This Is My Body

By (author) King-Miller, Lindsay
Short description/annotation:
A gripping, emotional, and darkly funny queer horror novel about family trauma and possession, for fans of Rachel Harrison and Catriona Ward.
Description:
“King-Miller’s finest work to date.”—New York Times

“This Is My Body is simply one of the finest works of familial horror I have ever encountered. This book is hideously satisfying.”—Sarah Gailey, author of Just Like Home

A gripping, emotional, and darkly funny queer horror novel about family trauma and possession, for fans of Rachel Harrison and Catriona Ward.

Gay single mom Brigid always thought that cutting ties with her extremist Catholic family was the best thing she could have done for her daughter, Dylan—and for herself. But when Dylan starts having terrifying fits of unnatural violence, Brigid can’t shake her memories of a girl from her childhood who behaved the same way . . . until Brigid’s uncle, Father Angus, performed an exorcism.

Convinced that her daughter is suffering from demonic possession, Brigid does the thing she told herself she’d never do: she goes home. Father Angus is the worst person she knows, but he’s also the only person who can help her daughter.

But as Brigid starts to uncover secrets about Father Angus, that long-ago exorcism, and her family’s past, she realizes that she and Dylan have never been in more danger.

This Is My Body is a piercing journey into religious trauma and childhood shame, building towards a heart-pounding twisty climax that will spin your head all the way around.

“The line between homage and pastiche is sharp and dangerous, but King-Miller walks it with grace in This Is My Body, a demonic possession story in the vein of The Exorcist.”—New York Times
Review quote:
A CrimeReads New and Upcoming Horror Novel to Look Out for This Summer (and Beyond)

“The line between homage and pastiche is sharp and dangerous, but King-Miller walks it with grace in This Is My Body, a demonic possession story in the vein of The Exorcist. . . . . Effective, straightforward storytelling and great attention to emotions make this sad and often horrific novel King-Miller’s finest work to date.”—Gabino Iglesias, New York Times

“Tackling religious drama and shame, this release definitely has this queer Exorcist fan’s interest piqued.”—Autostraddle

“This Is My Body rounds the horror bases with aplomb—gore, infestation, claustrophobia, house that shifts around you—and brings it all home with a satisfying emotional climax and a fun little kicker of an epilogue.”—Reactor

“By turns exhilarating and disgusting, moving and monstrous. . . . Fans of queer horror looking for a fresh take on a familiar trope will be hooked.”—Publishers Weekly

“King-Miller’s story combines the shame around religiosity and sexuality and pulls it into a fresh interpretation of the traditional demonic possession story, which will appeal to fans of Shirley Jackson and Alma Katsu.”—Booklist

“This Is My Body is simply one of the finest works of familial horror I have ever encountered. This book is hideously satisfying.”—Sarah Gailey, author of Just Like Home

“A brutal, brilliant story of motherhood, memory, and religion, deviously simple and terribly clever. King-Miller has become one of my must-read authors.”—Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Cuckoo

“A cathartic tangle of love, rage, and religious trauma. . . . King-Miller explores the fraught dynamics of mothers and daughters, bodily autonomy, and generational curses in an inventive possession tale unlike any you’ve read.”—Hailey Piper,