NUBS

by Candace Nola

Kitty has a secret. Kitty has a problem. Kitty is a normal, healthy, well-adjusted young woman, except for this tiny little thing.

Kitty wants to touch it. Kitty wants to stroke it. Kitty wants to shove it in her mouth and gnaw on it for hours. Kitty wants a nub.

Such a curious kitty.

Genres: Horror

Kindle Edition

Published March 7, 2025

About the author

I am Candace Nola, and I am a multiple award-winning author, editor, and publisher. I write poetry, horror, dark fantasy, and extreme horror content. My books include Breach, Beyond the Breach, Hank Flynn, Bishop, Earth vs The Lava Spiders, The Unicorn Killer, Unmasked, The Vet, and Desperate Wishes.

I have short stories in The Baker’s Dozen anthology, Secondhand Creeps, American Cannibal, Just A Girl, The Horror Collection: Lost Edition & The Turquoise Edition, just to name a few.

Beyond the Breach, won the “Novel of the Year” and my Debut Novel, Breach, was nominated for “Debut Novel of the Year”, for the 2021 Horror Authors Guild awards. I am also the publisher and editor of the 2022 Splatterpunk Award Winning Anthology “Uncomfortably Dark Presents: The Baker’s Dozen.”

I am the creator of Uncomfortably Dark, which focuses primarily on promoting indie horror authors and small presses with weekly book reviews, interviews, and special features. Uncomfortably Dark Horror stands behind its mission to “bring you the best in horror, one uncomfortably dark page at a time.”

Find me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and the website, UncomfortablyDark.com. Sign up for the Patreon for exclusive content, free stories, and more.

Reviews

[Lia's Haunted Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nub/phantom limb obsessed person, who also happens to be a therapist? Yeah, this was an experience.

Kitty is curious, not crazy. But let’s just say her curiosity takes her down some interesting paths.

Nom nom nom.

This was hilarious, twisted, and weirdly addictive. Also, a friendly PSA: if you have any particular kinks or fetishes, maybe stick to consensual adults. Just saying.

Nom. Nom. Nom.

[Corrina Morse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly gripping little tale of fascination, obsession and morbid curiosity. Short, but packed with so much detail, action and imagery, this makes for a disturbing, insane and chillingly captivating read.

The lengths people will go to feed their addiction, whatever that addiction may be. How the need just keeps growing and growing until you can't stop and just have to push that little bit further. Until it's literally all consuming!

[Steph's_Creepy _Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read anything with this particular fetish before and I really enjoyed her slow craving for this build but I would have liked a bit more gore, especially at the end when everything caught up to her.

[Diana | Indie Book Addict · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nubs takes readers on a strange, unsettling journey through the mind of Kitty, a seemingly normal young woman with one very unusual and personal secret. Kitty seems like a well-adjusted person until we discover her bizarre fetish.

Nola doesn’t shy away from the gross aspects of Kitty’s behavior, packing the story with body horror and elements that are sure to leave you both fascinated and disturbed. Some of Kitty’s actions are genuinely gag-worthy, but she likes what she likes.
If you enjoy the grotesque, body horror, or diving into the bizarre world of unusual fetishes, Nubs is a book you won’t want to miss. Nola certainly leaves nothing to the imagination in this disturbing tale.

[Paige Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone has their fetishes and kinks but I wasn’t prepared for Kitty’s😅🫣 This story was truly something else.

Nubs follows Kitty. Kitty is a therapist who works from home. Her favorite part of the day is seeing Jackson. He’s the local bus driver. He has a nub. Kitty is obsessed with nubs. She can’t stop thinking about them. Wants to know everything about them. How it feels and even taste them, gnaw on them to be more precise. As this desire gets stronger each day, Kitty does the unthinkable.

I love Candace Nola’s work and this story really peaked my interest from page one. Highly recommend!

[Horror Bookworm Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Horror Bookworm Recommendation
Nubs by Candace Nola
https://horrorbookwormreviews.com/

Whether it be congenital difference or amputation, Kitty is enamored with residual limbs. This fleshy fascination seems to be an innocent curiosity towards amputees. However, when voices and whispers begin to fill Kitty’s head, curiosity crosses the line into a morbid obsession.

Nubs by Candace Nola is a smooth and rounded short novelette that scars the human flesh. With gruesome suffering, phantom pains and of course some good ol’ Candace carnage, Nubs is a thought-provoking story bent on driving one’s self mad. I swear, Candace Nola could write a supernatural story of a pencil rolling off a desk, all the while delivering chilling scares and dark suspense. Be it a deranged mind or a sick secret in the basement, Nubs possesses many gnaw bleeding moments.

Between the fascinating storyline, bizarre visuals and atmospheric horror, the connection to fear is inevitable when it comes to Nubs. I once said, Candace has reached the, “ya can’t go wrong with this author” status, I stand by this sentiment. Undoubtedly, Nubs will eventually appear on her Greatest Hits album.

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of innocent curiosity over an itch that you can never scratch…or is there? One day you too might own your very own Nub. A five Star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Horror Bookworm Recommendation.

[Jason A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart for sure. Have you ever had intrusive thoughts? Thoughts that disturb your very core? Usually, normal functioning people do not act upon such macabre thinking, but then you have those that not only think these thoughts but they fester and penetrate the mind until they find themselves knee deep in something they can't get out of.

Truly disturbing and sick, Nubs takes you on a journey that doesn't make you hungry in the slightest, it only makes uou want to gouge your eyes out.

The MC, Kitty is a disturbing character indeed.

In saying alllll this....I loved it lol.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I'm typically not one to yuck on someone's yum, I gotta say Miss Kitty's obsession is beyond bizarre. A quick and weird tale, equal parts psychological and body horror, Nubs is sure to scratch that itch if you're looking for something strange, yet brutal. Definitely recommend!

[Xtina Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOM

NOM

NOM

[Kelsey Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️
This was such a crazy read considering how short it was. We see our main character Kitty descend into madness as she becomes so obsessed with her own ‘fetish?’ and her curiosity gets the better of her. It was full of vivid imagery and pretty disturbing too.

[Milt Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"NUBS" is about a bizarre fetish, the stump sucking kink. Ewwwww. Does it exist? I didn't dare search it online, but I'm pretty sure I'd stumble upon something and would live to regret it. Fortunately, Nola has a story to tell, and the specific fetish is just an occasion to tell it. A woman's story, a quick read, the gore kept mild (for extreme horror standards), with a memorable ending. The dialogue and the pacing are excellent, you can really feel the main character's anxiety and all her internal conflicts. Kudos to Nola, though, for the wonderful portrayal of the bus driver; a refreshing presence in a story with so much nastiness!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

4🌟

📖S Y N O P S I S📖
Kitty has a secret. Kitty has a problem. Kitty is a normal, healthy, well-adjusted young woman, except for this tiny little thing. Kitty wants to touch it. Kitty wants to stroke it. Kitty wants to shove it in her mouth and gnaw on it for hours. Kitty wants a nub.

I’m not sure what to say about this one except—nom nom nom 🤣. Oh, this is a weird and wonderfully bizarre little baby, and I loved it. It’s fun and at just 42 pages, you can devour it in one sitting. A therapist obsessed with nubs/phantom limbs? Definitely a first for me book-wise, but the strangeness of this one is unforgettable. I love it when boundaries are pushed, but if you’re going to do it, you may as well SHOUT while you’re at it 📢.

Was I expecting more gore? Yes, BUT even so, do I want a full-sized book of this? YES, absolutely. The bizarreness satisfyingly scratched something in my brain. The ending was SO GOOD with such a brilliant descent into madness! I also really enjoyed the characters inner conflicts - it was impressive how much was captured in so few pages! If you’re after a quick, what the hell did I just read, kind of book, I’d definitely recommend it 🖤.

[Allison | crazypageturner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitty has an odd obsession. She is obsessed with nubs. Phantom limbs. Body parts that once were but are no longer. She has desires. She has questions. She can’t stop thinking about them. How far will her obsession take her?

Kitty is a psycho playing nice girl and I love the Jekyll and Hyde to her character. Her weird fixation with nubs is so strange and she has gone through incredible lengths to satisfy her urges that it’s comical and disturbing.

We all have our weird fixations right? Well….Kitty’s just happens to be nubs. A sickness that seems innocent at first but is actually very creepy. Overwhelming curiosity mixed with fascination leading to obsession and questionable decisions.

I really enjoyed this strange story and I wasn’t exactly sure where it was going but I was quite curious and entertained along the way while also cringing a bit too. A really quick read that you should pick up!

[Claudia Rambles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitty just wants a nibble and she’s in the mood for something very specific.
By day, Kitty is a therapist. But she’s also haunted by her own intrusive thoughts, and every morning she hops on the bus just to see Jackson, the driver with a nub. Because Kitty’s darkest secret is her obsession with stomps… and she wants to lick and chew on them.
But is Jackson safe? And how far is Kitty willing to go to make her twisted little dream come true?

This is a very quick read at just 42 pages, and Nubs touches on the subject of mental conditions and addictions through the use of likeable characters, dark humour and body horror.

Solid 4 stars read for me! … and if you want to know more about Kitty, Nubs is available on Godless for like a quid!

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[A5hley Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nubs starts of fairly innocent we learn about kitty who rides the bus intrigued by Jackson and his nub she has a little intrusive thought here and there then we hear about Fred and the story he tells starts to ramp up the horrors this story has to offer we hear of a past in dreams and the ever growing intrusive thoughts I really enjoyed the slow descend into madness kitty just never feels fulfilled even when she gets the answers to the questions she asks which leaves us at the end of the book with a descriptive scene where everything becomes too much this was my first Candace Nola book but it certainly won’t be my last I ate this one up nom nom nom

[Lesley Camphouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't prepared for the contents of this book, as I had expected something completely different based on the cover. My bad, I didn't read the blurb, I got it based solely on the cover.

But am I mad about it? NO. Hell. We meet Kitty, or Kitty Kat, and Kitty is a little bit wacky. A psychologist, with her own quirks, as she likes to say. What she fails to accept, though, is that her intrusive thoughts sometimes get the upper hand. And her quirk, being obsessed with nubs, gets a little out of hand.

This was a great story overall.

[K D Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitty loves her routine. A certain bus, a certain route a certain driver. There’s more about the driver she just can’t get enough of. His nub….

But it’s not just the bus drivers nub she’s obsessed with she quite likes serial unalivers too…

Kitty’s fascination regarding nubs reaches a new level when she fantasises about eating them. Her intrusive thoughts intensify… and the rest is history!

I found humour in this story. There were also some serious undertones such as mental health and intrusive thoughts. A quick, easy read!

🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitty appears to be a well-adjusted young woman except for one thing, which is her obsession with missing limbs. She tells herself it's just curiousity until she acts out on her desire. Even if this is only 42 pages it still left me unsettled. Everything I've read from Candace Nola always impresses me and Nubs is no exception.

[Becki 🤎 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nubs

Ok so I knew what i was getting myself into, the title & cover says it all really doesn’t it 😅

But ugh to Kitty & her weird fetish/ obsession 🤢

Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with nubs…but do I want to chomp on them? Nope 🙂‍↔️🤮

Kitty is a 🤏🏼 bit mental but she knows it 🤣

This was very quick read with a predicable but good ending 😅🤎

[DA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow decent into madness. Not overly gory as I was expecting. I was mesmerized wondering what exactly was going to happen, where the story was going to take me.
This may not be the most extreme thing I've read, but it sure is quite disturbing.

[Chris Carelse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three simple words:

Nom nom nom

[Brennan LaFaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, sharp stab of a book that digs deep into the psyche of one sick puppy. Candace Nola, as always, is unafraid to go the depths of depravity without sacrificing character.

[Aiden Messer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, weird, dark, and twisted!

[Holly Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman with a fetish for nubs who literally takes it to extremes… definitely an interesting read!