Dopefoot

by Joshua Millican

When a college drop-out accepts work on a cannabis farm in the woods of Northern California, he realizes almost immediately that the harsh realities of this life won't match his naïve fantasies. He'll have to work hard-and watch his back. Dubbed "Harmless" by his cultish cohorts, the young man learns the logistics of cultivation and the dark philosophies dictating conduct in this outlaw wilderness.



The farm sits on a mountain the locals call Satan's Tumor, above a valley called The Green Cauldron, where dangerous elements have been brewing beneath the misty canopy. Overstimulated gangs of smugglers and well-funded foreign mobsters vie for control of this fertile territory, threatening to disrupt an elaborate ecosystem that predates history.

And beneath it all, in the most dismal corners of The Green Cauldron, even darker forces are stirring... angry, agitated, pushed to the brink. The forest is an explosive tinderbox on the verge of ignition. If he's going to survive, Harmless must sink to new depths before facing unimaginable horrors on a feverish journey into Hell and back.

Dopefoot is a distinctly Californian spin on dark woodland horror, a gory cryptid mystery fueled by butane, THC, and amphetamines, by Joshua Millican, author of Teleportasm and Chopping The Novelization.

246 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 16, 2026

About the author

Joshua Millican's debut novel, DEEPER THAN HELL, was released by Encyclopocalypse Publications in 2022. He is also the author of SEPTUM (Encyclopocalypse), TELEPORTASM (Shortwave), and DOPEFOOT (Mad Axe Media).

Joshua has written film novelizations for FORBIDDEN ZONE, ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, CIRCUS OF THE DEAD, and CHOPPING MALL. THE DREADFUL YEARS (Encyclopocalypse), is a collection of interviews he conducted during his tenure as Editor-in-Chief at Dread Central.

Reviews

[unstable.books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dopefoot is a novel that is abrasive in the best way. I yelled. I laughed. It is sticky with sweat, paranoia, and a festering realization that something is deeply wrong. What begins as a story of a drifter, dubbed "Harmless" by his batshit crazy boss, chasing an off-grid fantasy, quickly curdles into something far more sinister. The cannabis farm isn't just unsettling, it is a pressure cooker, ruled by unstable personalities and an unspoken code that feels equal parts survivalist and cult doctrine. Millican excels at atmosphere. The Green Cauldron pulses with menace. Its dense wilderness closes in as tensions bubbling between workers, smugglers, and other presences escalate. There is a constant sense of unease that never lets up, even before the horror is fully revealed. When it is, the shift is less a sharp turn and more of a descent into madness, as the narrative slides from gritty crime into something feral and nightmarish. What makes Dopefoot impactful is how it remains grounded in human desperation. The violence and grotesque elements hit harder because they are rooted in a world that already feels lawless and fraying. It is not only about what is hiding in the woods (and oh boy are there some things hiding in the woods) but about what people become when they are pushed to the very edge. Bleak, visceral, and deeply unsettling, this is a woodland horror with some teeth. Thank you to Mad Axe Media for gifting me an ARC for review. Keep an eye out for my long form review coming from *redacted* very soon … You can pick this up when it publishes June 16, 2026!

[Rebecca White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into Dopefoot thinking this was the Bigfoot monster book I’ve been waiting for..

But it was so much more than that. Dripping with WTF moments, brutality, and heart; this read had me laughing while squirming in my seat. The gamut of emotions you’ll run through while reading this book is intense, character relationships are challenging, and the imagery is beautifully horrifying.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dopefoot is a fun blend of quirky characters and a growing sense of dread. The novel follows “Harmless,” a drifter who finds himself employed at a cannabis farm in
california. He quickly realizes that the fun job he planned for isn’t exactly what awaits him.

This book blends humor and body horror. The main character is thrust into conflict that quickly escalates. The woodsy atmosphere and urban legends quickly suck you in. This book is easy to read and has short, punchy chapters which makes the book fly by.

Be sure to check out this book when it releases on June 16th

Special thanks to Mad Axe Media and the author for the arc copy!

[Books For Decaying Millennials · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fist bump to the author, for offering to send along a digital ARC. All views and opinions are my own.
-
“ He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man.”
- Dr. Samuel Johnson

Cryptids are cool, I’ve been fascinated by the subject since I was grub. Sasquatch, and the lore surrounding it, has been part of the atmosphere I breath for just as along. I know I’m not the only one like this. Perhaps you’re like me, recognize the (albeit high strangeness infused) reality of the “Large Hairy Homonid Hypothesis”. Even if you’re someone who is dimly aware of the pop-culture icon (through Jerky ads etc.) The silhouette of the massive hairy form, looms somewhere in your mind. Joshua Millican understands this, I’d argue he even plans for it. It’s this subconscious presupposition with which the author baits the prose traps, and camouflages the literary snares, laid on the path guiding us directly into DOPEFOOT. In the introduction, the author makes it clear that the entire premise of this book is grounded in the reality of “it’s all fake”. Time and time again, you find yourself tripped up, mentally circling back thinking “I dunno, I think he might be pulling a fast one, and surprise us with it being real”. It’s a red herring, it’s such a massive red herring, that it’s a fresh fish, nailed to a road sign, declaring “Welcome the Northern California! We don’t need bigfoot, everything already massively bizarre, unhinged and downright weird!”

Northern California, in the larger popular culture, is a place of myth and mystery. The Emerald Triangle might as well the Bermuda Triangle, with all the sheer scope of legends, lies and Strange but true stories that have piled up. The Soil is fertile is almost as fertile as the imagination of the people who come there, people like “harmless”. What transpires is a phantasmagorical roller-coaster ride. A Violent, Gonzo, psychedelic descent into the depths of what humans can become. It’s whirlwind of cataclysmic violence, stripping away and remaking a person from the synapses on up. A glimpse into the paths homo sapiens can go, what they can do, and what they open themselves to encountering. Millican brings us a story that feels like it could be set in some fantastic realm, completely diverged from reality, from right now. Perhaps that’s the scariest thing about DOPEFOOT, despite that sense like the story could take place in “elsewhere”, it’s grisly yarn, that could even be happening right now. A short walk off the paved road...steps away from “ civilization”. Drama, Tragedy and hardship, playing out amongst those who forsake the trappings of the modern, and gave themselves over to the green, the wild, and that dark potential rooted deep within us all.

[Lori]

Tossed this one to the side at the 40% mark. I'm not sure what I thought this was going to be but it whatever it is, I wasn't into it. And if there's a horror, aspect to it... it was taking too long to get there.

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of Bigfoot, cryptids, or creature features, then "Dopefoot" should probably NOT be your next book: it takes all the familiar (and hackneyed) themes of this genre, and unapologetically turns them on their head - provoking a feeling of vertigo and loss as it breaks all the rules, and rebuilds them in several unexpected, original, and, well, brazen and audacious ways! Almost certainly, the result is not going to be for everyone (it's gonna be downright divisive), but if you appreciate novelty, atmosphere, and the uncanny vibes of urban legends, "Dopefoot" will give you chills, and the satisfaction of a unique reading experience solidly grounded on the trope of the outsider fighting for their life, in a surprisingly and entertaingly complex setting, full of weird events and more-than-life characters.

I went into this blind, having immensely enjoyed all of Millikan's previous books. I was stunned. It started as a promising adventure revolving around Bigfoot and Bigfoot investigators; it suddenly turned into the slow exploration of the strange life choices of an anonymous college dropout, who gives everything up to go work on a cannabis farm in the mountains of Northern California; dubbed "Harmless" by the people there, he meets the weirdest characters and has the most surprising of experiences; and then everything goes to hell - almost literally.

Millikan's incredible writing style, his knack for subtly detailed characterization, and the plot itself, kept me reading right to the end. The pacing was pleasantly uneven; "Dopefoot" is one of those books that alternate between the ruminative and the shocking, in order to return to the same themes with new doubts and new approaches to old questions: is Bigfoot real? Is Hamless really harmless? Is this hell?

The ending is a game-changer, with many tongue-in-cheek disruptions to the story as told before. Millikan respects nothing, and eagerly upends his own tale to make a (rather bleak) point about the human condition, revealing it as inherently rife with metaphysical, moral and existential ambiguities. A genuine, blood-soaked meditation on weird life choices and the cost of survival! Highly recommend.

[Zoran Krušvar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dopefoot By Joshua Millican
​I received this great book as an ARC, so you might not be able to get a copy immediately, but make sure to get one as soon as it is available because it's a wild ride. The author firmly decided not to waste your time—this book is not very long, but it is certainly packed with content. And it's pretty crazy content, let me tell you.
​It starts off as a story about a young man trying to find his way working on a cannabis plantation, and it only gets weirder and weirder from there. The first part of the book is somewhat more disciplined; we keep reading about the characters on the plantation until, at some point, we start spiraling down the rabbit hole. In a metaphorical way, but also kind of for real.
​I must admit that I expected a straightforward monster story featuring Bigfoot or... is the plural for Bigfoot "Bigfoots" or "Bigfeet"? Anyway, what I got was way better. I'm not sure whether to call this horror or not; it certainly has plenty of violence and some quite disgusting moments, but to me, the overall atmosphere was more like an adventure... just a bit more of a deadly adventure, with quite a body count.
​The author often walked a thin line between bizarre humor and violent horror (okay, I guess I'll call it horror), and I was wondering if he would tip over and turn this book into something else, but he kept a straight face and stayed on the horror side. It was a very entertaining read, very much like riding an amusement park ghost train, with new surprises jumping out after every bend.
I will definitely recommend this book to everyone interested in an unusual, fast-paced, horrorish read... if they don't have a problem with occasional bloodshed and massacre, of course.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚.

"And beneath it all, in the most dismal corners of The Green Cauldron, even darker forces are stirring... angry, agitated, pushed to the brink."

Harmless has dropped out of college and is looking to find  himself and make some money in the process.  He ends up taking a job on an illegal cannabis farm, and his quest to find himself quickly devolves into a horrific fight for his life.

I really didn't know what to expect from this book, and was pleasantly surprised.  I really enjoyed Joshua's writing style. The character development was amazing, especially for a shorter novel. It was a fastpaced story that pulled me in right away. I mean who hasn't wondered if Bigfoot is real at some point, right?

There were a few times I was very briefly pulled from the story, and that was during the taste descriptions of the cannabis.  I just honestly felt like it wasn't needed.  The quality of the cannabis was described visually and in the description of the high afterwards, so it just felt like overkill to me. 

Once the horror aspects started I was both enthralled and disgusted in the best way possible.  This book was very reminiscent of late 80s psychedelic horror for me.  That weird feeling where you are questioning if reality is actually reality, or if your narrator is just really unreliable.   It left me  excited to explore more of Joshua's writing.

I want to extend thanks to Joshua Millican, Xpresso Book Tours, and Netgalley for an ARC copy in exchange for a review.

[Reading Xennial · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley and Mad Axe Media for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

This is the first book that I’ve read by this author. I enjoyed the overall plot and the new take on a bigfoot story. There was so much more than just reading about bigfoot. The main character who was given the name Harmless is going to work on a cannabis farm in Northern California which is sometimes known as “bigfoot country”. He meets the many people that work on this farm and all go by nicknames. I liked the nicknames because it made the characters distinct, and there were many characters to keep track of. There are many groups throughout the woods near the farm where Harmless works and that’s really where the plot is focused so I won’t spoil anything more. This book also gets very weird which I enjoyed.

The writing was where I struggled a bit. It started pretty solid, but a lot of the time it was telling instead of showing. The last few chapters are straight up telling and explaining what went down. There were about 3 chapters that all felt like endings. It seemed like the author was trying to tie everything up by explaining things away. The very last chapter was good and I would’ve liked it better if the explaining chapters before it were deleted. I would’ve enjoyed it more if there was some mystery left for the reader to take away on their own. I would still recommend this book if you’re interested in a different take on a bigfoot story.

[R.E. Holding · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the blurb, assuming that the premise would be a trippy experience due to the fact that there are lots of drugs involved here. While it really wasn't, what follows is a series of exposition and how-to's on various topics that I suppose were supposed to be the crux of the main character's journey.

I like the idea that there are strange things in the woods that we don't understand, but some of these things seemed a little far-fetched - there are rocket launchers and helicopters... I'm more interested in how the Lithuanians acquired these things rather than the stories of whatever exists in the woods. While the deep woods haven't been fully explored, I'm sure mass wildfires and flying vehicles might draw some attention outside of the isolation.

At one point, Harmless finds himself inside "the flesh pit," which is described as an inescapable hell that he manages to get out of in less than an hour. I was also quite a bit underwhelmed by Bigfoot's reveal and motivations.

Somewhere in the middle and consistent through the end, there are several instances of head-hopping, and I had to double-take every time. I liked Honeydew's character, and her trauma response. It was unique.

Anyway, it's an interesting enough premise, I just thought it would me more psychological.

2.5/5 rounded up

[Nikki Kossaris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dopefoot feels like being dropped into the middle of something already rotting.

This isn’t just backwoods horror. It’s grime, sweat, paranoia, and a constant sense that something is off long before anything actually happens. The cannabis farm setting is harsh and suffocating, filled with people who feel just as dangerous as whatever might be lurking in the forest. There’s a cult-like edge to the dynamics.

What worked for me was the atmosphere. The Green Cauldron feels alive. The deeper the story goes, the more it slips into something darker and more unhinged. It starts grounded in crime and survival, then slowly tilts into full horror without losing that gritty edge.

It is violent, chaotic, and at times disorienting, but that almost adds to the experience. You feel just as off-balance as the main character. The cryptid elements don’t take over completely, but they linger enough to make everything feel unstable and wrong.

This is not a clean or easy read. It is messy, uncomfortable, and a little feverish.

If you like your horror raw, strange, and soaked in atmosphere, this one is worth it.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this one blind, the cover alone had me interested 👀.

What do you get when a college drop out gets a job on a canna farm??

A crazy trip right, nope the reality sinks in real quick that this is a real job, labor intensive and one where paranoia runs eveywhere.

Out in the middle of nowhere, in a business that already has shady corners and even shadier characters, the isolation of the compound really added to how to felt.

Then you add the Bigfoot lore in and this turns into something else and way more grittier then I expected from the name alone.

When the "business" is taking up a forrest and destroying what was once a beautiful ecosystem, the humans seem not to care much, but Dopefoot does.. And what lurks in the forrest might be more dangerous than the illegal farm he's working on or the people running it..

What a crazy fever dream of a book, absolutely loved it, it was dark and way more then just a cryptid story, this was a dark journey in finding yourself and finding out what you can survive.

[A.D. Aro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this thinking I was going to get a Bigfoot novel about a guy working a cannabis farm, and while we do get that, Millican offers us so, so much more.

In the acknowledgements, Millican describes Dopefoot as his Great American Novel, and that's exactly what this is. It's equally all about Bigfoot and not really about Bigfoot at the same time. It's about identity and belief, believing in yourself, in who you are, in what you could become, but also, a belief in something greater. It asks big questions and delivers it in a devastatingly bloody fashion.

Dopefoot is both thrilling and mind-bending, throwing so many curves at you like a cannibalistic clown and a 100-year-old underground witch, that you'll at times wonder if Bigfoot is even a threat (he is). Still, I was most unnerved by Ranger Mason, who may or may not have a pile of bodies in his... cabin or station.

Don't sleep on this book. It's bound to be as legendary as the famed cryptid itself.

[Horror Haus Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay. You had me at Bigfoot lore, but then we throw in a college dropout working on an illegal cannabis farm run by shady characters deep in the forests of Northern California and suddenly this turns into a full blown fever dream spiral into chaos.

What really impressed me was how strong the character work is. It takes its time building the atmosphere, the tension, and the strange ecosystem of The Green Cauldron before everything completely detonates. And once it does? The story never lets up.

The setting feels grimy, isolated, and alive. The entire book feels like a slow descent into hell where you genuinely never know what kind of madness is waiting on the next page.

And the atmosphere? Incredible. It’s humid and violent. It’s weird in a way that feels fresh rather than forced.

Millican’s writing style is seriously solid. I thought Teleportasm was great, but Dopefoot easily tops it for me.

[Keily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like a literary roller coaster and unfortunately I don't think I'll be riding again.

A drifter, dubbed Harmless, joins a ragtag team of cannabis farmers and everything very quickly goes to hell. After the midpoint of the book it seems like every chapter introduces a new threat and it becomes overwhelming pretty quickly. Here is a non-exhaustive list: Bigfoot (or is it?), a crazed Lithuanian mob boss, a clan of wild people, an immortal hag who lives in a pit full of rotting carcasses, a serial killer posing as a park ranger, and more. If you like balls to the wall craziness and gore this is the book for you! I would have preferred if it stuck with 2-3 of those things and fleshed it out a bit more.

3 stars because it didn't work for me but I can tell there is an audience that will appreciate it more.

[William Sterling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Millican has an unparalleled ability to take outlandish, potentially silly concepts, and to execute them with the gravitas and the brutality of a true horror maestro. First with TELEPORTASM, and now with the drug-turf-war-turned-creature-feature DOPEFOOT, I've learned there's no premise too wild for Millican to thrill me with. Believe in him just like you believe in Bigfoot and buckle the *foot* up.

[S. Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dopefoot brims with colorful characters, lush environments, crazy situations, and things lurking in the woods. Millican weaves together a tight, fast-paced narrative that will keep you turning the pages and feeling like you’re on a rollercoaster combined with a dark ride; zipping along, having a blast with no idea what's going to be around the next sharp, shadowed turn waiting to surprise you.

[Emily Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so freakin’ entertaining! The concept alone hooked me and it totally delivered on its premise. Such a wildly unique story packed with gore, humor and nonstop action. It’s fast paced with so many twists and turns that I didn’t know what to expect next. The characters were super interesting and well written. This is way more than just a typical Bigfoot story!

If you like cryptids and pot farms, wild adventure and books with brutal kills then you have to check this one out! It comes out on June 16th!

[Claire K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dopefoot takes the legend of Bigfoot and spins it on its head with a mix of pot growers, meth smokers, semi-satanic rituals, and a whole lot of creepy forestry.