What do you think?
The Ship of Death
The dice roll. Darkness answers.
House of Leaves meets Jumanji in this brilliantly original and twisted novel composed entirely of found documents, following an unwitting couple ensnared by a sinister tabletop role-playing game
Cole and Lorraine playtest board games for some extra cash as they save up to buy a home. But after a series of bizarre coincidences, and signing a strange NDA, the couple finds on their porch a mysterious indie developer’s tabletop role-playing game called The Ship of Death. The game relies heavily on the players’ imaginations, and takes up an ever-growing amount of space: in their kitchen, and in their minds. As its true sinister nature becomes clearer, and its forces capture more in its web, the boundary between the game and reality begins to dissolve. . . and the pair are instructed to possess a stranger’s soul.
Told entirely through game reports, emails, game forum posts, personal journals, and police reports, reading The Ship of Death feels like a dangerous dice roll. It’s a sleep-stealing, possession-inducing work of intense, intelligent found cosmic horror that announces Kyle Winkler as a spectacular voice in the genre.
House of Leaves meets Jumanji in this brilliantly original and twisted novel composed entirely of found documents, following an unwitting couple ensnared by a sinister tabletop role-playing game
Cole and Lorraine playtest board games for some extra cash as they save up to buy a home. But after a series of bizarre coincidences, and signing a strange NDA, the couple finds on their porch a mysterious indie developer’s tabletop role-playing game called The Ship of Death. The game relies heavily on the players’ imaginations, and takes up an ever-growing amount of space: in their kitchen, and in their minds. As its true sinister nature becomes clearer, and its forces capture more in its web, the boundary between the game and reality begins to dissolve. . . and the pair are instructed to possess a stranger’s soul.
Told entirely through game reports, emails, game forum posts, personal journals, and police reports, reading The Ship of Death feels like a dangerous dice roll. It’s a sleep-stealing, possession-inducing work of intense, intelligent found cosmic horror that announces Kyle Winkler as a spectacular voice in the genre.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 29, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 264 reviews
April 25, 2026
The Goodreads description calls this book Horror Movie meets Blair Witch. I don’t understand either comparison, as this is nothing like either of those. Lucky for me that didn’t matter whatsoever because I absolutely ATE THIS UP. What a ride!
This is dark fantasy meets cosmic horror. Strong occult vibes. Very otherworldly. Highly recommend if that’s your cup of tea!
The story is told 100% via documents (emails, journal entries, phone notes, game pamphlets, excerpts from books, cards drawn in game, etc.) That format was very fun to read and kept me super engaged. Loved the characters! Cole and Lorraine were really easy to care about. The world is very mysterious and strange, lots of odd names and things but wasn’t hard to follow. I’m absolutely in awe of authors who can come up with stuff like this. What a mind! Well thought out, well written. Loved it from start to finish! Will for sure be buying a copy to add to my shelf once it publishes. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book publishes September 29th 2026. Available in all formats.
Side Note:
I’ve never played DnD before so I definitely don’t think that’s a requirement to enjoy or understand what’s going on, but it’s probably a plus if you like RPG’s or are at least familiar with the concept and find it intriguing.
This is dark fantasy meets cosmic horror. Strong occult vibes. Very otherworldly. Highly recommend if that’s your cup of tea!
The story is told 100% via documents (emails, journal entries, phone notes, game pamphlets, excerpts from books, cards drawn in game, etc.) That format was very fun to read and kept me super engaged. Loved the characters! Cole and Lorraine were really easy to care about. The world is very mysterious and strange, lots of odd names and things but wasn’t hard to follow. I’m absolutely in awe of authors who can come up with stuff like this. What a mind! Well thought out, well written. Loved it from start to finish! Will for sure be buying a copy to add to my shelf once it publishes. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book publishes September 29th 2026. Available in all formats.
Side Note:
I’ve never played DnD before so I definitely don’t think that’s a requirement to enjoy or understand what’s going on, but it’s probably a plus if you like RPG’s or are at least familiar with the concept and find it intriguing.
Did Not Finish
May 20, 2026Yeah...I don't do D&D or any games like that and I think you REALLY need to love those in order to read this.
The game was kind of exhausting and things were a little repetitive.
Will surely work for others.
The game was kind of exhausting and things were a little repetitive.
Will surely work for others.
Read
August 13, 2026A tabletop role playing game with horror elements? So creative and unique! As was the "found media" storytelling style. I liked the married couple who become the players of The Ship of Death, though I found them unusually trusting of strangers and strange drinks. That bit had an almost Alice in Wonderland quality to it, as if dipping their toes into the unknown realm in the game made them susceptible to reckless behavior. I was really interested in all of the game elements, but even though I play board games and D&D, I had a hard time picturing the game they were playing. I understand that parts were intentionally vague, but my inability to get a concrete sense of the game pulled me out of the narrative more often than I wanted. I felt like the ending came suddenly but was appropriately unsettling.
September 29, 2026
This was fun brought me back to my Dungeon and Dragon days, the passages when they were playing the game were the best, the story that plays out within the game is one I would like to read. it was a fun and dark fantasy about a pirate ship powered by blood pretty gruesome when you think about it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
the ship of death is a work that feels constrained by its premise as a "found media" horror story. to be completely honest I have very little interest in most found media fiction as I find that they are rarely well executed. this isn't to say that there aren't ones that haven't been successful, and there are ones that I have personally liked very much. but these types of media - especially if they are in a written format - tend to suffer from similar problems.
as fresh as the ship of death as a found media book may feel (at least in comparison to most published fiction), its execution falls flat. telling the story as a series of journal entries, reports and transcripts actually takes away from the suspension of disbelief that is necessary for the reader. I was constantly thinking "no person types a report like this. or writes in their journal like this." the narrative lampshades this sometimes by saying, for example, that a character is told to write in a way that's as detailed as possible. but it is so jarring when the character goes out of their way to write whole pages of conversations from memory or detail what a random store looks like. it's things like that which pull you out in actually believing that you are reading the transcript from someone's voice memo. it's silly when you have to believe a character would go out of their way to hand-write a journal entry while their body is decaying. (it's the same thing you sometimes have to believe in video games when someone is conveniently writing a note "for posterity" about the location of an important key while running from a monster. except you can at least be distracted by this fact because you are playing a video game and aren't stuck reading just entry after entry of these types of things.)
(another side tangent: a problem that presents itself with these types of "creepypasta" media is that you know how it ends. if you are reading someone's entry documenting some horrible thing that they have just experienced, and then posted to the internet or shared in some way - like a book? - then presumably they have actually survived said traumatic thing. so you don't really have to worry about that character dying since they have literally lived to tell the tale and shared it. this has the effect of reducing the overall tension of the narrative, and the ship of death does not dodge this specific problem either.)
if these entries were written in a more convincing way, then maybe I could have been more hooked into the board game the characters were playing. but maybe I am just not the target audience for this. I enjoy a ttrpg from time to time, but I guess I'm more of a casual ttrpg fan, because the very idea of this game made me so angry. the in-narrative ship of death game is convoluted and has an overwhelming number of booklets and rules and game pieces, which does tickle the brain cell a bit in the beginning. by the time I was halfway through, this game sounded so annoying and needlessly convoluted, and really for no other reason than to make it seem cool and epic and immersive. every time a character pulled a "oh wait but before you do that, you need to draw a card from THIS random obscure deck from the game that we haven't opened yet!" or "we had to search for 5 minutes to find the specific tiny separate booklet that covered this specific set of rules" just made me so angry imagining if it were me playing this game. and on top of that, once more about the board game is revealed, it makes less sense why a board game like this would need to be this complicated to the point it's almost comical.
if you put aside the game itself and turn to the characters who are writing these entries that make up this book, they are also. so. dumb. I tend to excuse characters making dumb decisions as there still has to be a plot for a story to tell. but these characters made every bad choice imaginable without a single critical thought to the potential danger they would be putting themselves in. sure go ahead and invite an unknown stranger to your house to play a game and drink his homemade moonshine. sure don't even question the idea of stopping to play the game, ever, even when your game is going terribly wrong. and the psychic woman made me so angry by the end when
the random "scary" things that happen throughout the book make no sense. while horror never has to make "sense" per se and things can be unexplainable and defy logic, I would expect these happenings to have a consistent feeling to them in tone and nature. otherwise it all feels completely arbitrary, with the same energy as throwing common "scary" things at a wall and hoping that one of them is scary enough to stick, cobbling together horror cliches to form some semblance of a horror story.
the ship of death is a frustrating experience for many reasons. but the one that I keep coming back to is the way I feel it does not live up to its potential with the found media format that it has chosen for its narrative. I fail to see how this format better serves the story it's trying to tell. I was hoping to get the feeling that I was reading something that could have the verisimilitude of being a strange internet mystery, something uncomfortably real but ultimately unprovable. found media fiction lends itself to producing a heightened reality that could actually exist, which should make the horror scarier, but instead with the ship of death, it feels clunky and comedic.
it sadly just wasn't the experience that I was hoping for.
thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy
as fresh as the ship of death as a found media book may feel (at least in comparison to most published fiction), its execution falls flat. telling the story as a series of journal entries, reports and transcripts actually takes away from the suspension of disbelief that is necessary for the reader. I was constantly thinking "no person types a report like this. or writes in their journal like this." the narrative lampshades this sometimes by saying, for example, that a character is told to write in a way that's as detailed as possible. but it is so jarring when the character goes out of their way to write whole pages of conversations from memory or detail what a random store looks like. it's things like that which pull you out in actually believing that you are reading the transcript from someone's voice memo. it's silly when you have to believe a character would go out of their way to hand-write a journal entry while their body is decaying. (it's the same thing you sometimes have to believe in video games when someone is conveniently writing a note "for posterity" about the location of an important key while running from a monster. except you can at least be distracted by this fact because you are playing a video game and aren't stuck reading just entry after entry of these types of things.)
(another side tangent: a problem that presents itself with these types of "creepypasta" media is that you know how it ends. if you are reading someone's entry documenting some horrible thing that they have just experienced, and then posted to the internet or shared in some way - like a book? - then presumably they have actually survived said traumatic thing. so you don't really have to worry about that character dying since they have literally lived to tell the tale and shared it. this has the effect of reducing the overall tension of the narrative, and the ship of death does not dodge this specific problem either.)
if these entries were written in a more convincing way, then maybe I could have been more hooked into the board game the characters were playing. but maybe I am just not the target audience for this. I enjoy a ttrpg from time to time, but I guess I'm more of a casual ttrpg fan, because the very idea of this game made me so angry. the in-narrative ship of death game is convoluted and has an overwhelming number of booklets and rules and game pieces, which does tickle the brain cell a bit in the beginning. by the time I was halfway through, this game sounded so annoying and needlessly convoluted, and really for no other reason than to make it seem cool and epic and immersive. every time a character pulled a "oh wait but before you do that, you need to draw a card from THIS random obscure deck from the game that we haven't opened yet!" or "we had to search for 5 minutes to find the specific tiny separate booklet that covered this specific set of rules" just made me so angry imagining if it were me playing this game. and on top of that, once more about the board game is revealed, it makes less sense why a board game like this would need to be this complicated to the point it's almost comical.
