The Midnight Muse Review

by Catalina Bonati

3/5 stars

The Midnight Muse by Jo Kaplan (to be published March 10 2026) is a mushroom horror and body horror novel about the metal band Queen Carrion, whose lead singer has been missing in a forest for over a year. The band takes a commemorative trip to the cabin where she had been staying only to come across deadly mushrooms which rot the body and mimic the life which it has just consumed. The band must find different ways to survive while being pick off one by one in traditional final girl manner. They discover an institute dedicated to studying this type of mushroom, and soon they find themselves fending off more than one adversary.

The story is told by Harlow Sorenson, drummer of the band and best friend of Brynn Werner, the missing lead singer. Harlow struggles with alcoholism and mild psychosis and is very emotional when it comes to finding Brynn, making her aggressive against other members of the band who are ready to move on. She is an unreliable narrator who, along with the rest of the band, explores her inner demons as well as demons in their friendship. There seem to be too many characters in this story; Lou and Wendy have the same personality and could have been conflated into a single character.

The writing overall has a good pace but sometimes drags. This is exacerbated by the times when the characters begin to reminiscence and introspect during moments of action, which is quite frustrating to read. The narration is also interspersed with news clippings and scientific reports, which mostly add to the story but at times don’t contribute much. There is a particular news clipping called “Whatever Happened to Queen Carrion” which is segmented into way too many parts and sometimes starts mid-sentence from where it left off, which is very unpleasant to read. The plot is mostly predictable and some things which are meant to be reveals fall short of being impactful. Although this story has an atmosphere of mystery, the narration falls into the habit of overexplaining and leaves little to the imagination. There is a laughable scene in which the mushroom collective begins speaking to the reader; this is illogical as it is the only scene in the book in which the reader is being addressed directly, which in a sense breaks the fourth wall and temporarily breaks the suspension of disbelief. It is such a strange account that it quite negatively stands out. What the mushroom collective says could easily have been found in a journal entry instead.

Although there are some narrative mishaps and the pace is at times slow and clunky, it’s an interesting book that explores the communicative nature of mushrooms and the regenerative essence of mycelium. The rot of organic matter such as bodies is expanded into body horror that is disturbing and engaging and makes the story unique. It is very much an eco-horror novel focused on the fascinating nature of mushrooms. This book is recommended for readers who enjoy a good cabin in the woods story, a group of friends who are pick off one by one, ecological horror, stories about bands, and paranormal horror.  

This book was received as an ARC from CLASH Books.