Tillinghast
Published on 4. June 2026
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-00-874253-9 (ISBN)
Description
There's a name for what he is. He prefers not to use it...
Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he allows himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and always ends in a shallow grave in his cellar.
You and I would have a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it - he has needs, and when they become unbearable, he fulfils them.
Then the girl arrives - 19 years old, she has travelled from the UK to find him. She seems to have his surname, and her resemblance to him is uncanny. She is sick - very sick - and Tillinghast recognises her symptoms all too well. Which means he also knows what she needs...
Darkly compelling and irresistibly readable, TILLINGHAST marks the arrival of a major new literary talent.
Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he allows himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and always ends in a shallow grave in his cellar.
You and I would have a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it - he has needs, and when they become unbearable, he fulfils them.
Then the girl arrives - 19 years old, she has travelled from the UK to find him. She seems to have his surname, and her resemblance to him is uncanny. She is sick - very sick - and Tillinghast recognises her symptoms all too well. Which means he also knows what she needs...
Darkly compelling and irresistibly readable, TILLINGHAST marks the arrival of a major new literary talent.
Reviews / Votes
'Wonderfully mysterious and gorgeously written, Tillinghast offers a boldly original take on what it means to be a monster. While the subject matter is inherently dark, Cavenagh's reflections on connection, love, and found family shine through with an unexpected warmth.' MONIKA KIM, author of The Eyes are the Best Part 'Deliciously unsettling. Clare Cavenagh weaves a gothic magic through the pages, evoking Shirley Jacksonesque horror. Tillinghast examines the fine line between what is human and what is not and elicits a dread that leaves you unable to look away. A book that will stay with you long after you've finished turning the pages.' AHANA VIRDI, author of Sour Fruit 'A somber hymn of loneliness, of ancient wounds still tender, raw, and healing, of an insatiable, eternal yearning. Tillinghast is a soft chant in the dark-a tone poem etched in blood, agony, and utter cruelty. Lyrical and devastating, this remarkably heartfelt debut filled me with the same intense emotion I felt when I first watched Park Chan-wook's Thirst or read Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite for the very first time.' ERIC LAROCCA, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke 'Moody and expertly rendered, Tillinghast is a lyrical and oddly moving nightmare. A vampire (don't say that word) novel like no other. I was enthralled and have become an eager fan of Clare Cavenagh.' PAUL TREMBLAY, author of A Head Full of Ghosts 'Out of the clay that is the vampire genre, Clare Cavenagh has crafted a wonderful, unexpected figure. I was immediately drawn to Tillinghast, neither innocent nor guilty (as it should be). In this novel, salvation and damnation are wrapped together in a beautiful, melancholic murder ballad.' MARINA YUSZCZUK, author of Thirst 'Dripping in lush gothic atmosphere, this understated, slow-burning literary horror novel is sure to win fans' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'Reads like 19th-century gothic fiction in the all the best ways... An original, sinister tale' KIRKUS REVIEWSMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 139 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
366 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-874253-9 (9780008742539)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Clare Cavenagh spent her childhood in Australia, and her adolescence in Switzerland. She read English and Renaissance Literature at the University of Cambridge, and now lives in London where she works as a copywriter. Her short fiction and criticism have been published in Editions L'Hebe, Cambridge Quarterly and Eucalyptus Lit. TILLINGHAST is her first novel.