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Subcutanean
A 2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalist. Insecure college senior Orion loves music, books, and his best friend Niko. When the two of them find a secret basement in their rambling old off-campus house, at first Orion’s thrilled. It’s another secret to share, another adventure to maybe, at last, bring them closer together.
But something's wrong: the basement doesn't end. Blandly decorated halls stretch on for miles past peeling wallpaper, empty bedrooms, and countless stairwells always leading down. Soon they realize Downstairs is a snarled tangle of possibilities, more and more opening up the deeper they go. Something down there multiplies everything: architecture, emotions, even people.
Together they must navigate an increasingly dangerous labyrinth that peels back their friendship to raw and angry roots, filled with two-faced doppelgängers, treacherous architecture, and long-buried secrets. Most dangerous of all is Orion's consuming obsession: somewhere down there, is there a Niko who loves him back?
Subcutanean is a unique novel that changes with every printing. Each copy contains a unique telling of the story: no two are ever quite the same.
But something's wrong: the basement doesn't end. Blandly decorated halls stretch on for miles past peeling wallpaper, empty bedrooms, and countless stairwells always leading down. Soon they realize Downstairs is a snarled tangle of possibilities, more and more opening up the deeper they go. Something down there multiplies everything: architecture, emotions, even people.
Together they must navigate an increasingly dangerous labyrinth that peels back their friendship to raw and angry roots, filled with two-faced doppelgängers, treacherous architecture, and long-buried secrets. Most dangerous of all is Orion's consuming obsession: somewhere down there, is there a Niko who loves him back?
Subcutanean is a unique novel that changes with every printing. Each copy contains a unique telling of the story: no two are ever quite the same.
232 pages, Paperback
First published February 2, 2020
16 people are currently reading
2771 people want to read
About the author
Aaron A. Reed
12 books81 followersAaron A. Reed is a writer and game designer focused on the intersection of prose and play and finding new ways for people to tell stories together. His fiction, games, and playable artworks have won recognition from a broad range of storytelling communities, including the Independent Games Festival (video games), the ENnie Awards (tabletop roleplaying), and Kirkus Reviews (traditional publishing). Aaron is a multi-time IndieCade and IGF finalist, and his work has also been shown at South by Southwest, Slamdance, and GaymerX; he has spoken about digital storytelling at PAX and PAX East, Google, WorldCon, NarraScope, and the Game Developer Conference. He lives in Santa Cruz, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
November 1, 2023
***Caveat to say that I didn't get a 5 star experience out of this. It was a 3.5 for me. But after looking into the detail and ingenuity put into the crafting of this novel, I decided it deserved a 5 star without question.
I am blown away by the concept and follow-through of this book. I've never seen anything like it.
Aaron A. Reed said "Infinite possibilities? Say less".
He literally wrote a book and said "Oh, you didn't like when so-in-so happened? Okay, well pick up another copy and in that copy that scene goes a completely different direction. And also this other character is totally different and their motivations are the opposite of what you just read." Like WHAT?!
If you buy a copy off of his author's website, you get a specialized edition completely unique just for you. They might be subtle changes or they might be plot altering changes. You don't know. Every edition/seed has a different ending and every seed has different motivations for each character. I find that wildly exciting and admirable.
Also, Aaron A. Reed narrates the audiobook himself and has it up for FREE on Spotify as well as his author's website. How wild is that. And AND, if you buy a copy on Amazon, at the end of the book there is a code to scan and it will send an email to Reed saying you bought his book and would like a unique seed as an ebook and he will have one sent to you FOR FREE. Like, in what world are we living in where an author does the lord's work like this???!
Okay, I will say that in full transparency, while this book is magnificent in so many ways, it didn't hit the mark for me. Maybe it's the seed I read or the fact that there was too much left to speculation, but I was very let down by the ending. However, patrons of mine shared how their copies ended and I was so invested in certain departures that their books took. I would've given 5 stars to some of those endings. So, take everything I've just said with a grain of salt. Your seed might be perfect for you. Or it might be completely opposite of your taste. You don't know until you read it. And that is a wholly unique experience. I've never seen anything like it.
Kudos to you, Aaron A. Reed. You created something never before done. And that's almost impossible in this day and age.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
I am blown away by the concept and follow-through of this book. I've never seen anything like it.
Aaron A. Reed said "Infinite possibilities? Say less".
He literally wrote a book and said "Oh, you didn't like when so-in-so happened? Okay, well pick up another copy and in that copy that scene goes a completely different direction. And also this other character is totally different and their motivations are the opposite of what you just read." Like WHAT?!
If you buy a copy off of his author's website, you get a specialized edition completely unique just for you. They might be subtle changes or they might be plot altering changes. You don't know. Every edition/seed has a different ending and every seed has different motivations for each character. I find that wildly exciting and admirable.
Also, Aaron A. Reed narrates the audiobook himself and has it up for FREE on Spotify as well as his author's website. How wild is that. And AND, if you buy a copy on Amazon, at the end of the book there is a code to scan and it will send an email to Reed saying you bought his book and would like a unique seed as an ebook and he will have one sent to you FOR FREE. Like, in what world are we living in where an author does the lord's work like this???!
Okay, I will say that in full transparency, while this book is magnificent in so many ways, it didn't hit the mark for me. Maybe it's the seed I read or the fact that there was too much left to speculation, but I was very let down by the ending. However, patrons of mine shared how their copies ended and I was so invested in certain departures that their books took. I would've given 5 stars to some of those endings. So, take everything I've just said with a grain of salt. Your seed might be perfect for you. Or it might be completely opposite of your taste. You don't know until you read it. And that is a wholly unique experience. I've never seen anything like it.
Kudos to you, Aaron A. Reed. You created something never before done. And that's almost impossible in this day and age.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
December 21, 2020
An inventive and creepy queer horror thriller about a gay college student and his straight(ish?) best friend who find a baffling, neverending world accessed through the floor of their house. At first they think it's just a weird second basement with empty rooms and appliances and floor angles that don't make sense, but they soon discover that it's much more dangerous. At the same time their complicated friendship is tested to a breaking point.
Very cool meta-narrative details: given that the book deals with themes of parallel universes and alternate timelines, the author has published the book as various copies that slightly differ from each other. My copy, for example, had a note at the end explaining some of the differences, such as the way my narrator expressed himself (more wordy and less slang), that the final fight took place in a certain room, and the characters found a certain space in the "Downstairs", etc. What a fascinating, unique spin!
Very cool meta-narrative details: given that the book deals with themes of parallel universes and alternate timelines, the author has published the book as various copies that slightly differ from each other. My copy, for example, had a note at the end explaining some of the differences, such as the way my narrator expressed himself (more wordy and less slang), that the final fight took place in a certain room, and the characters found a certain space in the "Downstairs", etc. What a fascinating, unique spin!
November 21, 2019
n.b.: I read through the paperback version of seed #01893 after the author sent me an advance reader copy.
Having known Aaron for a while and being familiar with his other work and the general premise of this project, I am confident that there’s a lot of interesting stuff that starts happening between multiple copies, but I won’t know for sure until I read another copy in February or so when those get sent out to crowdfunding backers. So until then I’ll just consider it primarily as a static text. (I am, however, very much looking forward to reading a different seed in February and comparing notes with other readers.)
As a book I think one of the things that works so well here is the pacing of how the reader goes about understanding the world and context of the story. In nearly every chapter, I thought to myself “ah, I see where this is going, and I think this is how the book will proceed.” I was wrong every time, and that kind of constant surprise was actually such a joy—something that writing using procedural generation is very well-suited to handle. And this is something that kind of brings me into the story, too, since so much of it revolves around the characters learning and trying to figure out how [the world|their relationships|the weird space they find themselves in] fits together.
Something I was also surprised by as I read through was how clearly I could visualize the whole thing. There were a fair number of complicated sequences and scenery (and... geometry), but I never felt taken out of my flow as a reader or as a viewer of imagination cinema. Particularly some of those scenes in the last third with a lot of complicated physics and relative positions going on.
I think my only sour note in reading through Subcutanean#01893 was a few lines of dialogue from an antagonist in the back half of the book dips a little bit into a negative trope of queer relationships, but that gets offset as we see other depictions of queer relationships a little later on. But it’s worth noting that both of those moments especially in contrast with each other brings about an interesting truth about the world with it, and kind of helps to sell part of the ending.
Anyway: book good, read book!
Having known Aaron for a while and being familiar with his other work and the general premise of this project, I am confident that there’s a lot of interesting stuff that starts happening between multiple copies, but I won’t know for sure until I read another copy in February or so when those get sent out to crowdfunding backers. So until then I’ll just consider it primarily as a static text. (I am, however, very much looking forward to reading a different seed in February and comparing notes with other readers.)
As a book I think one of the things that works so well here is the pacing of how the reader goes about understanding the world and context of the story. In nearly every chapter, I thought to myself “ah, I see where this is going, and I think this is how the book will proceed.” I was wrong every time, and that kind of constant surprise was actually such a joy—something that writing using procedural generation is very well-suited to handle. And this is something that kind of brings me into the story, too, since so much of it revolves around the characters learning and trying to figure out how [the world|their relationships|the weird space they find themselves in] fits together.
Something I was also surprised by as I read through was how clearly I could visualize the whole thing. There were a fair number of complicated sequences and scenery (and... geometry), but I never felt taken out of my flow as a reader or as a viewer of imagination cinema. Particularly some of those scenes in the last third with a lot of complicated physics and relative positions going on.
I think my only sour note in reading through Subcutanean#01893 was a few lines of dialogue from an antagonist in the back half of the book dips a little bit into a negative trope of queer relationships, but that gets offset as we see other depictions of queer relationships a little later on. But it’s worth noting that both of those moments especially in contrast with each other brings about an interesting truth about the world with it, and kind of helps to sell part of the ending.
Anyway: book good, read book!
January 18, 2024
This was such a fun read! I listened to the free audiobook on Spotify and I really enjoyed my experience with this novel. It gave some cosmic horror/alternate reality vibes that are generally a hit for me. I do think it’s inventive to give each reader a unique reading experience- though I think mine is the most common iteration out there. Makes me wonder if it’s the original version? I do have some desire to come back to this with one of the unique storylines at some point. Really fun idea.
March 21, 2021
4.5
Unique concept, superb writing, mind-bending plot. I'd personally describe it as 40% sci-fi, 35% horror, and 25% queer coming of age, as the novel was rather concept than character-driven. Yes, I understand that . Still, I spent more time wrapping my head around (and marveling) at the concepts this story explores than the characters and their story. I would have liked to know more about these two and their history, even it had meant an extra 100 pages; it would have made me more invested.
My only quibbles were that, even though the novel's general tone was highly realistic, the characters sometimes behaved in ways that didn't quite make sense to me, and that the eBook formatting was a little weird. Even so, this is a fantastic story that deserves a wider audience. Go read it!
Unique concept, superb writing, mind-bending plot. I'd personally describe it as 40% sci-fi, 35% horror, and 25% queer coming of age, as the novel was rather concept than character-driven. Yes, I understand that . Still, I spent more time wrapping my head around (and marveling) at the concepts this story explores than the characters and their story. I would have liked to know more about these two and their history, even it had meant an extra 100 pages; it would have made me more invested.
My only quibbles were that, even though the novel's general tone was highly realistic, the characters sometimes behaved in ways that didn't quite make sense to me, and that the eBook formatting was a little weird. Even so, this is a fantastic story that deserves a wider audience. Go read it!
August 12, 2020
Seed #10199.
My worry when pledging for this book was that it wouldn't transcend its core gimmick, or, worse, that the randomised aspects of the text would hinder the book, rendering it choppy or disjointed. I was wrong, of course.
Reed is a great writer, and the genre - creeping uncanny horror - plays to his strengths at portraying his characters' emotional states and relationships. The result is a compulsive page-turner that kept me reading even when it got deeply scary. (That part with the video camera! My god!)
The last third or so of the book slightly let down the rest, as the threats became more tangible, action beats took over from the frisson of discovery, and some of the freaky things that had happened previously were explained too neatly. However, the emotional climax of the ending was perfect and made me rethink the rest of the book. As it ended, I thought "well, it couldn't have happened any other way!"
And then I read the end-notes, with their hints at what might have happened in other copies (universes?), and - no - it could have happened in other ways, and has, in thousands of variations.
Will I search out another copy and try to map some of the other paths the story could have taken? Probably not. I'm happy with the one I have. It feels personal to me in the way some of my favourite books do, with the added bonus of actually being personal to me.
Though who knows. Maybe in a few years I'll read one of the other versions and see how well I can notice what's changed, and what's stayed the same. I'm sure it will be even more disorienting and weird the second time around.
An additional note: my copy had a mistake(?) in it - an anecdote repeated twice, word for word, in different sections of the book. It seems like the author has gone through a round of bug-fixing since then, according to a review I read, and this may have disappeared.
Reading this section, however, was a magical experience, like nothing I'd ever seen in a book before, as if the universe was glitching, as if I'd opened a door to find an exact replica of a room I'd visited an hour ago. It was deeply, deeply chilling, and I'll remember that 'oh shit' moment, that feeling that something's gone very wrong, for a long time.
My worry when pledging for this book was that it wouldn't transcend its core gimmick, or, worse, that the randomised aspects of the text would hinder the book, rendering it choppy or disjointed. I was wrong, of course.
Reed is a great writer, and the genre - creeping uncanny horror - plays to his strengths at portraying his characters' emotional states and relationships. The result is a compulsive page-turner that kept me reading even when it got deeply scary. (That part with the video camera! My god!)
The last third or so of the book slightly let down the rest, as the threats became more tangible, action beats took over from the frisson of discovery, and some of the freaky things that had happened previously were explained too neatly. However, the emotional climax of the ending was perfect and made me rethink the rest of the book. As it ended, I thought "well, it couldn't have happened any other way!"
And then I read the end-notes, with their hints at what might have happened in other copies (universes?), and - no - it could have happened in other ways, and has, in thousands of variations.
Will I search out another copy and try to map some of the other paths the story could have taken? Probably not. I'm happy with the one I have. It feels personal to me in the way some of my favourite books do, with the added bonus of actually being personal to me.
Though who knows. Maybe in a few years I'll read one of the other versions and see how well I can notice what's changed, and what's stayed the same. I'm sure it will be even more disorienting and weird the second time around.
An additional note: my copy had a mistake(?) in it - an anecdote repeated twice, word for word, in different sections of the book. It seems like the author has gone through a round of bug-fixing since then, according to a review I read, and this may have disappeared.
Reading this section, however, was a magical experience, like nothing I'd ever seen in a book before, as if the universe was glitching, as if I'd opened a door to find an exact replica of a room I'd visited an hour ago. It was deeply, deeply chilling, and I'll remember that 'oh shit' moment, that feeling that something's gone very wrong, for a long time.
April 10, 2021
Only about half-way through this but it is a blast. The proc gen conceit is thematically relevant, of course. It scratches a very specific "Post-John Dies At The End But Gay / Post-House of Leaves But Via Chatty Creepypasta" itch for me. Nicely done.
October 28, 2021
without even getting into the excellent mind-bending spooky aspects of the book, this story has nailed aspects of the young gay experience better than almost anything i've read.
September 6, 2021
(I read version 30287).
Man, I have such complicated feelings about this book.
It hooked me immediately--the prologue was excellently done, and then the opening scenes with Nico and Ryan established their characters really well. The prose was a lot better than I expected given the premise of the book's construction, and I felt like the slow creeping horror was done really well. I loved the Downstairs, the parallel universes and fucked up architecture and the doubles and the seals--I was really enjoying myself for the first 2/3rds of the book. My copy had the scene with Bradley and Ryan at the payphone, which was one of the most memorable in the book and excellently done.
And then it all went downhill when older Nico showed up. Initially I loved it conceptually and in terms of themes and horror etc. But then it just... took a weird sharp turn into "actually I'm a murder-cannibal rapist" and it honestly sort of ruined the book for me. Reed had already built such a good horror concept that kept going unexpected places that nonetheless felt right for the narrative he was trying to build. Nico... didn't feel like that. Honestly, it felt like all of that was included just for shock value. It turned from existential architectural horror to "people sure are evil and fucked up, huh!"
It also made me question everything about Nico's character that he's the sort of person that would turn to that. Yes, yes, all the trauma he went through, he was down there for years, etc. But if there was no food down there, then they would have run out of food quite quickly, and the only way to survive would be killing and eating other people. Which implies a transformation to murder-cannibal within a couple of weeks, not years. And that just did not seem to fit with the Nico we were shown. You can't argue that this Nico was just that fundamentally different from our Nico, because he talks about all sorts of things he and our Ryan remember happening. It's not like he grew up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where this was normal. So it basically falls into the trap of "Anyone can become a murderer if they have a bad enough week," which is a trope I hate.
It also just sort... neutered the horror of the Downstairs. Yeah, fucked up architecture branching on forever, whatever. There's a murder-cannibal-rapist RIGHT HERE to worry about. It just took away from the creepy existential horror and made it a boring murder-people horror novel instead. The Downstairs was no longer the threat--older Nico was. And I just found that... tedious, really.
And then the ending. First, the fact that Nico and Ryan didn't get to talk about anything that happened or any of their feelings or... literally anything at all annoyed me. That's what I was waiting for throughout that whole sequence. I get that it wasn't "his" Nico so that's why, but their "reunion" really lacked any emotional punch. I did like that Ryan said "fuck you" to synchronicity and made the choice to bring Nico along, though I never quite understood what was so bad about going against synchronicity when you're on the way out anyway. But thematically, that felt good.
And then they got randomly separated because... reasons, I guess? So now Ryan and Nico are in different parallel universes without each other, basically alone because they're all each other had, and no chance to reconcile. I get that it's a horror novel and not supposed to have a happy ending, but damn. I didn't need it to be all Love Wins but I wasn't expecting "gay guy has an unrequited crush on his straight-ish best friend, best friend gets murdered and eaten by his alternate self, and he ends up in the one universe where his best friend doesn't exist." I dunno. I understand that the author was going for "this relationship was unhealthy and they're better apart" but I also felt like that was cheapened by the forced permanent separation. It would have been different if they got through all this shit together and went, "Yeah, because of all that shit that went down, we never want to see each other again." That feels like something with agency and purpose and like they actually confronted the harmful aspects of their relationship.
I can see why a lot of people love it, but the last third didn't work for me. But damn, those first two-thirds. I think I'm going to rate it four stars because really, so much of it was so good. Actually, just before Nico showed up I had been thinking this was going to be a five star book. And then it was just a hard shift away from the stuff I loved and a very disappointing ending. I think it's definitely worth reading, but I'm debating whether to do a re-read with my personalized copy. We'll have to see.
Man, I have such complicated feelings about this book.
It hooked me immediately--the prologue was excellently done, and then the opening scenes with Nico and Ryan established their characters really well. The prose was a lot better than I expected given the premise of the book's construction, and I felt like the slow creeping horror was done really well. I loved the Downstairs, the parallel universes and fucked up architecture and the doubles and the seals--I was really enjoying myself for the first 2/3rds of the book. My copy had the scene with Bradley and Ryan at the payphone, which was one of the most memorable in the book and excellently done.
And then it all went downhill when older Nico showed up. Initially I loved it conceptually and in terms of themes and horror etc. But then it just... took a weird sharp turn into "actually I'm a murder-cannibal rapist" and it honestly sort of ruined the book for me. Reed had already built such a good horror concept that kept going unexpected places that nonetheless felt right for the narrative he was trying to build. Nico... didn't feel like that. Honestly, it felt like all of that was included just for shock value. It turned from existential architectural horror to "people sure are evil and fucked up, huh!"
It also made me question everything about Nico's character that he's the sort of person that would turn to that. Yes, yes, all the trauma he went through, he was down there for years, etc. But if there was no food down there, then they would have run out of food quite quickly, and the only way to survive would be killing and eating other people. Which implies a transformation to murder-cannibal within a couple of weeks, not years. And that just did not seem to fit with the Nico we were shown. You can't argue that this Nico was just that fundamentally different from our Nico, because he talks about all sorts of things he and our Ryan remember happening. It's not like he grew up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where this was normal. So it basically falls into the trap of "Anyone can become a murderer if they have a bad enough week," which is a trope I hate.
It also just sort... neutered the horror of the Downstairs. Yeah, fucked up architecture branching on forever, whatever. There's a murder-cannibal-rapist RIGHT HERE to worry about. It just took away from the creepy existential horror and made it a boring murder-people horror novel instead. The Downstairs was no longer the threat--older Nico was. And I just found that... tedious, really.
And then the ending. First, the fact that Nico and Ryan didn't get to talk about anything that happened or any of their feelings or... literally anything at all annoyed me. That's what I was waiting for throughout that whole sequence. I get that it wasn't "his" Nico so that's why, but their "reunion" really lacked any emotional punch. I did like that Ryan said "fuck you" to synchronicity and made the choice to bring Nico along, though I never quite understood what was so bad about going against synchronicity when you're on the way out anyway. But thematically, that felt good.
And then they got randomly separated because... reasons, I guess? So now Ryan and Nico are in different parallel universes without each other, basically alone because they're all each other had, and no chance to reconcile. I get that it's a horror novel and not supposed to have a happy ending, but damn. I didn't need it to be all Love Wins but I wasn't expecting "gay guy has an unrequited crush on his straight-ish best friend, best friend gets murdered and eaten by his alternate self, and he ends up in the one universe where his best friend doesn't exist." I dunno. I understand that the author was going for "this relationship was unhealthy and they're better apart" but I also felt like that was cheapened by the forced permanent separation. It would have been different if they got through all this shit together and went, "Yeah, because of all that shit that went down, we never want to see each other again." That feels like something with agency and purpose and like they actually confronted the harmful aspects of their relationship.
I can see why a lot of people love it, but the last third didn't work for me. But damn, those first two-thirds. I think I'm going to rate it four stars because really, so much of it was so good. Actually, just before Nico showed up I had been thinking this was going to be a five star book. And then it was just a hard shift away from the stuff I loved and a very disappointing ending. I think it's definitely worth reading, but I'm debating whether to do a re-read with my personalized copy. We'll have to see.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2024
I read seed #43283 and loved it. This is a book that truly goes beyond "gimmick" and into "art", using print-on-demand to create a story that could not be told any other way. Or, rather, a story that can be told a million different ways.
I have unsuccessfully tried to get my book club to buy and discuss different seeds, but even just reading the other reviews is pleasantly unsettling! is such a thing to read in the normally safe and well-understood confines of a Goodreads page, when you have just finished a solid and internally coherent horror novel in which
As if further predicting every turn a mind could take, the author also included an alternate version of a scene at the back of the book. I do wish I had seen the "stats" page included in some earlier editions (or current editions, just not mine?) but this glimpse into an alternate world was exactly what I needed to start to grasp the vastness of what Reed has created.
The story also bears a strong resemblance to the Backrooms mythos, specifically some of the videos by Kane Pixels. I saw a few reviews accusing it of being derivative, so I wanted to note that Subcutanean (2020) was written several years before those videos (2022) were released. I would like to think that both authors have glimpsed endless carpet and fractal rooms and an infinite city block, then returned to tell the tale in different ways.
I have unsuccessfully tried to get my book club to buy and discuss different seeds, but even just reading the other reviews is pleasantly unsettling! is such a thing to read in the normally safe and well-understood confines of a Goodreads page, when you have just finished a solid and internally coherent horror novel in which
As if further predicting every turn a mind could take, the author also included an alternate version of a scene at the back of the book. I do wish I had seen the "stats" page included in some earlier editions (or current editions, just not mine?) but this glimpse into an alternate world was exactly what I needed to start to grasp the vastness of what Reed has created.
