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Fear of the Dark - London based Dark Fantasy with Friends to Enemies and Found Family
An ancient evil is rising in London...
Kate Maskell has the perfect life in The perfect job, the perfect apartment, and the perfect roommate. All that she's missing from her life is the big publishing deal that she's been chasing. Her roommate and longterm friend, Rafferty, is in the same boat working a job that suits him until his big break comes through.
All seems well until vials of blood and strange books begin to appear in the apartment. Suspecting that Rafferty is involved in something sinister, Kate and her friends go digging into London's metaphysical past to discover that a century old ritual is being prepared with her as their target.
Fear of the Dark is a fast-paced, heart-stopping race against time filled with ancient gods, secretive cults, and a city that refuses to die quietly.
Themes
- Modern day London
- Ancient knowledge/magic
- Friends to enemies
- Found family
- City as a main character
- Dark urban fantasy
Trigger Warnings
- Kidnap
- Restraint
- Cult activity
- Toxic friendships
- Drug/alcohol/tobacco use
Kate Maskell has the perfect life in The perfect job, the perfect apartment, and the perfect roommate. All that she's missing from her life is the big publishing deal that she's been chasing. Her roommate and longterm friend, Rafferty, is in the same boat working a job that suits him until his big break comes through.
All seems well until vials of blood and strange books begin to appear in the apartment. Suspecting that Rafferty is involved in something sinister, Kate and her friends go digging into London's metaphysical past to discover that a century old ritual is being prepared with her as their target.
Fear of the Dark is a fast-paced, heart-stopping race against time filled with ancient gods, secretive cults, and a city that refuses to die quietly.
Themes
- Modern day London
- Ancient knowledge/magic
- Friends to enemies
- Found family
- City as a main character
- Dark urban fantasy
Trigger Warnings
- Kidnap
- Restraint
- Cult activity
- Toxic friendships
- Drug/alcohol/tobacco use
313 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 6, 2025
4 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 13, 2025
💀 A darkly addictive descent beneath London’s skin 💀
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
“Some things should stay buried, but London never lets her ghosts rest for long.”
Fear of the Dark by Rachael Gilliver is an intoxicating plunge into a shadow-soaked London where magic hums beneath the pavements and ancient evils stir in forgotten corners. It’s modern, gritty, and richly atmospheric—an urban fantasy that makes the city itself feel alive and complicit.
Kate is chasing her publishing dreams, sharing an enviably balanced life with her best friend Rafferty—until strange objects begin infiltrating their flat. From there, Gilliver propels us into a slick, claustrophobic mystery threaded with forgotten gods, a cult, and the uneasy sense that friendship can fracture under the weight of destiny. The found family dynamic is beautifully handled, as is the slow, uneasy slide from trust to betrayal. And through it all, London thrums like a living organism—ancient, secretive, impossible to look away from.
If not for the sheer number of small but persistent errors—homophones, missing words, and even the cat’s name inexplicably changing—I would’ve gladly stamped this with a full five stars. Each inconsistency pulled me out of an otherwise captivating story, causing me to pause and reread. A tight edit and strong proofread would have elevated this into the exceptional novel it deserves to be.
Still, the writing has a cinematic quality, the pacing is relentless, and the mythology feels both familiar and freshly reimagined. It’s a story that gets under your skin and lingers, dark and glittering, giving you cause to look twice into dark corners, long after you’ve turned the final page.
Verdict: A thrilling, imaginative descent into London’s occult underbelly—flawed in execution, but irresistible in spirit.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
“Some things should stay buried, but London never lets her ghosts rest for long.”
Fear of the Dark by Rachael Gilliver is an intoxicating plunge into a shadow-soaked London where magic hums beneath the pavements and ancient evils stir in forgotten corners. It’s modern, gritty, and richly atmospheric—an urban fantasy that makes the city itself feel alive and complicit.
Kate is chasing her publishing dreams, sharing an enviably balanced life with her best friend Rafferty—until strange objects begin infiltrating their flat. From there, Gilliver propels us into a slick, claustrophobic mystery threaded with forgotten gods, a cult, and the uneasy sense that friendship can fracture under the weight of destiny. The found family dynamic is beautifully handled, as is the slow, uneasy slide from trust to betrayal. And through it all, London thrums like a living organism—ancient, secretive, impossible to look away from.
If not for the sheer number of small but persistent errors—homophones, missing words, and even the cat’s name inexplicably changing—I would’ve gladly stamped this with a full five stars. Each inconsistency pulled me out of an otherwise captivating story, causing me to pause and reread. A tight edit and strong proofread would have elevated this into the exceptional novel it deserves to be.
Still, the writing has a cinematic quality, the pacing is relentless, and the mythology feels both familiar and freshly reimagined. It’s a story that gets under your skin and lingers, dark and glittering, giving you cause to look twice into dark corners, long after you’ve turned the final page.
Verdict: A thrilling, imaginative descent into London’s occult underbelly—flawed in execution, but irresistible in spirit.
Displaying 1 of 1 review