Lily's Monster

LoveReading Says

November 2025 Book of the Month

Brutally direct and psychologically rich, Cliff McNish’s Lily’s Monster is YA horror at its most genuinely horrifying. What begins as a story that sees a family all-but ruined by grief swerves fast into a disturbing tale of terrors in the form of a creepy little girl, a family possessed, and a house seething with strange sounds. Just when you think things couldn’t possibly get worse — bam! Picture the opening of a menacing matryoshka, with each doll unleashing escalating terrors ahead of a fight for resolution fuelled by all-consuming love.

After heading to Gant House near the seaside, hoping to come together in the wake of the tragic death of a beloved son and brother, teenager Holly and her family are visited by a silent little girl called Lily. One by one, Lily manipulates the family like marionettes, exerting an uncanny power over everyone but Holly, who’s horrified by the monster her father is transformed into, and wracked by guilt over her brother’s death. Then there’s the strange noise emitted by the house, and the centuries-old discovery Holly makes during her perilous effort to save her loved ones.

Lily’s Monster should come with an advisory: read this if you’re into hard-hitting horror and ghost stories that pack psychological punch.

Joanne Owen

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