This one hit like a stone to the gut—and I mean that in the best way possible. Mark Matthews was new to me, but definitely won’t be a one-and-done. To Those Willing To Drown is bleak, beautiful, and rough in all the right places.
We move between two timelines. We follow a Civil War surgeon and a present-day camp counselor, both haunted by personal demons and connected through Torch Lake in Michigan. The lake, by the way, has teeth. It’s a deeply human, horror story wrapped in supernatural elements, threaded with folklore and myth.
I went in blind and after a few pages I was thinking this might be a PTSD-driven soldier narrative (and I admit, I groaned a little), but by chapter three, I was all in. By 60%, I was emotionally wrecked. By 70%, I was glued to the pages like something cursed was dragging me deeper.
Some of the characters made me furious (you’ll know who when you meet them), and yet that didn’t change my love for the story. It just deepened it. It’s violent. It’s eerie. It’s dark and raw and full of ache. But also weirdly…sweet? Like watching something tragic unfold while still hoping for some glimmer of peace.
It’s incredible what Matthews pulls off in 200-ish pages. His writing is visceral and unflinching, but also lyrical in its pain. This is a story about grief, guilt, sacrifice, and survival, all cloaked in folklore and chilling, melancholic beauty. It ends the only way it could, and I mean that in the best possible, soul-crushing way.
This wasn’t on my radar a month ago. I made room for it—and I’m so glad I did. If you like your horror haunted by grief and soaked in myth, dive in. Just know the lake doesn’t let go easily.
Thanks to NetGalley and Wicked Run Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
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