Title: The Death Doula

Author: Ali Seay

Release date: November 7th, 2023

Directly after devouring Seay’s upcoming novella, ‘I Think I’m Alone Now,’ I knew I needed to read more of her work and I knew I needed to read it now, otherwise my massive TBR would swallow anything I snagged up. So, after reading through the synopsis’ and even asking Ali herself what she recommended, I went with ‘The Death Doula.’ This was released in November of 2023 through Cemetery Gates Media and immediately upon reading the synopsis I was hooked. The title was striking, the cover art stunning and now, having experienced Seay’s deft writing, I knew I was going to be in for a treat.

What I liked: The story focuses on Marki, a ‘death doula.’ Her job is to be there at the end of people’s lives and help them transition from our world to the next. This was a gift she discovered by accident, but after finding it, knew she needed to be there and help those as they pass away. It has also caused her and her girlfriend, Paula, to break up, Paula unable to cope with how sad Marki always is after a job has ended.

On this particular night, Marki gets a text for a job she’s needed for. She heads to this strange home, one that seems to be near impossible to find. Once there, things begin to become odd. The man who is on his death bed keeps saying odd things, ‘He moves me’ being a prominent one.

At first Marki thinks nothing of it, and it’s this aspect, her caring and experience with how some folks are as they die, that Seay plays up really well. In Marki’s mind, nothing can be supernatural, when you’ve been around real death for so long. As things progress and she discovers some of the history of the home and the residents, she tries to be analytical about everything. But things change. Slowly at first. We see Marki unravel and begin to understand that an evil does reside within the home.

Then we get this absolute gem of a sentence – ‘He’s what the devil has nightmares about.’ This moment acts a trigger for the action to ramp up and for Marki to finally, completely accept that she’s arrived somewhere she shouldn’t have and that there’s going to be almost no way for her to survive intact.

Seay’s control of that avenue, that subplot – what Franklin requires of her and her fight to prevent it – controls the last quarter of this novella so very well. Even when we get an arrival from Paula and some outside neighbors attempting to help, the focus is on Marki, the houses past and her desire to survive and escape, no matter the cost.

What I didn’t like: Traditionally, in ‘evil taking hold’ of someone or something, we get a bread and butter moment, when we see that incident take place. In this one, we don’t have that. We just get a horrible event involving Franklin’s past and then it’s just accepted that evil has arrived. It felt a tad flimsy when it happens, but the events that take place post-incident certainly all stem from that moment. I just wish it had felt more tangible, more ‘evil has arrived!’

Why you should buy this: ‘I Think I’m Alone Now’ was such an amazing read and completely had me captivated, but I’m thinking that ‘The Death Doula’ was even better. Marki is a phenomenal main character – kind, compassionate, willing to be there when those at the end need someone the most, but also one who finds the fight to survive and the desire to do whatever it takes to make it out alive. The setting is phenomenal, Franklin was creepy as hell and overall, the pacing of this one was so spot on it made my heart race over and over.

Ali Seay has just delivered two of the best novellas I’ve ever read and throughout reading both, I was shaking my head that I don’t see her books and name shouted from every account that professes to love dark fiction and Splatterpunk. Written with the ease of a master, these were just amazing and I’ll absolutely be reading more of her work going forward.

5/5