'If you read one horror book this year, make it this one.' – Josh Winning, author of Heads Will Roll

'Fast-paced, frightening, and fiercely relevant...Movie geeks, welcome to your new favourite book!' – Sam Ashurst, director of A Little More Flesh

'Mixes the classic English ghost story with the dank, creeping dread of an illicit found-
footage horror.' – Joma West, author of Twice Lived

Some horrors should never be filmed.

Felix Faraday has spent his life in someone else’s shadow. The son of the late, beloved Freddie Faraday, aka TV’s Mr Smooth, he drifts through the dim haze of Y2K London.

Then the tape arrives.

No return address. No explanation. Just a warped, unmarked VHS left on his doorstep. He thinks it’s another cheap horror film promo.

Until Felix presses play.

What he sees isn’t a film. It’s footage that shouldn’t exist. His father is alive and smiling, and in the background is a man who vanished decades ago: Thomas Abbott. But the worst thing isn’t the man. It’s what shifts in the water.

As Felix and his friends dig deeper, they uncover a secret buried deep within the foundations of the British film industry. Something that was never meant to be recorded. And now, it’s watching back.

A twisted, chilling horror set in the underbelly of a notorious industry, for fans of Paul Tremblay and Grady Hendrix.

Matt Glasby is an author and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow. His writing has appeared in Radio Times, GQ, Empire and more, and his books include A-Z Great Film Directors, Britpop Cinema: From Trainspotting to This Is England and The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film, which was longlisted for a Bram Stoker Award. He is a member of the Critics’ Circle and the Horror Writers Association.

© 2027 Matt Glasby (P) 2027 DK Audio