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Most Likely To Summon Nyhiloteph
Lucy never got the chance to win “Most Likely to…” anything.
When a head-on collision cuts her life short, Lucy is left to haunt her bereaved friends as they finish high school. Without her, the group is lost- Jackson, Lucy’s best friend, most of all.
Swept up in a séance, Lucy materializes in The Grimoire, the local occult emporium owned by acid-tongued psychic Artemis. This opens her eyes to new possibilities: with some help from her friends and a ritual from one of Artemis’ books, Lucy could be back from the dead in time for graduation.
The gang gathers in the woods, along with Adrienne, the popular girl responsible for the fatal crash. But her pals are no experts, and Lucy isn’t the only one on the other side looking for a way in. When the rite goes wrong, Adrienne becomes possessed by a spirit claiming to be Lucy. (It's not).
How long will it take the crew to realize there’s a demon in their midst? Can Lucy save everyone from beyond the grave?
When a head-on collision cuts her life short, Lucy is left to haunt her bereaved friends as they finish high school. Without her, the group is lost- Jackson, Lucy’s best friend, most of all.
Swept up in a séance, Lucy materializes in The Grimoire, the local occult emporium owned by acid-tongued psychic Artemis. This opens her eyes to new possibilities: with some help from her friends and a ritual from one of Artemis’ books, Lucy could be back from the dead in time for graduation.
The gang gathers in the woods, along with Adrienne, the popular girl responsible for the fatal crash. But her pals are no experts, and Lucy isn’t the only one on the other side looking for a way in. When the rite goes wrong, Adrienne becomes possessed by a spirit claiming to be Lucy. (It's not).
How long will it take the crew to realize there’s a demon in their midst? Can Lucy save everyone from beyond the grave?
- GenresHorror
266 pages, Paperback
Published July 30, 2024
1 person is currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 20, 2024
Some disclaimers: I got this as an ARC for buying The Day of the Door from a publisher/bookstore at a convention. There may be bias I'm not seeing, but I personally think it's not that much: it should have pushed me to give a higher rating and I didn't.
The book itself is fine, well written (with some typos/grammatical errors that I quite frankly assumed was because it was wan ARC and they usually aren't in final form so I didn't knock down my rating for that). It's actually quite fun, it's just not quite what I look for in a horror. A personality clash if you will.
The Day of the Door was incredibly brutal, even if not very gory, but the topics it breached were hard to read. This book feels like the exact opposite. Horror, yes, so of course there are tragedies, and it can get a littler gorier than The Day of the Door. But it was written with a camp vibe, and Day of the Door wasn't. It wasn't quite my humor, although I was amused at some parts, I didn't laugh out loud.
I suspect this book has wider appeal than Day of the Door - horror comedies are popular, after all, and it's not so gory it will turn people away if they're not searching for splatter punk levels of gore - and I'm desperately trying to figure out and analyze why this book didn't hit with me. All I can come up with is what I have.
It was fun enough to finish in less than a week, and I can't quite come up with anything technical that made me think it was poorly written or that I can warn people off. I will say that the ARC at least had a lovely font: large, easy to read, and it did make the act of reading itself a joy because I didn't have to struggle with tiny print, or a hard to read font. (My therapist asked what I was reading, though, and was annoyed that the name Nyhiloteph was in a hard to read font: she was like you should have a funky name or that font, but not both at once which I thought was funny. I pointed out I liked the font, and she paused and said 'I don't dislike it, I cannot read that last word in that font, though.')
I suspect many will like this book, I just wished it had pushed either the comedy or horror aspect. The balance might have felt off so it might be more of me going meh because of that. I don't regret getting this book - in fact thank you to the publishers for it! - but I don't know if this will be a re-read for a while if at all for me. I love this book because it reminds me of the one convention I love so much that I go every year - and their dealer's room is full of books that are up my alley and an absolute delight - so I'm going to keep it for a while because of the memories.
I also wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone who was more into the comedy/horror blend. So I feel three stars is appropriate, because my rating is a blend of 'is it well made/written' and 'did I like it/was it emotionally fulfilling for me regardless of quality'. It probably would have gotten four on the first and two on the latter, so here we are.
The book itself is fine, well written (with some typos/grammatical errors that I quite frankly assumed was because it was wan ARC and they usually aren't in final form so I didn't knock down my rating for that). It's actually quite fun, it's just not quite what I look for in a horror. A personality clash if you will.
The Day of the Door was incredibly brutal, even if not very gory, but the topics it breached were hard to read. This book feels like the exact opposite. Horror, yes, so of course there are tragedies, and it can get a littler gorier than The Day of the Door. But it was written with a camp vibe, and Day of the Door wasn't. It wasn't quite my humor, although I was amused at some parts, I didn't laugh out loud.
I suspect this book has wider appeal than Day of the Door - horror comedies are popular, after all, and it's not so gory it will turn people away if they're not searching for splatter punk levels of gore - and I'm desperately trying to figure out and analyze why this book didn't hit with me. All I can come up with is what I have.
It was fun enough to finish in less than a week, and I can't quite come up with anything technical that made me think it was poorly written or that I can warn people off. I will say that the ARC at least had a lovely font: large, easy to read, and it did make the act of reading itself a joy because I didn't have to struggle with tiny print, or a hard to read font. (My therapist asked what I was reading, though, and was annoyed that the name Nyhiloteph was in a hard to read font: she was like you should have a funky name or that font, but not both at once which I thought was funny. I pointed out I liked the font, and she paused and said 'I don't dislike it, I cannot read that last word in that font, though.')
I suspect many will like this book, I just wished it had pushed either the comedy or horror aspect. The balance might have felt off so it might be more of me going meh because of that. I don't regret getting this book - in fact thank you to the publishers for it! - but I don't know if this will be a re-read for a while if at all for me. I love this book because it reminds me of the one convention I love so much that I go every year - and their dealer's room is full of books that are up my alley and an absolute delight - so I'm going to keep it for a while because of the memories.
I also wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone who was more into the comedy/horror blend. So I feel three stars is appropriate, because my rating is a blend of 'is it well made/written' and 'did I like it/was it emotionally fulfilling for me regardless of quality'. It probably would have gotten four on the first and two on the latter, so here we are.
September 13, 2024
Jennifer's Body meets Ghost.
Zany and heartfelt and queer.
I love this author and am always excited by their work.
Zany and heartfelt and queer.
I love this author and am always excited by their work.
January 28, 2025
If Casper the friendly ghost was a queer teenaged girl trying to save her only friends from a demon impersonator. Yep, this one's batshit crazy—in the best possible way. Madison McSweeney has spun a story that has all the fun of high-school horror but with real substance to the characters and an inventive approach to certain ghost and possession tropes. It's hilarious, gross, and emotionally moving. Read this!
July 31, 2024
This felt like an episode of Buffy that was directed by Grady Hendrix.
If you like teen possession movies like Jennifer’s Body this will be for you. Told from the ghostly perspective of a dead friend, Lucy has to warn her friends about their botched seance. Instead of communicating with her they got something else.
If you like teen possession movies like Jennifer’s Body this will be for you. Told from the ghostly perspective of a dead friend, Lucy has to warn her friends about their botched seance. Instead of communicating with her they got something else.
July 13, 2024
Infinitely charming and intoxicatingly rhythmic. It's kind of like Ghost with Patrick Swayze but directed by John Hughes, with a Meatloaf soundtrack and a demon designed by Clive Barker. You're wrong if that doesn't appeal to you.
May 4, 2025
Such a solid read, my only complaint is I wish it were longer!
4.5/5
4.5/5
November 7, 2024
excellent fun spooky-season read! not too scary, but quite gross lol
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews