A review by todallyanika
Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

4.0

Make no mistake, this is not a horror novel. It’s an unsettling novel, but it keeps you on the edge the entire time, never facing a jump scare or real climax of fear. It is, however, an incredibly lyrical novel that kept my attention the entire time. For a certain section of the population, Mountain Goats fans and Iowegians mostly, this is enough to make the novel well worth the read. As a member of one and a half of these groups (Iowegian-adjacent), I found this novel depressingly relatable and enjoyed little tMG easter eggs (West Covina anyone?) throughout. If you go in expecting an unsettling story set in the Midwest involving a video rental store and a cult, you’ll be pleased. Perhaps, if you go in expecting nothing at all (or you’re just a fan of anything John Darnielle puts out) you may enjoy it as well. Just don’t go in expecting horror in the traditional sense, you’ll be sorely disappointed.