Cowbird

by Steffen Jack

Cowbird is a novella of cosmic folk horror set deep in the countryside during the broiling summer of 1982. It is written in the third person from two POVs.

A man running from his past is doomed to repeat it. Stew knows that better than anyone; but he’ll prove to his family, this time things will be different. Then he meets a feral little boy with fairy friends at the ass-end of nowhere. That’s when he finds out bad luck has a crazy way of winning.

From the shelter of his blackberry labyrinth, Eli practices dark magic and animal sacrifice. When a young couple with a baby girl move in next door, they become intertwined in his lessons of spiritual evolution.

Content warning: 16+animal sacrifice, child abuse (nongraphic), child neglect, child threat, smoking, drinking, and foul language.

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 28, 2026

About the author

Steffen Jack is an author of science fiction and horror. He resides in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Reviews

[Jan Miklaszewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won’t be at all surprised if Cowbird ends up in my top horror reads of 2026. Sinister and gripping, it provides some very unsettling insights into folk magic, dysfunctional family life in rural America, and the mind of a deeply troubled young boy. Kudos to the author too for flouting certain conventions of punctuation to great effect, creating an authentic and stylish writing voice. Highly recommended.