ITCH!

The darkly feminist horror novel crawling under your skin for Halloween 2025

De: Gemma Amor

Narrado por: Gemma Amor

READERS LOVE GEMMA's DARK WORLD
'If you are after something that is both shocking and horrifically beautiful then take a journey and discover this little atrocity for yourself'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I kept telling myself I really should turn off the light and get to bed now, eyes dry, head heavy, but every sentence in this book commands the reader keep turning the pages and press onward...' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Gemma pulled me in with this compelling tale. Each page turned yielded me to another. I couldn't stop. Seriously!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Josie is at rock bottom. Burned out and recovering from an abusive relationship, she lives a haunted existence after returning to her isolated hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean.

But the tall, dense pine trees are not the only things casting shadows across her skin.

When Josie stumbles across a dead woman's decaying, ant-infested body in the woods, she plummets into a downward spiral, facing uncomfortable truths about the victim and her own past - all whilst battling the swarming black ants that seem to have burrowed into her mind . . . and her flesh.

Struggling with infestations of all kinds, Josie scratches the surface of an age-old mystery - a masked predator stalks the forest around Ellwood, a place deeply gripped by folklore and strange customs. As the village prepares for its annual festival, Josie gets closer and closer to unveiling a monster, and begins to ask herself:

Are these dark crawling insects leading her to uncover the truth? Or is she their next victim?©2025 Gemma Amor

Reseñas de la Crítica

A deeply felt, haunting folk horror that crawls with secrets and darkness. This disturbing and tender novel possessed me and made my skin crawl. It will keep you up long into the night! (LUCY ROSE)

So weird and juicy and gross and brilliant and made me want to slather myself in calamine lotion. I loved it! (ERIN KELLY)

As fun as it is earnest, ITCH! is an unflinching tale of the grotesque side of humanity and the people who unearth its rotting remains. From the first page, this story is already under your skin, building a nest in your heart (KYLIE LEE BAKER)

A chilling and tremendously disturbing examination of a wounded mind, of a fragile soul pushed to the limits of her very existence because of trauma, ritual, and obsession. Sinister and utterly fiendish, ITCH! is a shocking and truly surprising blend of mystery, folk horror, and body horror that will burrow deep in your softest places, into your tenderest, most unspoiled secret parts (ERIC LAROCCA)

This novel will genuinely make your skin crawl - you've been warned!

ITCH! places Gemma Amor firmly at the top of today's horror talent pool. It's as if a small village Tana French murder mystery turned into full on folk horror, with a constant buzz of body horror underneath. I couldn't have loved this more. It's under my skin now, and it itches! One of the year's absolute must-reads! (CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN)

An exquisitely crafted, uniquely unnerving horror story told with stunning empathy. ITCH! is a visceral, astute, tense spiral into the lingering damage of abuse and violence. As unflinching and terrifying as it is gentle-hearted, it has all the makings of a horror classic (RACHEL HARRISON)

ITCH! is a marvel: a suppurating mash-up of body horror and folk horror, with real-world atrocities buried at its oozing core. Fans of Pine by Francine Toon, or the Merrily Watkins books by Phil Rickman, will go wild for this fast-paced, smart, intensely female-voiced work from the bowels of the English countryside (ALLY WILKES)

This wildly original tale will give you the heebie-jeebies

Gemma Amor masterfully weaves [...] a veritable tapestry of horror, building to an enormously gratifying climax that left my mouth agape. ITCH! is not for the squeamish, [but] is an immensely satisfying novel and another highlight in Gemma Amor's impressive body of literature

A wildly inventive and modern coming of age story about survival . . . and ants. This is the work of a genuine talent (SARAH LANGAN)

Gut-churning yet inspired folk horror. Anyone who's grown up in the woods knows the endlessness Amor has painted here, vivid and tactile, and yet a place where dreams and nightmares come alive from every copse and hillock. A skin-crawling book of brutal secrets (HAILEY PIPER)

Good story; overworked metaphor

Apart from the strangled and beaten metaphor with the bugs, I generally enjoyed the book. The plot was interesting, the folklore original, the characters well-developed. The ending was pretty predictable, but it was done well. The middle got a bit repetitive and slow, but it picked back up later. The bug metaphor, though, got old. Like, REALLY old. Honestly, I think if the same story were told without the bugs, it would have been better.

Under the skin

I enjoyed the characters and story, the itchiness does not leave you throughout the entire story! I'm glad to have another book in my collection.