Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud

TL;DR: I found myself cheering for the ‘monsters’ in this one, but I can definitely see how the spider-ness of it all is going to mess with people
Source: Many thanks to the publisher for my eARC copy!

Plot: Veronica is dropped at a mental health hospital on the moon by her husband. They propose to replace the portion of her mind that ‘causes’ her mental illness with spider silk. Clearly that’s not going to work.
Characters: I did really enjoy how the characters were built here. Each one felt distinct and unique. It helped that this is a very small cast.
Setting: The moon! It seems quite strange to what you might expect as it’s a forested one and we’re mostly in an asylum but an interesting setting nevertheless.
Magic/Horror: This was unique for me. It’s all based around a giant psychic spider and I suspect we’re going to get more details on it in further books.

Thoughts:

What a fun, creepy ride this was. Crypt of the Moon Spider gives me vibes almost similar to The Yellow Wallpaper, a horror classic I can’t recommend enough. Veronica is dropped at an asylum on the moon in hopes that they’ll ‘fix’ her bouts of depression. You quickly find out the doctor in charge wants to ‘scoop’ out the part of her brain that causes these feelings and replace it with Spider Silk from a giant deceased psychic spider. What could go wrong?

The story manages to fit a lot more into it than that. We have the unwell attendant who assist Dr. Grub. And Dr. Grub himself, a bit of a mad scientist type with ulterior motives. The two of them present an interesting and aggressive foil to Veronica who is scared and left at their mercy. Then the spiders and horror itself begins to seep in and take over and the final scenes are very… vivid. I’m fairly sure some of those images are going to live rent free in my mind.

Crypt of the Moon Spider is delightfully creepy. I will most definitely be continuing this series, as I believe we’re getting two more. It doesn’t have much of a resolution but what it sets up and shows us is very tempting and horrifying. I can’t wait for more.