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Pagham-on-Sea #2
Thirteenth
Lovecraftian horror meets kitchen sink drama in this dry, darkly funny tale of toxic families, killers and cannibals, eldritch body horror and antihero female rage.
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Katy Porter is the thirteenth child of a thirteenth child in an inbred family of eldritch horrors, and her own eventual metamorphosis will change her into a creature that hungers for her family's flesh. To some, she's a threat - to others, a weapon.
Katy needs allies to help her control her Changes, but she's stuck with her oldest brother, a drug-addled playboy who voted to have her killed but is chaotic enough to have genuinely changed his mind, and her eyeball-eating, god-like cousin, whose idea of protecting her involves abduction, dark rituals, and encouraging her homicidal side.
If anyone is going to survive Katy's transformation, scores need to be settled and fears need to be faced - and Katy is not the only one who needs to face them.
THIRTEENTH is an eldritch family drama with a Lovecraftian twist on HANNIBAL RISING meets FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, set it in East Sussex. Content Warnings for drug use, self harm, suicide ideation, incest, violence, gore, body horror, and strong language. Adult Horror.
~
Katy Porter is the thirteenth child of a thirteenth child in an inbred family of eldritch horrors, and her own eventual metamorphosis will change her into a creature that hungers for her family's flesh. To some, she's a threat - to others, a weapon.
Katy needs allies to help her control her Changes, but she's stuck with her oldest brother, a drug-addled playboy who voted to have her killed but is chaotic enough to have genuinely changed his mind, and her eyeball-eating, god-like cousin, whose idea of protecting her involves abduction, dark rituals, and encouraging her homicidal side.
If anyone is going to survive Katy's transformation, scores need to be settled and fears need to be faced - and Katy is not the only one who needs to face them.
THIRTEENTH is an eldritch family drama with a Lovecraftian twist on HANNIBAL RISING meets FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, set it in East Sussex. Content Warnings for drug use, self harm, suicide ideation, incest, violence, gore, body horror, and strong language. Adult Horror.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2021
7 people are currently reading
289 people want to read
About the author
C.M. Rosens
16 books106 followersC. M. Rosens is an author of dark, genre-bending speculative fiction, particularly Gothic horror with tentacles and eldritch family drama, with body horror as a recurring theme. She is mainly to be found travelling between the hills of Wales and the plains of England, but loves visiting friends and family all over the world when she can. She has a PhD in a niche area of Medieval British Studies, and these days mostly applies her research skills in fiction rather than academia, which she enjoyed but doesn't miss. Her work is heavily influenced by the histories, mythologies and folklore of places she grew up in and lived as an adult.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
March 31, 2021
This was so much fun! It’s got all the hassle of being part of a large extended family - awful cousins, annoying siblings, bossy uncles - except they’ve got tentacles/fangs/slime and think nothing of a little light murder. And cannibalism (but it’s for practical reasons, so that’s okay). The three main characters bicker hilariously through all manner of weirdness, and the odd attempted murder, and there’s oodles of ickiness and monsters. Horror aside, Katy, Wes and Ricky are all great characters, each with their own worries and pressures, and somehow they make a decent team, even if their relegation ships with each other are complicated. That’s probably the strongest aspect of this book; families are complex, and the shared histories and unforgotten slights are really strong here, but they don’t get in the way of the story, and actually bind the characters together. Loved it.
June 6, 2023
This complicated family drama will entertain anyone who appreciates family values like sticking together through hard times, preserving legacy and tradition, and honoring the family matriarch’s unholy pact with a horrifying Something from a hell dimension that everyone calls Grandad.
Gory, funny, a bit on the viscous side of horror. LGBTQA+ rep, with ace, demi, and poly cousins dealing with their very messy family of eldritch cannibals.
I read The Thirteenth in about two days, barely put it down. Although it’s the second in the series, I think anyone could jump in here (I do recommend The Crows, the first book).
Gory, funny, a bit on the viscous side of horror. LGBTQA+ rep, with ace, demi, and poly cousins dealing with their very messy family of eldritch cannibals.
I read The Thirteenth in about two days, barely put it down. Although it’s the second in the series, I think anyone could jump in here (I do recommend The Crows, the first book).