if you put aside the game itself and turn to the characters who are writing these entries that make up this book, they are also. so. dumb. I tend to excuse characters making dumb decisions as there still has to be a plot for a story to tell. but these characters made every bad choice imaginable without a single critical thought to the potential danger they would be putting themselves in. sure go ahead and invite an unknown stranger to your house to play a game and drink his homemade moonshine. sure don't even question the idea of stopping to play the game, ever, even when your game is going terribly wrong. and the psychic woman made me so angry by the end when
the random "scary" things that happen throughout the book make no sense. while horror never has to make "sense" per se and things can be unexplainable and defy logic, I would expect these happenings to have a consistent feeling to them in tone and nature. otherwise it all feels completely arbitrary, with the same energy as throwing common "scary" things at a wall and hoping that one of them is scary enough to stick, cobbling together horror cliches to form some semblance of a horror story.
the ship of death is a frustrating experience for many reasons. but the one that I keep coming back to is the way I feel it does not live up to its potential with the found media format that it has chosen for its narrative. I fail to see how this format better serves the story it's trying to tell. I was hoping to get the feeling that I was reading something that could have the verisimilitude of being a strange internet mystery, something uncomfortably real but ultimately unprovable. found media fiction lends itself to producing a heightened reality that could actually exist, which should make the horror scarier, but instead with the ship of death, it feels clunky and comedic.
it sadly just wasn't the experience that I was hoping for.
thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy
Did Not Finish
September 15, 2026Thank you to the publisher for the eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one. The concept was cool, but RPG gaming just isn’t for me. I’m not a gamer and quickly realized I had no idea what was happening.
Definitely recommend this one to my fellow gamers, though!
Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one. The concept was cool, but RPG gaming just isn’t for me. I’m not a gamer and quickly realized I had no idea what was happening.
Definitely recommend this one to my fellow gamers, though!
May 28, 2026
From page one I was hooked. It was so bizarre but I couldn’t look away. I wanted to see where this story was going to take me, what this game had in store for the characters and that quickly turned into not being able to look away and getting sucked into the story just as much as the characters got sucked into the game.
This story about a man named Cole who test plays games and gets paid. He gets an email about a game and is asked to record everything that happens from when he gets the game in the mail until the end of playing it. It’s told through journal entries, redder threads, emails, etc. fairly early on in the story things start to take a weird turn, from mysterious people showing up at the bar where Cole works, to his wife Lorianne making some interesting decisions in regards to starting the game.
It’s a slow and intense unraveling into madness as the characters get deeper into this mysterious, multilayered, and psychologically draining TTRPG. I feel like this would be a great read for someone who enjoys games like D&D, strange and unusual happenings, and good old fashioned horror. This was unlike any other book I’ve read.
This story about a man named Cole who test plays games and gets paid. He gets an email about a game and is asked to record everything that happens from when he gets the game in the mail until the end of playing it. It’s told through journal entries, redder threads, emails, etc. fairly early on in the story things start to take a weird turn, from mysterious people showing up at the bar where Cole works, to his wife Lorianne making some interesting decisions in regards to starting the game.
It’s a slow and intense unraveling into madness as the characters get deeper into this mysterious, multilayered, and psychologically draining TTRPG. I feel like this would be a great read for someone who enjoys games like D&D, strange and unusual happenings, and good old fashioned horror. This was unlike any other book I’ve read.
April 18, 2026
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Ship of Death is a "found media" formatted novel that, while an entertaining and quick read, fell a little short for me. I do feel that the constraints of the novel's format held it back. Even though I love the found media genre, especially when it comes to horror novels, it felt like the After Game Reports were really just a narrative of what happened, and given they were large chunks of text, honestly read as just a normal novel, at least to me. In between these reports were social media posts, police reports, and journal entries. However, as with the After Game Reports, the journal entries also read to me as that of a traditional novel. I feel like they were simply just normal narratives with "journal entry" or "AGR" slapped on to convey themselves as found media. I feel that the book would've been more immersive if it was told in alternating POVs with some found media interspersed throughout.
Even as a board game, video game, and D&D player, I found myself confused by the mechanics of the Ship of Death game. Perhaps this was the intention, with the author wanting to have the reader feel as immersed in the game as the characters were, mirroring our confusion to theirs. Even so, it left it hard for me to follow certain parts of the novel, which, in turn, took me out of any immersion I had.
While on the topic of immersion, I really struggled to connect with and see Cole and Lorraine as real people. I didn't have a good grasp on their personalities, relationship, goals, likes, dislikes, etc before being thrust into the story and it made it very difficult for me to care about anything that was happening to them. I did not feel invested even as things started to go awry and the plot revealed itself.
However, where the book really shined was the snippets of Mishilect we got to see. Mishilect is a dark, unforgiving, and gritty world full of despair and it really pulled me in. I almost wish the book had just been entirely in the world of the game and following Willem Lowcoin and Rot Apple instead of Cole and Lorraine.
Nevertheless, while it wasn't the novel I was expecting, it still kept me entertained and was a good quick palette cleanser between some of the more dense novels I've been reading.
Ship of Death is a "found media" formatted novel that, while an entertaining and quick read, fell a little short for me. I do feel that the constraints of the novel's format held it back. Even though I love the found media genre, especially when it comes to horror novels, it felt like the After Game Reports were really just a narrative of what happened, and given they were large chunks of text, honestly read as just a normal novel, at least to me. In between these reports were social media posts, police reports, and journal entries. However, as with the After Game Reports, the journal entries also read to me as that of a traditional novel. I feel like they were simply just normal narratives with "journal entry" or "AGR" slapped on to convey themselves as found media. I feel that the book would've been more immersive if it was told in alternating POVs with some found media interspersed throughout.
Even as a board game, video game, and D&D player, I found myself confused by the mechanics of the Ship of Death game. Perhaps this was the intention, with the author wanting to have the reader feel as immersed in the game as the characters were, mirroring our confusion to theirs. Even so, it left it hard for me to follow certain parts of the novel, which, in turn, took me out of any immersion I had.
While on the topic of immersion, I really struggled to connect with and see Cole and Lorraine as real people. I didn't have a good grasp on their personalities, relationship, goals, likes, dislikes, etc before being thrust into the story and it made it very difficult for me to care about anything that was happening to them. I did not feel invested even as things started to go awry and the plot revealed itself.
However, where the book really shined was the snippets of Mishilect we got to see. Mishilect is a dark, unforgiving, and gritty world full of despair and it really pulled me in. I almost wish the book had just been entirely in the world of the game and following Willem Lowcoin and Rot Apple instead of Cole and Lorraine.
Nevertheless, while it wasn't the novel I was expecting, it still kept me entertained and was a good quick palette cleanser between some of the more dense novels I've been reading.
September 14, 2026
3.5 rounded up because it was unique.
Cole and his wife Lorraine love playing games. Board games, role playing dice games, it didn’t mater, it was a way to escape the mundane. Obviously when Cole got invited to test play a game called The Ship of Death, it was a no brainer even if he did have to keep precise notes about every move they made.
It didn’t take long to find out that this was no ordinary game and it soon started to bleed over into their everyday lives. Actually, it may not be a game at all.
This started off really fun and was quite intriguing. I got a little bored in the middle when Cole was doing a bunch of research into the game and its influences but I was pulled back into this weird cosmic tale and I raced to the ending.
Cole and his wife Lorraine love playing games. Board games, role playing dice games, it didn’t mater, it was a way to escape the mundane. Obviously when Cole got invited to test play a game called The Ship of Death, it was a no brainer even if he did have to keep precise notes about every move they made.
It didn’t take long to find out that this was no ordinary game and it soon started to bleed over into their everyday lives. Actually, it may not be a game at all.
This started off really fun and was quite intriguing. I got a little bored in the middle when Cole was doing a bunch of research into the game and its influences but I was pulled back into this weird cosmic tale and I raced to the ending.
August 31, 2026
The Ship of Death by Kyle Winkler was an interesting read with a concept that immediately caught my attention. I enjoyed the premise, and Winkler's writing was engaging enough that I remained invested in the story and its characters throughout. Even when I wasn't completely connecting with every aspect of the novel, I still wanted to keep reading and find out where the story was going.
The characters were probably what worked best for me. Winkler gives them enough personality and depth that I cared about what was happening to them, and their interactions helped keep me grounded in the story. There's a sense that the author understands these characters and the world they inhabit, and that enthusiasm comes through in the writing.
Where I struggled a little was with the tabletop gaming elements. I'm not a tabletop game player myself, so I suspect there were quite a few references, ideas, and nuances that simply went over my head. I could generally follow what was happening, but there were definitely moments when I felt like readers who are more familiar with tabletop gaming would understand another layer of the story that I wasn't quite getting.
Importantly, though, that never prevented me from enjoying the book. The central concept was interesting enough and the characters were engaging enough that I could still appreciate the story on its own terms. If anything, I came away feeling that I probably wasn't the absolute ideal audience for the novel, rather than feeling that there was something wrong with the way the story was told.
I also appreciated how fully Winkler commits to the concept. There's a lot of creativity here, and even when I didn't completely understand some of the gaming influences, I could recognize how much thought had gone into building the story around them. I imagine that someone who regularly plays tabletop games will pick up on details and connections that add considerably to the experience.
Overall, I enjoyed The Ship of Death. The concept was intriguing, the writing kept me engaged, and I became invested in the characters and their journey. While my lack of experience with tabletop gaming meant that some of the finer details probably passed me by, there was still plenty here for me to enjoy. For readers who love tabletop games and speculative fiction, I suspect this book will connect on an entirely different level and be even more rewarding.
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon/Harper Voyager, and Kyle Winkler for granting me access to a digital ARC of this title.
The characters were probably what worked best for me. Winkler gives them enough personality and depth that I cared about what was happening to them, and their interactions helped keep me grounded in the story. There's a sense that the author understands these characters and the world they inhabit, and that enthusiasm comes through in the writing.
Where I struggled a little was with the tabletop gaming elements. I'm not a tabletop game player myself, so I suspect there were quite a few references, ideas, and nuances that simply went over my head. I could generally follow what was happening, but there were definitely moments when I felt like readers who are more familiar with tabletop gaming would understand another layer of the story that I wasn't quite getting.
Importantly, though, that never prevented me from enjoying the book. The central concept was interesting enough and the characters were engaging enough that I could still appreciate the story on its own terms. If anything, I came away feeling that I probably wasn't the absolute ideal audience for the novel, rather than feeling that there was something wrong with the way the story was told.
I also appreciated how fully Winkler commits to the concept. There's a lot of creativity here, and even when I didn't completely understand some of the gaming influences, I could recognize how much thought had gone into building the story around them. I imagine that someone who regularly plays tabletop games will pick up on details and connections that add considerably to the experience.
Overall, I enjoyed The Ship of Death. The concept was intriguing, the writing kept me engaged, and I became invested in the characters and their journey. While my lack of experience with tabletop gaming meant that some of the finer details probably passed me by, there was still plenty here for me to enjoy. For readers who love tabletop games and speculative fiction, I suspect this book will connect on an entirely different level and be even more rewarding.
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon/Harper Voyager, and Kyle Winkler for granting me access to a digital ARC of this title.
September 30, 2026
Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.
The Ship of Death is a troubling cosmic mindscrew of a book that is steeped in dread from the start. We follow a few weeks in the life of our two pov characters, a married couple, as they test play a fabled TTRPG, the titular Ship of Death. I'm always a sucker for an epistolary novel, and this one is presented as a series of emails, forum posts, journal entries, and voice note transcriptions documenting the acquisition and playing of the game.
Nothing makes sense. The game is incomprehensible and seems to evolve and become more complicated as play progresses. There doesn't seem to be a point to the game. And bits of it start bleeding into the real world. Maybe. Or do they?
The husband meets a stranger during a shift bartending and ends up bringing him into the game. The wife interacts with a neighbor in the laundry room and and brings her into the game. Things go poorly. Things get weird. Things get DANGEROUS. The players start to become their characters in the real world. The game seems to be...more than a game.
This feels like the most delicious, contemporary interpretation of The King In Yellow. Not only is there a direct nod running through the book, but the whole vibe of the story fits well into Chambers's eerie dark weird fiction. This was a fun, fast read in a format I love. Check this out, even if you aren't a gamer.
The Ship of Death is a troubling cosmic mindscrew of a book that is steeped in dread from the start. We follow a few weeks in the life of our two pov characters, a married couple, as they test play a fabled TTRPG, the titular Ship of Death. I'm always a sucker for an epistolary novel, and this one is presented as a series of emails, forum posts, journal entries, and voice note transcriptions documenting the acquisition and playing of the game.
Nothing makes sense. The game is incomprehensible and seems to evolve and become more complicated as play progresses. There doesn't seem to be a point to the game. And bits of it start bleeding into the real world. Maybe. Or do they?
The husband meets a stranger during a shift bartending and ends up bringing him into the game. The wife interacts with a neighbor in the laundry room and and brings her into the game. Things go poorly. Things get weird. Things get DANGEROUS. The players start to become their characters in the real world. The game seems to be...more than a game.
This feels like the most delicious, contemporary interpretation of The King In Yellow. Not only is there a direct nod running through the book, but the whole vibe of the story fits well into Chambers's eerie dark weird fiction. This was a fun, fast read in a format I love. Check this out, even if you aren't a gamer.
September 30, 2026
Who knew playing a game could cause such trouble?? What a wild ride of a book! While I’m not very familiar with these types of games (though I’ll happily take anyone on in a rousing game of Life) I really enjoyed following Cole and Lorraine as they play through The Ship of Death and seeing the repercussions when the lines blur between game and reality. There are great horror elements and this is definitely fuel for someone’s nightmares. This is a very compulsive read and I enjoyed the formatting of it with emails, game cards, diary entries etc that were used to tell the story. I really wasn’t sure how it was all going to end! Highly recommend!
**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy for review
**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy for review
May 21, 2026
Man, I loved this. It takes chances, is generally unsettling, and as a huge DnD fan, it scratched that itch too. The book deals with a game and reality melding, and the morning before finishing the book, I had an email from my HOA about strange people climbing balconies. The jolt of fear I had will make more sense when you get into this one.
But maybe the book’s got me? Either way, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for toads…
My first Winkler, but certainly not my last.
But maybe the book’s got me? Either way, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for toads…
My first Winkler, but certainly not my last.
September 26, 2026
A psychic’s cat vomited a large toad, which then tried to consume the cat. And somehow that wasn’t the weirdest part of this book.
Just finished The Ship of Death by Kyle Winkler - thanks to @HarperCollins for providing ARC copies at this years BookCon where I was able to snag a copy. This was a really weird read - as someone that doesn’t play D&D (shocking I know, I’m a huge nerd but never caught on to RPG gaming) some of the game jargon was a bit confusing for me. But I really enjoyed the “found footage” aspect and as the story progressed it got really, REALLY weird. Overall I gave it 3.75 stars rounded up to four.
Just finished The Ship of Death by Kyle Winkler - thanks to @HarperCollins for providing ARC copies at this years BookCon where I was able to snag a copy. This was a really weird read - as someone that doesn’t play D&D (shocking I know, I’m a huge nerd but never caught on to RPG gaming) some of the game jargon was a bit confusing for me. But I really enjoyed the “found footage” aspect and as the story progressed it got really, REALLY weird. Overall I gave it 3.75 stars rounded up to four.
May 28, 2026
Okay first off this is WILD in the best way!!! I was so engrossed with the concept and the style of writing, I love when books have journal entries and articles/blog type things! The whole last 30% had me wide eyed with my jaw dropped and turning the pages as fast as I could tap on my kindle HAHA I loved this so much! This gave me jumanji meets horror vibes in the best way! I didn’t fully understand all the game rules but that didn’t take away from loving the story for me!
October 2, 2026
This had a lot of potential but it felt flat to me. The style of it was neat in it was written in all documents like emails and game recaps. I don't know, I wanted more horror and dread.
September 19, 2026
I can confidently say…I don’t understand. And, I was certainly not the target audience for this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to HarperCollins Canada and NetGalley for an eARC Of The Ship of Death in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4 / 5
This was a fun read. I enjoyed the elements of fantasy and board games. Though not my usual kind of horror it was a lot of fun, through the story telling and the writing style. Especially if you’re into D&D, (Dungeons and Dragons) or games like that this is something to add to your list.
Rating: 4 / 5
This was a fun read. I enjoyed the elements of fantasy and board games. Though not my usual kind of horror it was a lot of fun, through the story telling and the writing style. Especially if you’re into D&D, (Dungeons and Dragons) or games like that this is something to add to your list.
September 21, 2026
4.25
This book, very much like the game inside of it, had me hooked.
Had a blast with this book, was sucked in from the beginning and each chapter/document left me wanting more. Story and characters were engaging, the lore was great and I really enjoyed how the book was presented.
The board game element was tied in really well. A definite must read for fans of board games and horror.
This book, very much like the game inside of it, had me hooked.
Had a blast with this book, was sucked in from the beginning and each chapter/document left me wanting more. Story and characters were engaging, the lore was great and I really enjoyed how the book was presented.
The board game element was tied in really well. A definite must read for fans of board games and horror.
June 12, 2026
3.5 🌟 Okay, so I’ve been sitting with this one for a while. This is an RPG multimedia horror story and it is sooo so cool. It’s told exclusively through emails, player cards, online forums, etc, and I was fascinated by every bit of it. The roleplaying parts were my favorites, especially since Winkler does an amazing job of developing the creepy, gruesome world of the game. I honestly found myself wishing there was more of that, buttttt I’m also aware this isn’t meant to be a full fantasy.
The reason why I gave it 3.5 stars instead of 5 was because it did get a little confusing near the end. I liked how fiction began to smudge reality, but it almost felt rushed? Without getting into spoilers, there were some parts that I wish we got to sit with longer, to learn more about. Things wrapped up a little too quickly imo and instead of feeling full dread, I was more perplexed than anything. This could be because I don’t usually read horror—this would technicallyyyy be my second dip into the genre? Maybe the third? Not to mention I was lucky enough to get an advanced readers copy so who knows, things might change
But all that to say it’s still a really cool read, and I think ppl should pick it up for the format alone
The reason why I gave it 3.5 stars instead of 5 was because it did get a little confusing near the end. I liked how fiction began to smudge reality, but it almost felt rushed? Without getting into spoilers, there were some parts that I wish we got to sit with longer, to learn more about. Things wrapped up a little too quickly imo and instead of feeling full dread, I was more perplexed than anything. This could be because I don’t usually read horror—this would technicallyyyy be my second dip into the genre? Maybe the third? Not to mention I was lucky enough to get an advanced readers copy so who knows, things might change
But all that to say it’s still a really cool read, and I think ppl should pick it up for the format alone
July 1, 2026
This was hard to get through. I knew it would be tough due to it being about a role play type game so I can’t necessarily fault it for that. I would say it will be more enjoyable for people who play a lot of those types of games. In the beginning it was fine but after 100 pages of it, I was struggling. It was way too long even though it’s under 300 pages. But what made me dislike the book were the characters. They were so unbelievable. They did not act like real people. You invite a stranger, who just the day before gave you the creeps but he apologized so all is forgiven, back to your house and then drink a milky liquid that he pulls from his jacket like it’s normal?! Oh and so many other red flags but you say you don’t trust him cuz you think he is hitting on your wife?! Never ever did that seem like it was happening. Oh I saw him glow!…hmm no I must’ve imagined it but he definitely flirted with my wife 😐😐 Long story short. The detail he put into the game made it a slog to get through, but what ruined the book was the poorly written characters and dialogue.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC
Read
September 28, 2026The dice rolls. Darkness answers..
Cole and Lorraine play-test board games for extra cash while they try to save up and buy a house. An opportunity arises to test a rare game that no one has actually played although people have pretended to for attention called "The Ship of Death". Cole and any others that join him would be the first actual players. He is required to sign a NDA and produce AGR (after game reports) which isn't outside of the norm, but the gaming company is requiring testing that is a bit unusual like reporting what they're eating, when they take a break to use the bathroom, and the NDA has mentioning of "psychic communications"...
The board game arrives at Cole and Lorraine's apartment with a staggering amount of pieces, multiple card decks, and an extensive list of instructions. As they start playing, the game starts bleeding into real life. The story is told through game play, police reports, journal entries, and phone transcripts, so we're experiencing the game alongside Cole, Lorraine, and the other players.
It is so immersive and WEIRD, in the best way. It really is like a darker Jumanji, and there are certainly some reality bending scenes. I took my time with this because I did not want it to end, but this is easily a one-sitting read. Kyle Winkler, I can't believe this was just living in your brain!?
I had a blast. and I think this will also make a good book-club pick that could prompt some very weird and interesting discussions.
Pick this up is you're a fan of found footage, cosmic horror, and ttprg!
Side note, I know nothing about DnD and am not a gamer, (although I like to watch game-play) and I found I was able to enjoy this and follow this without any issues. I am incredibly curious to check out the Will Wheaton narration of the audiobook when it comes out!
TW: For a small scene with animal death
Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for my gifted ARC and the opportunity to read this early! All opinions are my own.
Cole and Lorraine play-test board games for extra cash while they try to save up and buy a house. An opportunity arises to test a rare game that no one has actually played although people have pretended to for attention called "The Ship of Death". Cole and any others that join him would be the first actual players. He is required to sign a NDA and produce AGR (after game reports) which isn't outside of the norm, but the gaming company is requiring testing that is a bit unusual like reporting what they're eating, when they take a break to use the bathroom, and the NDA has mentioning of "psychic communications"...
The board game arrives at Cole and Lorraine's apartment with a staggering amount of pieces, multiple card decks, and an extensive list of instructions. As they start playing, the game starts bleeding into real life. The story is told through game play, police reports, journal entries, and phone transcripts, so we're experiencing the game alongside Cole, Lorraine, and the other players.
It is so immersive and WEIRD, in the best way. It really is like a darker Jumanji, and there are certainly some reality bending scenes. I took my time with this because I did not want it to end, but this is easily a one-sitting read. Kyle Winkler, I can't believe this was just living in your brain!?
I had a blast. and I think this will also make a good book-club pick that could prompt some very weird and interesting discussions.
Pick this up is you're a fan of found footage, cosmic horror, and ttprg!
Side note, I know nothing about DnD and am not a gamer, (although I like to watch game-play) and I found I was able to enjoy this and follow this without any issues. I am incredibly curious to check out the Will Wheaton narration of the audiobook when it comes out!
TW: For a small scene with animal death
Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for my gifted ARC and the opportunity to read this early! All opinions are my own.
May 9, 2026
this was so cool?? totally new concept of trying to bring “found footage” horror to a book (so “found emails/letters/telephone logs/interviews” lol). and i LOVE found footage horror movies
i had played DnD back in high school and play a lot of role playing fantasy games (skyrim, baldurs gate, fable) so this book immediately captured my attention. i could see if you’re not into role playing games (or board games) of any kind, this may not be your cup of tea
while not comparable in terms of a similar plot, a horror book (‘Nothing Tastes As Good’) i’d read a few months back would have intermittent articles from social media pages to emails to interviews like ‘The Ship of Death’ and I enjoyed that aspect of it, so makes sense I dug this book so much! and both books have that sense of characters spiraling into moral degeneration and losing their sense of reality
super creative, loved how in depth the actual game was in the book, was totally unsettling and dark. this wasn’t terribly long but i was immediately attached to the characters and dedicated to finding out how this would end. i could see how using different forms of media / communication could cause some disconnect, but i think the author did a really good job of how he approached it. you were getting into the heads of our two main characters while also getting outside perspectives that helped to show the general doom to the story.
i totally recommend giving this a shot, it was pretty palatable, if i hadn’t needed to go to bed i could have read this in one sitting.
*ARC courtesy of netgalley*
i had played DnD back in high school and play a lot of role playing fantasy games (skyrim, baldurs gate, fable) so this book immediately captured my attention. i could see if you’re not into role playing games (or board games) of any kind, this may not be your cup of tea
while not comparable in terms of a similar plot, a horror book (‘Nothing Tastes As Good’) i’d read a few months back would have intermittent articles from social media pages to emails to interviews like ‘The Ship of Death’ and I enjoyed that aspect of it, so makes sense I dug this book so much! and both books have that sense of characters spiraling into moral degeneration and losing their sense of reality
super creative, loved how in depth the actual game was in the book, was totally unsettling and dark. this wasn’t terribly long but i was immediately attached to the characters and dedicated to finding out how this would end. i could see how using different forms of media / communication could cause some disconnect, but i think the author did a really good job of how he approached it. you were getting into the heads of our two main characters while also getting outside perspectives that helped to show the general doom to the story.
i totally recommend giving this a shot, it was pretty palatable, if i hadn’t needed to go to bed i could have read this in one sitting.
*ARC courtesy of netgalley*
September 27, 2026
The Ship of Death is an indie game that hasn’t been released. Cole and his wife Lorraine are the lucky ones that get to test it and make a bit of money for their participation. The couple is excited until things start to take a turn once they start playing the game. What happens when the vivid dreams you have after playing start to mess with your reality?
I can see people who love games like D&D gravitating towards this novel. The Ship of Death is a mix of horror and fantasy. There were some dark moments for the couple and some odd characters along the way. The concept of the game itself was a bit confusing for me to understand because there were a lot of rules within the game to follow. I liked how the story was told through journal entries, police reports & emails The ending was very creepy and it has you questioning if what you read in the story was reliable.
Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I can see people who love games like D&D gravitating towards this novel. The Ship of Death is a mix of horror and fantasy. There were some dark moments for the couple and some odd characters along the way. The concept of the game itself was a bit confusing for me to understand because there were a lot of rules within the game to follow. I liked how the story was told through journal entries, police reports & emails The ending was very creepy and it has you questioning if what you read in the story was reliable.
Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 22, 2026
I have once again fallen victim to a catchy tagline that over-promised and under-delivered.
House of Leaves meets Jumanji? Are you kidding me?? That’s gotta be so cool, right?
Not exactly.
It’s already at a disadvantage; the premise is built on a niche interest, and it takes a lot of preexisting knowledge of tabletop RPGs to keep up. But then you take that, compound it with a lot of heavy exposition and uninteresting characters, and you’ve got someone’s failed pass at a creepypasta that somehow made it out of the nosleep subreddit and into your hands.
This also felt pretty gross. And not gross in a horror novel sort of way, gross in a “why is the only lead female character the ‘crazy’ one, and why is there a scene with her helping her captive (female) neighbor wipe after the bathroom?” sort of way.
Maybe I’m just not the right audience for this. Mostly I just think that this was pretty bad.
House of Leaves meets Jumanji? Are you kidding me?? That’s gotta be so cool, right?
Not exactly.
It’s already at a disadvantage; the premise is built on a niche interest, and it takes a lot of preexisting knowledge of tabletop RPGs to keep up. But then you take that, compound it with a lot of heavy exposition and uninteresting characters, and you’ve got someone’s failed pass at a creepypasta that somehow made it out of the nosleep subreddit and into your hands.
This also felt pretty gross. And not gross in a horror novel sort of way, gross in a “why is the only lead female character the ‘crazy’ one, and why is there a scene with her helping her captive (female) neighbor wipe after the bathroom?” sort of way.
Maybe I’m just not the right audience for this. Mostly I just think that this was pretty bad.
October 1, 2026
I absolutely love the cover design for this book and the premise of a haunted board game drew me straight in but it doesn't quite deliver.
Games Tester Cole is sent an invite to test out a tabletop game that seemingly nobody knows a lot about and one he can't talk about due to an NDA he must sign before receiving the game.
The Ship Of Death is a hefty game full of rule books, cards that never seem to end (this gets repetitive) and doesn't really seem to have much of a role play game feel to.
I liked that the book was told through different media elements like journals, Reddit posts and notes but at times it didn't really work.
Unfortunately the characters didn't feel fully fleshed out, it was confusing at times and it felt like we spent more time out of the game than experiencing it.
I was kindly gifted this book but it unfortunately wasn't for me.
Games Tester Cole is sent an invite to test out a tabletop game that seemingly nobody knows a lot about and one he can't talk about due to an NDA he must sign before receiving the game.
The Ship Of Death is a hefty game full of rule books, cards that never seem to end (this gets repetitive) and doesn't really seem to have much of a role play game feel to.
I liked that the book was told through different media elements like journals, Reddit posts and notes but at times it didn't really work.
Unfortunately the characters didn't feel fully fleshed out, it was confusing at times and it felt like we spent more time out of the game than experiencing it.
I was kindly gifted this book but it unfortunately wasn't for me.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of
The Ship of Death.
I’m not a fan of epistolary novels, but it mostly worked here because it made the narrative move fast.
I liked the idea of a “cursed” board game, and the world building behind the game's creator but I’ve never been into Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy is my least favorite genre (movies aside).
The fantasy elements felt redundant and repetitive though some parts, like when the realities began to blur, were unsettling and creepy.
I wished these scenes had been been better developed.
The antagonists never felt really scary to me, actually they sounded kind of corny and theatrical.
Pirates are interesting when your name is Captain Jack Sparrow, and fearsome when you’ve stepped out of the Pirates of the Caribbean cast—but I’m not a seafaring adventurer and never will be.
I'm a land mammal.
The After Game Report logs felt unrealistically long and repetitive; it’s hard to imagine anyone, especially a guy, bothering to write them for minor ducats.
This wasn’t a bad book; fans of the genre or D&D will probably enjoy it.
I’m not a fan of epistolary novels, but it mostly worked here because it made the narrative move fast.
I liked the idea of a “cursed” board game, and the world building behind the game's creator but I’ve never been into Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy is my least favorite genre (movies aside).
The fantasy elements felt redundant and repetitive though some parts, like when the realities began to blur, were unsettling and creepy.
I wished these scenes had been been better developed.
The antagonists never felt really scary to me, actually they sounded kind of corny and theatrical.
Pirates are interesting when your name is Captain Jack Sparrow, and fearsome when you’ve stepped out of the Pirates of the Caribbean cast—but I’m not a seafaring adventurer and never will be.
I'm a land mammal.
The After Game Report logs felt unrealistically long and repetitive; it’s hard to imagine anyone, especially a guy, bothering to write them for minor ducats.
This wasn’t a bad book; fans of the genre or D&D will probably enjoy it.
September 17, 2026
Shout out to my own curiosity for helping me get through those ttrpg instructions! My brain hated those aspects but it wasn’t deal breaking. Has that creepy pasta, unexplainable vibe. Especially with the found media/epistolary storytelling. This author took a big swing with the fantasy world setting and I respected the creativity. But it did get hard to follow at points. Much of the horror for me centered around one specific (innocent!) character who gets roped in to the game, and that got really disturbing to read by the end. I ultimately wanted something more but I could see it being a hit for some because of the tabletop novelty of it all. Somewhere between 2-3 stars for me.
September 29, 2026
The audio amped up the unsettling events with atmospheric sounds that didn't overwhelm or distract from the dialogue. I found myself sinking into the story, not wanting to come up for air as if the story itself possessed me.
I enjoyed the intense variety of media, from instructions and gameplay to police reports, therapy notes, and journals. It's all encompassing view enhanced the claustrophobic feeling of the game these characters have no chance of escaping. Excellent for both beginners and connoisseurs of the possession genre.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperAudio for the advanced reader copy
I enjoyed the intense variety of media, from instructions and gameplay to police reports, therapy notes, and journals. It's all encompassing view enhanced the claustrophobic feeling of the game these characters have no chance of escaping. Excellent for both beginners and connoisseurs of the possession genre.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperAudio for the advanced reader copy
July 20, 2026
I knew from the Rip that this was going to be a 5 star read. Something about the book just clicked. A lot of people were saying that the found document style was weird and annoying but I absolutely loved it and found it to be one of its biggest strengths. The mix of Jumanji & cosmic horror bleeding into our universe was a really unique play on things and kept me interested. Which is a bit rare because I’m not too big on metaphysical books. But like I said. This one clicked.
The dread and terror that Kyle put into this book is fantastic. From page one you can tell that something is off and things aren’t as they seem. Scary strangers in chat rooms and odd, mumbling people in bars. The characters are played out perfectly. You really feel for Cole and Lorraine and in opposite you REALLY end up hating Javier. I felt quite uneasy for Annabeth. What she had to go through and the whole Rot Apple situation was just … Grim. I don’t normally like book endings, but this was perfect for the way that the book was headed. The confusing ending, was it real was it fake really sold me that this might be in contention for best book of 2026 for me.
The documents that were “found” were perfect in terms for setting the story without need to talk. Therapist notes. AGR (after game reports). Police calls/reports. Chat rooms. It all told a story without needing to be said (if that makes sense).
I have no cons about this book. AT. ALL. Also, shoutout to the author for teaching at my alma mater.
Overall, this book is Definitely one to check out.
The dread and terror that Kyle put into this book is fantastic. From page one you can tell that something is off and things aren’t as they seem. Scary strangers in chat rooms and odd, mumbling people in bars. The characters are played out perfectly. You really feel for Cole and Lorraine and in opposite you REALLY end up hating Javier. I felt quite uneasy for Annabeth. What she had to go through and the whole Rot Apple situation was just … Grim. I don’t normally like book endings, but this was perfect for the way that the book was headed. The confusing ending, was it real was it fake really sold me that this might be in contention for best book of 2026 for me.
The documents that were “found” were perfect in terms for setting the story without need to talk. Therapist notes. AGR (after game reports). Police calls/reports. Chat rooms. It all told a story without needing to be said (if that makes sense).
I have no cons about this book. AT. ALL. Also, shoutout to the author for teaching at my alma mater.
Overall, this book is Definitely one to check out.
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