Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher – a brilliantly creepy, skin-crawling work of southern gothic fiction

Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher begins innocently enough: Sonia Wilson, an anxious young scientific illustrator, has been hired to draw the vast insect collection of the reclusive entomologist (insect expert) Dr Halder at his North Carolina manor house.

Something’s not quite right from the off. No one meets her on her arrival and she wonders whether her new employer really expects her to walk ten miles from the train station to his house? Old Halder is not one for practical details, the tight-lipped locals warn her.