Tillinghast follows a priest whose bloodthirsty life has extended far longer than any mere human’s—and is upended when a stranger comes to town.
Mark your calendars, LitStackers! Tillinghast by Clare Cavenagh is in presale (the best time to buy a book), and ready to hit the bookshelf on June 23, 2026. Our anticipation is palpable. Published by Viking, this horror novel is already making waves with early readers. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s on the cover from the publisher’s official description to early reviews that will help you pre-order your copy ASAP. Let’s dive in!
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About Tillinghast
Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he’s allowed himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and has always ended in a shallow grave in his cellar. There’s a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it: it is simple enough that he has his needs, and that when they become unbearable, he fulfills them. In his long and lonely life, he has met only one other like him—the woman he still yearns for, the one who made him what he is.
Then a girl arrives, searching for him. She has his last name, and bears an uncanny resemblance to that woman, awakening memories Tillinghast had long suppressed; the connection he feels for her is immediate and overwhelming. She’s also sick, very sick, with symptoms Tillinghast recognizes all too well…and only he knows how to cure her.
Inspired by the real events of the New England vampire panic of the nineteenth century, Tillinghast is a novel to sink your teeth into: at once a gripping, atmospheric horror that turns the classic monster narrative on its head; a literary work of exceptional prose about giving into–or resisting–our impulses; and a remarkably moving father-daughter story that will leave you unexpectedly hopeful—and rooting, despite your every instinct, for the killers.
Praise for Tillinghast
“Moody and expertly rendered, Tillinghast is a lyrical and oddly moving nightmare. A vampire (don’t say that word) novel like no other. I was enthralled and have become an eager fan of Clare Cavenagh.”—Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts
“A sophisticated take on the vampire genre…Dripping in lush gothic atmosphere, this understated, slow-burning literary horror novel is sure to win fans. —Publishers Weekly
“[A] dark debut…Cavenagh’s novel reads like 19th-century gothic fiction in all the best ways, drawing the reader into Tillinghast’s perspective while projecting a suffocating atmosphere…[The] characters are unique and the voice inventive. An original, sinster tale.”—Kirkus
“Wonderfully mysterious and gorgeously written, Tillinghast offers a boldly original take on what it means to be a monster. While the subject matter is inherently dark, Cavanagh’s reflections on connection, love, and found family shine through with an unexpected warmth.”—Monika Kim, Sunday Times Bestselling Author of The Eyes Are the Best Part
“A somber hymn of loneliness, of ancient wounds still tender, raw, and healing, of an insatiable, eternal yearning. Tillinghast is a soft chant in the dark—a tone poem etched in blood, agony, and utter cruelty. Lyrical and devastating, this remarkably heartfelt debut filled me with the same intense emotion I felt when I first watched Park Chan-wook’s Thirst or read Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite for the very first time.”—Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
“Deliciously unsettling. Clare Cavenagh weaves a gothic magic through the pages, evoking Shirley Jackson-esque horror. Tillinghast examines the fine line between what is human and what is not and elicits a dread that leaves you unable to look away. A book that will stay with you long after you’ve finished turning the pages.”—Ahana Virdi, author of Sour Fruit
“Out of the clay that is the vampire genre, Clare Cavenagh has crafted a wonderful, unexpected figure. I was immediately drawn to Tillinghast, neither innocent nor guilty (as it should be). In this novel, salvation and damnation are wrapped together in a beautiful, melancholic murder ballad.”—Marina Yuszczuk, author of Thirst
About Clare Cavenagh, Author of Tillinghast
Clare Cavenagh spent her childhood in Erica, Australia, and her adolescence in Fribourg, Switzerland. She read English and renaissance literature at the University of Cambridge, and now lives in London where she works as a copywriter. Her short fiction and criticism have been published in Editions L’Hèbe, Cambridge Quarterly and Eucalyptus Lit. Tillinghast is her first novel.
You can connect with Clare Cavenagh on her website, and on Instagram.
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Viking | Penguin Random House
ISBN Hardcover 9798217060825
Pub Date: Jun 23, 2026
LitStack Spots
Here are a few other bloodcurdling titles that we are definitely adding to our TBR stack, including Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova, and Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
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As an affiliate of Bookshop.org, Malaprop’s, Books-A-Million, Audiobooks.com, Chirp, 2nd & Charles, Amazon, NameHero, Envato, and Place-It, LitStack may earn a commission—at no cost to you—when you purchase through our affiliate links. We appreciate the brands we work with, and also appreciate that using our affiliate links may help you find your next great read, a book or two or more, in whatever form, while simultaneously supporting LitStack. When you use our affiliate links, you help keep LitStack running—and for that, we thank you.
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