September 20, 2021
I was so excited to read this book, seeing as the first book (The Crows) was absolutely amazing.
With this fast-paced read, it was great to catch up on familiar characters, and go through everything they went through. Packed with twists and turns that keep you guessing and wanting more, this was difficult to put down. I look forward to more from C.M Rosens.
With this fast-paced read, it was great to catch up on familiar characters, and go through everything they went through. Packed with twists and turns that keep you guessing and wanting more, this was difficult to put down. I look forward to more from C.M Rosens.
May 13, 2021
An excellent sequel to the Crows - I enjoyed spending more time in Ricky's head and delving into his cousins' lives very much, and finding odd points of empathy along the way (no I'm not a cannibal no I don't have tentacles) Weird and heartwarming and darkly funny.
April 1, 2023
Like Encanto, but with more gore, incest, impossible geometry, and eldritch abominations from beyond space and time.
July 16, 2021
This was another creepily delightful installment of the Pagham-on-Sea series featuring a cast of telenovela-worthy Eldritch characters driven by family drama, the quest for autonomy, oh yeah, and cannibalism.
It was great to spend more time with Ricky and get to know other characters, like Wes, who had smaller roles in The Crows. I also loved returning to my favorite spooky-cozy gothic house-person, The Crows, which is definitely a place I'd like to model my own future home after.
This is the perfect series for anyone who likes the creepy cottagecore aesthetic and deeply flawed supernatural beings just trying to survive the next prophecy.
Note: I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
It was great to spend more time with Ricky and get to know other characters, like Wes, who had smaller roles in The Crows. I also loved returning to my favorite spooky-cozy gothic house-person, The Crows, which is definitely a place I'd like to model my own future home after.
This is the perfect series for anyone who likes the creepy cottagecore aesthetic and deeply flawed supernatural beings just trying to survive the next prophecy.
Note: I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
October 1, 2021
Amazing
I cannot get enough of this series and the characters! If eldritch beings and complicated family relationships has you curious, I definitely recommend this book. Both books in this series kept me up at night reading! They are so hard to put down
I cannot get enough of this series and the characters! If eldritch beings and complicated family relationships has you curious, I definitely recommend this book. Both books in this series kept me up at night reading! They are so hard to put down
May 21, 2021
The second book in the Pagham-On-Sea series, preceded by The Crows, of which I had written:
"... as if Austen and Lovecraft had a baby, and Taika Waititi was the godfather."
What initially pulled me towards reading 'The Crows' was precisely the Gothic house trope (Austen's Northanger Abbey) and eldritch horrors (Lovecraft). I hadn't expected to encounter humour (Waititi, What We Do In The Shadows) and ended up staying after all for Rosens' incredible character development.
'Thirteenth', which I first read when it was still in its development stages, surprised me so positively in its final form, with all three characters in some shape or another coming full circle with their abusive family, and in the end walking away from what their ancestors had wanted for them. Rosens definitely has a talent for making readers relate to this story of family trauma - even though everyone is a slimy monster and there are tentacles coming out of strange places. But after all, weren't the ones that abused us just like monsters too - or dare I say, even worse than monsters?
**Thank you for including a family tree as well, it was so helpful!
"... as if Austen and Lovecraft had a baby, and Taika Waititi was the godfather."
What initially pulled me towards reading 'The Crows' was precisely the Gothic house trope (Austen's Northanger Abbey) and eldritch horrors (Lovecraft). I hadn't expected to encounter humour (Waititi, What We Do In The Shadows) and ended up staying after all for Rosens' incredible character development.
'Thirteenth', which I first read when it was still in its development stages, surprised me so positively in its final form, with all three characters in some shape or another coming full circle with their abusive family, and in the end walking away from what their ancestors had wanted for them. Rosens definitely has a talent for making readers relate to this story of family trauma - even though everyone is a slimy monster and there are tentacles coming out of strange places. But after all, weren't the ones that abused us just like monsters too - or dare I say, even worse than monsters?
**Thank you for including a family tree as well, it was so helpful!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2021
(ARC Read)This is a story of rotten families, Eldritch monstrosities and a teen girls coming of age. Diving back into Pagham-On-Sea you learn more of the surreal family of the Wends, Porters and Foremans, all while trying to understand their motivations and many many goals. Family here is a wild selection, where conflict and intrigue are at the forefront, not to mention the cosmic horror that runs with it. Following Katy, Ricky and Wes we learn of their difficult family, their challenges and desires, along with their coming into being. It’s a horrifying and delightfully fun story, where no matter the occasion, someone will still crack a joke and a laugh out of you too. One of the best reads of 2021 so far, filled with horror, fun, laughter, trauma and emotion, it has it all!!
December 1, 2024
It’s impossible to summarise the insanity of this book. It shouldn’t work as a solid piece of caution, yet it does. Like Ricky’s tentacles, it sinks into you. The characters are threatening and well developed (and I read it without the knowledge of an original text before this). Ricky has a strange vulnerability which the reader so connected to, despite his murderous and violent ways. Wes is so empty inside and desperately seeking liberation from the eldritch horrors of his life. Katy offers a sane member of the family to latch onto.
If cosmic horror and family drama is your thing, then this will transport you to paradise. The narrative twists and turns like the beasts within our heroes. Recommended.
If cosmic horror and family drama is your thing, then this will transport you to paradise. The narrative twists and turns like the beasts within our heroes. Recommended.
February 18, 2023
Thank you to the author for providing a review copy.
I really loved the first Pagham-On-Sea book, with it's gothic (with a twist) atmosphere. The second book is much more Lovecraftian family drama, and it turns out that I am really, really into that.
Thirteenth deals much more with Ricky's family lore and I loved reading more about it. Ricky is my favorite character from the first novel, and I was excited to get to learn more about his family. I'm eagerly awaiting the third book in the series.
I really loved the first Pagham-On-Sea book, with it's gothic (with a twist) atmosphere. The second book is much more Lovecraftian family drama, and it turns out that I am really, really into that.
Thirteenth deals much more with Ricky's family lore and I loved reading more about it. Ricky is my favorite character from the first novel, and I was excited to get to learn more about his family. I'm eagerly awaiting the third book in the series.
April 28, 2021
Thirteenth was such a fun read! I mean, a middle-class family of eldritch abominations living in a sleepy Home Counties town? Sold. Add in familial backstabbing, messy sibling and cousin relationships, a sentient house and a healthy side helping of tentacles, murder and cosmic horror, and you've got a fantastic book filled with vibrant characters (who made me feel like a terrible person for snort laughing at some very dark jokes). I look forward to returning to Pagham-On-Sea very soon!
April 14, 2021
I absolutely loved this book...in fact, I longed for it after reading The Crows. Thirteenth felt like a wonderful embrace. I was instantly welcomed back into my weird family of dysfunctional and adventurous and sexy (Yes Ricky, I’m looking at you) characters and it has left me wanting more. Highly recommend.
May 28, 2021
completely absurd, violent and absolutely wonderful. perfectly blending eldritch horror with family drama that's both tender and hilarious. the world said "you shouldn't go around making people feel warm and protective over an eyeball-eating serial killer with hidden tentacles" and CM Rosens said "try and stop me".
July 1, 2022
Horrifically enjoyable characters in a world I can't get enough of. The family dynamics are ridiculously believable considering they're eldritch cannibal murderers, and it all fits together so well. After the delight this book and its predecessor have been, I can't imagine what the next one will have in store.
January 21, 2023
Thank you C. M. Rosens
This beautifully told Lovecraftian tale tells of a Dysfunctional Family. It is the companion novel of the Crows. We see how the three cousins( Ricky, Wes and Katy) deal with their individual and mutual family issues while living in the Crows and awaiting Katy's Coming of Age.
Graphic Language and Gore
Family abuse and murders
This beautifully told Lovecraftian tale tells of a Dysfunctional Family. It is the companion novel of the Crows. We see how the three cousins( Ricky, Wes and Katy) deal with their individual and mutual family issues while living in the Crows and awaiting Katy's Coming of Age.
Graphic Language and Gore
Family abuse and murders
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2025
I absolutely loved this book! This author is very talented in how she weaves her words into such beautifully descriptive scenes that I can see so vividly in my head and the way she constructed each character was just brilliant! So many tense scenes and so many times where I laughed so hard as well. I really can't wait to see what this author does next!
November 16, 2021
I think I may have a new author to add to my favourites list! I have been thoroughly enjoying this series: the characters are fun and just amazing, the weirdness is eldritch and weird and wonderful and the plots are hooking and satisfying! I adore the inter-character reactions with all my heart.
May 9, 2022
An amazing sequel to The Crows. I love this author and the world they’ve built, it’s crazy and interesting and so unique! Can’t wait to read anything else they write.
Also I love Ricky. He’s gross and awful and disgusting but also my favorite. I want to read about him forever.
Also I love Ricky. He’s gross and awful and disgusting but also my favorite. I want to read about him forever.
April 6, 2025
This was amazing, I had high hopes after reading The Crows but did not expect this. What a journey this was, genuinely laughed out loud a couple of times and absolutely loved the ending. I now desperately need the 3rd book.
July 23, 2021
Bloody and marvelous. Really love the continued development of this family and those connected to it.
Read
March 22, 2024I cannot overstate how much I love that Rosens combines teenage rebellion and coming-of-age woes with eldritch horror and speculative worlds.
February 6, 2025
Ran a bit longer than it needed to, and felt quite unsatisfying by the end.
July 6, 2021
content notes: emotional abuse, child abuse, murder, torture, drug use, implied self harm, animal abuse, violence, gore.
April 29, 2021
I had a lot of fun with Thirteenth and its return to my favourite eldritch seaside town. We also see the return of Fairwood House, or The Crows if we go by the colloquial moniker that gives the series debut its title. The house is no longer haunted, at least in the traditional sense, and the only ghosts it contains now are the ones to be seen flickering in the windowpane-like eyes of its humanoid avatar. That the house can take on this vaguely human shape at will provides a unique take on the sentient house trope that plays out very well on the page, predecessors such as Hill House may dream but Fairwood thinks.
The same cannot always be said of the people who cross its threshold. Katy, a thirteenth child of a thirteenth child, is preoccupied with prophetic dreams of her transformation into what she terms “the beast” and the subsequent cull of her eldritch extended family, while her brother Wes and cousin Ricky avoid thinking by taking every self-destructive option open to them. That family is complicated seems to be at the heart of the novel and while for me the appeal of the first book largely lay in the world-building, here it lies in watching characters you form extremely conflicted attachments to (well, for the most part, Wes’s partners are delightful and if you haven’t yet been introduced to them via Rosens's Overexposure short, I definitely recommend picking it up) clash and begin to bond and then clash again.
The plot passes in a whirl of abductions, brawls, rituals, and murders. The pacing is great, and moments of humour are deftly interwoven with an abundance of regret, anger, and indecision. It turns out family dinner drama and car journey petulance persist whether some revere you as a god or not. There is a skill to achieving horror-comedy without treating heavier topics with levity and it is a skill Rosens has undoubtedly mastered as she takes us on an emotional rollercoaster where a pleased awh can turn to a concerned oh in the midst of a sentence or on the flip of a page. I am looking forward to seeing where she takes us next.
The same cannot always be said of the people who cross its threshold. Katy, a thirteenth child of a thirteenth child, is preoccupied with prophetic dreams of her transformation into what she terms “the beast” and the subsequent cull of her eldritch extended family, while her brother Wes and cousin Ricky avoid thinking by taking every self-destructive option open to them. That family is complicated seems to be at the heart of the novel and while for me the appeal of the first book largely lay in the world-building, here it lies in watching characters you form extremely conflicted attachments to (well, for the most part, Wes’s partners are delightful and if you haven’t yet been introduced to them via Rosens's Overexposure short, I definitely recommend picking it up) clash and begin to bond and then clash again.
The plot passes in a whirl of abductions, brawls, rituals, and murders. The pacing is great, and moments of humour are deftly interwoven with an abundance of regret, anger, and indecision. It turns out family dinner drama and car journey petulance persist whether some revere you as a god or not. There is a skill to achieving horror-comedy without treating heavier topics with levity and it is a skill Rosens has undoubtedly mastered as she takes us on an emotional rollercoaster where a pleased awh can turn to a concerned oh in the midst of a sentence or on the flip of a page. I am looking forward to seeing where she takes us next.
October 27, 2024
With book 1 (The Crows) being one of my all-time fav reads, this book couldn't be left behind.
