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Lunar Gothic Trilogy #1
Crypt of the Moon Spider
Crypt of the Moon Spider is a dark and dreamy tale of horror, corruption, and identity spun into the stickiest of webs.
Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe.
It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas.
But trouble lurks in many a mind at this facility and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.
Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe.
It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas.
But trouble lurks in many a mind at this facility and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published August 27, 2024
323 people are currently reading
9186 people want to read
About the author
Nathan Ballingrud
70 books1,321 followersI'm the author of North American Lake Monsters: stories, coming from Small Beer Press in July 2013. I'm currently at work on my first novel and several more short stories. I live with my daughter in Asheville, NC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 793 reviews
September 7, 2024
I hate to sound overly hyperbolic, but this was simply one of the most disturbing and nightmarish stories I’ve ever experienced. I’ve mentioned before in various reviews that, as an avid reader of horror fiction for over three decades, it’s rare for me to be truly unsettled and horrified these days, but this was like being trapped in a literal hell, and I have a feeling it will be sticking with me for a long time to come. I wouldn’t call it a particularly “fun” type of terror, but I kept furiously turning the pages anyway, despite my apprehension for what was in store.
The disturbing aspects have less to do with any violence or gore or body horror (though that’s all here too) and more with the horrific psychological concepts detailed — ones that play into a couple of my greatest fears, concerning memory and self. So your mileage may vary. Considering it’s only a hundred pages or so, I’ll not go into the plot other than to say that it’s about a “melancholy” young woman in a bizarre alternate 1923 whose husband has her committed to an insane asylum — on the moon, at the spot where a giant spider is said to have once lived and been worshipped as a god. It’s probably best to read this in only one or two sittings at night in order to maintain the atmosphere of inner unease and cosmic dread. It worked for me.
The prose is of very high quality as per usual for Ballingrud, who’s just moved into my “must read everything” list. Good thing there’s a decent amount out there that I haven’t gotten to yet. I enjoyed North American Lake Monsters and The Visible Filth, but this was on a whole other twisted level, for my tastes.
And yet, it was oddly thought-provoking and even moving at times.
But mostly twisted.
The disturbing aspects have less to do with any violence or gore or body horror (though that’s all here too) and more with the horrific psychological concepts detailed — ones that play into a couple of my greatest fears, concerning memory and self. So your mileage may vary. Considering it’s only a hundred pages or so, I’ll not go into the plot other than to say that it’s about a “melancholy” young woman in a bizarre alternate 1923 whose husband has her committed to an insane asylum — on the moon, at the spot where a giant spider is said to have once lived and been worshipped as a god. It’s probably best to read this in only one or two sittings at night in order to maintain the atmosphere of inner unease and cosmic dread. It worked for me.
The prose is of very high quality as per usual for Ballingrud, who’s just moved into my “must read everything” list. Good thing there’s a decent amount out there that I haven’t gotten to yet. I enjoyed North American Lake Monsters and The Visible Filth, but this was on a whole other twisted level, for my tastes.
And yet, it was oddly thought-provoking and even moving at times.
But mostly twisted.
August 19, 2025
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...
CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER
(The Lunar Gothic Trilogy Book #1)
by Nathan Ballingrud
4 stars. The year is 1923... In a galaxy far, far away, the moon was the inhabited skull of a long-dead god who once walked the dark pathways of space like a king...
Or, at least...
That was the local legend Veronica Brinkley remembered as she and her husband took the passenger space shuttle...
To the moon...
Looking down at the moon through her oval window, she was anxious to see the forests...
Galileo once thought they were oceans...
Veronica was afraid, but her husband told her there was nothing to fear. He was a man of science. It would be a new beginning...
He had spent a great deal of money on this trip to cure her of melancholy...
As they neared the landing strip...
She saw that the forest was covered in a vast system of spiderwebs spun over the canopy of trees...
Their destination...
Barrowfield Home was in a clearing. It was a massive building situated amid the web-shrouded trees...
It was a place to warehouse people...
There was no way in or out except by shuttle. Veronica's husband took her there to sign her over for mental treatment of melancholy...
He had no intention of seeing her again...
She asked a fellow patient: What has happened to us? He replied: We grew up...
I would classify this novel as a parallel time travel story with a dash of cosmic horror.
I liked the first half very much, but the second half was ultra trippy, and most of the time, I didn't know what was going on. The style was almost like it was Cormac McCarthy-ish in the storytelling.
I can't really say it was a book I would have chosen to read, and I went into it blind, but I know there is a market for this kind of story, and for those people, I think they would really like it.
CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER
(The Lunar Gothic Trilogy Book #1)
by Nathan Ballingrud
4 stars. The year is 1923... In a galaxy far, far away, the moon was the inhabited skull of a long-dead god who once walked the dark pathways of space like a king...
Or, at least...
That was the local legend Veronica Brinkley remembered as she and her husband took the passenger space shuttle...
To the moon...
Looking down at the moon through her oval window, she was anxious to see the forests...
Galileo once thought they were oceans...
Veronica was afraid, but her husband told her there was nothing to fear. He was a man of science. It would be a new beginning...
He had spent a great deal of money on this trip to cure her of melancholy...
As they neared the landing strip...
She saw that the forest was covered in a vast system of spiderwebs spun over the canopy of trees...
Their destination...
Barrowfield Home was in a clearing. It was a massive building situated amid the web-shrouded trees...
It was a place to warehouse people...
There was no way in or out except by shuttle. Veronica's husband took her there to sign her over for mental treatment of melancholy...
He had no intention of seeing her again...
She asked a fellow patient: What has happened to us? He replied: We grew up...
I would classify this novel as a parallel time travel story with a dash of cosmic horror.
I liked the first half very much, but the second half was ultra trippy, and most of the time, I didn't know what was going on. The style was almost like it was Cormac McCarthy-ish in the storytelling.
I can't really say it was a book I would have chosen to read, and I went into it blind, but I know there is a market for this kind of story, and for those people, I think they would really like it.
October 20, 2024
*Many thanks to my inaugural buddy reader Christine Koch. It was a quick one, but time very well spent*
Spiders and the moon; two things replete with dreary allegorical potential and put to much use in this frigid, gothic, sci-fi adjacent, phantasmagorical creature feature period piece, weaved together with characteristically stunning prose from one of the best practitioners of language in any of the aforementioned genres.
The blending of medical horror, parasitic body horror, and creeping existential dread makes for a wonderfully macabre fable.
This is not hard science-fiction. It is not relevant to understand why there is breathable oxygen on the surface of the moon, how rocket technology was so advanced in the 1920’s, or how a spider god possesses psychic and time-folding capabilities.
Although thankfully no cringeworthy references to “the divine feminine,” the time period of barely burgeoning autonomy in which it takes place makes the oft-attributed female qualities of the moon and the spider pertinent. To reduce it to some trendy feminine rage revenge fantasy would be doing the story a great disservice. It is not so blatantly triumphant as that. Veronica is committed by her husband for being too downtrodden to fulfil her wifely duties (her self-loathing reinforced by words from her mother when [or where] Veronica was a child), but there are men committed to the same fate intended for her. Ballingrud does not deal in exaggerated didactic pandering. The head surgeon at Barrowfield Home for Treatment of Melancholy is as condescending to his enforcer/former patient as he is to Veronica. It’s really only gendered in variation and has more to do with experimental attempts by a grandiose malpractioner at cures for little understood mental illness with the real life body horror of prefrontal lobotomies called to mind. Hysteria or melancholy? Never mind. Mutilate the brain.
There are those who think Ballingrud is too obtuse and abstract (especially in The Visible Filth, otherwise known as Wounds, which I loved as well, but can understand. The movie did not do well, but I was impressed by how faithful an adaptation it was). Crypt of the Moon Spider (which, for some reason I have to actively refrain from calling Curse of the Spider Moon) is a classically weird tale and is perfectly cohesive in the moonlight of its wildly unique conceit, should one be willing to accept it. It is a grotesque nightmare, elegantly executed.
Time allowing, I’ll return for some more nitty-gritty, specific points of analysis, because I love a story that sets my symbolic synapses aflame. I will be anticipating and reading the further entries in this Lunar Gothic Trilogy.
A very solid 4.5.
Spiders and the moon; two things replete with dreary allegorical potential and put to much use in this frigid, gothic, sci-fi adjacent, phantasmagorical creature feature period piece, weaved together with characteristically stunning prose from one of the best practitioners of language in any of the aforementioned genres.
The blending of medical horror, parasitic body horror, and creeping existential dread makes for a wonderfully macabre fable.
This is not hard science-fiction. It is not relevant to understand why there is breathable oxygen on the surface of the moon, how rocket technology was so advanced in the 1920’s, or how a spider god possesses psychic and time-folding capabilities.
Although thankfully no cringeworthy references to “the divine feminine,” the time period of barely burgeoning autonomy in which it takes place makes the oft-attributed female qualities of the moon and the spider pertinent. To reduce it to some trendy feminine rage revenge fantasy would be doing the story a great disservice. It is not so blatantly triumphant as that. Veronica is committed by her husband for being too downtrodden to fulfil her wifely duties (her self-loathing reinforced by words from her mother when [or where] Veronica was a child), but there are men committed to the same fate intended for her. Ballingrud does not deal in exaggerated didactic pandering. The head surgeon at Barrowfield Home for Treatment of Melancholy is as condescending to his enforcer/former patient as he is to Veronica. It’s really only gendered in variation and has more to do with experimental attempts by a grandiose malpractioner at cures for little understood mental illness with the real life body horror of prefrontal lobotomies called to mind. Hysteria or melancholy? Never mind. Mutilate the brain.
There are those who think Ballingrud is too obtuse and abstract (especially in The Visible Filth, otherwise known as Wounds, which I loved as well, but can understand. The movie did not do well, but I was impressed by how faithful an adaptation it was). Crypt of the Moon Spider (which, for some reason I have to actively refrain from calling Curse of the Spider Moon) is a classically weird tale and is perfectly cohesive in the moonlight of its wildly unique conceit, should one be willing to accept it. It is a grotesque nightmare, elegantly executed.
Time allowing, I’ll return for some more nitty-gritty, specific points of analysis, because I love a story that sets my symbolic synapses aflame. I will be anticipating and reading the further entries in this Lunar Gothic Trilogy.
A very solid 4.5.
July 23, 2024
What the hell did I just read? Crypt of the Moon Spider is like some kind of science fiction fever dream and I was down for it!
It's 1923 and Veronica is heading to the moon with her husband. He is committing her to the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. Years ago, the moon was home to a colossal spider. The spider is dead now but uses have been found for its moon spider silk. Turns out it can help the mentally ill. Or can it? As the mysterious Dr. Cull performs his spider silk brain experiments on his patients, his assistant Charlie is busy harassing and abusing patients in his own way. And lastly, who are these people wandering around in white, often bloody robes? You'll have to read this to find out!
I admit that I only have a vague idea as to what happened here, but I believe that was the author's intent. Yes, I understood most of what was going on, but what I do not understand is most of the how and why. Was what happened some sort of dream on Veronica's part? Does the world at large know exactly what it is that Dr. Cull is doing? What the hell is Charlie's problem? I feel like I, myself, am wandering around the labyrinthian Barrowfield Home, looking for answers.
I loved Veronica as a character. She felt real to me and she was so hard on herself I just wanted to hug her. I get the feeling that Veronica is somehow special, that she was always meant to be on the moon, and that she has a purpose there.
This was a unique novella but I feel it is connected to the wider world of literature as well. Viewed a certain way, this could be a weird retelling of Frankenstein, or maybe even a planet of Dr. Moreau instead of an island? (I also feel a little bit of an, Edgar Rice Burroughs vibe, but that could be and probably is, just me.) All of this to say I'm still not really sure what is happening here, but I WANT MORE. I am trusting in the author to answer all of my questions in the next two books and I would like both of those ASAP, please!
All the Stars to this wicked, dreamy, and weird science fiction tale! Bravo!
*ARC from publisher.*
It's 1923 and Veronica is heading to the moon with her husband. He is committing her to the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. Years ago, the moon was home to a colossal spider. The spider is dead now but uses have been found for its moon spider silk. Turns out it can help the mentally ill. Or can it? As the mysterious Dr. Cull performs his spider silk brain experiments on his patients, his assistant Charlie is busy harassing and abusing patients in his own way. And lastly, who are these people wandering around in white, often bloody robes? You'll have to read this to find out!
I admit that I only have a vague idea as to what happened here, but I believe that was the author's intent. Yes, I understood most of what was going on, but what I do not understand is most of the how and why. Was what happened some sort of dream on Veronica's part? Does the world at large know exactly what it is that Dr. Cull is doing? What the hell is Charlie's problem? I feel like I, myself, am wandering around the labyrinthian Barrowfield Home, looking for answers.
I loved Veronica as a character. She felt real to me and she was so hard on herself I just wanted to hug her. I get the feeling that Veronica is somehow special, that she was always meant to be on the moon, and that she has a purpose there.
This was a unique novella but I feel it is connected to the wider world of literature as well. Viewed a certain way, this could be a weird retelling of Frankenstein, or maybe even a planet of Dr. Moreau instead of an island? (I also feel a little bit of an, Edgar Rice Burroughs vibe, but that could be and probably is, just me.) All of this to say I'm still not really sure what is happening here, but I WANT MORE. I am trusting in the author to answer all of my questions in the next two books and I would like both of those ASAP, please!
All the Stars to this wicked, dreamy, and weird science fiction tale! Bravo!
*ARC from publisher.*
March 31, 2025
Holy shit. This sci-fi horror novella packed an awfully big and most gruesome punch. I can't wait to see what happens next!
October 14, 2024
Nathan Ballingrud stan. FRTC
"I didn't used to be this way... What happened to me? What happened to us?"
"We grew up."
"I didn't used to be this way... What happened to me? What happened to us?"
"We grew up."
January 19, 2025
Finished this book club read because I could not put it down. Marinating on this a bit and a full review soon!
May 2, 2024
This book is short but the story inside is big, much bigger than what it starts out as, a woman seeks medical treatment for her 'melancholy' at a facility located on a forrested moon, to say much more would spoil the book but Nathan has infused the sci fi genre with a darkly delicious gothic atmopshere that permeates the entire book, in addition to this there is some serious body horror, creature feature elements and an almost steampunk vibe, together this creates a surreal novella that is one of the best I've read this year, it's also worth mentioning the character of Veronica was extremely well written, writing a female character as a man and having them resonate with the reader is no small achievement, I can't wait for the next book in the series!
July 25, 2025
Horror fiction writers: this is how you do it
I am not a big fan of horror fiction. I think, however, that is because, as a general rule, it is so poorly done. I'm being unfair -- when I say "it is poorly done", what I mean is that it doesn't horrify me. I am not horrified by creepy-crawlies -- in fact, I spent more than 30 years of my life studying worms, so I think worms and bugs are kind of cool, very beautiful little machines, in fact. Blood and guts and gore also don't bother me.
