Fantasy Book Critic: Book review: The Night That Finds Us All by John Hornor Jacobs

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Hornor Jacobs' first novel, Southern Gods, was published by Night Shade Books and shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel. His second novel, This Dark Earth, was published in J2012 by Simon & Schuster. His young adult series, The Incarcerado Trilogy comprised of The Twelve-Fingered Boy, The Shibboleth, and The Conformity, was described by Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing as "amazing" and received a starred Booklist review. His Fisk & Shoe fantasy series composed of The Incorruptibles, Foreign Devils, and Infernal Machines has thrice been shortlisted for the David Gemmell Award and was described by Patrick Rothfuss like this: "One part ancient Rome, two parts wild west, one part Faust. A pinch of Tolkien, of Lovecraft, of Dante. This is strange alchemy, a recipe I’ve never seen before. I wish more books were as fresh and brave as this."

His fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Apex Magazine and his essays have been featured on CBS Weekly and Huffington Post. Jacobs resides in the American South and spends his free time when not working on his next book thinking about his next book.Visit him at www.johnhornorjacobs.com.

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (October 7, 2025) Length: 304 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, hc

The Night That Finds Us All is a slow-burn maritime horror story. Set aboard The Blackwatch, a century-old wooden sailboat bound from Seattle to London, it’s a full-bodied maritime nightmare.

Samantha Vines, our narrator, is an alcoholic sailor just trying to stay afloat. Financially, emotionally, maybe spiritually. When she takes a job as an engineer on the Blackwatch, it seems like a chance to start over. Instead, it turns into a nightmare at sea. The ship is strange from the start, and before long, people start hearing voices or dying.

Sam is a good lead; she’s sharp, cynical, and funny in a tired sort of way. Not every character stands out as clearly as she does, but that feels true to her perspective; she’s too focused on survival to notice everyone else.

If there’s a flaw, it’s that the story sometimes lingers a bit too long in its moods. There are stretches where not much happens beyond Sam’s exhaustion and the ship’s slow drift through fog. The tension builds quietly, then crashes like a wave. There’s humor too, dry and salty, which keeps things from becoming too grim.

It’s moody, immersive, and unnerving and proves that horror works best when it feels real.