divine’s motives just as sordid as our own?

The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager, (List Price: $19.99, Run For It, 9780316588010, July 2026)

Reviewed by Lana, E. Shaver, Booksellers in Savannah, Georgia

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Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle

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Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
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Lucky Day is a ROLLER COASTER. An existential CRISIS. A foray through the blood and guts of reality itself to the abyss at the heart of it all, where you just have to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well? Do ya? •••••• I loved this scifi-heavy romp of a story where the true horror is existence itself. Or is it? Chuck Tingle weaves an intricate web of sharp nihilism, absurdity, and genuinely creepy moments, building a structure upon which rests the ultimate truth: life is chaos, and existence is precious. I laughed, I shuddered, I cried. I finished this book at 2:00 a.m. this morning and am still processing all its truths. In fact, I’ll be thinking about it for a very long time. 5/5 stars, 10/10 recommend.

Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle, (List Price: $27.99, Tor Nightfire, 9781250398659, August 2025)

Reviewed by Rachel Derise, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas

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