ITCH!

by Gemma Amor

READERS LOVE GEMMA'S DARK, ITCHY WORLD 🐜
'If you are after something that is both shocking and horrifically beautiful then take a journey and discover this little atrocity for yourself' 🐜
'I kept telling myself I really should turn off the light and get to bed now, eyes dry, head heavy, but every sentence in this book commands the reader keep turning the pages and press onward...' 🐜
'Gemma pulled me in with this compelling tale. Each page turned yielded me to another. I couldn't stop. Seriously!' 🐜

Josie is at rock bottom, living a haunted existence after returning to her isolated hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean. But the tall, dense pine trees are not the only things casting shadows across her skin.

When Josie stumbles across a decaying, ant-infested body in the woods, she plummets into a downward spiral, facing uncomfortable truths about the victim and her own past - all whilst battling a growing infestation of her mind . . . and her flesh.

Desperate to solve the case, Josie scratches the surface of an age-old mystery - a masked predator stalks the forest around Ellwood, a place deeply gripped by folklore. As the village prepares for its annual festival, Josie gets closer and closer to unveiling a monster, and begins to ask

Are these dark crawling insects leading her to uncover the truth? Or is she their next victim? 🐜

🐜 'From the first page, this story is already under your skin, building a nest in your heart' KYLIE LEE BAKER, New York Times bestselling author of Bat Eater 🐜

🐜 'A chilling and tremendously disturbing examination of a wounded mind . . . Sinister and utterly fiendish, ITCH! is a shocking and truly surprising blend of mystery, folk horror, and body horror that will burrow deep in your softest places, into your tenderest, most unspoiled secret parts' ERIC LAROCCA, award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke 🐜

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Mystery, Queer, Thriller, Adult, LGBT

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 9, 2025

About the author

I'm a Bram Stoker, BFA and Shirley Jackson Award nominated horror fiction author, podcaster, artist, editor and voice actor/audiobook narrator from Bristol, in the U.K.

I write novels and audio drama stories for the wildly popular NoSleep Podcast and various other horror fiction podcasts. My most recent works are ITCH! from Hodder & Stoughton, FIRST DATE from Datura Books and the forthcoming HAPPY HOUR from Shortwave Books, out Oct 2026.

Find me at @manylittlewords on most social media platforms.

Repped by Becky LeJeune at Confluence Literary (Lit) and Sean Berard at Untitled (Film)

Reviews

[Sadie Hartmann]

Title/Author: ITCH by Gemma Amor
Format Read: Audiobook (sometimes physical too)
Pub date: January 13, 2026
Publisher: Hachette/Hodder
Page Count: 352
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978139974...
Recommended for readers who enjoy:
- Small town/village
- Murdered & Missing Women
- Unusual customs, rituals, small town folklore/festivals
- Fathers & Daughters
- Grief/Death of a parent
- INSECTS (ants) infestations/body horror
__
Minor complaints:
Zero complaints

Final recommendation: I listened to the audiobook. The author narrated it herself and nobody could have done it better. Highly recommend! This is now, my new, all-time favorite folk horror book. It has everything you could ever ask for: unusual, dark village festival and rituals, a murder mystery, a flawed, broken FMC to fall in love with and invest in, plus interesting side characters who come alongside Josie to help. Flawless execution.
Comps: The Wicker Man, Something in the Walls, Harvest Home, Ghost Wall, Withered Hill, Devil's Day

[Annie ˖]

⋰˚☆ 4
Ive finally finished this wildly entertaining book. Took me a minute, but that was only due to how busy I have been this summer. My availability is putting me in a slump 😭 -

Anywho, this book was amazing. It had the exact unhinged ambience I was searching for. The eeriness was wild, and the constant apprehension was very satisfying to read. The writing was also very engaging - It is 3rd person perspective, which not always my favorite perspective to read, but I don’t have a problem with this one. The small town setting also contributed to the pessimistic tone, and it just fitted so smoothly.

Premise was also very interesting. We follow Josie, a girl who has stumbled upon a dead body in the forest. After finding herself in such predicament, she has started to go a little insane. She imagines ants crawling al over her body, and they whisper things to her. This all rooted from her finding a dead body. To get away from this feeling, Josie, finds ways to escape from these thoughts she’s having. Tracing back to what has happened. As for Josie, I didn’t have an issue with her character. We get into depth about her awful childhood. Her emotionally abusive father. Also, we learn her toxic relationship with her ex-girlfriend. How she was severely injured by her, physically, and emotionally.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It was very engaging, and simultaneously emotionally compelling.

[Gabby]

might come back to this at some point but the pacing is killing me, it's sooooo slow and the writing is not working for me

[Ashley O'Donnell]

I hate bugs 🐜 bugs of all shapes and sizes. As a cat owner, I obviously have a huge dislike towards fleas (and the deep bleeding gashes on my face indicate that vacuuming a cat is more difficult than you could imagine) - so as a self professed ‘germaphobe', reading a novel literally titled ’Itch’ was probably not the smartest of ideas. 🐜 🐜

As I sit here with the sudden urge to clean my home from top to bottom wearing rubber gloves and a hazmat suit (the outfit is over the top - but I like to look the part) it can be argued that this novel was indeed successful - it's almost certainly got under my skin - but although it succeeded in giving me the chills, it also was a very difficult read.

And I mean difficult in the sense that although this is a relatively short novel (under 400 pages) the extremely slow pacing makes it feel like it's a lot longer.
I did enjoy the overall story, albeit the twist was largely predictable - and certain aspects really did have me shuddering, but the over description in the writing made it an unnecessarily tedious read at times. 🐜

But I still believe many readers will enjoy this, especially those that are fans of psychological slow burns or folk horrors. It does have a lot of triggering content, as it touches upon abuse (physical and emotional) so it's maybe not suitable to all readers - but for those comfortable reading about trauma, abuse and daddy issues you may find this atmospheric read worthwhile. Why does every book have daddy issues? - my dad was great, although, he did wear socks with his sandals - no one's perfect

I just can't justify higher than the 3 star rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ due to the over descriptive writing which dragged out too many chapters of this novel. Admittedly it did pick up the pace on the latter half of this read, but the first 100 pages of this book seemed to be going nowhere and in one instance I considered giving up altogether (in hindsight I'm glad I stuck at it).

Good read overall, I'd still recommend it and do advise readers to stick it out once you get started, the payoff is worth it. But in this instance - it's probably a one time read for me. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 

The skin crawling content of this book has indeed inspired me to deep clean my home, get rid of any bugs - taking off a sofa cushion I have already found around 20 of my partner's hair clips, a spoon and a single headphone - pays to be clean

[Michelle]

May I direct your attention to this absolutely eye-catching cover! It's a beauty, so of course I couldn't resist requesting this. 🐜🐜🐜

Folk horror, body horror, and bugs galore!

Josie leaves her abusive girlfriend behind and returns to her hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean. She plans to recover and rebuild her life.

On a walk through the forest she discovers the dead body of a woman. While being horribly decomposed it is still evident that what happened to this woman was no accident.

After this discovery Josie can't help but to feel bugs everywhere. Under her skin, in her eyes, always moving as if trying to tell her something. Her need to scratch becomes unbearable.

Then it happens again. Another walk and another dead woman.

The local detective finds it highly unusual or highly unlucky that Josie discovered not one but two murder victims.

Josie, along with the hive of bugs writhing inside her, are slowly calling back repressed memories of her child hood. Is it possible she does know more than she thinks she does? You'll have to read this to find out.

I've heard great praise for Amor from other reviewers so I was stoked to score a copy of this.

And Amor proves she is indeed an excellent writer. The atmosphere was gloomy and the folklore of the town was well realized. Josie was a sympathetic character and her landlord Angela proved to be a wonderful friend and protector. I was absolutely digging the vibe.

I did find the ending to be drawn out and rather unsurprising which is a shame because everything up to that point (80%) was fantastic.

All in all I did enjoy this. The concept and Amor's imagination can't be denied. And, as luck would have it, I already have two of her other books downloaded on my kindle. Yay, me! 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Book Group for my complimentary copy.