TL;DR review:
Teenage rage, fucked up family, and who says you must follow your destiny? All with eldritch monstrosities who just want to live a "normal" life (haha, goodluck! 💀)
Longer, more in-depth review:
On family:
As if "normal" families don't bring enough potential issues and drama, try making them inbred cannibalistic eldritch monstrosities who don't shy from killing their own...to save...their own...
Luckily our teen "hero" is destined to kill her murderous kin, just 1 tiny problem: does *she* want to do that? (And does her family plan to let her??)
This really goes into the whole destiny versus free will and how to take control (in a way) of your own life.
With eldritch horror 🤘
On LGBTQ+:
Multiple queer characters in this one, as the cast of The Crows returns (with a much bigger role for Wes, our polyam disaster queer with no (memorable) face). I know some will love him... I love to hate him. Okay maybe hate is a too big a word (have to remember this is book 2... Will review book 3 next lol)
On the eldritch horrors:
It was a lot of fun to hear more about the various family members and how each is "inhuman" in a different way. I have my fav characters of course (def Team Ricky for me 🏚) but Katy is such a rollercoaster. It's a lot of fun because she is a teen and properly behaves like one. And here she is, having such a heavy weight on her shoulders (she just wants to go to school with her friends, damnit Grandad!) The whole setting is just {chef's kiss}, especially once they get to {redacted}.
The ending is also just GLORIOUS 🙌
On style:
The book is written in third person and switches between several POVs. To repeat my previous statement from The Crows: Rosens has a very engaging writing style that feels natural and pulls you into the world of Pagham on Sea and truly brings the characters to life.
ALSO: This book, too, has amazing illustrations! 🤩
Final notes:
If you enjoy eldritch horror poured into a teenage girl with a lot of repressed rage being a ticking timebomb until she goes BOOM in a shower of blood and guts this baby's for you.
TL;DR review:
Teenage rage, fucked up family, and who says you must follow your destiny? All with eldritch monstrosities who just want to live a "normal" life (haha, goodluck! 💀)
Longer, more in-depth review:
On family:
As if "normal" families don't bring enough potential issues and drama, try making them inbred cannibalistic eldritch monstrosities who don't shy from killing their own...to save...their own...
Luckily our teen "hero" is destined to kill her murderous kin, just 1 tiny problem: does *she* want to do that? (And does her family plan to let her??)
This really goes into the whole destiny versus free will and how to take control (in a way) of your own life.
With eldritch horror 🤘
On LGBTQ+:
Multiple queer characters in this one, as the cast of The Crows returns (with a much bigger role for Wes, our polyam disaster queer with no (memorable) face). I know some will love him... I love to hate him. Okay maybe hate is a too big a word (have to remember this is book 2... Will review book 3 next lol)
On the eldritch horrors:
It was a lot of fun to hear more about the various family members and how each is "inhuman" in a different way. I have my fav characters of course (def Team Ricky for me 🏚) but Katy is such a rollercoaster. It's a lot of fun because she is a teen and properly behaves like one. And here she is, having such a heavy weight on her shoulders (she just wants to go to school with her friends, damnit Grandad!) The whole setting is just {chef's kiss}, especially once they get to {redacted}.
The ending is also just GLORIOUS 🙌
On style:
The book is written in third person and switches between several POVs. To repeat my previous statement from The Crows: Rosens has a very engaging writing style that feels natural and pulls you into the world of Pagham on Sea and truly brings the characters to life.
ALSO: This book, too, has amazing illustrations! 🤩
Final notes:
If you enjoy eldritch horror poured into a teenage girl with a lot of repressed rage being a ticking timebomb until she goes BOOM in a shower of blood and guts this baby's for you.
October 28, 2025
I really need to write a review but to be honest, I need to write more of my own stories, understand life and writing better, go further with trauma therapy to even begin to explain how much this whole series meant and means to me...
...is what I wrote on social media. So I think I'll just copy paste that as rewiews for all books in the series. Only adding how gracious the author was when I wrote her an email to express how much the series, especially book 1, meant to me.
...is what I wrote on social media. So I think I'll just copy paste that as rewiews for all books in the series. Only adding how gracious the author was when I wrote her an email to express how much the series, especially book 1, meant to me.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews