Synopsis:
Mrs. Mina Braithwaite has never quite fit into Mydalla’s polite society. Her features are so different from the other noblewomen, more like the city’s foreign workers, and she chafes at all the rules. Then there’s the furious entity that has followed her for years, crawling from shadows to hurt her and staining every memory with fear. Desperate for help, Mina crashes a private gathering to see the infamous occultist Alexandre DuMort in action. She doesn’t expect the pull of attraction towards the man, nor his invitation to join him in his work.
But DuMort has enemies, dangerous ones, and they dog his steps as closely as Mina’s entity does hers. Mina must choose between her old life, and the angry spirit that stalks her, or follow the famed occultist down a new path, where even worse things might haunt her.
Like the truth.
My Edition:
E-ARC provided by the publisher
My Thoughts:
DuMort is a solid horror novella. It’s gloomy, mysterious, and occasionally a bit icky. However, like many novellas, it does suffer a little from its own short length in that there are a few elements that feel underdeveloped. The MC’s romantic feelings feel shoehorned since there’s not really time to develop them beyond “he’s here, and there’s just something about him.” And although there is some mention of marital strife between Mina and her husband, the escalation there felt a little jarring. But, I think these small issues (and they are small imo) are simply due to lack of length rather than any shortcomings of their author. I just think DuMort could have benefited from a few extra pages of exposition.
I definitely think the story’s payoff is well worth the time it will take to read it (and I think I maybe spent about 1.5-2 hours). If you like supernatural horror set in a fantasy world that delivers some unsettling body horror payoff, you’ll probably enjoy DuMort. You’ll just need to accept that it is incredibly difficult to fully realize all aspects of a story with multiple aspects in the form of a 120 page novella. That being said, I think Tang did a great job of working within those limitations. Do I think the love interest angle added anything to the story? Not really. But it also didn’t upset me. It still mostly worked – it just felt superfluous.
But I really enjoyed reading a book about Spiritualism set in a fantasy world. Especially when it connects Spiritualism with exploration of grief.
Rating:
Overall, DuMort was a fun read. I definitely recommend it if you’re in the mood for a dark, moody, Victorian-feeling (but not actually Victorian) body horror. There’s solid lore and good storytelling.
DuMort
By: Michelle Tang
Ghost Orchid Press
Expected Publication: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781068520730
Paperback, E-book
114-120 Pages (format dependent)
