What do you think?
Rate this book
Win a free print copy of this book!
12 days and 02:43:19
100 copies available
U.S. only
Humboldt Cut
Not yet published
Expected 27 Jan 26Win a free print copy of this book!
12 days and 02:43:19
100 copies available
U.S. only
Jordan Peele and Jeff Vandermeer meet The Overstory in comedy writer Allison Mick’s darkly humorous debut eco-horror novel, as a Black woman returns home to the redwood forests of northern California, only to unearth the monsters that lurk among the trees…
Jasmine Bay is a nurse for an Oakland mental health facility, battling her own demons, caught in a spiral of suicidal despair. Estranged from her brother James and his wife Tilly, who was once her best friend, Jas has chosen self-isolation to protect herself—even if it means denying herself a hopeful future with co-worker and potential love interest Henry Lewis.
When her godmother dies, Jas returns to Redceder for the funeral, a logging town where her grandfather William Whipple made a living deforesting the countryside, ripping and raping apart nature’s very foundations for corporate profits. As trees fell to axes and chainsaws, so did dozens of lumberjacks, falling prey to the dangers of their job—and to the ecoterrorism of Jas’s grandfather who was lynched for his crimes.
And buried in the haunted woods are even more dark secrets perpetrated by Jas’s family. Unnatural acts giving birth to entities made of human flesh and petrified bark, seeking to avenge the devastation that ravaged their land. It is an inheritance that threatens to consume the remnants of Jas’s family, and her very sanity. . .
Celebrated comedy writer Allison Mick’s Humboldt Cut exposes the traumatic costs of environmental destruction in an energetic, darkly humorous horror adventure that combines the botanical terrors of VanderMeer’s Annihilation and the psychological horror of The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones with a dash of Jordan Peele.
Jasmine Bay is a nurse for an Oakland mental health facility, battling her own demons, caught in a spiral of suicidal despair. Estranged from her brother James and his wife Tilly, who was once her best friend, Jas has chosen self-isolation to protect herself—even if it means denying herself a hopeful future with co-worker and potential love interest Henry Lewis.
When her godmother dies, Jas returns to Redceder for the funeral, a logging town where her grandfather William Whipple made a living deforesting the countryside, ripping and raping apart nature’s very foundations for corporate profits. As trees fell to axes and chainsaws, so did dozens of lumberjacks, falling prey to the dangers of their job—and to the ecoterrorism of Jas’s grandfather who was lynched for his crimes.
And buried in the haunted woods are even more dark secrets perpetrated by Jas’s family. Unnatural acts giving birth to entities made of human flesh and petrified bark, seeking to avenge the devastation that ravaged their land. It is an inheritance that threatens to consume the remnants of Jas’s family, and her very sanity. . .
Celebrated comedy writer Allison Mick’s Humboldt Cut exposes the traumatic costs of environmental destruction in an energetic, darkly humorous horror adventure that combines the botanical terrors of VanderMeer’s Annihilation and the psychological horror of The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones with a dash of Jordan Peele.
352 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication January 27, 2026
8 people are currently reading
8211 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 30, 2025
Review in the October 2025 issue of Library Journal
Three Words That Describe This Book: omniscient narration, eco-horror, multiple timelines
Draft Review: In her confident and terrifying debut, Mick posits- what if Overstory by Powers was a horror novel? Jasmine (Jas), a nurse in Oakland, is the prodigal child of Redcedar, a logging town deep in the redwood forest. Granddaughter of the infamous Whipple, lynched in 1980 for eco-terroism, Jas has returned for her godmother’s funeral. When her brother goes missing in the forest, Jas and her friends spend a long, dangerous night searching for him. Interspersed with flashbacks that allow the embedded mystery elements to organically unravel without sacrificing the pacing, Jas learns the truth about her family’s deeply rooted connection to the land, a lesson that makes her question everything she thought she knew, and allows her to finally grow into the person she was always meant to be. Told in an omniscient voice by the forest itself, readers are unsettled yet intrigued from the first page. Not only does the forest know and see all, but it can also wait a lot longer than humans to exact its revenge.
Verdict: Another solid example of realistically chilling eco-horror to add to the shelves besides titles like Annihilation by VanderMeer, Girl in the Creek by Wagner, and Eden by Lebbon.
The forest is a character here. The family drama is well done and connected to the forest itself. For a debut, this is also well constructed. There are details interspersed throughout that keep the story moving, enhance the dread and fear, but also end up paying off as well.
Great details of the logging industry
Jasmine (Jas) is the prodigal daughter. A nurse in Oakland who is called back to her isolated home town, deep in the redwood forest to attend the wake of the godmother who raised her and her bother. He brother James, is married to her best friend Tilly, and Tilly is pregnant. Jas buntings her kinda boyfriend Henry-- a city person through and through-- with her for moral support.
The story is told on two timelines-- well more but I will explain. The present is Jas coming home and her brother storming out of the wake when the two of them have a fight and then he is missing in the super creepy forest where lots of people go missing and readers know already that it is full of monsters. So most of the present timeline in the book is Tilly, Jas, Henry, and a few others looking for James.
Then interspersed are flashbacks to different times through the history of Jas' family. The entire book begins with a terrifying incident in the woods in 1951 with Whipple, Jas' grandfather. It sets up the idea that there are monsters in the woods but doesn't tell us too much more. This story has just the right amount of mystery. We are told early on that Jas's grandfather (Whipple) became an eco terrorist who was lynched by the loggers whose deaths he caused in 1980. But readers also know that the forest itself is a narrator here and that it is creepy and home to actual bark monsters. The truth about Whipple, Jas's entire family line, and how this isolated logging town functions, is revealed at the right paced.
So there are key dates that we move back and forth to-- 1980 comes up a bunch. And so does 1995 which we find out is an important year as well. But the forest is old and it has a longer timeline for revenge than a human could ever have, so as the novel races towards its conclusion in the present time line-- more details of the past and who it has intertwined itself with the present are revealed. Everything comes together, but not in a human way.
Mick gives readers time to get used to the forest. The creepy omniscient narrative voice throughout is the forest. It seems all and knows all-- and readers are told by the end how it does that, it is based on science which is cool and even creepier. And readers are unsettled throughout but also come under the spell of the storytelling, so that by the time Jas, her friends, and the reader all make it to the end of the story we are one board with a conclusion that pulls all out of human reality and into the forest.
There are things happening in the forest that don't make sense even knowing there are monsters. When a car crashes for example, in a few hours is is completely engulfed by the forest.
Every detail does end up mattering which I really enjoyed as a reader.
This novel can be handsold thusly-- Overstory by Richard Powers but make it Horror. Eden by Lebbon and Girl in the Creek by Wagner are also great readalikes. And of course Annihilation by VanderMeer.
Three Words That Describe This Book: omniscient narration, eco-horror, multiple timelines
Draft Review: In her confident and terrifying debut, Mick posits- what if Overstory by Powers was a horror novel? Jasmine (Jas), a nurse in Oakland, is the prodigal child of Redcedar, a logging town deep in the redwood forest. Granddaughter of the infamous Whipple, lynched in 1980 for eco-terroism, Jas has returned for her godmother’s funeral. When her brother goes missing in the forest, Jas and her friends spend a long, dangerous night searching for him. Interspersed with flashbacks that allow the embedded mystery elements to organically unravel without sacrificing the pacing, Jas learns the truth about her family’s deeply rooted connection to the land, a lesson that makes her question everything she thought she knew, and allows her to finally grow into the person she was always meant to be. Told in an omniscient voice by the forest itself, readers are unsettled yet intrigued from the first page. Not only does the forest know and see all, but it can also wait a lot longer than humans to exact its revenge.
Verdict: Another solid example of realistically chilling eco-horror to add to the shelves besides titles like Annihilation by VanderMeer, Girl in the Creek by Wagner, and Eden by Lebbon.
The forest is a character here. The family drama is well done and connected to the forest itself. For a debut, this is also well constructed. There are details interspersed throughout that keep the story moving, enhance the dread and fear, but also end up paying off as well.
Great details of the logging industry
Jasmine (Jas) is the prodigal daughter. A nurse in Oakland who is called back to her isolated home town, deep in the redwood forest to attend the wake of the godmother who raised her and her bother. He brother James, is married to her best friend Tilly, and Tilly is pregnant. Jas buntings her kinda boyfriend Henry-- a city person through and through-- with her for moral support.
