It Looks Like You in the Dark is a propulsive Indigenous horror debut, expertly blending Native Alaskan folklore and supernatural thrills, from Mathida Zeller, author of the acclaimed short story "Kustuka" featured in the bestselling horror anthology, Never Whistle at Night.

The only people who know are the people who have gone. Those people no longer have throats to tell us.

Tapeesa is newly out of high school and working in a fish processing plant in the Inupiat village, Chukchi, where she’s lived her whole life. Maybe that’s why people tend to assume she isn’t that bright—or maybe her mama is right and she does have bad blood. Either way, she knows the legend, and she knows the history. Her Ahna told her that the hungry creature—the kushtuka—appears to us in the form of someone we love. It will try to get us to follow it. Follow it where? Those who have gone no longer have throats to tell us.

The Kobuk River Valley of remote Alaska draws greedy white men time and time again. But whenever they come, death comes too. This time the white men are here for the long term, to create an open pit, a lead mine just north of the village. When her sister Esther goes missing, Tapeesa will do anything to get her back. Seeking justice, Tapeesa must track down the kidnapper in the darkening Arctic. What awaits beyond the warmth of her village is more horrible than she could imagine and closer to her than she knows.

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU IN THE DARK is a fast-paced, grab-you-by-the-throat story about love, loyalty, and all the fearsome monsters that emerge when we turn our backs on the land and each other.

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Praise for this book

“There's very strong, deft, scary horror here, but there's also a rage that'll pull you in by the face, not let you look away.”—Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

“Zeller’s richly layered story about kinship, love, identity—and terror of both supernatural and human monsters looking to consume and destroy, but with a smile, is a stunner.”—Erika T Wurth, author of White Horse and The Haunting of Room 904



“As chilling as permafrost and as inescapably dark as a never-ending Arctic winter. But while Mathilda Zeller has peopled her story with all-too-real evils and folkloric nightmares, she also never loses the promise of a future sunrise. A stellar expansion of her excellent short story.”—Nat Cassidy, USA Today bestselling author of When the Wolf Comes Home



"A haunting story of survival, love, and resilience in the face of terror. . . . Zeller beautifully shows us that our culture, language, and songs are powerful tools against the darkness and will protect our community in the face of extinction. A haunting story of resilience, land, and family showcasing the love of our culture that I found myself thinking about days later.”–Cara Jade Myers, Filmmaker & Killers of the Flower Moon Actress

“In the village of Chukchi, Alaska, something lurks in the frigid night. A thing of legend with an insatiable appetite for vengeance. It Looks Like You in the Dark is a chilling tale of suspense and Native American lore. Mathilda Zeller has taken Indigenous horror to a whole new level in her debut novel.”—Owl Goingback, Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of Crota.

“Blood stains the snow where colonial greed tears into the Arctic’s hide. At its heart, It Looks Like You in the Dark unleashes something older, cunning, and hungry enough to bite back. This is a hunt where family turns predator, trust rots in the marrow, and survival snaps its jaws shut. Brutal, intimate, and alive with the frostbitten breath of the North, this novel expands the acclaimed short story that opened Never Whistle at Night.”—Shane Hawk, editor of the best-selling anthology Never Whistle at Night




About the Author

Mathilda Zeller writes horror and fantasy. Her short story, “Kushtuka,” which was the foundation for this novel, is the first in the bestselling anthology of dark Indigenous fiction, Never Whistle At Night. Mathilda’s family and roots extend deep into the Kobuk River Valley, which inspires and informs her writing.

Mathilda Zeller is a pen name, honoring two of the author’s resilient great-grandmothers.


Title: It Looks Like You in the Dark
Author(s): Mathilda Zeller
ISBN: 9781250402042
Copyright 2026
Release Date: October 13, 2026
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Countries: United States, Canada | Learn more about available countries
Language: English
Format: None available | Learn More about our supported formats
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