What do you think?
Rate this book
The Demon Who Cried Murderer
⭐ SPFBO 11 Honorable Mention — The Fantasy Hive
Prophecy had a champion. Molly, Uriel, and Zyfiro made him a corpse. By mistake. Unaware of what he carried, they discard his artifacts as trash and pocket a handful of cursed trinkets.
Something is puppeting the living from within, and it's spreading. Elsewhere, ancient conspirators — long in conflict with the man of prophecy — celebrate his death. These two factions are fighting a war, hidden in the shadows. Molly, Uriel, and Zyfiro just stepped directly into the center of the conflict.
Cragmyre is a Demon of simple pleasures: death, dismemberment, misery. Saving the world goes against every fiber of his being. But he alone grasps the scope of what's unfolding and soon finds himself increasingly, inconveniently aware that something in it is worth protecting. He tries to warn his companions. They don't believe him. They never do. So he does something he never planned: finds his own allies. A kitten. A gang of orphan children. A mute woman with a mysterious power.
And then he leads them to war.
The Demon Who Cried Murderer is a dark comedic fantasy about the end of the world, the Demon who saw it coming, and one catastrophic miscalculation after the next.
Prophecy had a champion. Molly, Uriel, and Zyfiro made him a corpse. By mistake. Unaware of what he carried, they discard his artifacts as trash and pocket a handful of cursed trinkets.
Something is puppeting the living from within, and it's spreading. Elsewhere, ancient conspirators — long in conflict with the man of prophecy — celebrate his death. These two factions are fighting a war, hidden in the shadows. Molly, Uriel, and Zyfiro just stepped directly into the center of the conflict.
Cragmyre is a Demon of simple pleasures: death, dismemberment, misery. Saving the world goes against every fiber of his being. But he alone grasps the scope of what's unfolding and soon finds himself increasingly, inconveniently aware that something in it is worth protecting. He tries to warn his companions. They don't believe him. They never do. So he does something he never planned: finds his own allies. A kitten. A gang of orphan children. A mute woman with a mysterious power.
And then he leads them to war.
The Demon Who Cried Murderer is a dark comedic fantasy about the end of the world, the Demon who saw it coming, and one catastrophic miscalculation after the next.
- GenresAmazon
480 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 28, 2025
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2026
"Red Baron Vinson, propped on his palanquin by four dwarves, was flushed in the face and berating the entrance attendant. "It's mine, you sniveling toe-fungus!"
This is the line that I found ringing in my head whenever I had to qualify the vibe of this book. I had wishlisted a handful of indie fantasy books to pick up, and this one was down on the wire with one other. The art and the more unique proposition had this book win out over another. I imagined I would be writing the only review on this page, but now there are several others.
Suffice to say, I'm very happy I picked this book up. It is by no means my normal streak of Speculative Fiction / Fantasy, but it serves as a great step beyond my comfort zone.
Absurdist, irreverant fantasy that leans into the tropes instead of away from them. The Demon Who Cried Murderer is not afraid to laugh at itself, bloodsoaked pedestrians, the End of the World, Demonica, Pyramid Point, and everything else. It's not a cozy fantasy, it's a casual fantasy that isn't afraid to lean into the strongest sides of humor and snark and satire. I had very strong Terry Pratchet vibes, and was fondly reminded of Going Postal. What it lacks in the socially-dictated propriety of British witicisms in makes up for in a modern touch.
For readers who enjoy well-intentioned laughs around a tabletop game, with a myriad of colorful dice, questionable beverages, and meme-spawning character sheets? This is a book for you. Even if you're not this person, but you can appreciate the craft of satire, you will almost certainly have a good time.
All the chapters are short. They read and breath well. The prose is effective. I would call it a very sanitary prose, but not so sanitary as Brandon Sanderson. Moreover, I think this is a good counter-balance to the story itself, which isn't afraid to run wild off the page.
I ended up judging a book by its cover when I picked this up, choosing between two indie books. Now, however, I am thankfully judging it by its character. The Demon Who Cried Murderer is my first pleasant surprise read of 2026.
This is the line that I found ringing in my head whenever I had to qualify the vibe of this book. I had wishlisted a handful of indie fantasy books to pick up, and this one was down on the wire with one other. The art and the more unique proposition had this book win out over another. I imagined I would be writing the only review on this page, but now there are several others.
