Title: Split Scream Volume Eight: Cursed Places

Authors: Sonora Taylor & Matthew Pritt

Release date: April 21st, 2026

*Huge thanks to Tenebrous Press for the digital ARC of this one!*

Tenebrous Press continues to release new and exciting books and their Split Scream project is something I see so many people continually rave about. Shamefully, I believe this is the first one I’ve managed to read, but when I heard that Sonora’s novella was going to be in this, I wasn’t going to miss this one!

A few years ago, Sonora and I were working on a unique release together. It consisted of a singular novella that told the story of two writers facing the end of the world and in their final hours, they each write their own last novellas, in the hopes that should humanity manage to survive, maybe they’ll find these and read them. We sent it to a few places, had a few nibbles but then ultimately decided to shelve it and we took our individual novellas and tweaked them to send them out further into the wide world. For my part, I actually can’t recall what my own novella was about! It very well might be the sci-fi/horror novella I have sitting there waiting for me to finish. But when Sonora shared that hers had been picked up by Tenebrous, I was ecstatic.

On the other side, when this project was announced, I read the synopsis for Pritt’s portion and was over the moon. Having already read Sonora’s and loving it, pairing it with this insane sounding folk-horror piece seemed perfect and I couldn’t wait to dive in!

Let’s start with Sonora’s piece.

Passing Glance by Sonora Taylor

What I liked: This novella takes place at the secretive Moore Mansion, a building in Washington, D.C. that has a history filled with odd occurrences, strange disappearances and intrigue stacked on wonder. Dylan arrives to celebrate her friends 30th birthday, equally excited to celebrate the milestone while also learning more about the history of the crazy place.

Sonora sets things up well, including giving us an early glimpse at both a potential tryst between Dylan and another party guest, but also the mansion’s oddities. Things keep getting odder and after Dylan finds a hidden hallway, things really go off the rails. Sonora takes Dylan on a terrifying descent into the truth within the walls as well as her own madness as she grows more and more disoriented.

The ending was a lot of fun, though it will make you question a few of the five W’s regarding how it ends.

What I didn’t like: In this particular case, I wished that a few more of the party goers would’ve had odd experiences as well, as the novella focuses solely on Dylan and it would’ve been fun to see the others deal with the puzzle/trappings of the mansion.

Lash Egg by Matthew Pritt

What I liked: What could only be described as speculative folk horror (I think, lol!) Pritt’s ‘Lash Egg’ walks the line between Bizarro and Dystopian, while focusing on environmental horror elements.

The novella follows Ben and his daughter, Lydia, who’ve only lived in the land of the Doe for about six years. After a madness took hold of the inhabitants – human and animal alike – in the land of the Bear where they lived previously, they fled, being hunted by everything, until they managed to arrive at the land of the Doe and since then, they’ve been trying to keep their lives aligned with the balance the Doe requires. But that’s not easy. Because Ben doesn’t believe.

The story ramps up when their reliable chicken lays a lash egg, a rubbery, mound of pus. Soon, the chicken itself is filled with pus and other animals around their farm seem to catch the same thing, becoming disoriented and bursting open, their insides mush.

Ben knows it’s because of him, but he wants to keep Lydia safe.

Pritt does a wonderful job of bringing us into this strange new way of life, where people farm and make their own clothing and do what is needed to survive, which is part of the crux of the story for Ben. What does he need to do to maintain his own balance? And how will that effect his daughter?

The ending is powerful and, as one would expect, pushes Ben to make the hardest decision of his life.

What I didn’t like: In this particular one, I found it odd that they’d lived there – at least in that particular area – for as long as they did and Ben still struggled with some of the basics of ‘The Balance.’ Sure, even if he didn’t believe, if he was worried about them kicking him and Lydia out of the area, I feel like he should’ve done as much as he possibly could to make sure he lived within the alignment.

Why you should buy this: As I’ve said a hundred times over the years, Sonora Taylor should be an auto-buy/auto-read author for everyone. This was my first go around with Pritt and I loved his entry so much. These two play in the same sandbox, though at very different sides of the horror world and that’s what makes this pairing so much fun. Each story pushes their characters to the edge of what they can handle and we get to see what happens when they realize they’re just one step away from toppling over that edge. And as readers, you kind of want to see what happens then, right?

Two fantastic novellas from two fantastic writers – and one release you definitely don’t want to miss out on!