Daytide

by Chris Panatier

"BLACK METAL WIZARD OF OZ"

Death comes to those who live.

The Longing is here: a ruthless psychological pandemic that only ever ends one way. Most find relief in a bullet or a blade. Kaya Sinh chose fire.

With Kaya gone, her friend Adam has only the support group they’d attended to keep him going. He’s at his lowest when a priest named Hayle Carnoth appears at group one night, claiming to have discovered a cure for the Longing. Thinking it a crude effort by the priest to seek members for his dwindling congregation, Adam drives him off.

But he keeps coming back.

With the Longing closing in, Adam agrees to let Father Carnoth share what he’s discovered. They visit a nearby cathedral, where something has appeared inside the steeple.

Genres: Horror

500 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 26, 2026

About the author

Chris lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, daughter, and a fluctuating herd of animals resembling dogs (one is almost certainly a goat). He writes short stories and novels, "plays" the drums, and draws album covers for metal bands. As a lawyer, he goes after companies that poison people.

Chris's short fiction has appeared in many places. His novels come from Angry Robot, Sobelo Books, and Rapture Publishing. He's a member of SFWA and HWA.

Reviews

[Lorin (paperbackbish) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Rapture for my free ARC of Daytide by Chris Panatier — available Feb 26!

» READ IF YOU «
🌒 love a blend of fantasy and horror
🪽 think angels would be fun to drink with
🌘 want to get sucked into a different world

» SYNOPSIS «
The Longing is decimating the human population, causing people to take their own lives in droves. Kaya succumbs, only to find that the “afterlife” is not what she expected—and, maybe she can cure this affliction for the rest of humankind. But there’s a cost, and it won’t be extracted from just her…

» REVIEW «
Shut. The fuck up. This book is brilliant!!! It’s an epic blend of fantasy and horror, perfect for all my dark fiction readers out there. The world building is exquisite, and each POV is distinct and interesting—even if some characters might be a little morally bankrupt. Be prepared to shed some tears after the laughs and thrills, though.

I actually read this in only two sittings, because I simply had to keep flipping the pages once I was about 25% in. I am completely enamored with a few of these characters, and already can’t wait to start my reread. I’m sure I’ll discover even more on my second time through, and I would love for you to come along on that ride with me! My DMs are forever open to discussing Daytide.

I completely, wholeheartedly recommend this book if you enjoy fantasy and/or horror. There are drunk angels, creepy gods, enchanted weapons, desperate witches, hand-sewn David Bowie costumes, and so much more. Plus, Rapture’s edition is absolutely breathtaking, with all the art by Chris Panatier himself! I cannot wait to have it in-hand.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[David Swisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drunken angels who have a fondness for cosplaying famous humans coupled with humans suffering from the "Longing" a strong desire to end it all.

Philip Fracassi’s introduction sets the tone perfectly, framing the novel as an audacious work that refuses easy categorization, and Daytide more than earns that promise.

Billed as a black metal Wizard of Oz, Daytide is a fearless, genre bending novel that fuses dark urbanish fantasy and horror into something both unsettling and unexpectedly humane.

Chris Panatier builds an epic world where angels get drunk on turpentine, fight, and go hunting for "glean" while populating it with characters whose flaws, longing, and resilience shape them into people/angels you can root for. The dialogue is sharp and often darkly funny, cutting through the bleakness with wit and emotional precision. Panatier’s prose is confident and visceral, balancing imagery with feeling. This is a bold, imaginative book that rewards readers willing to dive into something unlike anything they've ever read before.

Spark The Halo!

[Anna Dupre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A construct that shifts and shuffles within innumerable contexts, faith is a tricky subject. When we think of faith, we often think of religion, where we aim our veneration, our hopes, our desire to be forgiven, to be redeemed at the end of this life. Yet, in a more mundane context, faith is believing the subway will show up on time, that your coffee order will be the same as it was yesterday, and that constants remain exactly that, constant. And what if this belief, in its grandiose and miniscule forms, became the crux of survival? The means to which we pay the bills, we put food on the table, we live? And moreover, what happens when that faith disintegrates, dries up, or no longer serves us? Where do we belong if not for here?

Chris Panatier poses these questions through a nuanced, creative, and bold lens with his dark fantasy novel, Daytide. Described as a “black metal Wizard of Oz,” I can confirm we are not in Kansas anymore under Panatier’s deft, wildly creative influence. The world as we know it is plagued by an affliction known as “The Longing,” a darkness that closes in on an individual with no reprieve from a pill or therapy in sight. But what exists on the other side of The Longing? And when a priest claims to know “the cure” to this demented malady, what does such an antidote look like? Starting in reality then catapulting into a stratosphere of angelic landscapes, Chris Panatier holds a candle to the deeper questions of the human condition, what waits for us on the other side of this life, and begs us to interrogate the narratives we have come to believe.

So much of what makes Daytide a roaring accomplishment is its balance. Panatier knows exactly how to deliver information that builds this incredible world that is connected to a reality that is familiar without ever once taking a tone of lecturing. Instead, the masterful character work at play within these pages does all of the heavy lifting for us in every instance, for both humans and other beings alike. The landscape of Daytide is lush with novel creations, thought-provoking social systems, and entertaining edges to fortify a robust heartbeat at the core of this story. This kind of worldbuilding is the lifeforce behind the compelling nature of this novel, the propulsive “why” that kicks the pace of this novel into high gear.

And as I mentioned previously, the characters of Daytide are what makes this fantastical tome absolutely soar. Adam, Hadriel, Ysgael, Kaya, Ezbiel, the list could keep going. Panatier saddles each character with their own struggles regarding faith, what it means to truly live, and how to find “home.” While this sounds heavy (and it is), the balancing act of believable moral struggle and realistic traits of quirks and personality is sublime. There is whimsy mixed with the macabre, violence matched with humor, shock with gentle understanding. Such a balance is a fine line, one that Panatier traverses with elegance and poise, resulting in a wildly entertaining, emotionally dedicated, and dearly devoted narrative that lingers long past the turn of the final page.

Daytide by Chris Panatier is a lot of things: it is a masterclass in utilizing the fantastical to paint a vivid portrait of our own human dilemmas, it is a captivating, action-packed venture into worlds beyond our own, and most of all, it is a fractured mirror that reflects the morality of power, acceptance of narratives, and the strength to fight. With such unique traits to both its world and its characters, Daytide feels like it exists in a category of its own, one that combines so much of what builds incredible stories that stand the test of time. Under Panatier’s intensely creative and capable hands, Daytide is a novel with wings, one that ascends to the highest tier of masterful fiction.

[Lori]

I loved Shitshow but I just couldn't get into this one. It felt kind of rushed and I had a difficult time keeping up. Nothing was really making sense. DNFd around the 100 page mark.

[Marguerite Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It was like stepping into a place he hadn’t been for years. An old apartment where he’d lived with a girlfriend, where they’d shared experiences at the height of joy and the depths of sadness. Recognition, familiarity. Normalcy.”
Fuck me! I will never be able to read this quote without crying for how much I FEEL this. This book is massive, an epic fantasy full of angels, turpentine and a diabolical Catholic priest. Chris produces some of the craziest and most fantastic imagery and these characters just got me all fucked up. He is a master wordsmith, his words can create beauty out of the ugliest and most fantastical things. And he has me either bawling my eyes out or laughing my ass off. I was cheering, I was angry, this one has it all folks!
This is the story of Adam, who as a side note I’m fully in love with. Adam and I are kindred spirits and he is probably, no definitely my favorite character EVER. He’s angry and sad and I can’t even write about him without crying. He’s suffering from a sickness called the Longing which eventually ends with you taking your own life. He’s determined to not let that happen to him. He has just lost his closest friend Kaya who attended meetings with him to stave off their inevitable end. After she’s gone he meets Carnoth a catholic priest who pulls him into his devious plan and absolute madness ensues.
Here is where I go back to obsessing over the characters. I must send a shout out to Hadriel, who was a no nonsense, kick ass, take no prisoners angel. I grew to love her dearly and damnit she’s so funny! Chris creates some of the most interesting and lovable characters that I would die on a hill for. With everything that’s going on in this epic tome, it’s them I root for and fall in love with. I could go on forever about how layered they are and deeply “human” but in short, their journey became my journey. Chris has created a story that forces us to pull back the veil on our everyday lives. Whether it be because of religion or politics or both and makes us see the truth.
This book is a rip roaring, heart wrenching epic that was completely immersive and fucking rocked! Thank you immensely to the amazing Mitch Hull at Rapture Publishing for an early copy of this book!

[Indy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there were angels, would we really want to worship them?

In DAYTIDE our world sits opposite the firmament. On the other side is Olea, the world of Jugularis, or what we would call angels. Make no mistake Olea is not Heaven and the drunken, selfish, violent, pop culture obsessed gleaners that inhabit it are anything but holy.

The book has several points of view, two drunken shitbirds named Ezbiel and Hadriel have a reputation for their prowess in combat are our Highside guides. On Lowside, or our world, Adam, Kaya, and a priest named Carnoth all suffer from a pandemic level bout of suicidal ideation known as "The Longing." Humans don't know about the Jugularis, the firmament, or Olea. Jugularis can only pierce the firmament if they're sufficiently drunk on turpentine or Holy Medium, once on Lowside they feed off the spiritual belief of humanity known as glean.

This is a spectacularly impressive work of fantasy with dense world building impeccably woven through the narrative. I never felt like I was doing homework or getting bogged down with jargon or info dumps as Panatier's poetic lyrical prose grew wings and carried me through the complexities of a very believable and thoroughly realized fantasy world. The novel lets the world speak for itself and as such you might mix up a cipter and cygnet or a shadowcrake and catcrake once in a while but I promise, fellow lowsiders, once you reach the second half, the intricacies of angel culture and their unique caste system feel like second nature.

The Jugularis share a collective obsession with Lowside birds and pop culture. They speak in avian puns and metaphors. Many are known to take venerates to pay tribute to famous charismatic Lowsiders like Hadriel does with David Bowie; she flies through much of the novel in a custom Ziggy Stardust jumpsuit. All of these carefully plotted bizarre details and wonderful characters give the world an almost haptic tangibility. Panatier's horror pedigree comes through loud and clear especially toward the later chunk of the book with a gory and welcome surprise moments and the bleak subsurface details of the Jugularis world.

There are unexpected moments of beauty and humanity woven throughout DAYTIDE. I found myself swallowing tears at the way Panatier writes about depression, yearning, family, and loss. This is a dense work. The arc weighs in at nearly 500 heavy pages but toward the later half I found myself wishing for more. This is a book about questioning power, resilience, and endurance. Whether it be religion, or economic systems, it indicts any line of thinking that puts anyone in blindservice under a ruler, idea, or god.

There's no easy comparison to reach for here. Of the novels I've read from Chris Panatier, this is by a mile his most ambitious and perhaps most impressive. It will take me some time to gather my thoughts, but this books is a rare treat.

Escape the longing. Break with the routine, the system does not serve you. Death comes to those who live.

[BeMandyReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This is fucked up.”
“Welcome to the world.”

DAYTIDE by Chris Panatier
Limited release 350 copies
February 26, 2026 from Rapture Publishing.

Billed as Black metal Wizard of Oz, Daytide is a heady blend of horror and fantasy, distilled from the mind of Chris Panatier.

A disease, the Longing, is taking over the world. No one knows the cause or a cure. When Kaya leaves her friend Adam to suffer alone, he is determined to fight his feelings of despair by attending support group meetings and sticking to a routine. Adam is barely hanging on when he meets a priest* that says he knows the cure.

How much do you want to know about a story before reading it? To me, less is more. I went into Daytide knowing almost nothing and it was a perfect experience. The world building is WILD. The characters are beautifully flawed and relatable. Panatier’s humor (“you fucking pelican”) softens the heavy themes as the story swirls through the world we think we know, androgynous angels**, and pine trees.

By the Latern’s light, I love this book.
I loved the insanity of the turpentine can ARC.
I love the story of how this book came to be (checkout Robb Olson’s ARC Party pod episode with Mitch Hull and Chris Panatier).

I can’t wait to get my hands on the finished book. This one is special!

*in the beginning, I pictured Chris Panatier as the priest. As the story went on, it didn’t really fit but I couldn’t shake the image so I had to share. You’re welcome.
** the angels were my favorite part. Team Hadriel forever 👨🏻‍🎤

#Daytide #RapturePublishing

[Eleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally appearing on FanFiAddict.com

Hello again dear reader or listener, I hope you’re able to do things that bring you comfort during these interesting times we’re having. For my part that means lots of reading of the most transporting books I can find. Chris Panatier’s upcoming Daytide was one such read, bringing forth catharsis and bit of a mind fuck in equal measure! It definitely was nothing like I expected even from the very intriguing blurb.

With a thank you to the author for the eARC, I promise my incoming ramblings to be honest, as always.

Daytide overall is a book that doesn’t so much defy genre as genre definition. What my sleep deprived brain landed on eventually was a flavor of Portal Horror Fantasy. Or maybe Horror Portal Fantasy. Or Portal Fantasy Horror… I still can’t actually decide!
(Don’t be genre nerds, kids, this is the kind of conundrum you’ll get yourself into and it will be entirely your own thing cause almost nobody else will care about this level of minutiae).
In short I would define it as: Emotional Damage.

But silliness aside now, Panatier has presented us with yet another multilayered narrative, mixing the grotesque, the entertaining, and the poignant, to deliver a story that will force you to think. Be it about the nature of faith and religion, aspects of depression, hope, or even the inherent biases that exist within each of us due to our given communities. The allegories or metaphors abound for those who seek them, some of the commentary is tongue in cheek, while other times the author is very unequivocal about what he means, which I personally find quite glorious. Through some beautiful, if at times dense, but most definitely nearing the psychedelic, world building, Panatier toes the line between imaginative and untethered. Incidentally, I’d say it’s akin to what it feels like to be in a church surrounded by thick incense while being at least a little tipsy from previous alcohol consumption – no, I am not speaking from personal experience why do you ask?

See the thing is, the author takes a concept that a lot of people associate with purity, safety, and softness, i.e. angels, and reminds you that his roots are very much Catholic instead. By making them punk as can be and, in fact, closer to the warriors of the Christian God that they actually are known as by those who grew up in or practice specific iterations of Christianity, Panatier follows the Guillermo del Toro school of allowing your art to be heavily informed/inspired by a religion whose pastors and priests have strayed so far into the sins they so self-righteously decry that their hypocrisy keeps breeding (potentially) lapsed artists who need at least some of that mythology and ideology to make a modicum of sense. I’m not even going to get into the whole angle of how certain types of priesthood nurture/promote (white) savior complexes, topic that the author cuts at with a sharpness that is elegant to say the least. We simply do not have the time, alas.

The imagery throughout the story is just always on point, even if that monstrosity of a sentence that I just subjected you to doesn’t ring true or mean much to you, dear reader. And again, that’s not even touching on the glory that is having one of the protagonists being an absolute chaotic menace who loves Bowie. Hadriel, you have a special place in my heart forever more. Indeed, with his multiple and varied protagonists and colorful secondaries, the author laughs in the face of anyone who thinks they can determine the villains from the heroes based on sterile black and white mentalities. In fact, we see exactly the kind of extremism that type of thought can lead to. I damn near resented how much I could understand some character choices from an intellectual standpoint, because in my heart I wanted to simply and purely be able to hate them for making the shitty decisions that lead them inexorably toward progressively deeper villainy. And yet I couldn’t. The existential crisis in trying to reconcile what you feel with what you try to be objective about will probably not leave you until the very last act either. But isn’t that the crux of the thing? How often do we try to be mature/sensible in the face of senseless and uninformed cruelty that is rationalized through something so completely opposite to who we are that we feel ourselves tear inside because we realize reason has no place in the given moment? I digress.

This is my third book by this author and his superb character work is what will keep drawing me to his words, at least one of the things anyway. Truly, Panatier flies expertly from moments of levity or softness into utter sadness and introspection, from visceral horror, into fist pumping badass action. With pop-culture Easter eggs aplenty to boot! My fellow reviewer George Dunn called it an existential delirium of a book and he couldn’t be more right (check out his full review here as it is a thing of beauty – I lowkey hate him and his magnificent eloquence actually).

Daytide by Chris Panatier is a thought provoking, turpentine induced, rapture of a novel that carries you into a dark world filled with hope against all odds, tender yet bittersweet full circle moments, and unexpected beauty in spite of the grotesque and macabre. It will land February 26th curtesy of Rapture Publishing, you can preorder it here, and if anything I’ve said has piqued your curiosity in the least, you don’t want to miss it.

Until next time,
Eleni A.E.

P.S: Now I want a del Toro adaptation of this book… damn.
P.P.S: By chance, I was listening to the Sinners soundtrack while writing this review and while I’ll grant you the overall vibes of this book are more Metal than Blues music, some of the thematic overlap was delicious.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this, shocker.

I saw Wizard of Oz and was sold, the black metal part helped but twisted Oz? Give me every variation.

This was hard, dark and emotional in a way I was really not expecting, The Longing just about hit me like a gut punch reading the way Chris describes it, it feels all too real, wonder why..

Adam fighting against it, chipped away at something inside me his struggle, the determination not to let the final stage of The Longing to get him, this is hard for me to type but I know that struggle and seeing it reflected in Adam was hard but somehow cathartic, I'm not alone, the struggle is real even if it doesn't seem as tangible as The Longing does in this book.

I am trying to keep this spoiler free and not have a absolute meltdown trying to convey how good this is but the meetings Adam goes too, and that priest, oh my god, after Kaya, I just had a feeling and I was SCREAMING at him to GTFO, religious cult like horror is my jam.

Adam does not have long left, The Longing gets everyone it gets its claws into eventually, and he decides to finally let Carnoth show him what is driving him and then well, and then you will just have to read the book..

The characters in this book and the way Chris wrote them is something else.


This was one of my top reads for 2025, check this out if you want a bizarre, black metal religious hard hitting emotional dark horror.

[Jeff Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give it 4.5 stars rounded up!

What a blast this was! Drunk, cosplaying angels addicted to violence? Yes, please!

Chris Panatier creates a dark fantasy world that is balls-out crazy. And at the same time it makes so much sense when overlaid with American culture in 2025. He attempts to explain the imbalance and dissatisfaction that has wrestled the emotional core of society to the ground. His take on what's plaguing us brings us to the edge of despair but offers a glean of hope.

Fans of Clive Barker's Weaveworld and Cabal will love this tale of a secret world that interacts with our human confusion and the struggle that unites both.

I highly recommend to anyone looking for an escape to a fantastic hidden world.

[Caleb Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads like a psychedelic Silmarillion, a hellish vision of heaven on a bad drug trip. Chris Panatier shows himself to be a formidable world builder with a story that is part Burgess, part Sanderson while still being undeniably original. This is the type of book that any author would kill to be able to conceptualize but few have the balls to attempt. Lucky for us, Panatier has balls to spare.

[Jendia Gammon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishing book, Daytide by Chris Panatier is quite unlike anything else I’ve ever read before. Fearless, unsettling, Wagnerian, yet still somehow viscerally intimate. I am caught between the wingbeats of Panatier’s brilliance, thrilled and mesmerized by the ride.
• Jendia Gammon, Nebula and BSFA Finalist author of Atacama and Godfestation

-

Thank you to Rapture Publishing and the author for an advance review copy.

[Matt M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my blurb:
Daytide is a genre defying assault of cosplaying angels, self-immolation, broken souls, and the terrifying nature of faith. An absolute explosion of cool ideas that collide to create something wildly original and seriously kick ass. Chris Panatier is one of my favorite writers working today, and this is his best book yet.