Published September 1, 2026 by DAW
What starts as a missing person investigation morphs into something much darker when an FBI-agent-turned-Catholic-priest and a junior constable arrive on a remote Newfoundland island
This murder-mystery-turned-nail-biting-horror is perfect for fans of religious horror like The Possession of Alba Díaz and the cult-classic movie The Wicker Man.
An isolated town. A missing priest. An ancient, hungry darkness.
When Father Shane Ryan is summoned to a meeting with His Eminence Cardinal Jacobs, he’s confused. A recently ordained priest at a small Maryland parish, Father Ryan has no idea why His Eminence would want to meet him. When he arrives, the Cardinal opens by laying out Father Ryan’s past as an FBI analyst. It seems a priest has gone missing, and the case is…unusual.
Weeks ago, Constable Miriam Rideout from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary fielded a frantic call from a priest on a remote Newfoundland island. He begged for help, but then the line went dead, and no one has since been reported missing. When permission to perform a wellness check is denied by her superiors, Miriam takes some vacation time and books a ticket on the ferry.
Thrown together with friendly but cagey locals, Miriam and Father Ryan soon learn that something about the island isn’t right. There’s a fishing port without boats, a town with no stores and no cars, and strange, bulbous purple wildflowers are growing everywhere. The two don’t trust each other, but they begin to learn that an alliance, however uneasy, is a necessity. Because something evil lurks beneath the island—something ancient, eternal, hungry—and neither it nor the uncanny islanders have any intention of letting these newcomers leave.
A growing sense of dread intensifies until it explodes in this pulse-pounding supernatural horror.
We Are for the Dark starts out feeling more like a mystery than a horror novel. Miriam Rideout arrives on the isolated Bale Island to investigate a disappearance, and between the creepy location, strange townspeople, and all the secrets floating around, I was fully expecting a cultish religious mystery. The island immediately has that feeling of a place where everyone knows something you don't. There are enough odd details and suspicious characters to keep you wondering where the story is headed, but it was so slow to get started.
The atmosphere is the best part of the book. Bale Island is isolated, weird, and full of people who appear to know more than they are saying. There's a constant feeling that something is off. The island itself almost feels like another character, with its isolation and history adding to the sense that Miriam has wandered into a place she most definitely should have stayed away from. The townspeople did nothing to help that feeling. There's just enough weirdness in the way everyone behaves to make you wary.
Eventually, the story shifts from mystery into horror, and there are some genuinely creepy moments. Miriam being followed by something she can't see was unsettling, especially because you don't know exactly what it is or what it wants. The scenes in the cave were another highlight. There's something about being trapped with no idea what might be lurking in the dark with you that works every time. These moments weren't exactly terrifying, but they did create some good tension and gave the story a much darker feel as things started to unravel.
While I enjoyed the atmosphere and the mystery, I never found myself particularly invested in the characters. The blossoming romance between the two just felt contrived. I don't mind romance in horror, but it felt stilted and out of place here. Instead of adding to the story, it pulled me out of it, especially when there was a perfectly good mystery and increasingly creepy island to keep me interested. In the end, it is very integral to the story, but it was annoying along the way.
Overall, We Are for the Dark wasn't a bad read by any means. I liked the setting, the strange townspeople, and the gradual reveal of what was really going on. It didn't completely blow me away, but the unsettling island and its people, along with a few genuinely creepy moments, made it a decent read.