What I find really scary is psychological terror -- the fear of losing oneself. Nameless fears -- the "nameless" part is important. As a filmmaker once remarked, if you want to really be scary, never show the audience the monster. Leave it to their imaginations -- the monster they imagine is always scarier than anything you can put on the screen. As soon as you show the monster, as soon as you name the fear, it becomes a concrete problem to be solved, and that will never be as frightening as the invisible and nameless.
In Crypt of the Moon Spider, Nathan Ballingrud does that. In fact, he does it a little TOO well. It is truly scary. (And not because of the spiders -- there are spiders, but they play a surprisingly small role in the story.)
In fact, I'm going to be a little inconsistent here, because my main compliant about Crypt of the Moon Spider is that I never knew what was going on, even at the end. The world-building feels vague and perfunctory. Much of the action takes place on the moon, and there are forests and spiders there. It is 1923, and there are regular shuttle flights from Earth to the Moon. This is obviously not the Moon as we know it, and I never figured out how the world of Crypt of the Moon Spider relates to this one we inhabit.
Probably that ambiguity contributes to the mind-numbing horror that Ballingrud produces so well here. But still, I was left unsatisfied at the end.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for an advance reader copy of Crypt of the Moon Spider.
Blog review
I am not a big fan of horror fiction. I think, however, that is because, as a general rule, it is so poorly done. I'm being unfair -- when I say "it is poorly done", what I mean is that it doesn't horrify me. I am not horrified by creepy-crawlies -- in fact, I spent more than 30 years of my life studying worms, so I think worms and bugs are kind of cool, very beautiful little machines, in fact. Blood and guts and gore also don't bother me.
What I find really scary is psychological terror -- the fear of losing oneself. Nameless fears -- the "nameless" part is important. As a filmmaker once remarked, if you want to really be scary, never show the audience the monster. Leave it to their imaginations -- the monster they imagine is always scarier than anything you can put on the screen. As soon as you show the monster, as soon as you name the fear, it becomes a concrete problem to be solved, and that will never be as frightening as the invisible and nameless.
In Crypt of the Moon Spider, Nathan Ballingrud does that. In fact, he does it a little TOO well. It is truly scary. (And not because of the spiders -- there are spiders, but they play a surprisingly small role in the story.)
In fact, I'm going to be a little inconsistent here, because my main compliant about Crypt of the Moon Spider is that I never knew what was going on, even at the end. The world-building feels vague and perfunctory. Much of the action takes place on the moon, and there are forests and spiders there. It is 1923, and there are regular shuttle flights from Earth to the Moon. This is obviously not the Moon as we know it, and I never figured out how the world of Crypt of the Moon Spider relates to this one we inhabit.
Probably that ambiguity contributes to the mind-numbing horror that Ballingrud produces so well here. But still, I was left unsatisfied at the end.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for an advance reader copy of Crypt of the Moon Spider.
Blog review
August 7, 2025
Full of stunning imagery from start to finish, deadly and beautiful like a spider. I'll definitely read the next book in the series.
October 11, 2025
Looking forward to the next book!
I found a digital copy of CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER by Nathan Balingrud on Libby. All views are mine.
Things I loved:
1. I love the opening description of the story's setting, especially the image of a canopy of webs populated by spiders. Then it dawned on her that the forest was covered in a vast system of spiderwebs, cast over the canopy of every tree, so that it seemed they were flying over a ghostly wood, a revenant returned from darkness in a terrible glamor. p4
2. A powerful point about the power of thoughts: The thought crawled out of the wet black loam of her brain like some horrid new insect. It scrabbled unchecked through her mind, eating everything clean and good in her, laying clutches of wet, mucousy eggs in its stead. p30
3. It had been cored from his head like a bruise from an apple, and he had nothing left but the memory of its shape. And even as he acknowledged this, that memory too began to fade. “Where is my murder?” he said. Dr. Cull smiled and took him by the elbow. “We’re launching soon,” he said. “This will be the first of many explorations. We can watch it from the garden if you’d like. Afterward, I’ll fill you with murders.” Cull certainly tried. But Charlie had an appetite beyond his imagining. p67 Wonderful development of the antagonists, and use of foreshadowing.
4. Beautiful theme work in feminism here: “It isn’t fair,” she said. Her mother stopped, a beleaguered expression on her face. “Now, that’s a fine word,” she said. “The boys are at the stream already.” “Well, they’re boys. They get to do lots of things you don’t get to do. You might as well get used to it.” p73 And here also, in anti-ableism: “How could I ever become a burden to them? That doesn’t make any sense.” “When what you need outweighs what you offer. Make no mistake, child. Your life does not belong to you.” p74
Things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's also for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I don't know if I have to say this, but drugging your patient with psychedelics is not the way to treat their trauma.
2. The plots wiggles, but that's because it's less of a complete story and more like the first few chapters of a novel. It's compelling though and I'm looking forward to the next one in autumn 2025
Rating: 🕸🕷🕸🕷 /5 Spidies
Recommend? Yes
Finished: Nov 12 '24
Format: Digital, Kindle, Libby
Read this book if you like:
🕸 spiders
🔫 scifi horror
🪢 experimental timeline
🕷 monster stories
📚 novella prequels
I found a digital copy of CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER by Nathan Balingrud on Libby. All views are mine.
Things I loved:
1. I love the opening description of the story's setting, especially the image of a canopy of webs populated by spiders. Then it dawned on her that the forest was covered in a vast system of spiderwebs, cast over the canopy of every tree, so that it seemed they were flying over a ghostly wood, a revenant returned from darkness in a terrible glamor. p4
2. A powerful point about the power of thoughts: The thought crawled out of the wet black loam of her brain like some horrid new insect. It scrabbled unchecked through her mind, eating everything clean and good in her, laying clutches of wet, mucousy eggs in its stead. p30
3. It had been cored from his head like a bruise from an apple, and he had nothing left but the memory of its shape. And even as he acknowledged this, that memory too began to fade. “Where is my murder?” he said. Dr. Cull smiled and took him by the elbow. “We’re launching soon,” he said. “This will be the first of many explorations. We can watch it from the garden if you’d like. Afterward, I’ll fill you with murders.” Cull certainly tried. But Charlie had an appetite beyond his imagining. p67 Wonderful development of the antagonists, and use of foreshadowing.
4. Beautiful theme work in feminism here: “It isn’t fair,” she said. Her mother stopped, a beleaguered expression on her face. “Now, that’s a fine word,” she said. “The boys are at the stream already.” “Well, they’re boys. They get to do lots of things you don’t get to do. You might as well get used to it.” p73 And here also, in anti-ableism: “How could I ever become a burden to them? That doesn’t make any sense.” “When what you need outweighs what you offer. Make no mistake, child. Your life does not belong to you.” p74
Things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's also for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I don't know if I have to say this, but drugging your patient with psychedelics is not the way to treat their trauma.
2. The plots wiggles, but that's because it's less of a complete story and more like the first few chapters of a novel. It's compelling though and I'm looking forward to the next one in autumn 2025
Rating: 🕸🕷🕸🕷 /5 Spidies
Recommend? Yes
Finished: Nov 12 '24
Format: Digital, Kindle, Libby
Read this book if you like:
🕸 spiders
🔫 scifi horror
🪢 experimental timeline
🕷 monster stories
📚 novella prequels
August 2, 2024
This is my second time reading a book from this author, and I have to say his writing is exceptional.
This novella is a 50/50 mix of horror and science fiction set in an asylum unlike any you have known, it's on the moon and it's safe to say that things aren't as they initially seem.
As far as novellas go, this is a top-drawer effort. It has it all, a great storyline, amazingly well-drawn characters, with plenty of mystery and action thrown in for good measure.
