A creepy and atmospheric slice of small town horror from the Bram Stoker award finalist and bestselling author of Come With Me. Perfect for readers of Christopher Golden and fans of Mike Flanagan. In the aftermath of a terrible storm, the town of Stillwater, Maryland tries to recover what it has lost. From flooded roads and houses, to ruined businesses—the residents of the town begin to clean up and return to normal. In the midst of the clear up, people begin to see things. Matthew Crawly spies his father in the woodlands above the Narrows, but that cannot be possible; Maggie Quedentock nearly hits a child with her car, only to find an empty road lying before her; and in the middle of it all, Sergeant Ben Journell is thrust into an impossible investigation. Animals are being slaughtered, their brains systematically removed from their bodies. Something is happening to the town of Stillwater…something dark and ancient and evil has its grip on everyone. The saying goes, still waters run deep , but no one in Stillwater is prepared for just how deep they run, and no one can possibly be ready for what they might find when they reach the bottom of the gray waters of the Narrows. A PASTE MAGAZINE MOST ANTICIPATED HORROR NOVEL FALL 2024 One of our finest practitioners of small town horror—Paste Magazine Immensely gripping and impossible to put down,... The Narrows , not only provides meaningful commentary but also capitalizes on so many of the classic horror tropes we have come to know and love.— FanFiAddict One of Malfi's best books—Screen Rant The Narrows succeeds in bringing an entirely new spin on the classic vampire trope. Ronald Malfi’s prose burns with the same intensity as the story he tells.— Grimdark Magazine PRAISE FOR SMALL TOWN HORROR "Malfi is horror’s Faulkner, and Small Town Horror might be his best novel yet. Stylish, dark, and with a haunting, salty atmosphere, this is a superb novel about how the ghosts of the past always dance with those of the present." Gabino Iglesias, Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson award-winning author of The Devil Takes You Home "This is bedrock American horror fiction, sure to be a classic. Malfi deftly draws you down into the darkness of a group of friends in a small town (natch) who find themselves literally haunted by the secrets and mistakes of their shared past." Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers  Ronald Malfi is a talented storyteller known for the quality of his writing and the way he brings an element of elegance to the genre, and Small Town Horror—relentlessly creepy, unapologetically dark, and surprisingly heartfelt—might just be his best novel yet—Locus Magazine  "Small Town Horror blends the sunburnt southern noir of S.A. Cosby with the homespun haunts of Raymond Bradbury, creating a brackish blend of sin-ridden horror unlike anything else scuttling across bookshelves today. Ronald Malfi is the Bard of Chesapeake Bay gothic and the outright brine of this beautifully terrifying book will be steeped into your subconscious forever." Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters  "An eerie and deeply unsettling horror epic with faint shadows of Peter Straub and Robert R. McCammon flickering at the periphery . . . Small Town Horror is the kind of masterful and deftly written horror fiction that makes me fall in love with the genre all over again." Eric LaRocca, Bram Stoker Award finalist, and author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke "This isn’t only Malfi’s masterpiece, it’s a heroic swing at the Great American Novel, and will be nakedly terrifying to anyone who’s been a kid—and to anyone who’s grown up with regret. This is heavyweight horror, a total knockout." Daniel Kraus, New York Times bestseller and author of Whalefall Malfi refreshes a familiar horror trope—the surfacing of a long-hidden secret—with nuanced characterizations and a genuinely surprising reveal. Christopher Golden fans will be especially pleased.—Publishers Weekly “Malfi is a masterful writer, a storyteller who has no interest in pulling punches or playing nice when it comes to his fiction, but Small Town Horror is a vicious, merciless assault; a relentless, passionate, nightmarish kaleidoscope of guilt and vengeance, witches and curses, murder and deception, with just enough supernatural mayhem to keep the whole thing feeling like a fever dream from hell. Buckle up kids, this is one you won’t soon forget.” – Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley "With strokes of King and shades of Jackson, Malfi burns bright in Small Town Horror." Lindy Ryan, Bram Stoker Award-nominee and author of Cold Snap and Bless Your Heart "Ronald Malfi is a gifted writer. You fear for his characters because they feel like people you know, ordinary people with dire secrets. Small Town Horror gives us broken people wrapped up in a past that won’t set them free, the kind of story Malfi has truly mastered. Nobody els