Titan scoops Felker-Martin’s ‘grotesque’ horror novel
Titan Books has acquired a “grotesque” horror novel about a corrupt family who can transform into animals from Gretchen Felker-Martin, the author of Manhunt (Tor), Cuckoo and Black Flame (Titan).
Senior editor Daniel Carpenter acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Chris Scheina at Tor US. Titan will publish simultaneously with Tor US in February 2027.
Billed as The Sopranos meets Love Lies Bleeding, Chimera centres on the sprawling Varger family. Centuries ago, in the dark of the woods, their ancestors made a pact which gave them the gift of Skin Dancers, able to shift their form into any animal they have eaten.
Now, the Varger family rule the 1980s New England crime scene, the blurb continues. A late summer wedding between two families is meant to usher in a new era of peace among the households, and stifle the brewing tensions that threaten to boil over into war. But something monstrous lurks in the forest outside the Varger compound. Something ancient, angry and starving.
Carpenter said: “Gretchen Felker-Martin is one of horror’s modern greats. Her ability to make you care so deeply about her characters, while you’re peering between your fingers to read her books is unparalleled. Chimera promises to be yet another masterclass in the genre.”
Felker-Martin said: “I’m excited to be working with Titan again to bring Chimera to my UK readers. This is a deeply personal story for me, tangling together my childhood love of the New England forest with my fixation on shapeshifting and werewolves and my lifelong love of stories about organised crime. It’s a story that begins before recorded history and stretches all the way to the false promises of 1980s America, told in flaking skin and mangy hair, in ruined flesh and broken teeth, a story of unimaginable power turned to the pettiest ends and love destroyed by greed, stupidity and cruelty. I hope you like it."