Suffice to say, I'm very happy I picked this book up. It is by no means my normal streak of Speculative Fiction / Fantasy, but it serves as a great step beyond my comfort zone.
Absurdist, irreverant fantasy that leans into the tropes instead of away from them. The Demon Who Cried Murderer is not afraid to laugh at itself, bloodsoaked pedestrians, the End of the World, Demonica, Pyramid Point, and everything else. It's not a cozy fantasy, it's a casual fantasy that isn't afraid to lean into the strongest sides of humor and snark and satire. I had very strong Terry Pratchet vibes, and was fondly reminded of Going Postal. What it lacks in the socially-dictated propriety of British witicisms in makes up for in a modern touch.
For readers who enjoy well-intentioned laughs around a tabletop game, with a myriad of colorful dice, questionable beverages, and meme-spawning character sheets? This is a book for you. Even if you're not this person, but you can appreciate the craft of satire, you will almost certainly have a good time.
All the chapters are short. They read and breath well. The prose is effective. I would call it a very sanitary prose, but not so sanitary as Brandon Sanderson. Moreover, I think this is a good counter-balance to the story itself, which isn't afraid to run wild off the page.
I ended up judging a book by its cover when I picked this up, choosing between two indie books. Now, however, I am thankfully judging it by its character. The Demon Who Cried Murderer is my first pleasant surprise read of 2026.
January 4, 2026
Who knew the end of the world could be so funny?
Murphy’s Law is alive and well in The Demon Who Cried Murderer. Anything that can go wrong absolutely does and usually in the most spectacular, darkly absurd way possible. No evil overlord required.
I loved this story. It’s like a D&D-flavored fantasy comedy of errors, packed with intrigue, action, and apocalyptic misadventures. It’s about the end of the world accidentally kicked off by a cast of deeply unqualified, wildly entertaining characters who very much did not mean to doom everything.
The stakes are MASSIVE. Prophecies, the apocalypse, the looming destruction of the VoD. But what makes the story work is how it balances all that cosmic weight with smaller, personal moments. The characters feel real, even when everything around them is spiraling toward annihilation.
The humor is dry, and crude, reminding me of Deadpool and The Witcher. If you loved the Bartimaeus trilogy growing up or anything Terry Pratchett, this feels like its adult, feral cousin.
Cragmyre is my fave. Disgustingly hilarious and appalling. Following a demon had no right to be this funny. It’s rare for a book to have me grinning like a fool, and every time his POV came up, that’s what happened.
If you’re in a reading slump, this book will yank you out of it.
Murphy’s Law is alive and well in The Demon Who Cried Murderer. Anything that can go wrong absolutely does and usually in the most spectacular, darkly absurd way possible. No evil overlord required.
I loved this story. It’s like a D&D-flavored fantasy comedy of errors, packed with intrigue, action, and apocalyptic misadventures. It’s about the end of the world accidentally kicked off by a cast of deeply unqualified, wildly entertaining characters who very much did not mean to doom everything.
The stakes are MASSIVE. Prophecies, the apocalypse, the looming destruction of the VoD. But what makes the story work is how it balances all that cosmic weight with smaller, personal moments. The characters feel real, even when everything around them is spiraling toward annihilation.
The humor is dry, and crude, reminding me of Deadpool and The Witcher. If you loved the Bartimaeus trilogy growing up or anything Terry Pratchett, this feels like its adult, feral cousin.
Cragmyre is my fave. Disgustingly hilarious and appalling. Following a demon had no right to be this funny. It’s rare for a book to have me grinning like a fool, and every time his POV came up, that’s what happened.
If you’re in a reading slump, this book will yank you out of it.
February 15, 2026
I really didn’t want to like this book given the author is my brother, but begrudgingly, I would say I enjoyed it and it was a really fun read. The humor in the book reminded me a bit of Dungeon Crawler Carl but without objectifying women, although don’t get me wrong, the book is far from PG. Cragmyre was probably my favorite character with his various side quests and ridiculous point of view. Overall, I would definitely recommend if you’re into fun fantasy adventure genres.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews