Like all great horror, Christina Ferko’s debut THE DARKNESS GREETED HER (February 3, 2026 | Sourcebooks Fire | Ages 14+) is a surreal paranormal thriller grounded in her own experience.
Ferko is both a queer, neurodivergent author, and a trauma survivor. After a flurry of events that included a thyroid cancer diagnosis (now in remission) and a medical emergency in which she had to perform CPR, she was plagued by the intrusive thoughts that can accompany distressing ordeals like hers.
As she tackled and processed her mental health, Ferko penned a debut about trauma and the very real ways it can manifest in the body, mind… and the woods.
THE DARKNESS GREETED HER takes the already atmospheric setting of a sleepaway camp in Appalachia and makes the eerie birchwood trees home to an eldritch horror made of the campers’ worst nightmares. Jamison Shea, author of Roar of the Lambs, raves that THE DARKNESS GREETED HER is “a perfect Gothic horror… Ferko’s love letter to survivors is beautifully written from start to finish!”
About the book:
Penny’s abusive father is dead…but she still hears his voice in her head, encouraging her to hurt those around her. She can’t go to school or be around her friends or even draw with a sharp pencil without her intrusive thoughts urging her toward violence. Desperate to get a handle on her OCD, she agrees to spend the summer at Camp Whitewood—an exclusive therapy retreat in the woods.
She feels optimistic when she arrives. The other girls all have their reasons for being there, which makes Penny feel a little less alone. But then she starts seeing things that can’t possibly be there: the gold watch her father was buried with, his favorite whiskey spilled on her cabin floor…a terrifying figure she calls the Shadow Man looming at the foot of her bed. Penny thinks she is losing her mind, but when a girl goes missing, and is later found dead, it’s clear that whatever is happening at Camp Whitewood isn’t all in her head.
As the hallucinations become increasingly intense and more girls wind up dead, Penny must work with whoever is left standing to figure out what is real before the Shadow Man uses their traumas against them and claims their lives.
About the author:
CHRISTINA FERKO grew up in a family of seven girls, including her identical twin sister—who is also an author. Before writing, she dreamed of running away and joining a circus. She even learned how to eat and breathe fire but now spends her time happily writing at home instead. Christina lives in Maryland with her husband and two kids, along with their four cats and one wild corgi. You can find her on Instagram @christina_ferko or check out her website at authorchristinaferko.com
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