The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers. Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that's what Alessa Li is told when she's kidnapped and forcibly enrolled. But there's more to Hellebore than meets the eye. On graduation day, the faculty go on a ravenous rampage, feasting on Alessa's class. Only Alessa and a group of her classmates escape the carnage. Trapped in the school's library, they must offer a human sacrifice every night, or else the faculty will break down the door and kill everyone. Can they band together and survive, or will the faculty eat its fill?
A peculiar mix of lyricism and brutality. The pages brim with snark and extreme violence ... Khaw keeps readers hooked with the strange allure of Hellebore itself ... This is a story where there is never any solid ground, and that purposeful confusion deliciously intensifies the novel’s anxiety-inducing atmosphere ... A treat for horror fans.
Cassandra Khaw is one of those horror writers whose sentences are symphonies of terror unto themselves ... One of the finest prose stylists the genre has to offer right now ... Another level of achievement for the author ... Brutal, sumptuous, and packed with unforgettable imagery, it’s not only a must-read for Khaw fans, but the perfect place for new readers to get to know their style of textured, dread-laced storytelling ... Through it all, Khaw reminds us why they’re considered one of the best prose stylists in the horror game at the moment. Every sentence is elegant, evocative, and powerful, laced with detail that drives you to the next sentence ... One of the finest horror books you’re likely to pick up this summer ... Visceral poetry.
