The Cold House

Hardcover
$19.99 US
On sale Oct 07, 2025 | 160 Pages | 9781835412541

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When Everly’s husband and young daughter die in a car crash she finds out nothing is quite what she thought… Secrets, lies and grief collide in this funny, tragic, intimate and utterly compelling horror novella. 

Written by the acclaimed author of the Sourdough Universe novels and winner of multiple awards including the Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy, this searing tale is perfect for fans of Rachel Harrison, Delilah S. Dawson and Sarah-Maria Griffin.


Writer Everly Bainbridge's life is left in ruins when her husband takes their child to the supermarket one day and a lorry collides with their car. After the accident, a lawyer appears on her doorstep and tells her her husband was not who he said he was and she is a very rich widow. She retreats to a lonely house in the countryside to recover. But there’s a well in the cellar, a spectacularly cold room, and one night, Everly wakes up with a foot hanging over the emptiness of the well and the echo of her daughter’s voice in her ears…

A short, sharp, emotionally layered story of horrific secrets and dangerous lies, this dark, fierce gem of a novella will keep you turning the pages late into the night…
A.G. Slatter has won a Shirley Jackson Award, a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar, three Australian Shadows Awards, eight Aurealis Awards and a Premier Ignotus. Most recently, All the Murmuring Bones was shortlisted for the 2021 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards Book of the Year and the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award; The Path of Thorns won both the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Australian Shadows Award for Best Novel in 2022; and The Briar Book of the Dead has been shortlisted for both the Aurealis and Australian Shadows Awards for 2024. She has a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop, and has been a judge for the World Fantasy and Aurealis Awards. Angela’s short stories have appeared in many Best Of anthologies, and her work has been translated into many languages. She lives in Brisbane, Australia with a superannuated beagle and a TBR pile which will likely be the death of her. Find her on her website angelaslatter.com and on social media @angelaslatter

About

When Everly’s husband and young daughter die in a car crash she finds out nothing is quite what she thought… Secrets, lies and grief collide in this funny, tragic, intimate and utterly compelling horror novella. 

Written by the acclaimed author of the Sourdough Universe novels and winner of multiple awards including the Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy, this searing tale is perfect for fans of Rachel Harrison, Delilah S. Dawson and Sarah-Maria Griffin.


Writer Everly Bainbridge's life is left in ruins when her husband takes their child to the supermarket one day and a lorry collides with their car. After the accident, a lawyer appears on her doorstep and tells her her husband was not who he said he was and she is a very rich widow. She retreats to a lonely house in the countryside to recover. But there’s a well in the cellar, a spectacularly cold room, and one night, Everly wakes up with a foot hanging over the emptiness of the well and the echo of her daughter’s voice in her ears…

A short, sharp, emotionally layered story of horrific secrets and dangerous lies, this dark, fierce gem of a novella will keep you turning the pages late into the night…

Author

A.G. Slatter has won a Shirley Jackson Award, a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar, three Australian Shadows Awards, eight Aurealis Awards and a Premier Ignotus. Most recently, All the Murmuring Bones was shortlisted for the 2021 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards Book of the Year and the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award; The Path of Thorns won both the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Australian Shadows Award for Best Novel in 2022; and The Briar Book of the Dead has been shortlisted for both the Aurealis and Australian Shadows Awards for 2024. She has a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop, and has been a judge for the World Fantasy and Aurealis Awards. Angela’s short stories have appeared in many Best Of anthologies, and her work has been translated into many languages. She lives in Brisbane, Australia with a superannuated beagle and a TBR pile which will likely be the death of her. Find her on her website angelaslatter.com and on social media @angelaslatter

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