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Itch!
Something moves on the forest floor...
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
Are these dark crawling insects leading her to uncover the truth?
Or is she their next victim?
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
Are these dark crawling insects leading her to uncover the truth?
Or is she their next victim?
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2025
326 people are currently reading
6487 people want to read
About the author
Gemma Amor
44 books805 followersI'm a horror fiction author, podcaster, artist and voice actor from Bristol, in the U.K.
I write for the wildly popular NoSleep Podcast and various other horror fiction audio dramas. My traditionally published debut FULL IMMERSION is out from Angry Robot in September 2022.
Find me at @manylittlewords on Twitter and Insta.
Repped by Mark Falkin at Falkin Literary.
I write for the wildly popular NoSleep Podcast and various other horror fiction audio dramas. My traditionally published debut FULL IMMERSION is out from Angry Robot in September 2022.
Find me at @manylittlewords on Twitter and Insta.
Repped by Mark Falkin at Falkin Literary.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 385 reviews
January 8, 2026
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
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
dnfed
January 14, 2026might 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
December 18, 2025
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.
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.
July 15, 2025
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.
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.
October 14, 2025
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.
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.
November 3, 2025
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.
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.
January 24, 2026
.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.
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.
February 1, 2026
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!
”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!
November 27, 2025
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!
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!
November 27, 2025
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.
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.
December 7, 2025
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.
The opening was intriguing and disturbing (in a great way), and then the plot became quite repetitive and predictable and I lost interest.
January 31, 2026
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.
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.
June 26, 2025
gemma can do no wrong this is deliciously disgusting
review to come!
review to come!
January 14, 2026
(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!
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!
October 23, 2025
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!
October 15, 2025
🐜 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
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
July 14, 2025
”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.
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.
January 25, 2026
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! 🤓
December 30, 2025
Itch is a dark feminist folk horror that blends body horror, murder mystery, and small-town folklore into one addictive book!
From the start, Emma's writing completely pulled me in, and the way she sets the scene in the unsettling Forest of Dean was beautifully done. The book starts with our protagonist Josie discovering a decaying body that throws her into a spiral of mystery, folklore, and... squirm inducing ants, lots of them.
I loved how the book constantly kept me guessing about what type of horror it was, whether it was psychological, supernatural, or something else entirely. It made my reading experience feel tense and unpredictable. (which is so rare to find in horror nowadays)
Josie's character growth was also incredible. I was rooting for her through every dark, uncomfortable moment, and the side characters added extra depth and warmth to the otherwise unsettling story. The ant-eating scene alone will probably be enough to make your skin crawl, but it's also paired with folklore, mystery, and a subtle feminist undertone that makes it all feel meaningful.
Overall creepy, visceral, and beautifully written. The kind of horror that will not only keep you guessing but also get under your skin (pun fully intended) and stay with you long after you close the book.
From the start, Emma's writing completely pulled me in, and the way she sets the scene in the unsettling Forest of Dean was beautifully done. The book starts with our protagonist Josie discovering a decaying body that throws her into a spiral of mystery, folklore, and... squirm inducing ants, lots of them.
I loved how the book constantly kept me guessing about what type of horror it was, whether it was psychological, supernatural, or something else entirely. It made my reading experience feel tense and unpredictable. (which is so rare to find in horror nowadays)
Josie's character growth was also incredible. I was rooting for her through every dark, uncomfortable moment, and the side characters added extra depth and warmth to the otherwise unsettling story. The ant-eating scene alone will probably be enough to make your skin crawl, but it's also paired with folklore, mystery, and a subtle feminist undertone that makes it all feel meaningful.
Overall creepy, visceral, and beautifully written. The kind of horror that will not only keep you guessing but also get under your skin (pun fully intended) and stay with you long after you close the book.
September 10, 2025
‘What makes you think the Devil is a he?’
This is my first time reading anything from author Gemma Amor and okay girl you have yourself a dedicated fan now. ITCH! was everything I wanted and skin crawling-ly more.
Misogyny, trauma, abuse, infestation, death, and body horror, to name a few things this book portrays so uniquely. Well written and all consuming, somehow delicately handled and shoved down our throats!!
🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
This is my honest review and I’d like to thank NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read this ARC.
This is my first time reading anything from author Gemma Amor and okay girl you have yourself a dedicated fan now. ITCH! was everything I wanted and skin crawling-ly more.
Misogyny, trauma, abuse, infestation, death, and body horror, to name a few things this book portrays so uniquely. Well written and all consuming, somehow delicately handled and shoved down our throats!!
🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
This is my honest review and I’d like to thank NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read this ARC.
October 26, 2025
Great folk horror and insect horror!
January 30, 2026
✶ ⋆.˚˖ 🐜 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.”
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.”
January 15, 2026
5⭐️
After a violent domestic assault, Josie Jackson has come back to her hometown, a little village called Ellwood, nestled in England's Forest of Dean. She is not only reeling from the head injury left by her girlfriend Lena, but also hiding how completely dependent her relationship left her. So the only place for her to go is the village; with a cleaning job at the local pub, the apartment her father is letting her stay in, and the trek through the forest that clears her mind. But one day, not long after the village's yearly festival, the Devil's March, Josie finds the body of a young woman, left to rot on the trail. The body, it's decomposing flesh ruined with ants, and other insects, sends Josie into a spiral. Now, Josie finds herself consumed internally (and sometimes externally) with ants, pulling her mind into a frenzy. Josie is now relying on the ants to guide her, to discover the truth of the woman who was murdered, and to unearth the details of her own murky childhood. Josie's journey will reveal heinous acts, and mysterious folklore, long muddled by history. Can she escape the past? Or will it consume her?
My thoughts:
I loved this book. Not only was it a really interesting character study in Josie, but the way Amor ties everything together with folklore was absolutely brilliant. The detailed descriptions of the ants running throughout Josie's body, and sometimes pouring out, where so vivid I found myself scratching my own skin. I loved how the book opened with the beginnings of autumn, took the reader through a treacherous, cold winter and finally upon the story's resolution, landed us in spring. I will think about this book for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for an advanced copy of the book for review. These entities have in no way impacted my review.
After a violent domestic assault, Josie Jackson has come back to her hometown, a little village called Ellwood, nestled in England's Forest of Dean. She is not only reeling from the head injury left by her girlfriend Lena, but also hiding how completely dependent her relationship left her. So the only place for her to go is the village; with a cleaning job at the local pub, the apartment her father is letting her stay in, and the trek through the forest that clears her mind. But one day, not long after the village's yearly festival, the Devil's March, Josie finds the body of a young woman, left to rot on the trail. The body, it's decomposing flesh ruined with ants, and other insects, sends Josie into a spiral. Now, Josie finds herself consumed internally (and sometimes externally) with ants, pulling her mind into a frenzy. Josie is now relying on the ants to guide her, to discover the truth of the woman who was murdered, and to unearth the details of her own murky childhood. Josie's journey will reveal heinous acts, and mysterious folklore, long muddled by history. Can she escape the past? Or will it consume her?
My thoughts:
I loved this book. Not only was it a really interesting character study in Josie, but the way Amor ties everything together with folklore was absolutely brilliant. The detailed descriptions of the ants running throughout Josie's body, and sometimes pouring out, where so vivid I found myself scratching my own skin. I loved how the book opened with the beginnings of autumn, took the reader through a treacherous, cold winter and finally upon the story's resolution, landed us in spring. I will think about this book for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for an advanced copy of the book for review. These entities have in no way impacted my review.
January 8, 2026
A skin-crawling, tension-building and wildly captivating audiobook experience!
I loved how Gemma Amor narrated Josie's fierce and empowering character arc, while intriguing the readers (and listeners) with such a visceral and mind-bending crime mystery meets disturbingly invasive body horror.
This beautifully written (and narrated), heart-wrenching novel was such a powerful hit to my emotions that it will be dug deep inside my heart for the foreseeable future 🐜🫂
While the subject matter and contents discussed within the book touch on very sensitive topics, I found that it was used respectfully to showcase the growth and progression of the characters and story (so check your TWs kindly before proceeding ⚠️)
I loved how Gemma Amor narrated Josie's fierce and empowering character arc, while intriguing the readers (and listeners) with such a visceral and mind-bending crime mystery meets disturbingly invasive body horror.
This beautifully written (and narrated), heart-wrenching novel was such a powerful hit to my emotions that it will be dug deep inside my heart for the foreseeable future 🐜🫂
While the subject matter and contents discussed within the book touch on very sensitive topics, I found that it was used respectfully to showcase the growth and progression of the characters and story (so check your TWs kindly before proceeding ⚠️)
January 5, 2026
This is squicky.
No surprise given the title and description, but prepare for your skin to crawl!
It's also very good folk horror, highly suspenseful, and gives you a soupçon of feminine rage. In other words, a very good read!
While I wasn't surprised by the *who* of everything, I still enjoyed our mystery and was on edge waiting for the end. I won't tell you what happens, but it is very satisfying! I also loved our main character and wanted to punch her ex.
Definitely a good read!
* ARC via Publisher
No surprise given the title and description, but prepare for your skin to crawl!
It's also very good folk horror, highly suspenseful, and gives you a soupçon of feminine rage. In other words, a very good read!
While I wasn't surprised by the *who* of everything, I still enjoyed our mystery and was on edge waiting for the end. I won't tell you what happens, but it is very satisfying! I also loved our main character and wanted to punch her ex.
Definitely a good read!
* ARC via Publisher
October 9, 2025
“I just walked straight into a swarm—and I want to go back.”
Josie Ashford didn't return to her childhood home looking for horror, but she found it waiting. The crumbled town, the suffocating memories, and the murder case that drags up more than just ghosts of the past. Itch! It's folk horror that crawls under your skin, literally, and refuses to let go.
Josie is a brilliantly complex character. She is angry, raw, and painfully human. Her grief and guilt are woven into every page, and as the mystery unravels, so does she.
The decaying setting is alive, almost a character itself, and the way Amor intertwined myth, superstition, and insect imagery makes the atmosphere oppressive and unforgettable.
The writing is sharp and lyrical, pulsing with dread but grounded in emotional truth. This feels more than a murder mystery, it's a dark exploration of womanhood, trauma, and survival.
If I had one critique, it is that the pacing in the mode occasionally dragged, some scenes felt repetitive, slowing down Josie’s otherwise gripping emotional arc. But when the story kicks back into gear, it hits hard and doesn't let up.
However, the body horror is unsettling, the folk-horror haunting, and the ending left me deeply satisfied. By the time I turned the last page, I was feeling, scratching, and rooting for Josie through every harrowing moment. Itch! It is a triumph for fans of folk horror with a feminist twist. The atmosphere, emotional depth and the main character I will be thinking about for a long time. The kind of book that lingers long after you put it down.
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for a free ebook and an honest opinion.
Josie Ashford didn't return to her childhood home looking for horror, but she found it waiting. The crumbled town, the suffocating memories, and the murder case that drags up more than just ghosts of the past. Itch! It's folk horror that crawls under your skin, literally, and refuses to let go.
Josie is a brilliantly complex character. She is angry, raw, and painfully human. Her grief and guilt are woven into every page, and as the mystery unravels, so does she.
The decaying setting is alive, almost a character itself, and the way Amor intertwined myth, superstition, and insect imagery makes the atmosphere oppressive and unforgettable.
The writing is sharp and lyrical, pulsing with dread but grounded in emotional truth. This feels more than a murder mystery, it's a dark exploration of womanhood, trauma, and survival.
If I had one critique, it is that the pacing in the mode occasionally dragged, some scenes felt repetitive, slowing down Josie’s otherwise gripping emotional arc. But when the story kicks back into gear, it hits hard and doesn't let up.
However, the body horror is unsettling, the folk-horror haunting, and the ending left me deeply satisfied. By the time I turned the last page, I was feeling, scratching, and rooting for Josie through every harrowing moment. Itch! It is a triumph for fans of folk horror with a feminist twist. The atmosphere, emotional depth and the main character I will be thinking about for a long time. The kind of book that lingers long after you put it down.
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for a free ebook and an honest opinion.
January 30, 2026
This review was originally published at FanFiAddict.
Bug horror. Mental illness. Murdered women left dumped in the woods. A small English village with an annual celebration of its pagan, folkloric customs to please the devil. Yeah, Gemma Amor’s ITCH! pretty much has it all and wastes little time getting into the nitty gritty.
Josie has a thing for bugs, you could say. An obsession. They live inside her, and inside others, too. Josie sees them regularly – moths fly from her ears, ants crawl under her skin seeking escape, and the old man at the tavern sneezes out snot and worms. She’s got an affliction, and the discovery of an old corpse covered in maggots and various other insects doesn’t do her much in the way of favors. Stumbling upon a dead woman in the woods only aggravates the bugs inside her and soon she’s scratching herself bloody trying to seek relief. She’s also drawn the intense scrutiny of a cop looking to make a name for herself. Life doesn’t get any easier for Josie when her abusive ex-girlfriend shows up in town, despite the restraining order, and she discovers the remains of yet another murdered girl left in the woods.
The village of Ellwood has a long history of killing women, and there are a lot of bodies buried in the surrounding Forest of Dean. Used to be, the townsfolk would sacrifice a girl to the devil during an annual festival to earn his favor and grant the small population a measure of safety and security against the hardships of daily life. Now, they just carry an effigy of a woman and toss that off a cliff to please their local deity. It’s all good fun, a local celebration filled with masked revelry, hot mulled wine or cocoa and beer, and a long cheery walk through the forest trails.
At least it was. Until somebody started donning a mask and killing girls. Girls who bear an uncanny resemblance to Josie, who is driven by the bugs inside her to learn more about these murders and the rituals and folklore of Ellwood.
Readers who need their women protagonists to be uncomplicated paragons of virtue would do well to avoid ITCH!, but for those of who prefer more defined portrayals Josie is a welcome wreck. She’s led a hard life, one that has beaten her down and left her meek. She’s scarred inside and out, the latter thanks to her former lover who struck her with a brick and left her briefly comatose. Josie’s a survivor, in spite of all her traumas and all the people who have tried to break her and grind her down. I found myself immediately sympathetic to her ordeals and loved watching her grow from a tragic victim into somebody stronger in the face of her struggles as the book progressed. She’s messy and complicated and her problems pile up around her like dirty laundry, but she develops a wonderful sense of agency and a burgeoning self-worth that’s downright heroic given where and who she’s been.
Amor has crafted a setting that’s every bit as intriguing, colored as it is by history and locale. Ellwood possesses a comfy, welcoming vibe, despite the damp cold, or maybe that’s just the King’s Arms tavern with its roaring fireplace and familiar faces. Regardless, there’s a Country Living appeal to this small hamlet tucked in the forest, and that’s even before you get into Old Jacob’s stories about the place’s history, culture, and customs. Ellwood charms with its lived-in warmth and attitudes.
Naturally, it’s not all sunshine and fairy tales. Ellwood has plenty of darkness beneath it, as does ITCH! overall. This is a book about trauma and abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, and the psychological toll that can be wreaked upon its survivors. Going into ITCH!, I was initially disappointed that the bug horror elements were a psychological manifestation rather than a more literal phenomenon, like in Gergory A. Douglas’s ‘80s classic, The Nest, but the more I read the more I grew to appreciate Amor’s aim. Josie’s symptoms are the result of the ills heaped upon her and traumas she’s been forced to repress for the sake of her own sanity, until she’s forced by circumstance to confront all that psychological damage slowly chewing its way to the surface. For the gorehounds hoping for plenty of bug horror nastiness, ITCH! may not be as immediately gratifying in purely visceral, violent, and vulgar ways than The Nest, but it is certainly meatier and deeper in its messaging and explorations of society and the treatment of women.
Bug horror. Mental illness. Murdered women left dumped in the woods. A small English village with an annual celebration of its pagan, folkloric customs to please the devil. Yeah, Gemma Amor’s ITCH! pretty much has it all and wastes little time getting into the nitty gritty.
Josie has a thing for bugs, you could say. An obsession. They live inside her, and inside others, too. Josie sees them regularly – moths fly from her ears, ants crawl under her skin seeking escape, and the old man at the tavern sneezes out snot and worms. She’s got an affliction, and the discovery of an old corpse covered in maggots and various other insects doesn’t do her much in the way of favors. Stumbling upon a dead woman in the woods only aggravates the bugs inside her and soon she’s scratching herself bloody trying to seek relief. She’s also drawn the intense scrutiny of a cop looking to make a name for herself. Life doesn’t get any easier for Josie when her abusive ex-girlfriend shows up in town, despite the restraining order, and she discovers the remains of yet another murdered girl left in the woods.
The village of Ellwood has a long history of killing women, and there are a lot of bodies buried in the surrounding Forest of Dean. Used to be, the townsfolk would sacrifice a girl to the devil during an annual festival to earn his favor and grant the small population a measure of safety and security against the hardships of daily life. Now, they just carry an effigy of a woman and toss that off a cliff to please their local deity. It’s all good fun, a local celebration filled with masked revelry, hot mulled wine or cocoa and beer, and a long cheery walk through the forest trails.
At least it was. Until somebody started donning a mask and killing girls. Girls who bear an uncanny resemblance to Josie, who is driven by the bugs inside her to learn more about these murders and the rituals and folklore of Ellwood.
Readers who need their women protagonists to be uncomplicated paragons of virtue would do well to avoid ITCH!, but for those of who prefer more defined portrayals Josie is a welcome wreck. She’s led a hard life, one that has beaten her down and left her meek. She’s scarred inside and out, the latter thanks to her former lover who struck her with a brick and left her briefly comatose. Josie’s a survivor, in spite of all her traumas and all the people who have tried to break her and grind her down. I found myself immediately sympathetic to her ordeals and loved watching her grow from a tragic victim into somebody stronger in the face of her struggles as the book progressed. She’s messy and complicated and her problems pile up around her like dirty laundry, but she develops a wonderful sense of agency and a burgeoning self-worth that’s downright heroic given where and who she’s been.
Amor has crafted a setting that’s every bit as intriguing, colored as it is by history and locale. Ellwood possesses a comfy, welcoming vibe, despite the damp cold, or maybe that’s just the King’s Arms tavern with its roaring fireplace and familiar faces. Regardless, there’s a Country Living appeal to this small hamlet tucked in the forest, and that’s even before you get into Old Jacob’s stories about the place’s history, culture, and customs. Ellwood charms with its lived-in warmth and attitudes.
Naturally, it’s not all sunshine and fairy tales. Ellwood has plenty of darkness beneath it, as does ITCH! overall. This is a book about trauma and abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, and the psychological toll that can be wreaked upon its survivors. Going into ITCH!, I was initially disappointed that the bug horror elements were a psychological manifestation rather than a more literal phenomenon, like in Gergory A. Douglas’s ‘80s classic, The Nest, but the more I read the more I grew to appreciate Amor’s aim. Josie’s symptoms are the result of the ills heaped upon her and traumas she’s been forced to repress for the sake of her own sanity, until she’s forced by circumstance to confront all that psychological damage slowly chewing its way to the surface. For the gorehounds hoping for plenty of bug horror nastiness, ITCH! may not be as immediately gratifying in purely visceral, violent, and vulgar ways than The Nest, but it is certainly meatier and deeper in its messaging and explorations of society and the treatment of women.
January 21, 2026
Folklore, feminist horror! Not for the faint of heart, this book is crawling with body horror. Check TW first, there is a lot going on there, but there is also a lot to get out of it. Depending on the reader, you can have an entertaining (and disturbing) horror story, or more of a deep dive into childhood trauma and abusive relationships and the “itch” that something just isn’t right.
Josie leaves her abusive relationship with her girlfriend, and returns to her hometown on the edge of the forest to live with her temperamental, widower father. While out for a walk in the woods, she discovers a dead body decomposed and crawling with ants. While awaiting authorities, Josie passes out right onto the corpse and cannot shake the itchy sensation of bugs crawling all over her after she wakes. There remains an incessant itch on her body, in her head, in her eyes—everywhere. Other bodies start to show and authorities are having a hard time believing that Josie just happens to be the one to find them. The book follows more than one narrative, with the first dead woman’s backstory, Josie’s abusive relationships, and occult activities in Josie’s hometown. Gemma Amor masterfully weaves these narratives together into a satisfying conclusion. It’s definitely not for the squeamish, but it was very good and very well-written! Suppressed memories and childhood trauma resurfacing, an itch you just can’t scratch, and an outcome equal parts disturbing and unpredictable.
Josie leaves her abusive relationship with her girlfriend, and returns to her hometown on the edge of the forest to live with her temperamental, widower father. While out for a walk in the woods, she discovers a dead body decomposed and crawling with ants. While awaiting authorities, Josie passes out right onto the corpse and cannot shake the itchy sensation of bugs crawling all over her after she wakes. There remains an incessant itch on her body, in her head, in her eyes—everywhere. Other bodies start to show and authorities are having a hard time believing that Josie just happens to be the one to find them. The book follows more than one narrative, with the first dead woman’s backstory, Josie’s abusive relationships, and occult activities in Josie’s hometown. Gemma Amor masterfully weaves these narratives together into a satisfying conclusion. It’s definitely not for the squeamish, but it was very good and very well-written! Suppressed memories and childhood trauma resurfacing, an itch you just can’t scratch, and an outcome equal parts disturbing and unpredictable.
December 28, 2025
ITCH! follows Josie, who has recently returned to her hometown that is wreathed in strange traditions and yearly rituals, as she navigates putting her recently uprooted life back together and is attempting to forge down a new path. That is, until she finds a dead body in the forest and starts noticing bugs everywhere in her body.
I love a good folk horror, and the insect elements were so grotesque yet...empowering?? You're just going to have to read it to understand 🤭 The characters in this were really compelling (in both positive and negative ways) and the atmosphere was strangely cozy given the context.
I will say I did catch onto where it was going rather quickly, but that didn't detract from the experience at all. If anything, it made it more satisfying to see how the story played out without having to pay attention to hints/foreshadowing or keep an eye out for red herrings. I felt like I was putting the pieces together along with Josie, and it all came together beautifully.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Book Group for this ARC!!! 🖤
I love a good folk horror, and the insect elements were so grotesque yet...empowering?? You're just going to have to read it to understand 🤭 The characters in this were really compelling (in both positive and negative ways) and the atmosphere was strangely cozy given the context.
I will say I did catch onto where it was going rather quickly, but that didn't detract from the experience at all. If anything, it made it more satisfying to see how the story played out without having to pay attention to hints/foreshadowing or keep an eye out for red herrings. I felt like I was putting the pieces together along with Josie, and it all came together beautifully.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Book Group for this ARC!!! 🖤
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