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Verushka
"Through evocative prose, Stinchcomb establishes a mounting sense of claustrophobia as the tension ratchets up." —Publishers Weekly
Someone is stalking Devon Woodward. They’ve been there all along, since before she was born, going back to her grandmother’s time. Waiting for her. Watching. And the people who should be able to help, her own parents, are making everything worse.
Devon is right to be afraid. Verushka, both victim and villain, is a half-human witch from the other side of the world. She will do anything to get what she needs from the Woodward family, but she may have finally met her match in young Devon.
Will family conflict sabotage Devon’s efforts to escape and put her in even greater danger? In this multi-perspective novel that is part fairy tale and part horror story, a young girl fights to uncover the truth and save her own life.
Someone is stalking Devon Woodward. They’ve been there all along, since before she was born, going back to her grandmother’s time. Waiting for her. Watching. And the people who should be able to help, her own parents, are making everything worse.
Devon is right to be afraid. Verushka, both victim and villain, is a half-human witch from the other side of the world. She will do anything to get what she needs from the Woodward family, but she may have finally met her match in young Devon.
Will family conflict sabotage Devon’s efforts to escape and put her in even greater danger? In this multi-perspective novel that is part fairy tale and part horror story, a young girl fights to uncover the truth and save her own life.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 7, 2023
3 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Jan Stinchcomb
22 books36 followersJan Stinchcomb is a writer living in Southern California. She is the author of Verushka (JournalStone), The Kelping (Unnerving), The Blood Trail (Red Bird Chapbooks) and Find the Girl (Main Street Rag).
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 10, 2023
What a great, interesting, and scary story!
June 16, 2023
An interesting dark fairytale horror by an author with a pretty unique imagination. 🧸🐇
This was a mix of dark fairytale, mother/child relationships, coming of age tensions, and family secrets. Verushka is our title character, and one of a few main characters through which the story is told via multiple POVs and timelines.
I liked the dark fairytale element of the story, but it takes a little bit for that to fully unfold and be explained. I’d preferred to learn more about that early on, but stick with it. Like many thrillers or horrors the story takes place in the space of or result of secrets. Our youngest MC Devon carries the weight of an unknown curse passed down from her family and she feels in her bones that her fate is already written. While I think I enjoyed her story more as a brave innocent kid w/ Bear and Henry by her side vs a turbulent teen I’m mostly satisfied with the ending. I say mostly cause I think the other mothers should have taken a shit ton more responsibility once they knew what Devon was going through / had gone through. Oh and what will happen to Davor now or is he just another product of bad parenting? I guess the reality of bad parents exist in all forms of horror.
Coming soon on July 7
https://journalstone.com/bookstore/ve...
This was a mix of dark fairytale, mother/child relationships, coming of age tensions, and family secrets. Verushka is our title character, and one of a few main characters through which the story is told via multiple POVs and timelines.
I liked the dark fairytale element of the story, but it takes a little bit for that to fully unfold and be explained. I’d preferred to learn more about that early on, but stick with it. Like many thrillers or horrors the story takes place in the space of or result of secrets. Our youngest MC Devon carries the weight of an unknown curse passed down from her family and she feels in her bones that her fate is already written. While I think I enjoyed her story more as a brave innocent kid w/ Bear and Henry by her side vs a turbulent teen I’m mostly satisfied with the ending. I say mostly cause I think the other mothers should have taken a shit ton more responsibility once they knew what Devon was going through / had gone through. Oh and what will happen to Davor now or is he just another product of bad parenting? I guess the reality of bad parents exist in all forms of horror.
Coming soon on July 7
https://journalstone.com/bookstore/ve...
August 18, 2023
Jan has the unique ability to give us full access into the psyche of every character while delivering a gripping postmodern fairytale.
June 25, 2023
Thank You to the author for a copy for review.
Verushka is part folk horror part generational trauma. An ages old curse follows a family throughout the decades landing ultimately on the young granddaughter, Devon’s, shoulders.
I thought all the characters were sympathetic and genuine, even the main antagonist Verushka. I won’t call her a witch, although there are elements of magic here. I also wouldn’t label her as a vampire or fairy, though she does make blood sacrifices for her eternal youth.
This is a tale about motherhood in all it’s forms. How far a mother would go to protect her child and what she’s capable of when she’s exhausted and at the end of her endurance.
If you like folk-horror, generational trauma and coming-of-age, you’ll love this one!
Verushka is part folk horror part generational trauma. An ages old curse follows a family throughout the decades landing ultimately on the young granddaughter, Devon’s, shoulders.
I thought all the characters were sympathetic and genuine, even the main antagonist Verushka. I won’t call her a witch, although there are elements of magic here. I also wouldn’t label her as a vampire or fairy, though she does make blood sacrifices for her eternal youth.
This is a tale about motherhood in all it’s forms. How far a mother would go to protect her child and what she’s capable of when she’s exhausted and at the end of her endurance.
If you like folk-horror, generational trauma and coming-of-age, you’ll love this one!
August 1, 2023
Verushka is a coming-of-age, dark folk/fairytale read with witchy supernatural elements. There’s quite a bit to unpack throughout this one; miscarriage, childhood trauma, family secrets, generational wounds, and dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships. Not to mention, scary strangers in the woods and spooky af imaginary?? friends 😱
July 7, 2023
Devon Woodward was stalked from the day she was born by an entity from her grandmother’s time. Verushka is a half-human witch willing do anything to get what she needs from the Woodward family. Devon won't go quietly, but family conflict might sabotage Devon’s efforts to escape her fate.
A house fire sent four-year-old Devon and her family to a new home near a small town and the woods. There's an old woman with long white hair deep in the woods that no one else seems to know about, but she still has an effect. Devon's parents are upset in the aftermath, the stress driving a wedge between them that Devon can see but not understand. She has her own stress to deal with, as there's the mysterious behavior of her toy that miraculously survived the fire and moves around.
As the novel continues, we see flashes back to Devon's father's childhood, as well as her grandmother meeting Verushka in the first place. We even see Verushka's story, and understand why it's so important for her to get Devon to take her place in the other world of magic and sprites. Throughout the stories we have the creeping sense of something going wrong, of something else about to happen that will bring more horror into their lives. The tension rises until the fateful night Devon comes face to face with Verushka and must figure out what to do on her own. The last quarter of the book is especially tense, because we don't know what will happen next, or if Devon will survive it when she doesn't feel like she will. It's very well done, right to the last page.
October 4, 2023
This is a thrilling read - couldn't put the book down, it was so enjoyable being caught up in the spell cast by its intergenerational curse. The story's magic is deadpan and believable; and its realistic everyday world feels magical.
August 25, 2023
Verushka is a thoughtful and engaging modern fairy tale and multi-generational horror story.
February 15, 2024
I wrote about this book and an awe-inspiring passage that is told through a child's perspective:
https://bit.ly/4bbnoUc
https://bit.ly/4bbnoUc
July 9, 2024
Full review at Happy Goat Horror:
https://happygoathorror.com/2023/07/2...
What a novel! Verushka is such a mysterious character that I was always on the fence trying to figure out what was actually going on with her. Absolutely love the story-telling - I love a tale that spans generations, especially passed down a family. Tense and evocative, and a great read.
https://happygoathorror.com/2023/07/2...
What a novel! Verushka is such a mysterious character that I was always on the fence trying to figure out what was actually going on with her. Absolutely love the story-telling - I love a tale that spans generations, especially passed down a family. Tense and evocative, and a great read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews