Palmetto

by Ania Ahlborn

Kim Devland nearly has it all. A great marriage. A baby on the way. All that's missing is a house--one idyllic enough to fill the Norman Rockwell-shaped spaces in her mind. So when Kim's husband, Eddie, books a property tour of a home Kim has been eyeing online, it's love at first sight.
Far too expensive for them to afford, Kim and Eddie, make an offer anyway...and score the deal of a lifetime.
The house is suddenly theirs, and Kim sees it as destiny.
The house is where they're supposed to raise their baby, joyful and free and full of nothing but the best memories. But homes--especially the perfect ones--are never what they seem. Before Kim and Eddie are even moved in, something begins to squirm beneath Kim's skin.
Something portentous. A warning. Don't buy this house.
But she ignores her misgivings.
As if sensing its mother's foreboding, the baby begins to squirm beneath Kim's skin as well. Twisting. Writing. But Kim ignores that too.
Blinded by the idea of storybook happiness, Kim barrels headlong into a dream that quickly proves to be anything but and unwittingly seals her family's diabolical fate.

Paying homage to Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, Ahlborn's Palmetto takes the classic story of wanting it all and asks: how much would you sacrifice to have what you desire? And, watching your dream become a waking nightmare, how loud would you scream?

Genres: Horror, Novella, Fiction, Thriller, Short Stories, Audiobook, Horror Thriller

98 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2021

About the author

Born in Ciechanow Poland, Ania has always been drawn to the darker, mysterious, and sometimes morbid sides of life. Her earliest childhood memory is of crawling through a hole in the chain link fence that separated her family home from the large wooded cemetery next door. She’d spend hours among the headstones, breaking up bouquets of silk flowers so that everyone had their equal share.

Author of nine novels, Ania's books have been lauded by the likes of Publisher's Weekly, The New York Daily News, and The New York Times. Some titles have been optioned for film.

Hailing from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ania currently lives in Greenville, South Carolina.


For more from Ania, visit her site, or connect via social media on Facebook and Twitter.

Web: http://www.aniaahlborn.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aniaahlborn
Twitter: @aniaahlborn

Reviews

[Sydney Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

My skin is CRAWLINGGGGGG 😖

[Brandon Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing about Ania Ahlborn is if she’s writes it, I’m gonna read it, and I’m gonna love it.

[chantalsbookstuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

{Loved it}
So glad I read this short novel in the morning. I would not be able to fall asleep imagining bugs crawling all over me after reading this. Brilliant!

[Sadie Hartmann]

Exclusive, signed, limited editions for Night Worms November 2021 package, Season of Fear in partnership with Thunderstorm books!

Ania Ahlborn is one of our favorite authors and it was a *dream* to be able to showcase her work in this custom package paired with another favorite, Kristopher Triana.

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

PALMETTO by Ania Ahlborn is creepy, fast-paced, and guaranteed to make you itch and squirm. Roaches are terrifying to me - always have been since once fell on me on a trip to Louisiana when I reached for a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos that someone else was already interested in eating. Then the night fueled stories of roaches laying eggs in ears and, well, I cried for hours and slept with wax in my ears for about 6 years every night. So when I tell you I understand what Kim, our main character, is going through then you know I mean it! Well, except for the part about being pregnant and then constantly being gaslighted by her husband... but the bug part? Absolutely.

I can recall the time around 2008 when I lived in a first floor apartment in a very woodsy area that I had palmetto bugs all the time. I spent my paycheck in Hot Shot and Raid, and it was always a "real treat" coming home and seeing my cat sitting in some random, out of nowhere spot on the carpet (spoiler alert: she was sitting on one of those beasts).

But Ania Ahlborn as awoken all those fears again with this story. I feel so itchy and do not want to: carry my shoes to a new room, leave my toes on the ground, take a shower, do the dishes, etc. LOL - I mean, I will do all those things, but she made this scary again.

Full body chills a few times while reading and I gagged more than a few times. YIKES! What a wonderful, albeit totally horrific, story!

[Ghoul Von Horror · Rating 1 out of 5]

TW/CW: Language, drinking, misogyny, bug horror, creepy images

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Kim Devland nearly has it all. A great marriage. A baby on the way. All that's missing is a house--one idyllic enough to fill the Norman Rockwell-shaped spaces in her mind. So when Kim's husband, Eddie, books a property tour of a home Kim has been eyeing online, it's love at first sight.
Far too expensive for them to afford, Kim and Eddie, make an offer anyway...and score the deal of a lifetime.
The house is suddenly theirs, and Kim sees it as destiny.
The house is where they're supposed to raise their baby, joyful and free and full of nothing but the best memories. But homes--especially the perfect ones--are never what they seem. Before Kim and Eddie are even moved in, something begins to squirm beneath Kim's skin.
Something portentous. A warning. Don't buy this house.
But she ignores her misgivings.
As if sensing its mother's foreboding, the baby begins to squirm beneath Kim's skin as well. Twisting. Writing. But Kim ignores that too.
Blinded by the idea of storybook happiness, Kim barrels headlong into a dream that quickly proves to be anything but and unwittingly seals her family's diabolical fate.
Release Date: November 5th, 2021
Genre: Horror
Pages: 101
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Story was fast
2. Bugs were creepy

