Title: Chimera Skin

Author: Johnny Compton

Release date: November 3rd, 2026

*Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this one!*

I’m probably in the minority here, but this was my first Johnny Compton book I’ve read, and I can see why folks have been raving about his work to me over the last few years. Somewhere on my Kindle I have both ‘The Spite House’ and ‘Devils Kill Devils’ but alas, I’ve simply not managed to make my way to them to read. I’ll definitely need to check out one (or both) sooner than later!

When I saw this one announced online, I was excited. Both because of the cover and the synopsis and let’s face it, Alan and Shortwave are killing it with the books they publish. I’ve got a huge love of sci-fi/horror and knowing this was a novella, I was stoked to dive in and zip through it. I was hoping to finish this on my plane flight home, which didn’t happen. But I did wrap this up soon after and wow, what a wallop.

What I liked: The story is set in the near future where an off-the-books experiment that officials believed was closed somehow returned to turn the world as we know it, upside down. Back in the 60’s as the space race ramped up, officials worked on teleportation, believing it would be easier to send somebody from point A to point B than to have them fly there, but alas too many issues resulted in it being shuttered. Only kind of. When a pilot with huge potential was passed over to fly into outer space, officials targeted him and launched him into a distant galaxy, never expecting him to return, but wanting data to prove they could do the job.

Now, that lost astronaut has returned, though in a God-like form and he’s infecting numerous people around the world.

Compton sets this up fantastically. I was hooked immediately and it reminded me a lot of Clive Barker’s ‘Next Testament’ comic series in feel and tone. This returned astronaut, Baptiste, possesses amazing power, seemingly acquired from wherever he went and from whatever he encountered. And it comes down to Swanson, a scientist who worked on trying to figure out what happened during these previous teleportation events to keep Baptiste in check, though Swanson isn’t the Swanson his friends and family would remember. He’s volunteered to be experimented on and now possesses a body made up of numerous others. One of which is material from Baptiste.

It’s a multi-layered story showing the emotional turmoil Swanson goes through while dealing with his physical pain. All the while trying to protect the town he grew up in and keep Baptiste away.

A highlight for me was the middle section, devoted more to the backstory and ‘lost cosmonaut’ story. I’ve always been fascinated by the lost cosmonaut theory and conspiracy and Compton does an amazing job of showcasing both why it’s fascinating but also how plausible it could be.

Compton then wraps things up with a great cinematic finale, a showdown between Good and Evil, Baptiste and Swanson. It made for some phenomenal imagery, especially with the powers the two possess and the aftermath only worked to heighten the emotional weight Swanson’s journey carried.

What I didn’t like: As much as I loved the middle portion where we get a ton of back story and a look at the lost cosmonaut world, it did feel like it slowed the momentum leading up to it. I might’ve preferred it to be in alternating chapters so that we get then and now ping ponging, but I will say, it had me Googling names constantly, so it definitely was a great section, but for this reader the execution of how it happened felt muddied.

Why you should buy this: Campbell’s ‘Who Goes There?’ by way of Barker’s ‘Next Testament,’ Compton’s really delivered a buzzy, shotgun blast of a sci-fi/horror story. We get a very unexpected connection between two characters that highlight the humanity that’s struggling to survive within these pages.

If you’re looking for a propulsive, otherworldly story that asks high questions while forcing the reader to Google things frequently (like this guy did!) look no further. A modern take on the classic sci-fi tales many of us grew up on, this was fantastic.