From Hildur Knútsdóttir comes Down Where Monsters Dwell, a dark, historical fairytale steeped in Icelandic folklore about the powerful bond between mothers and daughters, and how quickly fear can lead to violence; perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Brom, and Victor LaValle.

“A crisp Icelandic bedtime story.” —Christopher Buehlman, New York Times bestselling author of Between Two Fires

Centuries ago, in the isolated fjords of Iceland, a woman named Halla rescues a baby girl, abandoned by her parents who fear she’s a changeling. Halla doesn’t believe in such nonsense and decides to take her home.

And she’s right – the child, Æsa, is not a changeling. But she’s not exactly human either. As she grows up, terrifying rumors of a violent woman with a monster’s face begin to spread through the fjord’s other farmsteads.

Human or not, Halla knows her daughter isn’t a monster. She must do whatever she can to protect Æsa because she knows: scared people can do terrible things.

Also by Hildur Knútsdóttir

The Night Guest

Dead Weight

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



Praise for this book

“A crisp Icelandic bedtime story replete with bright summer nights, howling winds full of sea salt, and a lesson about trying to bring unwelcome gods to old islands.” —Christopher Buehlman, New York Times bestselling author of Between Two Fires

“Everything I love in a dark tale, dripping with atmospheric dread, steeped in lore, brutal, brooding, bloody, and beautiful all at the same time. You don’t want to miss this one.” —Brom, USA Today bestselling author of Slewfoot

“A dreamy, otherworldly, and triumphant tale...a fierce reminder that love will always beat fear, and that there have always been monsters who wear a human face.” —Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author

“Dark and dreamy, yet all too real, Down Where Monsters Dwell is a tense and spellbinding fairytale for the modern reader. This one will take hold of you and never let go.” —Melissa Larsen, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost House

“A beautiful story that reshapes cruel legends into something fresh and new, full of fierce hope and powerful bonds between women.” —Sunyi Dean, USA Today bestselling author

“Bloody, fantastic, and bloody fantastic. Knútsdóttir has done it again. Down Where Monsters Dwell is less about fearing what our creatures will do to the world, and more what the world will do to them.” —John Wiswell, Nebula-winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In

“Reads like a story that should be told by the campfire at night. Atmospheric and captivating—I absolutely adored it.” —Genoveva Dimova, author of Foul Days

“A masterclass in womanhood and the struggles of navigating, rebelling against, and surviving a misogynistic society.” —Ai Jiang, author of An Empire in the Clouds

“Lures you in with beauty and atmosphere…before baring its bloodstained teeth. Absolutely, bitingly brilliant.” —Kelsea Yu, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of Stormraven

“From horror mastermind Hildur Knútsdóttir comes a deliciously dark fairytale dripping in Icelandic lore which asks us to confront the age-old question of who the true monsters are.” —Paula Gleeson, author of Boney Creek and Original Twin

“A bloody brew of folklore and outright horror. This is Knútsdóttir at her haunting, flint-sharp best. I devoured it.” —Todd S. Jordan, author of The Flesh I Want

“A dark, fantastical look into what really makes a monster. I devoured it in one sitting.” —Alan Baxter, award-winning author of The Gulp and Sallow Bend

“Knútsdóttir crafts yet another delightfully chilling tale full of Icelandic lore, in which she demands we ask ourselves: who are the real monsters here?” —Cindy R. X. He, Edgar Award-nominated author of This Is Where We Die and Perfect Little Monsters

“As breathtaking and unforgiving as an Icelandic fjord, Down Where Monsters Dwell is a striking testament to resilience, motherhood, and stories that linger. Equal parts folkloric fable and feminist horror, Knútsdóttir’s latest novella is a bite-sized triumph. An unflinching exploration of monstrosity and who defines it.” —Clare Edge, author of Natural Selection

“Primal and feral, yet gleaming like a round polished stone, Down Where Monsters Dwell entrances with its wind-swept starkness and red-bloodied urgency. Knútsdóttir’s prose is concise, her choice of words rigorous, her ear for rhythm faultless, and this new one from her is a gift to all her readers—in whatever language.” —Andrea Morstabilini, author of A Blood as Bright as Moon

Praise for Dead Weight:

“Mesmerizing and brutal—I couldn’t put this down. Dead Weight has everything I’ve come to love about Knútsdóttir’s style: it’s eerie, captivating, and oh, so satisfying.” —Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

“[An] impressively subtle and slow-burning psychological chiller from Knútsdóttir... Anyone looking for character-driven horror with a very sharp edge will be thrilled.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Utterly captivating. Dead Weight had me by the throat from the first page to the last. I cannot recommend it enough!” —Katee Robert, New York Times bestselling author

“A gut-punch of a story as stark, brutal, and brooding as a lava field with a burning heart of female friendship and tenacity.” —Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author

“An unflinching tale of friendship and sacrifice—and the terrible things women sometimes have to do in order to survive. With its sharp, elegant prose, Dead Weight is as hopeful as it is haunting. I inhaled it in a single, feverish sitting.” —Monika Kim, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Eyes Are the Best Part

“Brilliant, gruesome, and toe-curlingly tense, Dead Weight is a deliciously dark story about female friendship and the invisible ties that bind us. Knútsdóttir has truly outdone herself.” —Melissa Larsen, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost House

“Strange, breathless, insistent, and obsessive...will leave you with a chill that lingers like a blood stain.” —Ai Jiang, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Linghun

“Dead Weight lures you in with a sweet side before pulling your nerves taut.” —Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author

“An impossibly suspenseful, gruesome, and heartwarming story of friendship and love, and a breath of fresh air in this era of increasing isolation and violence.” —Alex Grecian, New York Times bestselling author of Red Rabbit

“Terrifying, horrible, unspeakable, yet so very immediate and relatable. Forget being able to put Dead Weight down—I had to remember to breathe.” —Ryka Aoki, author of Light From Uncommon Stars

Praise for The Night Guest:

“A truly gripping read you can devour in one sitting.”—The New York Times

"From its opening pages, Knútsdóttir's eerie and elegant The Night Guest wraps its icy fingers around you and pulls you in. It's so atmospheric, so well-crafted, and so truly, deeply unsettling that by the end, you feel every bit as haunted as its sleepless heroine."—Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs

"A genuinely heart-pounding read."—Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

"You can speed through this book in a single spooky night and be satisfied with the chills it leaves behind.”—The Wall Street Journal

“This is psychological horror at its finest.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"The Night Guest pulls us by our throats down Reykjavik midnight streets in an unraveling nightmare. This book moved, thrilled, and terrified me. I absolutely loved it."—CJ Leede, USA Today bestselling author of Maeve Fly

"Like the flashes of a waking nightmare, Knútsdóttir’s artful spiral of terror will have fans of Ling Ma, Paula Hawkins, and other flawed female narrators demanding more."—Booklist

"A beautifully written story: visceral, layered, and haunting. I loved every moment."—Sunyi Dean, bestselling author of The Book Eaters




About the AuthorHildur Knútsdóttir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, in 1984. She has lived in Spain, Germany, and Taiwan and studied literature and creative writing at The University of Iceland. She writes fiction both for adults and teenagers, as well as short fiction, plays, and screenplays. The Night Guest was her first book translated into English. She lives in Reykjavík with her husband, their two daughters, and a dog called Uggi.
Title: Down Where Monsters Dwell
Author(s): Hildur Knútsdóttir
ISBN: 9781250329325
Copyright 2027
Release Date: March 09, 2027
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.