Snowman

by Walsh Wettengle

Written in 1990 but never before published, Snowman is a haunting, intimate novel of belief, loss, and the quiet strangeness of Midwestern landscapes—both external and internal. A gruesome tragedy in a distant Nebraska winter draws together an unlikely group of strangers to face, years later, the consequences of what wasn't stopped in time.

Follow a cast of misfits and spiritual outsiders as bonds form, old tensions rise, and something made of grief, memory, and frost begins to stir—one part legend, one part reckoning, and far more than just a snowman.

Part occult Americana, part homespun camp, Snowman leans into the eerie charm of B-movie storytelling with a straight face and a wink—complete with requisite gore, possession, and rituals teeming with tension. But beneath the séances and snowdrifts, it's about myth, found family, and the kind of magic that refuses to stay buried—no matter how frozen the ground gets. And in the cold, something hungry watching, whispering, and pulling the past back up through the cracks.

Rediscovered after more than three decades, Snowman reads like a time capsule cracked open—its contents strange, tender, and eerily resonant in today's world.

187 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 21, 2025

About the author

Walsh Wettengle lives in the misty landscapes of the Pacific Northwest, where the nearby forests. coastlines, and fringe theatre often compete for his attention. Raised on a steady diet of DC Comics, classic metal, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and 1980s horror anthologies, he's always had one foot in reality and the other in a world of imagination.

When not writing, he'd rather be snoozing in a tent under the stars or listening to the waves crash against the shore with his Belgian Malinois.

Author of "Absinthe & Iron Cages" and "Snowman."

Reviews

[Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Saw the author selling his book so got a signed copy. He originally wrote the book when he was a teenager(17). Took years to finally publish it.

It starts out with the snowman killing and it’s supposed to be a horror novel but I found it very funny. The kids say things that kids would never say. Parents and kids die but the surviving kids are more concerned with figuring out what caused this. It’s very obvious this was written by a teen but I’d of guessed a 14 year old maybe?

Things just get weirder and weirder and I gave up after 50 pages. There were typos (“turns” kept being spelled “tums”)

Dave is sometimes David, etc.

It’s books like this that make me want to try writing. I honestly think I could never be this amateurish.

If I was Walsh, I’d of tossed this and just kept trying.

[Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't actually have words for this?? It's bloody and has lots if murder but there's no prose to speak of consisting only if dialogue and action so it wasn't really gorey. Some unnecessary and deeply unsexy sex scenes but it did eventually develop a plot and I had enough fun with it to give it a middling 3 stars

[Jade Wolf · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I cringed. What little sister yells to their brother, suck me…. None.

[Scruffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a trip! So "it" starts off as a Snowman and just escalates from there. Of course, it has a backstory. Get ready for possession, witches, a dash of satanic panic, and a higher body count than most Friday the 13th movies. I had a blast reading this. It was a really fun, quick read. I might've even started to get attached to a couple characters, but... ☃️🪓🩸