What I Didn't Like:
1. Absolutely no character development
2. Men never believing women
3. Repetitive

Final Thoughts:
God, I wish I could say this was good but it was so dry and annoying. The writing style was okay but honestly it was so drawn out and uninteresting. The characters were so underdeveloped that I never felt like I knew them or even cared about what happened to them. The only good thing about the book was how the bugs were described. I could see someone being creeped out by bugs.

IG | Blog

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was MEH, this is my least favourite book from Ania Ahlborn.

I'm left with more questions than answers, I think ambiguity works for some books, but in this case, I'm just left confused and a little frustrated. 

Nothing came from the introduction of one character, who I thought was the most interesting here. There was just a major disconnect in this story. the first half seemed like a different story than the second half, and nothing was revealed that connected the two. 

Unpopular opinion. I know, LOL. I think this got more hyped up because it was a limited edition originally. 

[Horror Bookworm Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Horror Bookworm Recommendation
Palmetto by Ania Ahlborn
https://horrorbookwormreviews.com/

Kim and Eddie have decided to stop renting and take the plunge to purchase a new home in anticipation for the baby on the way. After finding the perfect house and pregnancy in full swing, the couple move in. However, within the four walls of the new house, comes unexpected horrors and unimaginable sacrifices.

Palmetto by Ania Ahlborn is a short story / novella sized tale of preparation for a brand new baby. This, mixed with nocturnal Palmetto bugs. These massive winged cockroaches are the disgusting arthropods that overflow within Ahlborn’s pages of pure repulsive roach horror. Poison sprays, deadly pesticides or maybe a household cat, the only thing that will save the reader from this insect horror is a closed book.

This is my first Ania Ahlborn book (don’t judge), and as the saying goes…definitely won’t be my last. Reading Palmetto is like enjoying a danish and coffee, then discovering a writhing insect at the bottom of your mug. It’s a perfect little story that delivers a memorable morbid twist of the creepy kind. (My favorite type of book!)

Palmetto is a fast-pace piece of fiction that will keep readers on the edge of their seat, needing to know what’s gonna happen next. Providing a claustrophobic imprisonment of feral roaches is enough to make any reader have an extreme case of Entomophobia. Where’s the Orkin Man when ya need’em?! A five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Horror Bookworm Recommendation.

[John Durgin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one will give you the squirms. I loved it, as I have most Ahlborn books I’ve read. Only thing keeping it from 5 stars for me was the abrupt (while disturbing) ending.

[Tammy Niraula · Rating 5 out of 5]

New fear unlocked. My skin is crawling. 🪳

[Richard Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ask me who my favourite horror author writing today is and I will no doubt launch into a lengthy explanation of why everyone’s answer to that question should be Ania Ahlborn.

Her books are frequently bleak, always scary and boast some of the most well developed and often flawed characters, in any form of fiction, period. She has successfully tackled all manner of horrors best sub-genres, whether that be hauntings (Within These Walls), creature features (The Shuddering), the supernatural (Seed) or just good old-fashioned psychopaths (The Neighbors) and with her latest novella, ‘Palmetto’, she explores themes of paranoia and loss of control via a decidedly skin-crawlingly unpleasant setting of a bug-infested house.

Kim and Eddie are happy, young newlyweds with their first child on the way. Hoping to start their new life together in the best way possible, they make an offer on a dream home. It’s way out of their price range, so both are pleasantly surprised when their offer is accepted, and cannot wait to begin settling in.

The closer Kim gets to moving day, the more she begins to suspect that they may have made a terrible mistake. Strange and unexplainable visions have begun to plague her and her trepidation is confirmed once they arrive at their new home and find it infested with Palmetto bugs. While Eddie seems oddly unfazed, Kim becomes increasingly obsessed with the insects and their seeming inability to rid themselves of them; a fact that becomes all the more concerning with the arrival of her newborn child…

As of writing, ‘Palmetto’ is currently available only as a strictly limited printing from Thunderstorm Books, or via a now sold-out Night Worms subscription package. I’m hopeful that a wider release is just around the corner, and more people get an opportunity to pick this one up, as while the author is a rightfully acclaimed novelist, her novellas are equally effective (see ‘I Call Upon Thee’ for a prime example) and ‘Palmetto’ is no exception.

Reading this book made my skin crawl. Anyone with even a mild aversion to cockroaches and other creepy crawlies are best advised to stay well clear because Ahlborn is incredibly effective at setting a scene, and when that scene is a kitchen full of skittering bugs, climbing in food, popping up out of sinks or (*gasp*) crawling across someone’s skin, it will live rent-free in your head for a very long time. I can count on one hand the number of books I’ve read that have caused an actual, physical reaction in me, and I could honestly feel the tickle of little legs running across me for a fair portion of this book. You have been warned!

One thing I loved about ‘Palmetto’ is its ambiguity (which I appreciate may not be to everyone’s tastes). As we are being told the story by a narrator who, by her own admission, is growing increasingly obsessive and unpredictable in her behaviour, it is not a given that she is an entirely reliable narrator. The state of the infestation, and the impact it is having on Kim, is great, to say the least, which makes Eddie’s almost indifferent reaction (especially given he is otherwise painted as a thoughtful and attentive husband) somewhat questionable. Wondering how much (if any) of Kim’s experiences are imagined or exaggerated, and to what extent, was a big part of the book's appeal to me and it’s kept just subtle enough so as to be an intriguing afterthought without taking anything away from the story itself.

Palmetto is another winner from Ania Ahlborn and bears all the characteristics of her best work (psychological horror, strong characters, helpless situations and a generally sombre tone) while, as always, offering her readers something new. While I wouldn’t necessarily mark it as an ideal starting point for new readers (see ‘Seed’ or ‘Brother’ in that regard), especially given its current scarcity, it is everything you’d want from an Ania Ahlborn book, and I consider that a very high bar indeed.

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is roach hell posing as a novellette! A strong story, skin-crawling imagery, beautiful, straightforward prose. And palpable horror.

Ahlborn never disappoints. At long last, I finally read Palmetto. And it was as horrifying as advertised! I recommend it unreservedly.

[Kay Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult one to rate. While on one hand it was intriguing and kept my interest from start to finish, on the other, I loathed the characters, I found several inconsistencies in the writing, and the ending was unsatisfying, it was a toss up. This wasn't a terrible story, but not a great one either.

[MassacredMatt ⛧ (Read by Dawn Horror) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received Palmetto as part of the latest Night Worms subscription box. This was a fast, creepy, and fun read. There were parts that definitely gave me the heebie-jeebies! Another winner from Ania Ahlborn.

[Hannah Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ew, ew, ew. I HATE bugs, so this was the perfect book to terrify me. I hate that I read this right before bed. Then ending will probably make you want to throw up!

[Chandra Claypool (WhereTheReaderGrows) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an absolute, terrible fear of bugs. Over the weekend, there was what looked similar to a centipede crawling on the kitchen floor that my dog brought to my attention. I quickly put her in her crate, found some bug spray under the kitchen sink and proceeded to drown it. It just kept moving! I sincerely thought for a moment that this insect was slurping up the goods to become some super bug that was going to f*ck me up! Eventually it stopped moving and I stood there for about half an hour trying to find the courage to scoop it up on a couple sheets of paper I was using as my “move the bug” implements so I could deposit it in the trash. I did it! I was so proud of myself but paranoid for the rest of the evening that it was going to crawl out of the trash and come find me. So when I read this part: “tried not to imagine them reanimating inside the dust canister, crawling out of the machine, strengthened by insecticide, tougher than ever”.. I truly knew how Kim felt. TRULY.

All this to say that this book sufficiently creeped me the f out. I know insects are a part of the ecosystem and we need them but as far as I’m concerned they call all die in a fire.

5 full creepy ass stars. Now I need to shower and try not to imagine there are bugs crawling inside the walls like the damn matrix.

*insert hellish scream here*

Stay tuned for a babbly reel about this book and all the other Ania books I’ve read - which have been ALL of them. I say this with the utmost respect, but f you, Ania for giving me the heebie jeebies, creepy crawlies, itch under my skin, brilliant novella. And by that, I mean thank you. It’s been a minute since something has buried itself into my skin like this has.

[Yvonne (the putrid Shelf) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Palmetto is Ania Ahlborn at her absolute finest, dark, slippery, and psychologically devastating in all the ways I adore. Brother has long been one of my favourite horror novels, and somehow Ahlborn manages to tap into that same dread-soaked intimacy here while pushing even deeper into the fragile spaces between love, fear, and obsession.

From the opening pages, the writing is hypnotic: that perfect blend of quiet domestic unease and stomach-tightening tension that only Ahlborn can conjure. She gives us Kim Devland, a woman perched on the edge of the life she’s always dreamed of, perfect husband, baby on the way, the kind of home that feels like fate. But beneath it all festers this crawling, subtle sense of wrongness that Ahlborn builds with surgical precision.