The story also bears a strong resemblance to the Backrooms mythos, specifically some of the videos by Kane Pixels. I saw a few reviews accusing it of being derivative, so I wanted to note that Subcutanean (2020) was written several years before those videos (2022) were released. I would like to think that both authors have glimpsed endless carpet and fractal rooms and an infinite city block, then returned to tell the tale in different ways.
February 21, 2020
I do most of my reading at night laying in bed, so that’s when I started reading this. I was thinking “adventure,” having forgotten the word “horror” used in the description. I got through the first 10% before I realized that reading more and being able to sleep that night were mutually exclusive, and I was thinking WAY too much about the creepy basement of my own 100+ year old house. Once I was able to pick it up again - in daylight - I didn’t put it back down until it was finished.
Read this book. Not only is the fact that each copy is unique an amazing concept, but the goddamn thing is proper creepy. My only criticism is that I’m now a little obsessed with knowing how some of the other versions read...
Read this book. Not only is the fact that each copy is unique an amazing concept, but the goddamn thing is proper creepy. My only criticism is that I’m now a little obsessed with knowing how some of the other versions read...
August 6, 2020
See full review here
Subcutanean by Aaron A. Reed is a truly unique novel. It is labeled as both horror and LGBT, and fits perfectly within those two genres. Orion has feelings for his friend Niko, which don’t seem to be reciprocated. Yet, they are best friends, who only have each other to rely on.
Subcutanean by Aaron A. Reed is a truly unique novel. It is labeled as both horror and LGBT, and fits perfectly within those two genres. Orion has feelings for his friend Niko, which don’t seem to be reciprocated. Yet, they are best friends, who only have each other to rely on.
June 16, 2021
Whatever this thing is, it's so bad, I lit it on fire and threw it in the reservoir.
September 24, 2024
I have a fervor for backrooms horror and the copy I read delivered on the unsettling but not overtly monstrous vibes . Reed understands that liminal space horror isn't about a monster chasing you, it's about the possibility of what might be there. For the first 60% of the novel he uses this brilliantly to ramp up the tension and scare factor and then he kinda lets it fall flat and introduces a human antagonist. It was still fine and I was happy with the version I read but it did lose a lot of the scariness as a result.
my impression is that pretty much everything can be completely different with the different seeds. Sometimes certain characters live, sometimes things are explained and in other versions aren't (or have different explanations??), characters personalities are subtly different etc. I feel like so much effort went into this and I'm eager to read at least one other to compare. I have this feeling that there must be a perfect version out there for me that does absolutely everything right.
my impression is that pretty much everything can be completely different with the different seeds. Sometimes certain characters live, sometimes things are explained and in other versions aren't (or have different explanations??), characters personalities are subtly different etc. I feel like so much effort went into this and I'm eager to read at least one other to compare. I have this feeling that there must be a perfect version out there for me that does absolutely everything right.
December 20, 2024
i don't even remember how i heard about this but dang it i am so happy i did
August 31, 2025
Debo admitir que el concepto, tanto de la historia como de las diversas versiones que tiene el libro, es muy único y bueno. Creí que era un libro de terror, pero igual no me decepcionó, amé la yuxtaposición de los temas que estaban pasando emocionalmente los protagonistas con todo lo raro que estaba pasando a su alrededor.
February 4, 2023
Seed #43069
The seeds make for an extremely inventive gimmick that ties in well with the content and themes of the novel. Several of my friends came together with unique seeds and we had a blast excitedly comparing differences after each chapter. I worry that "gimmick" is too derisive a word. I have no idea how Subcutanean was done, other than that it must have taken quite a bit of seriously impressive programming, and I am deeply grateful for Aaron Reed's creativity in this matter.
However, the gimmick didn't make up for the fact that I didn't love many of the odd choices the characters made, in spite of Ryan's well-written and relatable background and Niko's general extroverted charms.
Like other readers, I found myself getting lost in the chaos of the climax. Also like other readers, I would identify Elder Niko as a turning point where it started to go downhill. "Actually I'm a cannibal-rapist" was a bit much for me, a shockingly grounded human horror which felt out of place in the otherwise abstract and disembodied horror of "it feels existentially bad when you are too near to your mirror self." Ultimately, Elder Niko's exposition raised just as many questions as it answered, at a time when I was just beginning to turn from excited to frustrated when I realized my questions were never going to be answered. I think the "no explanations" mentality is par for the course in horror, but while I can forego my questions for a short story, too many things pile up over the course of the novel. Both fundamental things like: ; as well as more specific mechanical questions like: . There even are a few other loose ends like . How the two of them didn't die of alcohol poisoning after all the drinking they did well before their wrong-universe-symptoms is neither here nor there.
I even could have tolerated these questions remaining mysteries if I wasn't so peeved with how my Ryan and Niko's relationship shook out.
I have focused on the negative here, but truth be told I read Subcutanean faster than I have read any other book this year. It kept me engaged, I liked the narration and I liked the feeling of sharing in the mystery right there with the characters. I would heartily recommend it to any fans of horror who are more keen on ambience than details. For readers who, like me, can't resist the pull of a neat explanation, wrapped up in a bow, I recommend Piranesi instead.
The seeds make for an extremely inventive gimmick that ties in well with the content and themes of the novel. Several of my friends came together with unique seeds and we had a blast excitedly comparing differences after each chapter. I worry that "gimmick" is too derisive a word. I have no idea how Subcutanean was done, other than that it must have taken quite a bit of seriously impressive programming, and I am deeply grateful for Aaron Reed's creativity in this matter.
However, the gimmick didn't make up for the fact that I didn't love many of the odd choices the characters made, in spite of Ryan's well-written and relatable background and Niko's general extroverted charms.
Like other readers, I found myself getting lost in the chaos of the climax. Also like other readers, I would identify Elder Niko as a turning point where it started to go downhill. "Actually I'm a cannibal-rapist" was a bit much for me, a shockingly grounded human horror which felt out of place in the otherwise abstract and disembodied horror of "it feels existentially bad when you are too near to your mirror self." Ultimately, Elder Niko's exposition raised just as many questions as it answered, at a time when I was just beginning to turn from excited to frustrated when I realized my questions were never going to be answered. I think the "no explanations" mentality is par for the course in horror, but while I can forego my questions for a short story, too many things pile up over the course of the novel. Both fundamental things like: ; as well as more specific mechanical questions like: . There even are a few other loose ends like . How the two of them didn't die of alcohol poisoning after all the drinking they did well before their wrong-universe-symptoms is neither here nor there.
I even could have tolerated these questions remaining mysteries if I wasn't so peeved with how my Ryan and Niko's relationship shook out.
I have focused on the negative here, but truth be told I read Subcutanean faster than I have read any other book this year. It kept me engaged, I liked the narration and I liked the feeling of sharing in the mystery right there with the characters. I would heartily recommend it to any fans of horror who are more keen on ambience than details. For readers who, like me, can't resist the pull of a neat explanation, wrapped up in a bow, I recommend Piranesi instead.
October 30, 2025
Seed #44768 completed 10/30/25: this copy didn't feel quite as emotional as the first two i read but the tone/narration style felt similar to them, and had a good time with it.
Seed #44770 completed 10/28/24: dammit I got the blandly speaking optimistic narrator again -_-
Seed #36619 completed 10/27/23: the variations were a lot of fun in this one ☺️
Reading of seed #30287 completed 10/14/22: I’m glad I didn’t read this copy first because it’s my least favorite so far. Although there were some variations in scenes and dialogue I enjoyed, the overall plot differences weren’t great imo. I found the narrator’s voice too happy-go-lucky in this one and the dynamic between the Orion and Niko was off to the point I had nearly zero emotional reaction to their relationship (as opposed to crying repeatedly while reading Subcutanean previously).
Reading of Seed #41589 completed 10/28/21:
Feeling very fortunate to have been able to swap copies with a friend and be able to experience this story in a new way. There were so many differences between them (including character development, completely new scenes, and manner of speaking between the two MCs, as well as of the narrator) that shifted tone for me. While the plot overall follows all of the same beats, I thoroughly enjoyed feeling like I was reading the story of one of the parallel universes (side note: there were also certain scenes, dialogue, and narration that destroyed my heart even more than my original copy did).
Re-read of Seed #40677 10/14/21:
How did this emotionally destroy me even more the second time around? 😭😭
Seed #40677
A horror novel in which no two copies are the same definitely seems gimmicky at first. But having completed Subcutanean, in which multiple realities and selves are explored, the author’s intent for developing editions containing variants for each reader becomes clear (reading the author’s statement on how he developed this novel and its differing versions is also fascinating). Knowing I have a copy of this unlike any other also made my feel like I was reading my own special book. There are stats at the end that list some of the differences in the copy and it made a part of me curious to read other editions (I’ve heard from other reviewers who have read two different copies that the protagonist nearly sounds like an entirely different person in their alternate copy) although the other part of me doesn’t want to shatter the illusion of having this story just to myself.
Subcutanean is an own voices novel, featuring a gay protagonist, Orion, who is also in love with his best friend, Niko. They’re two college students living in a large house, which they soon come to discover has a never-ending basement, filled with hallways that stretch for miles and rooms attached to them with abstract and sometimes perilous architecture. Much like the pair of boys, I found myself feeling continuously disoriented while they were exploring the basement and had to re-read certain sentences and passages several times.
While all that is unnerving enough, introduce parallel universes, trailing doppelgängers, and the possibility of Orion and Niko never again reaching the surface and you have this brilliant horror gem. I think to some much of this novel will be quite terrifying. I, for one, constantly had a sense of dread and found many of the sections quite creepy.
I’m rating this four stars because while I enjoyed Subcutanean very much, I will admit the beginning is somewhat slow and I struggled getting into the story initially. I also felt meh about the conclusion, but I think part of that speaks so much toward the author and his ability to make me feel strong emotions.
I would definitely recommend picking up a copy directly from the subcutanean website (where a new version of the book will be created upon order) as the ones on Amazon are a set of three pre-generated copies. All in all, I loved this novel and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
Seed #44770 completed 10/28/24: dammit I got the blandly speaking optimistic narrator again -_-
Seed #36619 completed 10/27/23: the variations were a lot of fun in this one ☺️
Reading of seed #30287 completed 10/14/22: I’m glad I didn’t read this copy first because it’s my least favorite so far. Although there were some variations in scenes and dialogue I enjoyed, the overall plot differences weren’t great imo. I found the narrator’s voice too happy-go-lucky in this one and the dynamic between the Orion and Niko was off to the point I had nearly zero emotional reaction to their relationship (as opposed to crying repeatedly while reading Subcutanean previously).
Reading of Seed #41589 completed 10/28/21:
Feeling very fortunate to have been able to swap copies with a friend and be able to experience this story in a new way. There were so many differences between them (including character development, completely new scenes, and manner of speaking between the two MCs, as well as of the narrator) that shifted tone for me. While the plot overall follows all of the same beats, I thoroughly enjoyed feeling like I was reading the story of one of the parallel universes (side note: there were also certain scenes, dialogue, and narration that destroyed my heart even more than my original copy did).
Re-read of Seed #40677 10/14/21:
How did this emotionally destroy me even more the second time around? 😭😭
Seed #40677
A horror novel in which no two copies are the same definitely seems gimmicky at first. But having completed Subcutanean, in which multiple realities and selves are explored, the author’s intent for developing editions containing variants for each reader becomes clear (reading the author’s statement on how he developed this novel and its differing versions is also fascinating). Knowing I have a copy of this unlike any other also made my feel like I was reading my own special book. There are stats at the end that list some of the differences in the copy and it made a part of me curious to read other editions (I’ve heard from other reviewers who have read two different copies that the protagonist nearly sounds like an entirely different person in their alternate copy) although the other part of me doesn’t want to shatter the illusion of having this story just to myself.
Subcutanean is an own voices novel, featuring a gay protagonist, Orion, who is also in love with his best friend, Niko. They’re two college students living in a large house, which they soon come to discover has a never-ending basement, filled with hallways that stretch for miles and rooms attached to them with abstract and sometimes perilous architecture. Much like the pair of boys, I found myself feeling continuously disoriented while they were exploring the basement and had to re-read certain sentences and passages several times.
While all that is unnerving enough, introduce parallel universes, trailing doppelgängers, and the possibility of Orion and Niko never again reaching the surface and you have this brilliant horror gem. I think to some much of this novel will be quite terrifying. I, for one, constantly had a sense of dread and found many of the sections quite creepy.
I’m rating this four stars because while I enjoyed Subcutanean very much, I will admit the beginning is somewhat slow and I struggled getting into the story initially. I also felt meh about the conclusion, but I think part of that speaks so much toward the author and his ability to make me feel strong emotions.
I would definitely recommend picking up a copy directly from the subcutanean website (where a new version of the book will be created upon order) as the ones on Amazon are a set of three pre-generated copies. All in all, I loved this novel and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
October 30, 2019
I know what you're thinking, and you are probably wrong... this novel is not a gimmick, nor is it one of those CYOA books (which is what most people think of when they hear about interactive fiction.) It is also not an angst-filled, post-YA, same-sex romance designed to capitalize on the latest in millennial trends.
I received an ARC with many of the same expectations of what this book would be, but I was wrong. Ignoring the obvious pun, everything in this novel is deeper than it first appears.
- Orion seems like a typical college student until I saw the struggles he faced were deeper than those of a typical adult but not unrealistic.
- Orion's relationships seemed both simple and complex, given his sexual identity and conservative upbringing that colored every meaningful exchange. I haven't faced his challenges in my life, but Aaron smoothly portrayed Orion's push-pull relationship with Niko in universal terms we've all faced with revelations that caused me to re-examine their relationship many times.
- The converted apartment house seemed recognizable for those of us who've had roommates, with odd room layouts and furnishings that clashed. When the character discovered new rooms and hallways that shouldn't exist, the house remained both cosy and yet expansive as they descended deeper.
- Even the plot even seemed deeper to me. I kept asking myself, 'Is this a mystery? a horror? fantasy? science fiction?' As events progressed, I found my perspective shifted from one genre to another as if the story were branching as I read it.
This is a feature, not a bug!
This realization marked when I felt like I understood what Aaron was trying to do -- just knowing other readers will read a slightly different version of events means what is on my page is but one interpretation of a larger story.
Perhaps your interpretation will be different, but isn't that the point?
I received an ARC with many of the same expectations of what this book would be, but I was wrong. Ignoring the obvious pun, everything in this novel is deeper than it first appears.
- Orion seems like a typical college student until I saw the struggles he faced were deeper than those of a typical adult but not unrealistic.
- Orion's relationships seemed both simple and complex, given his sexual identity and conservative upbringing that colored every meaningful exchange. I haven't faced his challenges in my life, but Aaron smoothly portrayed Orion's push-pull relationship with Niko in universal terms we've all faced with revelations that caused me to re-examine their relationship many times.
- The converted apartment house seemed recognizable for those of us who've had roommates, with odd room layouts and furnishings that clashed. When the character discovered new rooms and hallways that shouldn't exist, the house remained both cosy and yet expansive as they descended deeper.
- Even the plot even seemed deeper to me. I kept asking myself, 'Is this a mystery? a horror? fantasy? science fiction?' As events progressed, I found my perspective shifted from one genre to another as if the story were branching as I read it.
This is a feature, not a bug!
This realization marked when I felt like I understood what Aaron was trying to do -- just knowing other readers will read a slightly different version of events means what is on my page is but one interpretation of a larger story.
Perhaps your interpretation will be different, but isn't that the point?
June 27, 2021
I found out about this book from a random rabbit-hole I had descended to on the internet. From there, I saw there were two copies on Amazon, with different "seeds." That intrigued me, being familiar with the idea of random number generators in software engineering, and in searching other retailers I saw the numbers. I needed to know if what I thought they were was what they actually were, and it was not long before I found the author's website. My mind was blown away, because my suspicion was true.
Here, I was staring at a book whose premise was that it changed based on what seed you had and that astounded. Immediately my brain started to think along the lines of how that would work and what it could mean. I also saw on his site that I could have my own seed, my own personal copy of this book, a version of the story that no one else could have. Ever.
I was sold three times over by that point, and ended up ordering a copy directly from the author. I love the idea of having my own personal version of this book, and I have to say it did not disappoint.
That's a heck of a review so far, and I have yet to even touch on the contents of the book itself. Those I am still contemplating, still chewing on and mulling over, and I am still recovering from what I read. It left me shaken at points, and feeling like I was right there in that basement with the two main characters. They felt alive, they felt like someone I knew, they reminded me entirely too much of parts of myself.
I love this book, and I wish I could experience it again for the first time. I may need to reread my copy, and I might have to pick up another seed. Just to see, just to experience another version.
And then another, and another, and another.
Here, I was staring at a book whose premise was that it changed based on what seed you had and that astounded. Immediately my brain started to think along the lines of how that would work and what it could mean. I also saw on his site that I could have my own seed, my own personal copy of this book, a version of the story that no one else could have. Ever.
I was sold three times over by that point, and ended up ordering a copy directly from the author. I love the idea of having my own personal version of this book, and I have to say it did not disappoint.
That's a heck of a review so far, and I have yet to even touch on the contents of the book itself. Those I am still contemplating, still chewing on and mulling over, and I am still recovering from what I read. It left me shaken at points, and feeling like I was right there in that basement with the two main characters. They felt alive, they felt like someone I knew, they reminded me entirely too much of parts of myself.
I love this book, and I wish I could experience it again for the first time. I may need to reread my copy, and I might have to pick up another seed. Just to see, just to experience another version.
And then another, and another, and another.
October 29, 2021
This was a pretty unique read. This is a book that randomly generated on each printing, no two copies are the same! Reading this with the HOWL Society was particularly fun, because we were able to compare our stories and see where things went differently. The discussion made this book worth finishing.
Now to the harsh stuff...
This first half of this book was very engaging and I thought well-written. I was so into it and had a hard time putting it down. As it went on though, I felt it starting to get a bit repetitive. By the end, I was noticing inconsistencies in small details (maybe this was on purpose, but I found it annoying) and found the writing to be far too disjointed.
In the climax, I had a very hard time envisioning what was happening. Things were (predictably) chaotic, but not in a fun way. Because I was so completely lost on what was I supposed to be "seeing", I started skim reading just to find out what happened. These problems, unfortunately, overshadowed any emotional ending I was supposed to encounter.
It was fun to see the notes about my copy - the various points about my characters that were unique, and how my ending was different. Overall a fun book that maybe got a higher rating than it deserved because I had fun discussing it and comparing notes.
Now to the harsh stuff...
This first half of this book was very engaging and I thought well-written. I was so into it and had a hard time putting it down. As it went on though, I felt it starting to get a bit repetitive. By the end, I was noticing inconsistencies in small details (maybe this was on purpose, but I found it annoying) and found the writing to be far too disjointed.
In the climax, I had a very hard time envisioning what was happening. Things were (predictably) chaotic, but not in a fun way. Because I was so completely lost on what was I supposed to be "seeing", I started skim reading just to find out what happened. These problems, unfortunately, overshadowed any emotional ending I was supposed to encounter.
It was fun to see the notes about my copy - the various points about my characters that were unique, and how my ending was different. Overall a fun book that maybe got a higher rating than it deserved because I had fun discussing it and comparing notes.
June 24, 2020
SUBCUTANEAN, a horror novel, is the first book that I have read by Aaron A. Reed, and I can't wait to read more!
’Insecure college senior Orion loves music, books, and his best friend, Niko. When the two of them find a secret basement in their rambling old off-campus house, at first, Orion’s thrilled, it’s another secret to share, an adventure to maybe, at last, bring them closer together.’
‘But something's wrong: the basement doesn't end.’
I had a lot of fun reading SUBCUTANEAN, at times, a suspenseful, heartbreaking horror tale I did not want to put down!
Thank you, Aaron A. Reed, for sending me an eBook of SUBCUTANEAN in exchange for an honest review.
’Insecure college senior Orion loves music, books, and his best friend, Niko. When the two of them find a secret basement in their rambling old off-campus house, at first, Orion’s thrilled, it’s another secret to share, an adventure to maybe, at last, bring them closer together.’
‘But something's wrong: the basement doesn't end.’
I had a lot of fun reading SUBCUTANEAN, at times, a suspenseful, heartbreaking horror tale I did not want to put down!
Thank you, Aaron A. Reed, for sending me an eBook of SUBCUTANEAN in exchange for an honest review.
March 6, 2020
This is somewhere between a 4 and 4.5, I think. My review will appear soon on www.deadheadreviews.com. Until then, I will say I highly recommend this unique book for fans of suspense and abstract horror. I very much enjoyed it.
August 3, 2021
incredibly interesting concept, but did not catch my attention. Some of the twists seemed forced.
January 1, 2023
Unlikable boring characters
May 17, 2020
Take House of Leaves' Navidson Record endless house of horrors, mix in heavy helpings of Dark Matter's parallel universes and sprinkle in some great LGBTQ representation and you get Subcutanean.
This book is creative and fun. The two boys you follow, Niko and Orion, have a fascinating friendship which grows and changes throughout the story. The moments of horror were often delightfully blindsiding and were handled SO well. I finished the story desperately wanting to read it again. And the best part is that I CAN reread it and have it be different the next time through. This book is generated in numerous differing versions so next time I might read a different one to see how the experience changes. This is definitely a book I don't think I'll forget for awhile.
This book is creative and fun. The two boys you follow, Niko and Orion, have a fascinating friendship which grows and changes throughout the story. The moments of horror were often delightfully blindsiding and were handled SO well. I finished the story desperately wanting to read it again. And the best part is that I CAN reread it and have it be different the next time through. This book is generated in numerous differing versions so next time I might read a different one to see how the experience changes. This is definitely a book I don't think I'll forget for awhile.
January 1, 2021
University student Orion is unlucky in love. His only true friend Niko tries to break him out of his loneliness by hosting houseparties in their student home. When a staircase is found beneath Ryan's bed, he and Niko are amazed to discover an unreported room which seems to extend beyond the footprint of the property.
Exploring this room will change their lives forever.
Reed's "permutational novel" contains differences in the text for every paper copy and ebooks ordered directly through him. This version is one of three offered via Amazon and although the skeleton of the story is the same, some of the details will alter the reader's perception of the text.
For a novel about this subject matter, this proves intriguing.
Exploring this room will change their lives forever.
Reed's "permutational novel" contains differences in the text for every paper copy and ebooks ordered directly through him. This version is one of three offered via Amazon and although the skeleton of the story is the same, some of the details will alter the reader's perception of the text.
For a novel about this subject matter, this proves intriguing.
December 1, 2025
4.5/5 ⭐️s — A great read made even better through getting to discuss our different copies at book club!
I was tentatively curious about the book's gimmick at first, but the execution was brilliant and elevated the story and reading experience for me. And even beyond the gimmick, Reed manages to pull off a lot of things in Subcutanean that really impressed me. Ryan and Niko are flawed, yet sympathetic protagonists that had me rooting for them the whole way through, with motives and choices that felt realistic even in the face of the deeply surreal.
I was tentatively curious about the book's gimmick at first, but the execution was brilliant and elevated the story and reading experience for me. And even beyond the gimmick, Reed manages to pull off a lot of things in Subcutanean that really impressed me. Ryan and Niko are flawed, yet sympathetic protagonists that had me rooting for them the whole way through, with motives and choices that felt realistic even in the face of the deeply surreal.
February 21, 2023
Subcutanean is a procedurally-generated novel where each copy is unique—such a fascinating concept, and very thematically appropriate for the story! (I read seed 43949.) It’s a very claustrophobic novel, deftly marrying horror, sci-fi, and queer coming-of-age. I’m really excited to swap notes with others who have read it (thanks Gwyn for the recommendation!)
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July 2, 2023
Absolutely fucking PHENOMENAL omg
This is so SCP I can't even bloody hell what a fantastic book
This is so SCP I can't even bloody hell what a fantastic book
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