The Moss – Lisa Lueddecke

The end of September is already here! A big happy pub day to this new YA horror novel

Thank you Simon & Schuster Teen for the gifted copy

THE MOSS – Lisa Lueddecke (Releasing September 30th, 2025)

Book Description:

I know how to find her. Don’t follow me. I mean it. It will break Dad if you do. I love you, Em.
P.S. Stay away from the Sedge Man. He won’t stop, like a hunter, until there’s nothing left of you.

A year after her sister Eve’s sudden disappearance, Emma returns to the small town of Scarrow in northern Maine. The police have no leads, the neighbors spread rumors about her father’s involvement, and the vast bogland known as the Moss lies in wait beside the house like a hungry beast.

Darkly familiar shadows and specters fill her dreams and the quiet spaces between her thoughts. Something is following her, pulling her to the Moss, and it’s growing stronger by the day. Could it be what called to her sister? Or even to their mother, when Emma was only a child?

Haunted by the ghosts of the past, Emma knows she is the only one who can uncover the truth and save her sister…unless she gets lost herself.

My Thoughts: 4/5 stars

“I know how to find her. Don’t follow me. I mean it. It will break Dad if you do. I love you, Em. P.S. Stay away from the Sedge Man. He won’t stop, like a hunter, until there’s nothing left of you.” Talk about a chilling note to find from your sister just before she disappears. 

Emma returns home to her small town in Maine to look for Eve. Her disappearance is eerily similar to their mother’s and with the local police having no leads, she decides to look for herself. The townspeople are gossiping and spreading theories that her father is to blame, but the bogland behind their home, known as the Moss, is calling to her. 

The unbreakable bond between sisters drives Emma to find Eve. The haunted house and supernatural presence adds to the paranoia she and her father have been experiencing. I love a good creepy atmospheric read, and bog horror is something I would love more of. This kind of eerie and unpredictable landscape presents a plethora of possibilities for monsters, ghosts, real life dangers, and so much more. This is YA, so it’s nothing over the top scary but perfect for October!