What I especially loved was the constant questioning of reality. Kim’s experience blurs psychological horror with something far more sinister, and the story walks a razor-thin line between supernatural dread and the very real terror of postpartum depression. Ahlborn never cheapens it; instead, she lets the ambiguity throttle you. You’re trapped inside Kim’s spiralling mind, unsure what’s real, what’s imagined, and what the house may be awakening—both in her and around her.

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Shudder* Gross.

I’m going to have the creepy-crawlies for a week after reading this 🪳

[Aaron McQuiston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Palmetto is the second limited edition book from Thunderstorm Books that is an exclusive through the Night Worms subscription box. I was not family with Ania Ahiborn or her work, but I did love the beautiful red cover and the short length.

The story is new house horror. Kim and her husband Eddie are expecting a new baby. This means that their current dwellings are too small for their expanding family. Even though this house is seventy-five thousand dollars above their budget, Kim and Eddie decide to do some window shopping. While there, Kim opens the master bedroom, sees an old woman in the corner of the dark room, and the woman says that they should just try to get the house, that you have to sacrifice for what you want.

The sacrifice is that the house is invaded by flying cockroaches. Palmetto bugs start appearing and Kim becomes obsessed with trying to get rid of them. Bugs and cockroaches do not creep me out as much as Kim, who throws up more than once when she finds bits and pieces of palmettos in various parts of the kitchen. I gave her the benefit of the doubt when she was pregnant, because pregnancy gives you some unexpected triggers, but it does not lessen once the baby is born. This obsession becomes detrimental to Kim’s relationships with her husband and child, and eventually things fall completely apart.

I don’t think the execution of this novella is very good. It leaves more questions than answers, and though sometimes this is great in a work of fiction, in this case it does not make sense. I know that this is a limited edition, and it is not readily available to readers, but this does not sell me on reading more of her novels.

*The Big Spoiler Part*

Most of the reason why this does not work for me is because there is no real conclusion. At some points in the story, Kim wonders if Eddie even sees the cockroaches, and if she is imagining all of these things, including the woman who was there at the house showing. Kim is not convinced that she is even real. In the end, there is no inkling either way to a conclusion on this. If Eddie would have come home and found the palmettos everywhere or nowhere at all, it would have gone far to conclude the tone of the story. As it is, there are no answers. A return of the woman at the very end would have done wonders as well. She was the one who mentioned that there will be sacrifice, so she should have come back to receive it. At the end of the novella, I felt more irritated than satisfied.

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this in my November NightWorms subscription. Man, this was creepy crawly for real. Yuck, I truly hate bugs and just moved to South Carolina, so I’ve seen a few of these wonderful Palmetto bugs while out and about. I’m super happy my new home isn’t infested with them, lol. I’d really be tempted to burn it down if it was.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leave it to Ania Ahlborn to tap into my deep fear of palmetto bugs aka roaches.

[Erik Sidor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick fun read that turned very dark in the last couple of pages. To me it’s like Rosemary’s Baby meets the “They’re Creeping Up On You” segment of Creepshow.

[Raechel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fast read about bugs, motherhood, and your spouse not believing you.

Kim and her husband move into the perfect house just before she's set to have her baby. It's perfect, mysterious... and covered in roaches. Some of the descriptors are very good, the roaches are disgusting, and there's a lot of mystery. I would say the story doesn't give a lot of payoff with some of the mysteries, however. I would have liked more answers.

[Meghan 👹🥀 · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring

[Lauren K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella was true horror for me. Having had a horrible time during my 2 years living in the south with a German roach infestation, anything about any kind of roaches thoroughly terrifies me. This novella did not fall short. It had me feeling very squeamish and itchy, feeling like I needed to stand in the tub and pour bleach all of me and then scrub myself raw. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a horror story with creepy crawlies and terrifying old women!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hate bugs...it's one of those irrational fears that I know makes no sense but I can't help the fear when I see one...even when I KNOW it won't bite or is harmless. So...yeah...this book left me feeling SUPER creeped our. Well done. Very happy I had the chance to read it.. but this one might actually give me nightmares.

[R.J. Huneke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is paranoia personified. Macabre as hell.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was some very creepy scenes in this book. Bug horror done right.

[Jeremy Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABSOLUTELY NOT! No way in hell. I hate roaches and Jesus this was HORRIYFING

[thwipy · Rating 3 out of 5]

im itchy

favorite line:

“And it was only then, while staring down at her daughter’s open mouth, that Kim saw it—the glint of a Palmetto bug, its wings flashing rust-red deep within her baby’s throat.”