[John Mauro]

My review is published at Grimdark Magazine.

ITCH! is the new feminist folk horror by the Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award nominated author Gemma Amor. As the novel opens, Josie Jackson returns to her rural hometown following a bitter breakup with her abusive partner, Lena. Already physically and emotionally broken, Josie is unlikely to find any comfort with her temperamental widower father.

But the horror is only beginning for our ill-fated protagonist. Shortly after her return, Josie stumbles over a dead body while out for a hike. The corpse is beyond putrid: largely decayed and actively being devoured by an army of ants. When Josie reports her finding to the emergency hotline, they instruct her to remain with the body until the police arrive. But Josie cannot tolerate the stench any longer and passes out face-first into the corpse. The ants soon overrun her own body, giving Josie an incessant itching sensation even after she is rescued by authorities.

ITCH! follows several narrative threads, including the deceased woman’s backstory, the details of Josie’s abusive relationships, and the story of an annual occult event in Josie’s hometown known as Devil’s March, an eerie masked procession that occurs the first day after each autumnal equinox. Over the course of the novel, Gemma Amor masterfully weaves these disparate storylines into a veritable tapestry of horror, building to an enormously gratifying climax that left my mouth agape.

ITCH! is not for the squeamish, and certainly not for the dear readers among you who experience myrmecophobia. But for those who can stomach a tale overrun by both two- and six-legged monsters, Gemma Amor has composed a violent concerto that showcases a heroine ready to overcome the all-too real horrors that have pervaded her life. Altogether, ITCH! is an immensely satisfying novel and another highlight in Gemma Amor’s impressive body of literature.

[amie]

We just don’t need to call every book with a woman in it feminist x

[Oliver Clarke]

Blends different styles of horror extremely effectively. I had a great time.

[erica ࣪ ִֶָ☾.]

5★
”Life is not always something that happens to you. It’s something you can make happen for yourself.”

Folk horror, body horror, and how we deal with trauma all in one? I loved this.

The twist was amazing, I somewhat expected it but loved how it seemed more and more rational as the story went on.

I loooved how gross this made me feel, but also loved the way everything progressed and slowly tied together. This was great!

[Brandy Leigh]

The plot had all the right ingredients to be amazing - folk horror, body horror, and trauma should be a killer combination, but it wasn’t great.

I’m still not sure what didn’t work for me more: the main character who felt dare I say pathetic or the over-descriptive prose. So many sentences boiled down to “there’s this thing that looked like this, this, this, and this,” which drained the tension instead of building it.

[Gareth Is Haunted]

A fantastic slice of creepy crawly folk horror from Gemma Amor.
You all know how folk horror often turns out. Creepy behaviour from all the yokels, strange and unexplained traditions including some kind of ritual at the culmination. Itch follows many of these tropes, but somehow manages to make all of this feel almost natural in our modern world.
The narrative follows Josie who is a troubled soul, she's been through many a hardship (and many she has yet to realise) and has recently been forced back to here home town with its old world traditions. This is where things start getting strange, when she stumbles upon a grizzly discover. From there the plot unravels in its many layers.
The rest is for you to discover..!

Quite possibly Gemma's best work so far and one which I'll be reccomending for months to come.

I received an advanced copy for free and I'm leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

[Luna Latte]

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ 🐜 ˖ ݁݁ 𖥔.

The ants they nestle beneath my skin,
crawling and skittering, and so it begins.
My clipped down nails, try as they might
cannot stop the colony as they fight.
The maggots squirm behind my eyes,
the crown a top my head is made of flies.
Better the Devil you know, then the Devil you don't,
but what if the Devil needs a new host?
Will you suffer through the carnage and blood,
to see the truth hidden under the mud?
Or watch as the Queen Ant struggles,
And the bodies turn up by the double.