The story is told on two timelines-- well more but I will explain. The present is Jas coming home and her brother storming out of the wake when the two of them have a fight and then he is missing in the super creepy forest where lots of people go missing and readers know already that it is full of monsters. So most of the present timeline in the book is Tilly, Jas, Henry, and a few others looking for James.
Then interspersed are flashbacks to different times through the history of Jas' family. The entire book begins with a terrifying incident in the woods in 1951 with Whipple, Jas' grandfather. It sets up the idea that there are monsters in the woods but doesn't tell us too much more. This story has just the right amount of mystery. We are told early on that Jas's grandfather (Whipple) became an eco terrorist who was lynched by the loggers whose deaths he caused in 1980. But readers also know that the forest itself is a narrator here and that it is creepy and home to actual bark monsters. The truth about Whipple, Jas's entire family line, and how this isolated logging town functions, is revealed at the right paced.
So there are key dates that we move back and forth to-- 1980 comes up a bunch. And so does 1995 which we find out is an important year as well. But the forest is old and it has a longer timeline for revenge than a human could ever have, so as the novel races towards its conclusion in the present time line-- more details of the past and who it has intertwined itself with the present are revealed. Everything comes together, but not in a human way.
Mick gives readers time to get used to the forest. The creepy omniscient narrative voice throughout is the forest. It seems all and knows all-- and readers are told by the end how it does that, it is based on science which is cool and even creepier. And readers are unsettled throughout but also come under the spell of the storytelling, so that by the time Jas, her friends, and the reader all make it to the end of the story we are one board with a conclusion that pulls all out of human reality and into the forest.
There are things happening in the forest that don't make sense even knowing there are monsters. When a car crashes for example, in a few hours is is completely engulfed by the forest.
Every detail does end up mattering which I really enjoyed as a reader.
This novel can be handsold thusly-- Overstory by Richard Powers but make it Horror. Eden by Lebbon and Girl in the Creek by Wagner are also great readalikes. And of course Annihilation by VanderMeer.
October 21, 2025
Humboldt Cut is a visceral tale of trauma, estranged family and the forest.
It's about the people who ruin the forest and those who adore it, about love, community and fighting back, and the monsters living in the shadows of the ancient redwood.
Gory, fertile and haunting, Humboldt Cut has lingered with me for weeks after I finished the book.
It's about the people who ruin the forest and those who adore it, about love, community and fighting back, and the monsters living in the shadows of the ancient redwood.
Gory, fertile and haunting, Humboldt Cut has lingered with me for weeks after I finished the book.
December 7, 2025
Humboldt Cut : A Redwood Gothic, is indeed a fascinating, "darkly humorous eco horror," as described on the cover. I haven't read a book quite like this one, but I have seen a few movies that come to mind, which are not all alike, but similar in ways. I feel like I may even need to read it a second time to re-experience some of the little details that make more sense now. Living in northern California myself gave this read something extra for me. It was fun, and the representation (for me as multi-racial) was a nice addition. I say pick this up if you're a fan of horror, forests, Octavia Butler, and multigenerational stories!
thank you to Goodreads and Kensington books for this ARC copy.
thank you to Goodreads and Kensington books for this ARC copy.
December 21, 2025
The Humboldt Cut is the kind of book that sneaks up on you.
It's feral and unexpected, with Northern California's redwoods creating an atmospheric and unique setting for this story. Allison Mick blends ecological horror with sharp emotional insight, so the scares hit just as hard as Jasmine's grief and guilt when she returns to her hometown after her godmother's death. The haunted forests, family secrets, and bark-and-bone monsters feel wild and original, and this one that'll stick with you long after you close the book. It's creepy, clever, and surprisingly heartfelt.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
It's feral and unexpected, with Northern California's redwoods creating an atmospheric and unique setting for this story. Allison Mick blends ecological horror with sharp emotional insight, so the scares hit just as hard as Jasmine's grief and guilt when she returns to her hometown after her godmother's death. The haunted forests, family secrets, and bark-and-bone monsters feel wild and original, and this one that'll stick with you long after you close the book. It's creepy, clever, and surprisingly heartfelt.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I absolutely loved this book!! it was so atmospheric and creepy and beautiful! And some surprises and some laughs. I can't wait for Allison Mick to come out with more books! ❤️
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews