Nat Cassidy, author of the acclaimed horror Mary, returns with When the Wolf Comes Home, an unabashed, adrenaline-fueled pop horror thriller where the darkest fears can become reality.

“This is the kind of great, big, epic horror novel we got back in the '80s that came out swinging for the fences and left everything on the field. Welcome back, you shaggy, bloody monster of a book!”—Grady Hendrix

"The Stephen King of TikTok"—The Lineup

One night, Jess, a struggling actress, finds a five-year-old runaway hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a violent, bloody encounter with the boy's father, she and the boy find themselves running for their lives.

As they attempt to evade the boy's increasingly desperate father, Jess slowly comes to a horrifying understanding of the butchery that follows them—the boy can turn his every fear into reality.

And when the wolf finally comes home, no one will be spared.

Other Books by Nat Cassidy

Mary, an Awakening of Terror

Nestlings

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.



Praise for this book

Praise for When the Wolf Comes Home

“This is the kind of great, big, epic horror novel we got back in the '80s that came out swinging for the fences and left everything on the field. Welcome back, you shaggy, bloody monster of a book!”—Grady Hendrix

"When The Wolf Comes Home is a sharp-edged metaphor for trauma and rage, for how they seep into us, how we carry them in us and how sometimes, we pass them on like a curse." - Cassandra Khaw, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth

“When the Wolf Comes Home is an imaginative, adrenaline-fueled wild ride through the babysitting job from Hell. Brims with both horror and heart.”—Tananarive Due, author of The Reformatory



“When the Wolf Comes Home has the feel of a modern-day Twilight Zone episode. Conceptually daring, riveting on the page, shockingly intense in spots, the book is bound together at the heart by a relationship between two lost souls seeking peace. Equal parts scary and soulful.”—Nick Cutter

”Nat Cassidy's When the Wolf Comes Home reads like a movie-in-the-mind, with relentless action ratcheting up the fear and terror, and characters portrayed with real depth and nuance. This is horror at its best.”—Thomas Tessier, author of The Nightwalker



“A teeth-snapping, heart-racing, stomach-churning thrill ride. Fans of Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World will eat this one up, because that's what I did - devoured it in a single bite. Deliciously painful.”

—Ally Wilkes, Bram Stoker award-nominated author of All the White Spaces

“Ultimately, this was about the importance of stories, more importantly, the ones we tell ourselves, our internal becomes our external and shapes our reality, so make sure the story you tell yourself is a good one. It’s about acknowledging your fears, giving them a little nod, and carrying on. It’s clear from his third book that no one is spared when Cassidy puts pen to paper.”—Scream Magazine UK

“When the Wolf Comes Home kicks so much ass! The less you know going in, the better, but I’ll tell you this much—it’s not at all what you’re expecting! Full of heart and harrowing suspense, it belongs on the shelf next to Firestarter, and reminds me of one of my favorite short stories, which I can’t reveal without spoiling the plot! Enough talk…just read it!”—Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of The House of Last Resort and Road of Bones

“How can you outrun something that will never stop? Nat Cassidy gives us a werewolf novel that transcends horror, in which fear is not as simple as a hulking monster lurking in the shadows, but something much more complex. A thrilling journey through the darkness.”—Cynthia Pelayo, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Vanishing Daughters



“When the Wolf Comes Home is a wildly inventive horror novel, and a ripping, bloody page-turner. But that's not all it is—in its beating heart there's a fierce, moving treatise about love, parenthood, and notions of familial indebtedness. I loved it.”—Keith Rosson, author of Fever House and The Devil By Name

“Nat Cassidy's mind is insane, and I mean that as the highest compliment. Only he could come up with a story as unique and universally true as this. When the Wolf Comes Home deftly explores fear and the ways in which it can consume us in childhood and beyond. It's scary, it's wild, it's heartfelt, and there's nothing else like it. I promise you have no idea where this book is going, and you're going to love every page.”—CJ Leede, author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture

“With this cinematic, reality-bending adventure that’s as terrifying as it is profound, Nat Cassidy solidifies himself as one of the most innovative minds in this genre today (and probably ever). When the Wolf Comes Home delivers one breathless, relentless rug-pull after another, increasing in intensity as we come to adore these characters. After the last page, I was still sitting there picking my jaw up off the floor, hoping it wasn’t really over and that there was yet another surprise lurking around the corner.”—Liz Kerin, author of First Light and Night's Edge

“At a point it becomes clear Nat Cassidy has lost his mind, and I love it. When the Wolf Comes Home tears loose from the start. No sitting around—you're on the run with this book, driving off the ledge of full weird and into a wonderful shapeshifting fusion of terror and awe.”—Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Light Most Hateful

“Nat Cassidy delivers another new horror classic. Inventive yet satisfyingly nostalgic, brutal and terrifying yet poignant and heartfelt, an exhilarating thrill-ride with breakneck pacing that’s as entertaining as it is profound. When the Wolf Comes Home cements Cassidy’s status as one of horror’s all-time greats. His best yet.”—Rachel Harrison, USA Today bestselling author of So Thirsty and Black Sheep

“Raw, violent, and unrelenting ... An all-encompassing confrontation of fear itself, ... [Cassidy] crafts stories that last. ... [R]esonant, soul-changing, and a true masterpiece.”—Anna Dupre, FanFiAddict

“A savage howl into the night, When the Wolf Comes Home achieves a rare depth that is Cassidy's signature style. Here lies horror, characters you care about, in situations you can barely fathom. First class.”—Gemma Amor, Bram Stoker Award nominated author of Dear Laura and Full Immersion

“An adrenalized, page-turning fairy tale of terror that hunts you down and reminds you that there's nothing more terrifying than fear itself. Cassidy's latest plunges the reader into a shape-shifting nightmare—When the Wolf Comes Home takes you in its jaws and shakes until you scream.”—Ellie Marney, New York Times bestselling author of None Shall Sleep

“When the Wolf Comes Home is somehow terrifying, utterly moving, and funny all at once. A rip-roaring (and sometimes simply roaring) journey through fear itself, it asks intelligent questions about what it takes to be brave when the world keeps unveiling horror after horror.”—Clémence Michallon, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant

“Nat Cassidy's When the Wolf Comes Home isn't just about the monsters that live under your bed, it's about the monsters that live in your heart. It's a killer.”—Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse

"When the Wolf Comes Home is a wolf-headed chimera of a novel about monstrous fathers, the power of imagination, and the brutal chaos of creating—the terrors we ignite into being, intentionally and unwittingly, as parents, as children, as tender souls bound together by the pain and violence we can't stop inflicting on each other. This full-tilt, wildly imaginative creature feature moves like a four-legged beast hungry for revenge—it will rip your throat out and devour your heart. Nat Cassidy fans will be left howling for more."—Luke Dumas, bestselling author of The Paleontologist and A History of Fear



“Utterly relentless, this kinetic hot rod of a horror novel is pure adrenalized dread that starts and never stops and nothing will save you from its breakneck tension, bone-breaking horror, and heartbroken prose.”— Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes



“Pulse-pounding and heart-wrenching, Nat Cassidy has given us a new breed of terror. This is not your granny’s big bad wolf.”—Lindy Ryan, author of Bless Your Heart

“Straight out of the Twilight Zone, a page-a-minute horror thriller that delivers ALL THE FEELS. Heart-pounding and hearts-wrenching at the same time with a twist at the end that might cold-cock you. Nat Cassidy is proving to be a singular voice in horror—crazily imaginative and deeply human.”—Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor

Praise for Nestlings

“Nestlings is so f***ing good it makes me mad.”—Chuck Wendig, author of Wayward

“A truly creepy story of urban and bodily unease. Nat Cassidy has created a terrifyingly claustrophobic world, and his clean, beautiful prose manages to make the horrific events he describes here feel dismayingly plausible. You’ll certainly never look at a gargoyle the same way again.”—Scott B. Smith, Bestselling author of The Ruins and A Simple Plan



“So so good, so terrifying, a story about marriage and parenthood and grieving your past self, scared the ABSOLUTE DOGSHIT outta me president of the nat cassidy fan club clocking in for my shift!!!!!!!!!”—Samantha Irby, NYTimes bestselling author of Wow, No Thank You and Quietly Hostile

“An absolute triumph of a book. Propulsive and eerie . . .There's a furious grief to the book, a heartbroken rage that threads the pages together.”—Cassandra Khaw, best-selling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth



“Ruthlessly terrifying, with the relentless pace of New York City itself. Nestlings will utterly possess you. You’ve been warned.”—Liz Kerin, author of Night’s Edge

“This book will mess you up, and you’ll be glad. Pitch-perfect creeping horror with heart (and viscera) in spades.”—Kiersten White, #1 NYT bestselling author of Hide



“Step into the Deptford, if you dare! Equally parts Rosemary's Baby and ‘Salem's Lot, I was squirming with shivers and reading this behind my fingers!”—Erin A. Craig, #1 NYT Bestselling author of House of Roots & Ruin and Small Favors

“Nestlings cleverly pays homage to classic horror while also filling its Manhattan highrise with post-2020 frights and concerns. Nat Cassidy has written a creepy page-turner where the scariest things of all are what reside in the human (or inhuman) heart.”—Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts.

“Nestlings builds on the success of Nat Cassidy's first novel, the strong Mary: An Awakening of Terror. An impressive accomplishment in its own right, Nestlings shows Cassidy expanding his range as a writer with skill and confidence, with this gripping twenty-first century take on some old terrors.”—John Langan, author of The Fisherman

“Delectably dark, gorgeously gory, and hypnotically engrossing. With its strong Rosemary's Baby vibe and contemporary sensibilities, Nestlings brings the Manhattan gothic to a triumphant new level.”—Zoje Stage, bestselling author of Baby Teeth and Mothered

“Nat Cassidy is a master of creeping fear, of urban unease, of uncanny dread and outright horror. In Nestlings he brings his considerable imagination to bear on a creature we may think we're all too familiar with and imbues it with new life, reclaiming it for terror. It's a triumph and a vision you won't soon forget.”—Ramsey Campbell, award-winning author

“Oh you like Rosemary’s Baby? 'Salem's Lot? Just wait until you read Nestlings by Nat Cassidy. It’s about the curse and revelation of survival. About the intense emotional complexity of family. It’s also about super weird superstar vampires. And it’s just so funny and smart. This is the horror book of the year.”—Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse

“Finished Nestlings by Nat Cassidy and have already been recommending it left and right. So, so creepy. Well placed dashes of dark humor. Kept me on my toes till the very end!”—Erin E. Adams, author of Jackal

“I just finished reading Nestlings and Nat Cassidy has done it again, folks. Steeped in modern fears with old school horrors lurking behind every door. Go read it now!”—Brian McAuley, author of Curse of the Reaper



“When things are bad, can they possibly get worse? Life is upended in Cassidy’s darkly rich and layered Nestlings, as terror sweeps across the fragile.”—Cynthia Pelayo, Bram Stoker Award nominated author of Children of Chicago

“A fresh take on an old monster, Nestlings is an absolutely horrifying tale. Just remember: when you’re reading into the wee hours, turn on all the lights in the house. It helps. A little.”—Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind

“Told with the same verve and sharpness of classic 1980s literary horror blockbusters penned by Stephen King or Robert R. McCammon, Nestlings is a modern, dread-filled masterpiece that cements Nat Cassidy as one of the most compelling and exciting horror authors to appear on the scene in quite some time.”—Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

“Nestlings is a living, breathing, bleeding, haunting marvel of storytelling that does more than create skin-crawling terror; it slides beneath the itchy flesh and burrows, tick-like, into your heart . . . Reading this book will fill you with terror and (all-too-human) moments of despair, it will flood your senses with the sweet calling of the dark. But worry not, because Cassidy leaves a pinprick of light within reach, a distant beacon that feels like hope.”–Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley



“Surprising and mysterious. Nestlings is rich in the ominous discomfort of a prize that's too good to be true. This book sticks to your skin.”—Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth

“Like The Shining meets The Changeling. And whew, is it scary. . . . I think people are going to lose their minds over this book. Like Mary, it has all the makings of a classic." —Rachel Harrison, Bestselling author of Cackle and Such Sharp Teeth

“Couldn't put it down."—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of The Remaking





Praise for Mary

“Searing imagery. Immediate chills. Also, you see this cover?”—Rachel Harrison, author of Cackle



“Gripping from the start. What begins in a bloodbath leads us through decades into a nightmare of cults, ghosts, and self-hatred, where great and terrible expectations await. Mary is a devastating threat made manifest.”—Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth

“Operatic and tremendously unsettling, there's a dangerous current churning beneath the pages . . . a current that will carry you far away and forever change you the way all excellent books do. This is first class horror.”—Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

“Genius... Intense... No two readers will experience [MARY] quite the same. The reading discoveries are exciting and thrilling. Cassidy has a skilled storytelling voice capable of intense, graphic imagery and scary scenes as well as laugh-out-loud humor.”—Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann, author of 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered

“Who doesn’t want to read the book equivalent of vampire Kathy Bates killing some hipsters in the fifth season of American Horror Story? Middle-aged women’s rage is in this year, and I couldn’t be happier.”—CrimeReads



“All I can say is, it has haunted me since I read it, and I may have to re-read it again soon.”—Horrorble Books

“Cassidy has given us a classic horror novel of a middle-aged woman tormented by all the little-town horrors of her past—those she can remember and those she is forced to remember. Who is Mary, or better yet, what is Mary? She has been called home to find out. A fine read.”—Elizabeth Engstrom, author of When Darkness Loves Us

“A collision of supernatural and real-life horrors, Nat Cassidy's Mary throbs with a relentlessly sinister energy. Packed with visceral shocks and quiet menace, breakneck storytelling and profound character work, Mary is absolutely riveting. I can't recommend it highly enough.”—Jonathan Janz, author of The Siren and the Specter and The Raven

“Mary, Mary, quite extraordinary... How does your novel grow? With pillow cases hiding sliced off faces, and porcelain dolls all in a row. With an acidic sense of humor more barbed than any cactus, Nat Cassidy's fast-paced Mary is a perfect blend of Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne and Frank De Felitta's Audrey Rose. This book goes out to all those bad seeds who have gone beyond their bloom and entered the twilight of their murderous lives.”—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of The Remaking

“[E]very bit as brilliant as everyone's saying: a gory, body horror-soaked exploration of menopause, cults, self-worth, & true crime junkies. I can't recommend this book enough—even the afterword is revelatory.”—Ally Wilkes, author of All the White Spaces

“Just finished Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy & WOW! The horror arrives like a monsoon thunderstorm: ominous page 1 rumbles that build to a frenzied, spectacular conclusion that'll leave you awestruck & trembling. Smart, scary & full of heart, Mary is a force of nature!”—KC Jones, author of Black Tide

“Genuinely scary, and at times both heartfelt and heartbreaking, Mary is a powerhouse of a horror novel, with something important to say. We need more like this. Standing ovation!”—Brian Keene

“Nat Cassidy's Mary is a bravura journey into horror, cults, and the estrangement of middle age. It's one BANANAS ride, by a very talented writer.”—Sarah Langan

“Congrats on a loud and bloody Mary. She's going to make herself heard and then some.”—Kathe Koja




About the AuthorNAT CASSIDY has been an off-off-Broadway playwright of speculative works that have been well-received by drama critics. He has won the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for a one-man show about H. P. Lovecraft. An established actor on stage and television usually playing monsters and villains on shows such as Blue Bloods, Bull, Quantico, and Law & Order: SVU. He is also the author of the horror novel Mary.
Title: When the Wolf Comes Home
Author(s): Nat Cassidy
ISBN: 9781250354358
Copyright 2025
Release Date: April 22, 2025
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Countries: United States, Canada | Learn more about available countries
Language: English
Format: None available | Learn More about our supported formats
Dragonmount is a proud provider of DRM-free eBooks. By purchasing any eBook from our store, you are not only helping support our website, but you are helping small businesses thrive in a market traditionally dominated by large companies. Learn more in our eBook FAQ.