This novel is the epitome of a phantom feeling skittering across your skin, causing your soul to leave your body for fear of creepy crawlies. However, instead of the feeling being on top of your flesh, it is buried underneath, causing ripples and clots. This book is infested with feministic ideals, filled to the brim with mysteries and leaking horrors. From a seemingly normal small town comes folklore, serial killings and the feeling of being watched. Celebrate the Old Ways with a town keen on keeping the tradition of shaming women, build a straw woman and watch her plummet to her death as a sacrifice to the Devil.

This book was a wild ride from start to finish and some of the visceral descriptions had me scratching at my own skin, convinced that something was lurking beneath. At first I tried to savour this story, knowing I'd love it, but of course the writing capture me and refused to let go, causing me to finish it far too quickly for my liking. I just know that this book will nestle into the recesses of my mind, taunting me to never forget the feeling of little bodies scurrying, pushing and probing under my skin, maggots blurring my vision and voices whispering the most heinous thoughts.

[Jan Agaton]

ANT-XIETY👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 (spoiler-filled vlog will be up on my youtube channel on 6/29).
ok so was this predictable in terms of who the killer is? yes, but I still had such a good time! the bug/body horror was gag-inducing. the anxiety rep was perfect and put to words some aspects of the disorder that I was unable to prior. the exploration of nuances of a toxic, traumatic relationship was so well done in the most frustratingly cathartic way. and that ending was WILD, despite the main reveal being predictable. this is one of the best folk horror books I've ever read.

[Gyalten Lekden]

Searingly intimate writing brings you under the skin of this story, scratching, desperate from air. There is a claustrophobia to it, which is really wonderful. It is contemporary folk horror doing what it does best, blur the lines of reality and make you question yourself, repeatedly, living in the liminal space between modern life and tradition, ancient forest and tourist destination. The prologue, which is one a few sequences in the novel where we glimpse our protagonist’s childhood, immediately builds the whole world and goes a long way to shaping the tense, stultifying atmosphere that pervades the book. As the story progresses we get a wonderful sense of space, and the world is developed really well, bringing into this space where modernity threatens, traditions hanging on by a thread, but small-town life and rural pride try to serve as amber to trap the march of progress in its tracks. The main character is complex and vulnerable, and you immediately recognize her. The horror she experiences, compounded by what she has experienced—her childhood as well as what brought her home again, leaving the city behind—is emotionally devastating, especially because none of the individual pieces of her terror are unfamiliar to us, we just may be fortunate enough not to experience them in the particular combination and intensity she is. The writing, in this regard and in general, is great. It is moody and feverish at times, creating a sense of disorientation, but that doesn’t stop it from being skin-crawlingly vivid in its descriptions. The writing is sharp and clear in ways that feel discordant to the character’s experience, which adds a sense of unease to the reading experience, the recognition that things are lined up quite correctly, here, and it makes you perch on your seat, itching to make things line up.

The pacing and tone seem a little distracted at times, not knowing really what they want to be. The beginning has a more subdued pacing, one familiar to folk horror in general, dark in tone but with a sense of distance, dishevelment. In the back third there is a change of tone to something much more propulsive, accompanied by a much more frenetic pacing. Both of these work for me, it was just a little jarring to go from one to the other. There are a number of time jumps, which seem to happen really only because the timing of the final set piece has narrative significance, and yet these I thought worked, the world and characters and experiences enough that it feels natural enough. However, it might have been possible to use that (narrative) time to let the story segue between parts with less whiplash.

Nitpicking aside, this is a delightful novel. It is exploring misogyny, patriarchy, and parochialism, sure, but that is just the surface level. It is also interested in questions of identity and autonomy, questions of what draws us to dark places and people, and questions about how to grow into who we are meant to be without sacrificing the traditions that we come from. The horror is visceral and emotional, much more psychological than splatter but with enough details to make your skin crawl. The characters and the world-building are inviting and engaging, the mystery meaty enough to keep you interested, and overall a fun, thought-provoking time.

[Ginger]

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

Is this one of Gemma Amor’s best books?! I seem to think so!

Itch! brings folk horror, feminist rage and a creepy festival together in a thrilling plot of suspense and body infestation.

The plot starts off with our main character, Josie, coming back to the rural hometown that she tried to escape from. She's been suffering from a physically and emotionally abusive relationship and she needs to get away.

But coming back to Ellwood involves dealing with a contentious relationship with her father and a community that is struggling. It's not a good start for our girl!

When walking through the forest one day, Josie stumbles upon a dead woman. Not only has the woman been dead for days but the amount of decay means she's been dead for a while.
The number of ants and all types of creepy crawlies during this moment in the book is gag inducing.

And this moment starts a downward spiral of mental anguish for Josie as she imagines all types of bugs crawling over her skin and inside her, especially ants!

I do “okay” with body horror but something about this bug infestation gave me the f’ing creeps.

Amor brings all the horror with our crawling insects with this plot that I was starting to itch, get skirmish and tense up every time I started reading Itch!.

Absolutely brilliant for a horror book. I felt the horror!!

The strange festival that takes place in Ellwood is descriptive, creepy and I could visualize this happening during the spring equinox.
Seeing the participants hike through the forest while wearing grotesque scary masks and holding up an effigy was so so good.

I love folk horror for a reason, and I feel like Amor nails it with this festival.

This book was not only unsettling, but it was weird, riveting and I had creepy crawly good time with this. I'm so glad I got pre approved to read this!

[Adrienne L]

3.25⭐

Josie has recently left behind an abusive relationship in London and has returned to her hometown village on the outskirts of the Forest of Dean. She is living in a “holiday let” apartment that her emotionally distant father begrudgingly allows her to use, and is trying to make some sense of her life while still reeling from an injury delivered by her former partner that left her in a coma for a period of time. When she stumbles upon the desiccated, ant-infested corpse of a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to Josie herself, she becomes plagued by the conviction that the ants have now taken up residence in her own skin, and that the body was left there as a message to her.

I really like Gemma Amor’s writing and the first half of Itch! was an enjoyable experience as this buggy folk horror was established, with your typical isolated small town that holds onto pagan traditions and functions in symbiosis with the surrounding natural habitat while concealing a dark underbelly. The descriptions of Josie’s insect hallucinations (or are they?) literally made my skin crawl. Amor does cozy very well too; I loved the descriptions of the local pub and the characters of landlord Angela and pub stalwart "Old Jacob." Unfortunately, after the initial set up, the story got bogged down in lost momentum, vague puzzle pieces and folkloric references were outlined but never firmly fleshed out, and the book plodded along to a foregone conclusion that was obvious from the start. I kept hoping for a shocking twist that never happened. Ultimately, Itch! failed to get under my skin, leaving me a bit disappointed and underwhelmed.

I may end up being in the minority here, and I think a lot of people will like this more than I did for its on-trend folk horror and female rage elements. These are themes in horror that I usually love as well, but I don’t think Itch! brought anything new to the table, aside from the ants.

My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stodder for a digital advanced readers copy. Itch! will be released on October 9, 2025.

[Lala BooksandLala]

I think others will love this, it just wasn't for me.
The opening was intriguing and disturbing (in a great way), and then the plot became quite repetitive and predictable and I lost interest.

[Jenna (out touching grass & tech detoxing!)]

(Update: Now available as of 1/13/26!) A 4.5, forested, fanged, flaying, full-tilt, fulminating, formicating (and that’s no misspelling), frenzied, fantastical, feminist and folkloric feat of a fable about individual and community trauma and efforts toward survival, understanding, perseverance, integration, and healing.


Walking a woodsy shortcut between her remote hamlet cottage to her tavern job, protagonist Josie encounters what first appears to be a mutilated and discarded mannequin of a young woman - but isn’t. This grim finding sets off a domino effect of additional traumatic memories and morbid discoveries, both for Josie and throughout her small traditional village with its ancient roots, compelling Josie and others to question their personal and communal history.


Already a survivor of past and recent trauma, and having only recently returned to her childhood home to recover from a violent incident, Josie’s finding in the woods seems to trigger somatic symptoms and vivid sensory hallucinations, in particular a type of tactile hallucination or parathesia known as formication in which one experiences insect-like sensations. But, where is the line between hallucination and delusion, reality and memory? Josie must wrestle with these questions and her condition as she continues to work toward recovery by trying to piece together past mysteries, along the way intersecting with other village characters including an enigmatic cantankerous elder historian and a cottagecore but still very badass tavernkeeper - somewhat like a very dark version of Stardew Valley.


The book lands at the extremely far end of the spectrum of descriptive and visually graphic writing. This is not a subtle book: it’s hyperbolic, maximalist, and excessive, but in the best way. The author’s expressive talents support three exceptional components of the book that help it stand out and make a lasting impression.


First, the book spectacularly portrays a scenic and appropriately atmospheric setting in the Forest of Dean/Wye Valley area in Gloucestershire, southwest England, near the Welsh border. Think: The Dark Crystal, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Tintern Abbey.


Second, the novel evocatively portrays examples of folkloric traditions still honored in these ancient communities, including ceremonies involving costumes, masques, marches, and effigy burning that represent a melding of pagan and Christian beliefs and rituals about the forces of nature, fate, good and evil, life and death.


Finally, via the formication angle, the book integrates pretty masterful and original, if lurid and a tad abundant, metaphorical exploration of the psychological impacts of complex trauma.


Upon reading this book, I was probably most reminded of one of my absolute favorite novels from last year, Bat Eater and Other Names For Cora Zeng, by Kylie Lee Baker - whom I then discovered has also endorsed this book, along with another favorite author of mine, Rachel Harrison, whose readers may also appreciate this book. I also think this book may appeal to Grady Hendrix fans and could have been written by Grady Hendrix’s punk rock green witch sister, if he had one.


If this book were music, it would be P.J. Harvey? Or Florence and the Machine if she played a solstice concert in hell?


I would be completely remiss if I did not provide a major, if probably obvious, entomophobia alert and the reddest possible flag of a trigger warning for body horror, especially of the insect-related sort. Expect all the multi-legged and winged little visitors. And we aren’t talking a one and done, “OMG, how about that part on page XX” kind of thing: there will be continued and sustained gruesome bug episodes all throughout the whole book. I will say that typically I have limited tolerance for body horror and especially the buggy kind, but I managed to get through it because it was well incorporated overall into the story: the author was clearly committed, creative, and passionate when it came to including this content, but it is grounded in the narrative and themes and not gratuitously done. Other trigger warnings might include sexual assault, abuse, substance use, violence, injury, murder, death, mental health crisis and depression, and self harm.


I will give reassurance that no non-insect animals are harmed in this book. (And there is a dog.) There are so many bugs that some seem bound to be squashed. (But then again, are they even real?!)


This would be a fantastic book club selection and spooky season read (although appropriate for all seasons, since seasonal cycles play a role). And goddess willing they make this into a movie!


And - that cover!! Give that one an award!


My sincere appreciation to the author, Mobius Books, and NetGalley for providing the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

[Stay]

”Guilt was like a stain, and it leached into her very soul…”

This may come as a surprise to a lot of people but this is my first experience with a book written by Gemma and it was a f**king doozy. I was itchy, gagged a few times, and even felt creeped out by this and I loved every single second of it. Think 'To Be Devoured' meets Ants in a story that'll make you think twice about going into the woods.

Itch! came right out of the gate swinging and never let up. It was a non-stop roller coaster ride straight from the underground and holy s**t was it intense. My little eyes couldn't keep up with my brain. The creepy uneasy feeling was on every page and I still felt that way after completing this book. It was a wild time and one I would love to revisit soon.

[Kurryreads (Kerry)]

4.5 stars

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThF6RyCD/

[Ghoul Von Horror]

TW/CW: Language, toxic family relationships, gaslighting, child abandonment, love bombing, toxic relationships, cheating, physical abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse, gory scenes, blood, violence, drinking, drug abuse

*****SPOILERS*****

About the book:
Josie is at rock bottom. Burned out, heartbroken and recovering from an abusive relationship, she lives a haunted existence after returning to her isolated hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean.But the tall, dense pine trees are not the only things casting shadows across her skin.Josie's hopes of a fresh start are horribly derailed when she stumbles across a dead woman's decaying, ant-infested body in the woods. The grim discovery sends her into a downward spiral, forcing her to face uncomfortable truths about the victim and her own past - all whilst battling the swarming black ants that seem to have burrowed into her mind... and her flesh.As Josie struggles with infestations of all kinds, she scratches the surface of an age-old mystery - a masked predator stalks the forest around Ellwood, a place deeply gripped by ancient folklore and strange customs. So when the village dresses up for its annual festival, Josie gets closer and closer to unveiling a monster, and begins to ask
Release Date: October 9th, 2025
Genre: Horror
Pages: 352
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Shorter chapters

What I Didn't Like:
1. Didn't enjoy the writing style
2. Book lacked any direction

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

I'm trying to get into the writing style but the short and bluntness of it is hard to like.

Sigh. Now it's a mystery.

Come on like no one saw her dad being the killer when he had a locked shed in the yard.

I wish I was caring about anyone in this book but it's taking weird turns.

I have zero idea if the dad was the killer. I quit.

Final Thoughts:
Honestly I don't know if this book knew what it was trying to be. First it starts out with the awkwardness of a woman abused finding a body and then to a murder mystery that she wants to solve. I was bored and I am dnfing because I have heard finishing the book isn't worth it.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[thevampireslibrary]

gemma can do no wrong this is deliciously disgusting

review to come!

[Ash]

🐜 ITCH! By Gemma Amor 🐜

A big special thank you to @netgalley and the publisher @hodderbooks for the advanced readers copy!

🐜 Synopsis

After getting out of an abusive relationship, Josie returns home to her small, quaint little town on the edge of The Forest of Dean.But even more horrors are waiting for her at home. Josie stumbles upon an ant infested body in the woods. From there, Josie gets sucked into ancient folklore and hunting a masked killer stalking the small town.

🐜My Thoughts

I loved this so much. The insect/body horror was unsettling in the best possible way. The elements of folklore weaved into the story really worked for me! I also love a good blend of horror and crime thriller. This book reminded me of Something In The Walls by Daisy Pearce—another book dealing with small towns and folklore.

🐜 Vibes

🪱 Folk/Small Town/Crime Horror
🪱 Bugs and body horror
🪱 Rituals
🪱 Good For Her/WomenSupporting Women

🐜 My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[verynicebook]

Itch! felt sort of like a Twin Peaks meets The Wicker Man meets Longlegs kind of story, or something in that strange, eerie vein. I really enjoyed it at first, but it started to feel a bit long winded and repetitive after a while, and I found myself a bit confused about what was actually happening as the story jumped around a lot. I think the whole story could’ve been trimmed down quite a bit. That said, I really admire Gemma Amor’s writing, she tackles uncomfy topics so well, and the imagery here is fantastic. Her work always carries this heavy, melancholic darkness that feels so distinctly hers, which I love. She clearly knows how to craft a twisty, compelling story, this one just ran a little long for me!

[Rose Murray]

“I think I’m done with being a good girl, for now” ????

The story was simplistic and surface level. I saw someone compare to this to The WickerMan in another review which is truly shocking. The writing style is infantile and it doesn’t carry any of the tension or intrigue of the folk horror genre, it reads like a teen novel. Genuinely struggling to understand the rave reviews?

[Elena]

2.5 I suspected who the killer was very early on and I was right. Had Itch focused more on the folklore of the town and the actual crimes I believe I would have enjoyed it more.

[Laura y sus libros]

Estamos ante una novela de folk horror con una fuerte carga de terror corporal. Una historia que, mientras avanzas en sus páginas, parece introducirse bajo tu propia piel. Es una sensación incómoda, persistente. Te hace moverte en el asiento, rascarte sin necesidad, comprobar que todo está donde debería estar. Algo se mueve, late y se arrastra. Te acompaña, pero de la peor manera posible.

La protagonista es Josie, una mujer que regresa a su pueblo natal tras escapar de una relación marcada por el maltrato. Allí solo le queda su padre, un hombre hosco con quien mantiene una relación distante desde la muerte de su madre cuando era niña. Nunca hubo golpes ni abusos evidentes, pero tampoco cariño, apoyo o palabras amables. Y esa ausencia de afecto ha moldeado la percepción que Josie tiene de sí misma.

Gemma Amor retrata con enorme acierto cómo las heridas emocionales de la infancia se enquistan y acompañan durante años. El abandono afectivo, la necesidad de sentirse querida y una autoestima profundamente dañada terminan convirtiéndose en el terreno perfecto para que el dolor adopte nuevas formas.

Todo cambia cuando Josie encuentra en el bosque el cadáver de Laurel, una joven de su misma edad. Algo se rompe dentro de ella. A medida que su obsesión por descubrir qué ocurrió crece, también lo hace un extraño picor interior. Una sensación que parece nacer desde las entrañas y que pronto se convierte en algo mucho más inquietante.
Y es entonces cuando aparecen las hormigas…

Lo que comienza como una investigación sobre una muerte termina convirtiéndose en un descenso hacia algo mucho más antiguo y perturbador. Mientras Josie intenta resistirse a aquello que se abre paso en su interior, empiezan a aflorar los secretos de Ellwood: antiguas leyendas, máscaras, depredadores, ritos ancestrales y una comunidad que se prepara para celebrar su enigmática Marcha de Redención, conocida como la Marcha del Diablo.

Combinando misterio, suspense y horror, la autora construye una atmósfera cada vez más opresiva en la que la naturaleza parece observar desde las sombras. Los bosques, el folclore local y la sensación constante de que algo no encaja convierten la lectura en una experiencia inmersiva y muy inquietante.

Reconozco que el inicio me pareció algo pausado, pero os recomiendo no abandonarlo. Poco a poco la historia va cerrando sus garras alrededor del lector hasta arrastrarlo por completo a esos bosques donde nada es tan sencillo como parece.
Advertencia para lectores sensibles: hay muchísimos insectos y algunas escenas de horror corporal son especialmente gráficas y detalladas. Si los bichos os producen rechazo, esta lectura puede resultar bastante intensa.
Una historia que habla de monstruos antiguos, sí, pero también de los que deja tras de sí el abandono, la violencia y la necesidad desesperada de sentirse querido.

¿Habéis leído alguna vez folk horror? Porque esta ha sido mi puerta de entrada al género y, desde luego, no creo que me olvide de las hormigas de Gemma Amor en mucho tiempo.

[shyra ☾]

✶ ⋆.˚˖ 🐜 ITCH! 🐜 ˖˚.⋆ ✶

ant colony infestation galore! myrmecophobia!

this blends bizarre insect horror, body horror with feminist folk horror as well as exploring complex themes of anxiety, ptsd & wounding grief

returning to her secluded english village, while recovering from being victimized by her father & girlfriend (she’s for the gays !! 🏳️‍🌈) josie goes on a stroll through the woods and comes across a decaying corpse, rotting with ants feasting on it.
she can’t help but start to feel skin crawlers uncontrollably making her itchy, looking to find a solution as she discovers more dead bodies.
two things i love wholly was angela’s apothecary and old jacobs house full of oddities & curiosities. she finds a severed hand

honestly the story dragged & dragged, it had its times that i was so bored but i were mostly focused on the mysterious bugs writhing throughout her body calling back depressive memories.
this author painted a portrait of queerness & loneliness

ants profusely scurrying in your brain, beneath your flesh, becoming unbearable, eating you alive.
i love being a strange & unusual girl into weird stuff lol it’s my passion. this was no exception

✶ ⋆.˚˖ 🐜 “there were maggots in the corpse’s eye sockets, and in her mouth. and ants, obviously, flowing through and around her, busy as ever with the industry of death.”

[Rachelle]

"What makes you think the Devil is a he..."

[Rojda]

This felt like the perfect horror thriller for me: The women were strong and flawed in their own way. I was disgusted like 90% of the time and I LOVED it. There were too many details and I LOVED that too. 🐜✨️ Also the atmosphere was uncomfortable the whole time. Very niceeee! 🤓