I cannot wait for the next book in the series.
Exceptional and highly recommended!
This novella is a 50/50 mix of horror and science fiction set in an asylum unlike any you have known, it's on the moon and it's safe to say that things aren't as they initially seem.
As far as novellas go, this is a top-drawer effort. It has it all, a great storyline, amazingly well-drawn characters, with plenty of mystery and action thrown in for good measure.
I cannot wait for the next book in the series.
Exceptional and highly recommended!
September 6, 2024
Nathan Ballingrud is a writer I have been keeping on my radar since I devoured his short story collection “North American Lake Monsters” a few years ago, and he has never let me down. I was very intrigued by the premise of his new novella, since he has shown with “The Strange” that he writes very interesting what I can only label as ‘weird sci-fi’. This one feels rather more Gothic than his Mars novel, but he obviously finds space eerie, and I am here for it.
The story is set in an alternate 1923, which includes not only space exploration by humans, but also a moon that is nothing like the one we know. On this moon, there are forests, and a very exclusive sanatorium a woman named Veronica is committed to by her husband. She suffers from melancholia, and the doctors who run this institution are reputed to be the best at treating such an ailment. But when she gets there, her room is hardly different from a jail cell, and the treatments are not what she expected at all.
At just about one hundred pages, this little novella can be gobbled up in one or two sittings, and carries Ballingrud’s trademark prose, which manages to be both strong and evocative, and his atmospheric and unsettling settings I love so much. Through the bizarre setting and unnerving events, there is a very interesting reflection about bodily autonomy and how violent the act of taking someone’s voice away actually is.
Despite the title, the spiders are not the scariest bit of this story. We learn early on that a huge spider once dwelt on the moon, and that its silk has medicinal property the sanatorium’s doctor is using on his patients’ brains – but the spider is said to be dead. The real terror dwells in Veronica’s isolation and helplessness when she is dropped in a place she is unfamiliar with, and tries to figure out what the true purpose of not only the institution she is clearly a prisoner in, but also why her presence seems to matter so much to those already there, especially a group of Scholars who are closely involved with the ‘treatments’ given to patients.
This story has a very fever-dream quality to it, and I have grown to appreciate books in which the author doesn’t give the readers all the answers and explanation. I like to understand what I am reading, but sometimes, the purpose is simply to make you feel the way a writer imagines their characters would feel, and this is where Ballingrud absolutely succeeds with “Crypt of the Moon Spider”. I see that he means for this to be a trilogy, and I am looking forward to see what else is going on with the moon Ballingrud has imagined.
Especially recommended for fans of psychological horror and anyone who likes weird stories that keep your brain churning. Watch out, however, if you don’t like body horror, because there is quite a lot of that here. Weird and haunting, which is Ballingrud at his best.
The story is set in an alternate 1923, which includes not only space exploration by humans, but also a moon that is nothing like the one we know. On this moon, there are forests, and a very exclusive sanatorium a woman named Veronica is committed to by her husband. She suffers from melancholia, and the doctors who run this institution are reputed to be the best at treating such an ailment. But when she gets there, her room is hardly different from a jail cell, and the treatments are not what she expected at all.
At just about one hundred pages, this little novella can be gobbled up in one or two sittings, and carries Ballingrud’s trademark prose, which manages to be both strong and evocative, and his atmospheric and unsettling settings I love so much. Through the bizarre setting and unnerving events, there is a very interesting reflection about bodily autonomy and how violent the act of taking someone’s voice away actually is.
Despite the title, the spiders are not the scariest bit of this story. We learn early on that a huge spider once dwelt on the moon, and that its silk has medicinal property the sanatorium’s doctor is using on his patients’ brains – but the spider is said to be dead. The real terror dwells in Veronica’s isolation and helplessness when she is dropped in a place she is unfamiliar with, and tries to figure out what the true purpose of not only the institution she is clearly a prisoner in, but also why her presence seems to matter so much to those already there, especially a group of Scholars who are closely involved with the ‘treatments’ given to patients.
This story has a very fever-dream quality to it, and I have grown to appreciate books in which the author doesn’t give the readers all the answers and explanation. I like to understand what I am reading, but sometimes, the purpose is simply to make you feel the way a writer imagines their characters would feel, and this is where Ballingrud absolutely succeeds with “Crypt of the Moon Spider”. I see that he means for this to be a trilogy, and I am looking forward to see what else is going on with the moon Ballingrud has imagined.
Especially recommended for fans of psychological horror and anyone who likes weird stories that keep your brain churning. Watch out, however, if you don’t like body horror, because there is quite a lot of that here. Weird and haunting, which is Ballingrud at his best.
Read
August 27, 2024Nathan Ballingrud's short horror/sci-fi novella is a hefty return to the world of pulp genre fiction. Set in an alternative 1920s, and reminiscent of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs (who is referenced here), Crypt of the Moon Spider follows Veronica, who has just arrived on the moon; she struggled with depression and so her husband is abandoning here at an asylum.
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/modern-horror...
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/modern-horror...
January 26, 2025
Nathan Ballingrud is an excellent writer. I enjoy his stories and his prose style. I enjoyed this, his latest novella and having read the preview at the end of it for the forthcoming sequel, I'm looking forward to reading that too. Crypt Of The Moon Spider is a horror, gothic science fantasy story that races along pitch perfectly. It isn't padded with unnecessary chapters of filler or ramblings. I highly recommend this novella and the other works of Nathan Ballingrud.
December 17, 2024
I think I read something about a mad scientist, in the 1920s, performing lobotomies on the moon, involving creepy-crawlies and silk, with an angry cult-like bunch of weirdos around, who are into giant moon spiders. Could be wrong, though. Much of it felt like a blurry lunar fever dream to me. Pretty good trip!
March 10, 2025
[TW/CW: Death by suicide (talk), depression, anxiety, blood, gory scenes, violence, misogyny, sexism, spiders]
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe.It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas.But trouble lurks in many a mind at this facility and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.
Release Date: August 27th, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 88
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Writing was interesting
2. Story is crazy
3. Moon atmosphere
4. Short story/book
5. Lot of stuff packed into less than 100 pages
What I Didn't Like:
1. Some parts come off as confusing during action scenes
2. Things happen that have little explanation to them and how they can do things
Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}
So everything I need to know about the doctor is pretty much sealed up in that he has a human skull with candy in it. Pretty much tells me everything I need to know.
The doctor trying to isolate her even more tells her that her husband doesn't believe she will get better and she will wither and die inside this place. Of course he's going
to say that. I imagine he's testing on all his patients why would he want them to think they ever have a chance of getting out.
How peculiar. They open your brain scoop out some of it and replace it with spider silk. I don't necessarily think I would want this. Can't imagine how this would have a high success rate. I mean I know this is a weird book where people are living on the moon.
Upon further reading I guess it makes sense the spiders carry with them a way to heal the brain when you close it back up. Very science fictiony creepy.
Reading about Grubs part I'm hoping it'll make more sense because if he doesn't remember anything how would he be able to go back and tell us what happened to him after his memory was taken. I know I'm splitting hairs here but just curious.
This book is insane. He has taken Grubs brain that he cut out and is now put into a satellite dish to send out to other moons to see if he can find other life on them. Like what? I don't know this is all insane but I'm here for it.
For some reason he's taking over the name Grub when thinking about himself when we get his POV and I don't understand why. He literally just learned about this nickname like the day before and now it's now his persona. Oh next page he said he likes the new name and he's taking it on.
Wow so the spider people have taken over and now Veronica has now become a spider person so I imagine she's going to end up becoming their Queen.
Wish there was more understanding to how they were able to go into her husband's room and kill him. It's all very vague how they're able to transport there.
Love that Veronica is now going to become some kind of weird crazy Spider Queen and she has her eyes like set on Earth.
Final Thoughts:
I understand that this is kind of like a book built in fantasy and horror but I would have loved to find out how they were able to live on the moon. Considering the moon drops 220° negative on nights and can get up to 220° Fahrenheit during the day. How are the trees on it how is there water? I suppose maybe this is like an alternate world where the Moon is able to be lived on..
This book to me was like everything and so much but I loved it. I loved the metropolis-esque world on the moon. I loved Veronica as she tries to go through this mental hospital and dealing with this doctor that's out to torment her. I love that there is a spider cult like following of monks. I loved everything about this book and I cannot wait to read the second book.
Definitely would say if you have a fear of spiders maybe stay clear of this book because there is a lot of spider things happening.
IG | Blog
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe.It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas.But trouble lurks in many a mind at this facility and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.
Release Date: August 27th, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 88
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Writing was interesting
2. Story is crazy
3. Moon atmosphere
4. Short story/book
5. Lot of stuff packed into less than 100 pages
What I Didn't Like:
1. Some parts come off as confusing during action scenes
2. Things happen that have little explanation to them and how they can do things
Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}
So everything I need to know about the doctor is pretty much sealed up in that he has a human skull with candy in it. Pretty much tells me everything I need to know.
The doctor trying to isolate her even more tells her that her husband doesn't believe she will get better and she will wither and die inside this place. Of course he's going
to say that. I imagine he's testing on all his patients why would he want them to think they ever have a chance of getting out.
How peculiar. They open your brain scoop out some of it and replace it with spider silk. I don't necessarily think I would want this. Can't imagine how this would have a high success rate. I mean I know this is a weird book where people are living on the moon.
Upon further reading I guess it makes sense the spiders carry with them a way to heal the brain when you close it back up. Very science fictiony creepy.
Reading about Grubs part I'm hoping it'll make more sense because if he doesn't remember anything how would he be able to go back and tell us what happened to him after his memory was taken. I know I'm splitting hairs here but just curious.
This book is insane. He has taken Grubs brain that he cut out and is now put into a satellite dish to send out to other moons to see if he can find other life on them. Like what? I don't know this is all insane but I'm here for it.
For some reason he's taking over the name Grub when thinking about himself when we get his POV and I don't understand why. He literally just learned about this nickname like the day before and now it's now his persona. Oh next page he said he likes the new name and he's taking it on.
Wow so the spider people have taken over and now Veronica has now become a spider person so I imagine she's going to end up becoming their Queen.
Wish there was more understanding to how they were able to go into her husband's room and kill him. It's all very vague how they're able to transport there.
Love that Veronica is now going to become some kind of weird crazy Spider Queen and she has her eyes like set on Earth.
Final Thoughts:
I understand that this is kind of like a book built in fantasy and horror but I would have loved to find out how they were able to live on the moon. Considering the moon drops 220° negative on nights and can get up to 220° Fahrenheit during the day. How are the trees on it how is there water? I suppose maybe this is like an alternate world where the Moon is able to be lived on..
This book to me was like everything and so much but I loved it. I loved the metropolis-esque world on the moon. I loved Veronica as she tries to go through this mental hospital and dealing with this doctor that's out to torment her. I love that there is a spider cult like following of monks. I loved everything about this book and I cannot wait to read the second book.
Definitely would say if you have a fear of spiders maybe stay clear of this book because there is a lot of spider things happening.
IG | Blog
October 30, 2024
This is what I like in my horror!
What a great creepy story that actually scared me in parts (medical horror)
Love that the setting is on the moon 🌙 I'm obsessed with space so this hit every box for me! 🥰👌
What a great creepy story that actually scared me in parts (medical horror)
Love that the setting is on the moon 🌙 I'm obsessed with space so this hit every box for me! 🥰👌
January 12, 2025
4.0 ⭐️
Crypt of The Moon Spider spins a web of gothic horror that’s sure to entrap you! It’s a surreal crossover novella with elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror as intricately woven as strands of silk. Ballingrud’s prose is claustrophobic and teeming with creepy-crawly beasties, so beware all you arachnophobes out there.
I look forward to seeing how this labyrinthian entanglement of a trilogy pans out. The second novella, Cathedral of The Drowned, will be available in August, 2025.
*Comps: “The Yellow Wallpaper” meets cryptids in space with H.G. Wells’ Dr. Moreau at the helm.
“Your father tells you pretty dreams because he thinks girls need them. They don’t. What they need is the truth. When you get older you’re going to marry a man—with means, if we’re at all lucky—and make a family. And God help you if you ever become a burden to them.” (Mother)
“How could I ever become a burden to them? That doesn’t make any sense.” (Veronica)
“When what you need outweighs what you offer. Make no mistake, child. Your life does not belong to you.” (Mother)(p.74)
Crypt of The Moon Spider spins a web of gothic horror that’s sure to entrap you! It’s a surreal crossover novella with elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror as intricately woven as strands of silk. Ballingrud’s prose is claustrophobic and teeming with creepy-crawly beasties, so beware all you arachnophobes out there.
I look forward to seeing how this labyrinthian entanglement of a trilogy pans out. The second novella, Cathedral of The Drowned, will be available in August, 2025.
*Comps: “The Yellow Wallpaper” meets cryptids in space with H.G. Wells’ Dr. Moreau at the helm.
“Your father tells you pretty dreams because he thinks girls need them. They don’t. What they need is the truth. When you get older you’re going to marry a man—with means, if we’re at all lucky—and make a family. And God help you if you ever become a burden to them.” (Mother)
“How could I ever become a burden to them? That doesn’t make any sense.” (Veronica)
“When what you need outweighs what you offer. Make no mistake, child. Your life does not belong to you.” (Mother)(p.74)
October 5, 2025
Creepy, confusing, and Lovecraftian, CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER is an unsettling work of weird horror set in an alternative version of the 1920s. The heroine, Veronica, is being sent by her husband to a madhouse on the moon that specializes in the treatment of melancholy. Her depression has become an inconvenience to him, he says, and it's impacting her ability to be a good wife and housekeeper (gag).
Barrowfield is built on top of what used to be the lair of a giant moon spider. Once it was worshipped by a deity. Now one of the worshippers works in the facility while the others are hunted like animals. The spider plays a role in the treatments, leading to some truly cringe-inducing scenes of body horror. I think this is less scary than it is creepy. It's medical horror with some gothic underpinnings, and it's that heartbeat pulse of dread that keeps you turning the pages, wondering what will happen.
I was a little confused while reading this but not necessarily in a bad way. One thing that really surprised me in a pleasant way was the representation of mental health, the untrustworthiness of memory, and the double standard for women when it comes to the medical industry as a whole. I'd recommend this to people who like the claustrophobic art deco sewerpunk aesthetic of the Bioshock franchise. I think it has very similar vibes.
3.5 stars
Barrowfield is built on top of what used to be the lair of a giant moon spider. Once it was worshipped by a deity. Now one of the worshippers works in the facility while the others are hunted like animals. The spider plays a role in the treatments, leading to some truly cringe-inducing scenes of body horror. I think this is less scary than it is creepy. It's medical horror with some gothic underpinnings, and it's that heartbeat pulse of dread that keeps you turning the pages, wondering what will happen.
I was a little confused while reading this but not necessarily in a bad way. One thing that really surprised me in a pleasant way was the representation of mental health, the untrustworthiness of memory, and the double standard for women when it comes to the medical industry as a whole. I'd recommend this to people who like the claustrophobic art deco sewerpunk aesthetic of the Bioshock franchise. I think it has very similar vibes.
3.5 stars
May 19, 2024
With the recent release of Yorgos Lanthimos's film, Poor Things, and two other Frankenstein movies slated for 2025 release - one from Guillermo Del Toro for Netflix, and another in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s theatrical The Bride - Mary Shelley's shadow continues to loom large as a source of inspiration for modern-day horror talents. Enter into this fray, Crypt of the Moon Spider, Nathan Ballingrud's latest novella and first in the Lunar Gothic trilogy for Tor Nightfire.
As with Ballingrud's previous release, The Strange, the author presents us with a fantastical alternate history and a voyage to the stars more in keeping with the imaginings of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs than Neil deGrasse Tyson. In Crypt, it is 1923 and Veronica Brinkley has been entrusted by her husband into the care of Dr. Cull of Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy on Earth's moon. The clinic has been built upon a tomb that once housed the legendary moon spider, and although this species is no more its webs still cling to the treetops of the moon's forest surrounding Barrowfield Home.
Veronica is a waifish sort, the type of person upon whom events occur to and are heaped upon with little care or who lack any awareness of their own power for agency. Her victimhood is learned, instilled upon her by her own mother as a child in their Nebraska farmhouse who taught her that her life is not her own and that women exist only in the wake of men. Mother's is an old-fashioned viewpoint in lockstep with the times -- the suffrage movement, if it existed at all in this askew historical, would not yet have led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which itself would only be a couple of years old in Veronica's adulthood. Women are second-class citizen, and Veronica's institutionalization has little to do with her own wants or desires so much as her husband's, who has consigned her away off-planet in an effort to wash his hands of her entirely. She's passed from one man to another in a series of victimizations that culminate, but do not end, in an unorthodox medical procedure involving moon spider silk and intracranial surgery.
With both Crypt of the Moon Spidery and The Strange, I've found an awful lot to love about Ballingrud's alternate histories and star-flung exploits. What they lack in scientific rigor they make up for with fun and spectacle. He clearly has a vision with these tales, and he does a fantastic job realizing them. The modern technologies and antiquated world views of the 1920s setting provide intriguing dichotomies against the fantastical lore, and its impact on the sciences, upon which these worlds are built. Ballingrud presents us with imagery that alternates between the marvelous and the terrifying in equal measure, granting us visions that are both awe-inspiring and chill inducing in their terrestrial and extraterrestrial horrors, and the mishmash of ideas and concepts he weaves together are keenly unlike anything else you're likely to read. Or, as Tyson might more eloquently put it, with Ballingrud, we got a bad-ass over here.
As with Ballingrud's previous release, The Strange, the author presents us with a fantastical alternate history and a voyage to the stars more in keeping with the imaginings of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs than Neil deGrasse Tyson. In Crypt, it is 1923 and Veronica Brinkley has been entrusted by her husband into the care of Dr. Cull of Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy on Earth's moon. The clinic has been built upon a tomb that once housed the legendary moon spider, and although this species is no more its webs still cling to the treetops of the moon's forest surrounding Barrowfield Home.
Veronica is a waifish sort, the type of person upon whom events occur to and are heaped upon with little care or who lack any awareness of their own power for agency. Her victimhood is learned, instilled upon her by her own mother as a child in their Nebraska farmhouse who taught her that her life is not her own and that women exist only in the wake of men. Mother's is an old-fashioned viewpoint in lockstep with the times -- the suffrage movement, if it existed at all in this askew historical, would not yet have led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which itself would only be a couple of years old in Veronica's adulthood. Women are second-class citizen, and Veronica's institutionalization has little to do with her own wants or desires so much as her husband's, who has consigned her away off-planet in an effort to wash his hands of her entirely. She's passed from one man to another in a series of victimizations that culminate, but do not end, in an unorthodox medical procedure involving moon spider silk and intracranial surgery.
With both Crypt of the Moon Spidery and The Strange, I've found an awful lot to love about Ballingrud's alternate histories and star-flung exploits. What they lack in scientific rigor they make up for with fun and spectacle. He clearly has a vision with these tales, and he does a fantastic job realizing them. The modern technologies and antiquated world views of the 1920s setting provide intriguing dichotomies against the fantastical lore, and its impact on the sciences, upon which these worlds are built. Ballingrud presents us with imagery that alternates between the marvelous and the terrifying in equal measure, granting us visions that are both awe-inspiring and chill inducing in their terrestrial and extraterrestrial horrors, and the mishmash of ideas and concepts he weaves together are keenly unlike anything else you're likely to read. Or, as Tyson might more eloquently put it, with Ballingrud, we got a bad-ass over here.
October 2, 2025
The moon, 1923--yes its the 20s and we have the technology to go to the moon, I don't care about the hows and the whys that's possible for this setting, and neither does the author, because that's clearly not the point of the story.
Anyway, it's 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is taken by her husband to the moon for treatment at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. She has been experiencing "black spells" where she disassociates from what's going on, has memories of her childhood, and sings a song to the moon and needs all the help she can get. After her husband leaves her (more like abandons her) she is under the care of Dr. Barrington Cull (what a last name) and his aggressive assistant Charlie Duchamp--or Grab, as Veronica calls him--whose facade of being gentle caregivers quickly fades. Soon, Veronica is subjected to a series of bizarre treatments involving spider silk and questionable memories. But there's something else going on with Barrowfield, for it is built over the crypt of an ancient moon spider, who might not truly be deceased.
This! This was--oh my God! This was such an amazing short horror experience and another prime example of using the Gothic mode outside its typical setting. It's a very short and quick read, but I enjoyed every part of it and I didn't lose or forget anything along the way. The prose is very readable and standard, but Nathan Ballingrud still keeps the tension, the unsettling atmosphere, and the creepy, slightly gross moments never lose their impact. I think the prose is the strongest whenever Veronica has her sessions with Dr. Cull and we see into her unreliable memories. Ballingrud's prose takes a slight psychological twist in those moments and with another character's past they crossover with which I shall not say here because it will be spoilers.
I want to talk so much about that spoiler because of how it made my jaw drop and made me flip back to previous pages to see if I had imagined something, but I can't because it's such a big twist. Also, I'm not entirely sure what was real and what was delusion after that reveal, even with the ending.
Veronica was such an endearing character. I felt so bad for her because she was clearly being cast aside by her terrible husband, who is never even named by the way. There are a few points within the story where it touches upon the positions, expectations, and fates of women in this era, though I never felt Ballingrud got heavy-handed with it. But basically, Veronica was ultimately in the hands of people who did not care about her and who could twist her fate for their own devices. She doesn't want it to be this way and she fears about what may happen to her. Even with the psychological sessions, she fears that who she is might not even be what she thought for all this time. At the end of the novella though she does become a different, hardened person.
Does she become free at the end? you ask. Well, in a way, yes.
Veronica is not the only character whose head we're in. Charlie, or Grub, we get a chapter dedicated to. He's a very horribly person, but interesting enough he wants love and fears never getting it. He seems to have a troubled life and coming into Dr. Cull's orbit only complicated things. He has a connection with Veronica that left both confused and intrigued. Again, who knows if what I read was the real facts or a delusion.
As for the horror aspect of Crypt of the Moon Spider, I would say it sits right on the border of being creepy and being genuinely scary. There's some body horror that isn't too graphic in description, but remember that spiders are involved so it's all a bit EEK! and UGH! There's spiders crawling in out of people's skins, across their brains, their egg sacs hatching in their brains, spiders growing out of...things! If you have real bad arachnophobia, I'd definitely approach this one with caution. Also, the concept that the asylum was built over the crypt of an ancient, possibly giant, moon spider and that all moons are the heads of dead gods was really intriguing. It really added to the cosmic horror aspect that comes in at the end. Again, I don't know if what I read actually happened or not, but man, does Ballingrud have one Hell have an imagination.
So, while Crypt of the Moon Spider may not leave you shaking or trembling, it will make you uncomfortable and be like "What the Hell did I just read?" and your fear of spiders may heighten.
I honestly cannot wait for the sequel Cathedral of the Drowned, out October 21st--literally this month in 2025 (when I'm writing this). Apparently, it will be from Charlie's POV and I'm curious as to what it'll reveal and if we'll see Veronica again.
5/5/ stars
Anyway, it's 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is taken by her husband to the moon for treatment at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. She has been experiencing "black spells" where she disassociates from what's going on, has memories of her childhood, and sings a song to the moon and needs all the help she can get. After her husband leaves her (more like abandons her) she is under the care of Dr. Barrington Cull (what a last name) and his aggressive assistant Charlie Duchamp--or Grab, as Veronica calls him--whose facade of being gentle caregivers quickly fades. Soon, Veronica is subjected to a series of bizarre treatments involving spider silk and questionable memories. But there's something else going on with Barrowfield, for it is built over the crypt of an ancient moon spider, who might not truly be deceased.
This! This was--oh my God! This was such an amazing short horror experience and another prime example of using the Gothic mode outside its typical setting. It's a very short and quick read, but I enjoyed every part of it and I didn't lose or forget anything along the way. The prose is very readable and standard, but Nathan Ballingrud still keeps the tension, the unsettling atmosphere, and the creepy, slightly gross moments never lose their impact. I think the prose is the strongest whenever Veronica has her sessions with Dr. Cull and we see into her unreliable memories. Ballingrud's prose takes a slight psychological twist in those moments and with another character's past they crossover with which I shall not say here because it will be spoilers.
I want to talk so much about that spoiler because of how it made my jaw drop and made me flip back to previous pages to see if I had imagined something, but I can't because it's such a big twist. Also, I'm not entirely sure what was real and what was delusion after that reveal, even with the ending.
Veronica was such an endearing character. I felt so bad for her because she was clearly being cast aside by her terrible husband, who is never even named by the way. There are a few points within the story where it touches upon the positions, expectations, and fates of women in this era, though I never felt Ballingrud got heavy-handed with it. But basically, Veronica was ultimately in the hands of people who did not care about her and who could twist her fate for their own devices. She doesn't want it to be this way and she fears about what may happen to her. Even with the psychological sessions, she fears that who she is might not even be what she thought for all this time. At the end of the novella though she does become a different, hardened person.
Does she become free at the end? you ask. Well, in a way, yes.
Veronica is not the only character whose head we're in. Charlie, or Grub, we get a chapter dedicated to. He's a very horribly person, but interesting enough he wants love and fears never getting it. He seems to have a troubled life and coming into Dr. Cull's orbit only complicated things. He has a connection with Veronica that left both confused and intrigued. Again, who knows if what I read was the real facts or a delusion.
As for the horror aspect of Crypt of the Moon Spider, I would say it sits right on the border of being creepy and being genuinely scary. There's some body horror that isn't too graphic in description, but remember that spiders are involved so it's all a bit EEK! and UGH! There's spiders crawling in out of people's skins, across their brains, their egg sacs hatching in their brains, spiders growing out of...things! If you have real bad arachnophobia, I'd definitely approach this one with caution. Also, the concept that the asylum was built over the crypt of an ancient, possibly giant, moon spider and that all moons are the heads of dead gods was really intriguing. It really added to the cosmic horror aspect that comes in at the end. Again, I don't know if what I read actually happened or not, but man, does Ballingrud have one Hell have an imagination.
So, while Crypt of the Moon Spider may not leave you shaking or trembling, it will make you uncomfortable and be like "What the Hell did I just read?" and your fear of spiders may heighten.
I honestly cannot wait for the sequel Cathedral of the Drowned, out October 21st--literally this month in 2025 (when I'm writing this). Apparently, it will be from Charlie's POV and I'm curious as to what it'll reveal and if we'll see Veronica again.
5/5/ stars
September 6, 2024
spider lobotomy
[Edit: 9/6/2024 Full Review]
"Of course you know of the relationship between the moon and madness.”
Veronica Brinkley is going to get better. She will rid of this melancholy and become the wife she is destined to be. Her husband knows of a place on the moon, The Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. He will escort her there, pay for her treatment, then return for her when she is all better. But by Veronica’s first doctor’s appointment, she realizes her husband will never return. He’s left her here on this strange planet, an experiment for the mad doctor’s whims, a brain to dissect with intricate spiderwebs. 🕷️
This book is WEIRD and manages to cram all that weirdness in 85 pages. I’m not entirely sure what exactly is going on but for the anatomical, creepy crawly vibes, this hit the mark. 🕸️
Imagine getting a lobotomy in the 1920s. But you’re on the moon. And the lobotomy is done with spider silk… And there are weird spider worshippers who watch over the treatment facility… 🧠
If you’re looking for the instant gratification of ripping through a story along with arachnophobia, 1920s women’s health horror, and space creatures, good news is this novella is the first of a trilogy! Check this book out and expect more to come! 🌖
Thank you Tor Nightfire for gifting me a copy for review! 🔥🖤 I’m a forever stan.
[Edit: 9/6/2024 Full Review]
"Of course you know of the relationship between the moon and madness.”
Veronica Brinkley is going to get better. She will rid of this melancholy and become the wife she is destined to be. Her husband knows of a place on the moon, The Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. He will escort her there, pay for her treatment, then return for her when she is all better. But by Veronica’s first doctor’s appointment, she realizes her husband will never return. He’s left her here on this strange planet, an experiment for the mad doctor’s whims, a brain to dissect with intricate spiderwebs. 🕷️
This book is WEIRD and manages to cram all that weirdness in 85 pages. I’m not entirely sure what exactly is going on but for the anatomical, creepy crawly vibes, this hit the mark. 🕸️
Imagine getting a lobotomy in the 1920s. But you’re on the moon. And the lobotomy is done with spider silk… And there are weird spider worshippers who watch over the treatment facility… 🧠
If you’re looking for the instant gratification of ripping through a story along with arachnophobia, 1920s women’s health horror, and space creatures, good news is this novella is the first of a trilogy! Check this book out and expect more to come! 🌖
Thank you Tor Nightfire for gifting me a copy for review! 🔥🖤 I’m a forever stan.
September 9, 2024
Okay, full disclosure, I did not know this was straight-up horror. I requested an ARC due to the title alone and went into it blind. Boy, I am glad I did because this novella has some legitimate scares and several wtf moments that have seared some imagery into my brain. But I'm not ready to talk about brains yet. Probably not for a while.
Crypt of the Moon Spider takes place in an alternate Earth timeline, with a revised history of reality. It is set in 1923, but private space travel has been a thing for some time. Also, you can breathe on the Moon and it has forests and wildlife. Kind of.
The story opens with Veronica being shuttled to a mental hospital on the Moon, where her husband submits her for treatment due to her recurring depression. Veronica doesn't believe she'll ever be cured and doesn't think she deserves to be - until Dr. Cull promises a new form of treatment that will cure her and allow her to resume her normal life.
While space travel has advanced beyond our own in this universe, biology and healthcare are still antiquated, primitive, and misogynistic, amongst other awful things. It brings to mind how mental patients were tortured and mistreated in mental hospitals not even a century ago.
As you can probably infer, the Moon-based madhouse is not what it seems, and the story quickly descends into horror. I won't spoil any more of the fun, as this book is a joy to read -- especially when it's binge-read at 3 am with the lights off.
Ballingrud writes with beautiful, effective prose, and the story wastes no time with its breathtaking pacing and terrifying revelations. I am holding my breath for books two and three, and am eager to dive into the rest of Ballingrud's releases. Fans of sci-fi, alternative history, and horror should not miss this one.
Crypt of the Moon Spider takes place in an alternate Earth timeline, with a revised history of reality. It is set in 1923, but private space travel has been a thing for some time. Also, you can breathe on the Moon and it has forests and wildlife. Kind of.
The story opens with Veronica being shuttled to a mental hospital on the Moon, where her husband submits her for treatment due to her recurring depression. Veronica doesn't believe she'll ever be cured and doesn't think she deserves to be - until Dr. Cull promises a new form of treatment that will cure her and allow her to resume her normal life.
While space travel has advanced beyond our own in this universe, biology and healthcare are still antiquated, primitive, and misogynistic, amongst other awful things. It brings to mind how mental patients were tortured and mistreated in mental hospitals not even a century ago.
As you can probably infer, the Moon-based madhouse is not what it seems, and the story quickly descends into horror. I won't spoil any more of the fun, as this book is a joy to read -- especially when it's binge-read at 3 am with the lights off.
Ballingrud writes with beautiful, effective prose, and the story wastes no time with its breathtaking pacing and terrifying revelations. I am holding my breath for books two and three, and am eager to dive into the rest of Ballingrud's releases. Fans of sci-fi, alternative history, and horror should not miss this one.
October 20, 2024
A fun, creepy ride.
May 8, 2025
This was, hands down, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read about spider silk lobotomies… wait, what?!
June 18, 2025
Just gonna file this under the ‘wtf did I just read’ category. Still have the heebie jeebies and I suspect I’m going to for a while. Impressive amalgamation of horror, gothic and sci-fi. Creepy hospital for the depressed on the moon, with some seriously messed up shit going on. Just very glad I read this in the light of day rather than before bed 🫣
May 20, 2024
Nathan Ballingrud is reliable in delivering original, thrilling stories, but this one surpasses his previous work. Continuing in the style of his novel, The Strange, this book blends fantasy, science fiction and B-movie aesthetics to create a unique vision. The prose is lyrical and nearly every line glitters with depth and poetry as the narrator exhumes the story's buried secrets. Delving into America's dark history of psychiatric treatment in an all-too-plausible context, Crypt of the Moon Spider moves along at a frightening pace, revealing mysteries, miracles and terrors on every page. Fans of classic science fiction will be charmed by this viscerally disturbing fantasy and ravenous for the next installment in the Lunar Gothic Trilogy.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC.
October 18, 2024
4.5/5 What a refreshingly brilliant adventure with a reading buddy. Thank you Jakob J. for joining in and bantering over such a well written novella.
Veronica has just been turned over to a Home for Treatment of the Melancholy run by the prestigious Dr. Cullen. His right hand man Charlie, better known as Grub by Veronica, is there to help keep the patients in order. Veronica is having a rough go with the process in a time where women don't have the best autonomy or given a voice. There are memory peaks, during her treatments, which allow a deeper understanding of Veronica and what I discovered made me pretty sad for her and her mother. She meets Bently who says they really aren't helping the patients get better. Is this just his delusion? Veronica can escape her melancholy and become happy again, but she has to be willing to accept...change.
The story has such such beautiful prose, even when things get beyond unsettling. We shift darkly into intense body horror, isolation and death. If you've ever had a fear of mental health facilities, this will make it so much worse, so so much worse. A perfect allegory for the timepiece.
The open hatchway was a cauldron of steam and light; it looked like an artist's rendition of the entrance to Hell. -p. 5
A dreadful epiphany: it would be better to die. -p. 50
He'd been raised in violence, and to Charlie it functioned as a kind of language, one through which he could communicate the purest expressions of his heart. -p. 57
"When what you need outweighs what you offer. Make no mistake, child. Your life does not belong to you." -p. 74
Veronica has just been turned over to a Home for Treatment of the Melancholy run by the prestigious Dr. Cullen. His right hand man Charlie, better known as Grub by Veronica, is there to help keep the patients in order. Veronica is having a rough go with the process in a time where women don't have the best autonomy or given a voice. There are memory peaks, during her treatments, which allow a deeper understanding of Veronica and what I discovered made me pretty sad for her and her mother. She meets Bently who says they really aren't helping the patients get better. Is this just his delusion? Veronica can escape her melancholy and become happy again, but she has to be willing to accept...change.
The story has such such beautiful prose, even when things get beyond unsettling. We shift darkly into intense body horror, isolation and death. If you've ever had a fear of mental health facilities, this will make it so much worse, so so much worse. A perfect allegory for the timepiece.
The open hatchway was a cauldron of steam and light; it looked like an artist's rendition of the entrance to Hell. -p. 5
A dreadful epiphany: it would be better to die. -p. 50
He'd been raised in violence, and to Charlie it functioned as a kind of language, one through which he could communicate the purest expressions of his heart. -p. 57
"When what you need outweighs what you offer. Make no mistake, child. Your life does not belong to you." -p. 74
January 13, 2025
What a messed up story! I liked it, but be prepared for some serious weirdness.
When Veronica’s husband drops her off at The Barrowfield Home for the Treatment of the Melancholy, a mental hospital set on the moon, she believes it’s the place where she’ll finally be cured from the darkness that’s followed her all of her life.
But what she soon realizes is that something dark is taking place. Something evil. As her treatments grow increasingly strange, as she learns about the immense spider that used to live deep within the surface of the moon and it’s silky web, highly valued on Earth for it’s unusual properties, Veronica’s role in the facility takes am unexpected turn.
Crypt of the Moon Spider was much darker than I had anticipated. There were some truly horrifying scenes! It also has at times a dreamy, abstract quality to the writing, paralleling Veronica’s mental state and adding to our feeling of unease and distrust.
My main critique is it’s lack of strong character development. It’s short length hiders our ability as readers to connect with the characters. So while the atmosphere and creepiness deserves a 10/10, it was hard to feel that scared or invested when I never connected with the characters. This is part of a series, and I will definitely read on, so maybe the characterization will improve in later books. But the characters were the weakest part of The Strange by the same author, so…we’ll see.
Still, I think this is well worth reading if you enjoy sci-fi mixed with horror, if you like a creepy mental hospital setting, and if you find spiders scary.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.
When Veronica’s husband drops her off at The Barrowfield Home for the Treatment of the Melancholy, a mental hospital set on the moon, she believes it’s the place where she’ll finally be cured from the darkness that’s followed her all of her life.
But what she soon realizes is that something dark is taking place. Something evil. As her treatments grow increasingly strange, as she learns about the immense spider that used to live deep within the surface of the moon and it’s silky web, highly valued on Earth for it’s unusual properties, Veronica’s role in the facility takes am unexpected turn.
Crypt of the Moon Spider was much darker than I had anticipated. There were some truly horrifying scenes! It also has at times a dreamy, abstract quality to the writing, paralleling Veronica’s mental state and adding to our feeling of unease and distrust.
My main critique is it’s lack of strong character development. It’s short length hiders our ability as readers to connect with the characters. So while the atmosphere and creepiness deserves a 10/10, it was hard to feel that scared or invested when I never connected with the characters. This is part of a series, and I will definitely read on, so maybe the characterization will improve in later books. But the characters were the weakest part of The Strange by the same author, so…we’ll see.
Still, I think this is well worth reading if you enjoy sci-fi mixed with horror, if you like a creepy mental hospital setting, and if you find spiders scary.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.
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