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Maddilyn: A Tale of the Utah Gothic
Maddilyn thought she had escaped the darkness—until the Utah desert whispered her name again. Beneath its red canyons and shadowed chapels, something ancient waits.
In this chilling gothic horror, A Tale of the Utah Gothic plunges readers into a world of crumbling mansions, secret rites, and nightmares that refuse to stay buried. As Maddilyn confronts her family’s twisted legacy, she must navigate haunting visions, forbidden love, and a past that claws its way back into the present.
Fans of The Haunting of Hill House, Rebecca, and atmospheric horror will be captivated by this unsettling tale of madness, memory, and survival.
Will Maddilyn uncover the truth before the desert consumes her soul? Or will she become another ghost in the Utah Gothic tradition?
In this chilling gothic horror, A Tale of the Utah Gothic plunges readers into a world of crumbling mansions, secret rites, and nightmares that refuse to stay buried. As Maddilyn confronts her family’s twisted legacy, she must navigate haunting visions, forbidden love, and a past that claws its way back into the present.
Fans of The Haunting of Hill House, Rebecca, and atmospheric horror will be captivated by this unsettling tale of madness, memory, and survival.
Will Maddilyn uncover the truth before the desert consumes her soul? Or will she become another ghost in the Utah Gothic tradition?
303 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2025
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 19, 2025
The Desert Didn't Just Whisper Her Name. It Took a Bite.
Maddilyn didn't just escape the past; she tried to light a match and watch it burn. But the Utah desert—a graveyard of good intentions—has a memory, and it's calling her home. She's back in the whirlwind, a brutal, gut-punching spiral where sex, violence, and self-destruction are currency. This isn't a chilling descent; it's a blood-soaked rampage. To survive the darkness, Maddilyn has to confront the monster she fled... which is the same monster staring back from the reflection.
Maddilyn didn't just escape the past; she tried to light a match and watch it burn. But the Utah desert—a graveyard of good intentions—has a memory, and it's calling her home. She's back in the whirlwind, a brutal, gut-punching spiral where sex, violence, and self-destruction are currency. This isn't a chilling descent; it's a blood-soaked rampage. To survive the darkness, Maddilyn has to confront the monster she fled... which is the same monster staring back from the reflection.
October 25, 2025
I had a lot of fun with this book. The story is so layered, smart, wild, disjointed, and very violent. It’s the story of Maddilyn, a young woman who lives with her father just outside of Salt Lake City. She is obsessed with local murders, justice, and is herself a serial killer. She likes to “fuck kill” bad men, record it, and gets off on watching her videos. That’s the core of the story, but there’s so much more to it. The book is peppered with mentions of murders throughout the SLC area, both solved and unsolved, as well as some deep love for music. Believe it or not, there are a lot of laugh out loud moments as well. The author includes a QR code at the end that takes you to a Google Doc full of links to deep dive into the true crimes mentioned throughout the book. Fascinating, gross, twisted and fun, I’m so glad I delved into this world!
November 4, 2025
GOOD FOR HER! Maddilyn follows a young woman who loves to fuck and kill men. She lives right outside of Salt Lake City with her creepy doctor father. When an old friend from school comes to her house for an appointment with her father, the two girls run off and go on a murder spree. They meet two other women along the way to join their killing sexcapades.
This was such a fun read! I'm usually not a fan of gothic horror but this desert gothic tale had me hooked. I was rooting for Maddilyn and the girls. I felt for them and how the powers at hand tried to have physical control over their bodily autonomy. Blood soaked vengeance story with a hint of nihilism.
Thank you to Bryan Stubbles for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was such a fun read! I'm usually not a fan of gothic horror but this desert gothic tale had me hooked. I was rooting for Maddilyn and the girls. I felt for them and how the powers at hand tried to have physical control over their bodily autonomy. Blood soaked vengeance story with a hint of nihilism.
Thank you to Bryan Stubbles for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
October 25, 2025
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Thank you to Bryan Stubbles (author) for the ARC.
Short Summary:
Maddilyn thinks she’s outrun the darkness, but the Utah desert has a long memory. As visions, secrets, and strange rites claw up from the red soil, she’s forced to confront a family legacy that wants her body, her mind, and—if she slips—her soul.
This was exactly my brand of gothic nightmare sun bleached and blood streaked. From the first page, the book hums with dread: chapel bells that sound wrong, houses that feel inhabited by more than memory, and a heroine whose past keeps tightening its grip. The writing is vivid without ever feeling overwrought; every image lands dust in the lungs, heat rippling off sandstone, shadowed rooms where something patient waits.
What surprised me most is how personal it feels. Maddilyn isn’t just running from a monster; she’s wrestling the version of herself the past keeps insisting she be. That push-pull between survival and surrender gives the horror real teeth. When the book leans into its splatterpunk leaning moments, it does so with purpose, visceral, shocking, and always in service of the spiral she’s trapped in. The secrets (and there are plenty) unravel with a steady, suffocating logic; each reveal clicks into place like a lock turning.
I loved the Utah Gothic angle, wide open spaces that somehow feel more claustrophobic than any basement. The religious undertones, the small town hush, the way grief and obsession stain everything chef’s kiss. And Maddilyn herself? Messy, brave, fraying at the edges, and painfully human. I saw her clearly, and I rooted for her even when she’s courting ruin. The final stretch is a delirious run of madness and grit, creepy, cathartic, and absolutely earned.
Would I Recommend It?
Oh, absolutely. If you crave atmospheric desert gothic with sharp teeth, creepy secrets, madness, and a survivor who refuses to stay buried, this one delivers.
📚 Genres: gothic horror, psychological horror, desert gothic
🎭 Tropes: family secrets, haunted past, forbidden love, unreliable reality, survival at all costs
🧠 Triggers: gore, graphic violence, psychological trauma, religious trauma
Short Summary:
Maddilyn thinks she’s outrun the darkness, but the Utah desert has a long memory. As visions, secrets, and strange rites claw up from the red soil, she’s forced to confront a family legacy that wants her body, her mind, and—if she slips—her soul.
This was exactly my brand of gothic nightmare sun bleached and blood streaked. From the first page, the book hums with dread: chapel bells that sound wrong, houses that feel inhabited by more than memory, and a heroine whose past keeps tightening its grip. The writing is vivid without ever feeling overwrought; every image lands dust in the lungs, heat rippling off sandstone, shadowed rooms where something patient waits.
What surprised me most is how personal it feels. Maddilyn isn’t just running from a monster; she’s wrestling the version of herself the past keeps insisting she be. That push-pull between survival and surrender gives the horror real teeth. When the book leans into its splatterpunk leaning moments, it does so with purpose, visceral, shocking, and always in service of the spiral she’s trapped in. The secrets (and there are plenty) unravel with a steady, suffocating logic; each reveal clicks into place like a lock turning.
I loved the Utah Gothic angle, wide open spaces that somehow feel more claustrophobic than any basement. The religious undertones, the small town hush, the way grief and obsession stain everything chef’s kiss. And Maddilyn herself? Messy, brave, fraying at the edges, and painfully human. I saw her clearly, and I rooted for her even when she’s courting ruin. The final stretch is a delirious run of madness and grit, creepy, cathartic, and absolutely earned.
Would I Recommend It?
Oh, absolutely. If you crave atmospheric desert gothic with sharp teeth, creepy secrets, madness, and a survivor who refuses to stay buried, this one delivers.
📚 Genres: gothic horror, psychological horror, desert gothic
🎭 Tropes: family secrets, haunted past, forbidden love, unreliable reality, survival at all costs
🧠 Triggers: gore, graphic violence, psychological trauma, religious trauma
October 27, 2025
Maddilyn is a raw, blood-soaked descent into vengeance and survival set against the quiet, eerie backdrop of Utah. The story follows Maddilyn, a girl trapped in an abusive home, whose pain and rage explode into a brutal murder spree. Along her journey, she encounters a few unforgettable women who not only understand her darkness but embrace it. Each woman adding their own edge and heart to the chaos that unfolds.
What makes this splatterpunk novel stand out is how it balances extreme horror with moments of grim beauty and unexpected humanity. Beneath all the gore, it’s a story about reclaiming power, finding solidarity, and confronting the ghosts that created you. The writing is intense, visceral, and unapologetically graphic but it’s also strangely cathartic.
By the end, Maddilyn’s revenge on her father feels both horrifying and inevitable. And to my surprise, the book even slipped in a recipe, something I have actually tried and enjoyed, which was such a fun and unexpected touch in the middle of all the carnage.
If you’re into splatterpunk that blends emotion with mayhem, Maddilyn is absolutely worth the read. It’s brutal, bold, and impossible to forget.
What makes this splatterpunk novel stand out is how it balances extreme horror with moments of grim beauty and unexpected humanity. Beneath all the gore, it’s a story about reclaiming power, finding solidarity, and confronting the ghosts that created you. The writing is intense, visceral, and unapologetically graphic but it’s also strangely cathartic.
By the end, Maddilyn’s revenge on her father feels both horrifying and inevitable. And to my surprise, the book even slipped in a recipe, something I have actually tried and enjoyed, which was such a fun and unexpected touch in the middle of all the carnage.
If you’re into splatterpunk that blends emotion with mayhem, Maddilyn is absolutely worth the read. It’s brutal, bold, and impossible to forget.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2025
I read this like a fever dream. A long, disjointed fever dream. I came to understand how the main character thinks, in broken, feverish thoughts that manifest only into two things: sex and murder. I think it was a me problem when I thought I didn't understand, and that's only probably because I have no idea how the Mormon world works, and also because I wasn't born in Utah and couldn't understand more than half of the references.
However, this novella took the cake with women banding together to get rid of disgusting men, and some corrupt women. It's a free-for-all fuck-kill fest and I'm here for it.
Maddilyn is one of those anti-heroines you'd be rooting for by half of the book, even if you really don't fully understand why she does what she does. Like I said, it's a fever dream and it continues to read that way until the end.
Overall, an amazing story to get into, especially if you're an ex-Mormon with murderous tendencies.
However, this novella took the cake with women banding together to get rid of disgusting men, and some corrupt women. It's a free-for-all fuck-kill fest and I'm here for it.
Maddilyn is one of those anti-heroines you'd be rooting for by half of the book, even if you really don't fully understand why she does what she does. Like I said, it's a fever dream and it continues to read that way until the end.
Overall, an amazing story to get into, especially if you're an ex-Mormon with murderous tendencies.
December 6, 2025
Maddilyn is the type of friend everyone needs, as long as you stay on her good side.
We follow Maddilyn on her quest for self-identity while running from monster's that exist both in her and out. We get glimpses into who she is as she collects other women with the same desires, set on revenge and scrubbing the world of the filth that walks among them. This was chaotic and full of female power and rage, while also being layered and evolving. The imagery Bryan is able to create of the Utah setting makes for atmospheric horror that is almost suffocating in it's vastness. Peppered throughout the story are facts and cases related to Salt Lake, reminding you that danger is always closer than we might think.
We follow Maddilyn on her quest for self-identity while running from monster's that exist both in her and out. We get glimpses into who she is as she collects other women with the same desires, set on revenge and scrubbing the world of the filth that walks among them. This was chaotic and full of female power and rage, while also being layered and evolving. The imagery Bryan is able to create of the Utah setting makes for atmospheric horror that is almost suffocating in it's vastness. Peppered throughout the story are facts and cases related to Salt Lake, reminding you that danger is always closer than we might think.
November 7, 2025
Maddilyn by Bryan Stubbles
Holy cow! This was not only brutal, but quite entertaining! I was bouncing between shock and laughter.
Maddilyn was not raised like most kids. She was abused, and introduced to adult subjects very early on. This turned into a love of sex and violence. As she made her way through life unaliving anyone she slept with, she collected a like minded group of friends. They worked together to create chaos, bloodshed, and even some music along the way.
This story is chaotic, dark, and unapologetically wild — and I could not stop reading it.
Holy cow! This was not only brutal, but quite entertaining! I was bouncing between shock and laughter.
Maddilyn was not raised like most kids. She was abused, and introduced to adult subjects very early on. This turned into a love of sex and violence. As she made her way through life unaliving anyone she slept with, she collected a like minded group of friends. They worked together to create chaos, bloodshed, and even some music along the way.
This story is chaotic, dark, and unapologetically wild — and I could not stop reading it.
January 1, 2026
I personally was not a fan of this story, it was a step out of my normal genre but I did finish the ACR copy that was provided to me.
While there was some intrigue in the story, there were a few random facts that were thrown in that didn't really add to the story that was being told.
While there was some intrigue in the story, there were a few random facts that were thrown in that didn't really add to the story that was being told.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews