Ripped Up the Middle in Two

by Viggy Parr Hampton

"Ripped Up the Middle in Two is a postpartum nightmare that perfectly melds humor with nail-biting suspense wrapped up in the most realistic depiction of life as a new mom I've ever read. A must-read for everyone who has gone through the horrors of having a newborn." -Emma E. Murray, author of Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day



A mother is the ultimate feral creature...



New mom Sadie is struggling with the reality of caring for her three-month-old daughter-the loss of identity, autonomy, and selfhood are grinding her down. When a casual stroll with the baby leads to the discovery of a secret trail leading to a miniature door hidden deep in the woods, Sadie's world unravels even further. Who put the door there? Why does the trail only appear when Sadie is alone? Why is the door surrounded by a clearing full of tiny bones?



And, most terrifying of What lives behind that door, and what will it do to her baby?



Claustrophobic, rage-filled, and brimming with the chaos of new parenthood, Ripped Up the Middle in Two is the dark fairy tale you've been craving.



"Parr Hampton's latest work of visceral psychological horror treats readers to a raw and brutal examination of the darker side of motherhood-the bodily harm, the loss of identity, the pressure to conform, and the psychologically torturous patriarchal expectations. It will make you squirm. It will make you angry. And, true to its title, this book will leave you damaged." -Joey Powell, author of Squirming All the Way Up



"Viggy Parr Hampton's Ripped Up The Middle In Two is fierce and feral, with nail-biting psychological edge, gruesome gore, creepy crawlers, and unrestrained fury. A brilliant meditation on what it means to be an unhinged woman in an ever-needing world. Men, listen the f*ck up." -Haley Newlin, author of The Film You Are About To See

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication July 29, 2026

Reviews

[luceski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadie is three months into motherhood, running on no sleep, trying to hold herself together while her husband Cash somehow manages to be more hard work than the baby. During a walk with her daughter and dog, she stumbles across a strange hidden trail leading to a tree with a tiny door carved into it… and things only get more unsettling from there!

This one really tapped into that isolating, exhausted new-parent haze where you start questioning what’s real and what’s stress-fuelled paranoia. Viggy has a way of writing characters that feel believable and messy, even when the story heads into full creepy fairytale territory. The neighbourhood yoga mums were both hilarious and deeply sinister - the kind of women who smile at you while quietly judging your entire existence.

It leans heavily into dark fairytale territory and it gave the whole thing this grimy little folklore edge that I loved.

Also… Cash annoyed me from start to finish. A fully grown man incapable of basic survival while Sadie is spiralling? Absolutely not.

As someone who has never wanted children, this book honestly reinforced that decision for me 😭 but it also made me appreciate how brutal and lonely early motherhood can be. Underneath the horror there’s a lot about pressure, identity, exhaustion and feeling trapped inside your own life.

Creepy, uncomfortable and weirdly relatable even if you know nothing about motherhood.

Thanks to Viggy for the ARC!

[Ziggy Nixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven’t I bled enough already?

After having devoured her first four, full-length books, Viggy Parr Hampton has already become a must-read/must-buy author for me. Her tales are not only exquisitely executed but are masterfully crafted to contain all manners of the horror and dread that accompanies so much of our daily lives or even bits that may be just a little out of our comfort zones. No matter if we're talking about sneaking around an haunted abandoned theme park (jinkies!), or questioning the actions of a convent of nuns, not to mention scaring the absolute Hell of out me in the tunnels beneath Georgetown University, she is simply at the top of the heap in the horror genre! And her pending novel, "Ripped Up the Middle in Two", due out at the end of this July, is no exception.

For the first month after Holly, I felt like I’d been ripped in half.

Although you might think this is a modern-day version of a Brothers Grimm fable (no spoilers, I promise!) - a snippet of which Hampton uses to start this book - "Ripped" is a tale that most definitely could touch any of us. I mean, who hasn't at some point thought (or actually screamed) "I’m on the verge of a breakdown" when it comes to everything life throws at us? To that, I was trying to think of who would best appreciate the struggles of new mom Sadie Hansen. Well, besides those that appreciate the hidden meanings behind those old-world tales, I can certainly recommend this book to those who have become mothers or to a lesser degree fathers … or frankly anyone who has had a mother in their lives. I'll give you all a moment to work through that in terms of potentially suitable audiences… Though I would also add that if you're currently trying to decide if parenthood is right for you, maybe put this back on your TBR pile until AFTER you've reached a decision!

That’s another thing the other mothers don’t tell you— giving birth is absolutely a trauma.

In terms of relating it to other works that are out there in the ether, I would also recommend this story to anyone that enjoyed (for example) "Nightbitch" by Rachel Yoder, as the "new mother / new creature" vibe is just as strong here. In addition, I would add from my own shelves that a book like "Pyrimidia" by Stephanie Sanders-Jacob about looking for acceptance from the Yoga Moms is akin to wanting to fit in with a popular coven of money-making vampires. Or perhaps even from the growing list of "TradWife" books that seem to be popping up everywhere, you might want to check out "The Devil and Mrs. Davenport" which also featured a mother subjected to medical care via the wishes and control of others, ignoring completely what - and who(m) - really was affecting her. OK, it's not quite as serious perhaps as being unwittingly subjected to a lobotomy, but none of these examples was terribly pleasant in terms of what befell the protagonists.

I can escape nightmares; I can’t escape reality.

I will also say that I almost disqualified myself from reviewing this ARC - not from reading, no no no, just making my opinions known - simply because after having gone through the whole pregnancy and birthing process with my wife before, well, we were extremely lucky. And yes, I reviewed this exact issue with the Mrs. last night AGAIN (as I also detailed in my review of "Nightbitch")! Both kids slept through the nights from Day 1 and both kids were perfectly fine with formula (owing to an issue my wife had with her own production). Sure, when booboo's happened or someone wasn't feeling well, they always called for mom, but as the man-creature present, I held my own with diaper changes, "baby-sitting" (I know, I know: you can't call it that when they're YOUR kids!), and whatever other contributions I could make to my wife's well-being, sanity, and hesitancy to actually shooting me in my sleep!

The illusion of the perfect marriage is simply that— an illusion.

But Sadie doesn't have it that good, not by a long shot … and that's not just coming from her "doom-spiral inner monologue." Despite living in a nice Georgia neighborhood that apparently has its own golf course, she realizes all too well that "lack of sleep has turned me into a different person". Her 3-month daughter, Holly, might be adorable, but she gets hungry several times during the night and let's everyone within a 5 mile radius know it! It's no wonder that Sadie begins to see herself as nothing more than "a milk-making cow with constantly leaking tits and a saggy stomach", especially when any of the fit and perky Yoga Moms happen by! And it isn't long until we all see just how far she's obviously been brought "down by exhaustion, nonstop crying, and evil fairies in the goddamned woods." Wait, what was that last bit?

I’m going to warn you one last time. We. Don’t. Talk. About. It.

No, it seems that Sadie has also managed to stumble upon some well-hidden but seemingly extremely real fairy doors. Cute, right? Hmm…no. One in particular is not only a troubling for simply existing, but also that it is surrounded by the bones of various animals as well as the dried husks of hundreds of exsanguinated insects and worse! Yet when she tries to show other people this evidence, it is either cast aside as a symptom of her fatigue - if you haven't guessed by now, her husband, Cash, who will not be winning any awards as new-dad-and/or-spouse-of-the-year, is pretty clueless ("Men are oblivious … You have to spell things out for them …") - or doesn't appear, for example, even in photos! The door that is, not Cash. More bad luck 'events' happen and it's not long before we wonder just what the hell is going on in this neighborhood - and what does it have to do with the unpleasantness that Sadie is only now finding out about concerning the previous owners of their home?

I’m strong— barely three months ago, I pushed a whole-ass human out of my body …

In her signature style though, Hampton continues to ramp up the tension like crazy in this tale until we're literally at a point of trying to fight off the horrors with any weapon we can get our hands on. And readers had really better clear their schedules once they hit the halfway point of this one, because you will find that you MUST find out what happens next! Yes, we understand by now that Sadie is tired of reeking of "anxiety-induced body odor and spoiled milk" but by god, she will do anything to protect her daughter, having "metamorphosed into something different, more primal, more feral" by the end. Sure, her husband may be satisfied with things as long as someone is shoving a sammich (sic) or two in his face ("Is it actually that easy to make him happy?"), but as they say (more or less) : "hell hath no fury like a tired woman who just wants a little help with the baby and the chores around the house, is that really too much to ask?"

[Nikki Reads 📖❤️‍🔥 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much Viggy Parr Hampton of this arc of Ripped Up the Middle in Two.

We follow Sadie, a new mother who can't shake the feeling that something sinister is lurking beyond this hidden trail. As her terror grows and the boundaries between reality and paranoia begin to crumble, she's forced to confront a terrifying question: is a malevolent force stalking her, or is the overwhelming weight of new motherhood unraveling her? Disturbing, atmospheric, and deeply emotional, this is a haunting exploration of motherhood at its most vulnerable.

As a mother who suffered postpartum depression, a lot of our FMC’s feelings about new motherhood resonated with me. Even conversations with her husband read all too familiar. Why is it that women go through pregnancy and postpartum, change every aspect of our lives and body, and still be expected to be 100% ok? The men’s lives barely change, and it can feel extremely lonely and isolating doing the exact same mundane things with a newborn, day after day, night after night.

I truly believe anyone that has had children could resonate with this book. Sometimes you feel inhuman, animalistic and primal in what happens after childbirth.

This was another 5 star read for me from this author (I absolutely loved A Veritable Household Pet). She has become an auto-read author for me!

[Ruhika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ripped Up the Middle in Two is the latest horror novel from Viggy Parr Hampton, and it's a complete banger. It follows new mom Sadie dealing with the ups and downs of her postpartum reality while having almost no support from her spouse, Cash, who doesn't quite get what she is going through. And on top of that we have finding a strange trail in woods and leads to a fairy door. The story essentially follows what happens after that. It's suspenseful and unrelenting. There was not a dull moment. It's a story that crawls inside your guts and stays there. After reading that last line, I shivered. This has to be one of the most realistic depictions of motherhood in horror with a tinge of fae goodness (not gonna spoil; y'all need to read this to know ;⁠)). The ending is ambiguous in the best way possible which reinstated my firm belief that Hampton is one of the best horror writers out there. There were moments I teared up, moments that had me gasping. Nobody quite does emotionally dense horror like her. This is just too good albeit a dark book. A necessary book too, like most horror books are.


I received this advance review copy from the author via Booksirens and all the thoughts are my own.

[KB B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Viggy once again knocks it out of the park. I was able to get her ARC of Ripped up the middle in two. First how badass is the cover?
Second this is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I have never resonated with a main character. Having a newborn, rearranging schedules so your child doesn’t cry and continue to say you’re fine when you’re not.

It’s sometimes hard to keep reading when you despise a certain character so much. But I know I needed to keep going.

A mom who wants to fit in with the “yoga moms” and silently wishes she could be invited to be part of their crowd. She starts taking walks to get out of the house and she finds this fairy door deep in the middle of a woods by a trail that disappears. She can’t tell others the evil she sees because no one will believe her.
But one of the “yoga moms” knows something…..

[Madame Strange · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Ripped Up The Middle In Two” - Motherhood is not the fairy tale they make it out to be.

★★★★★

Getting to be an ARC reader for Viggy is something I’m always incredibly excited about. Ever since “The Rotting Room” I became infatuated with her writing and way of story telling and now I will literally read anything and everything she’ll come up with.

Let me start by saying I have a tremendous amount of respect for people who choose to have kids.

Motherhood is often being romanticised and this novel shows what’s hidden behind all the smiles and shines a light on the not so glamorous parts. The transformation of being “You” to suddenly being “Mom” and questioning yourself and your identity while manoeuvring life with a new born. This story is dark and mysterious and might just make you lose your sanity, but it’s all worth it in the end, because aren’t we all a little mad?

[Zimbellina · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC review. Sadie is a new mother and is overwhelmed. She starts seeing things no one else can and things spiral from there.

I loved this book and as a mother it really hit home. Though Sadie’s husband was totally incompetent and maddening. The horror slowly builds up and comes to a crashing end. I felt so much for Sadie, both good and bad. I felt sorry for her and empathised with her struggles but also frustrated that she wouldn’t speak up about everything. Although I do understand why she didn’t.

Viggy has become a must read for me, she’s an exceptional writer and I have enjoyed everything I’ve read by her.

[Natasja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was brutally relatable for someone who went through PPD - I could still vividly recall the same raw emotions, the exhaustion. I felt incredibly angry at Sadie's useless husband, my blood pressure spiking along with hers. This is an unputdownable dark fairytale with razor-sharp edges, and it will make you feel every emotion Sadie is feeling. Thank you Viggy, for the ARC!

[Haley Newlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Viggy Parr Hampton’s Ripped Up The Middle In Two is fierce and feral, with nail-biting psychological edge, gruesome gore, creepy crawlers, and unrestrained fury. A brilliant meditation on what it means to be an unhinged woman in an ever-needing world. Men, listen the f*ck up 👏👏👏👏

[CosmicGore · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ Full review to be posted shortly