The Scald Crow - Grace Daly

THE SCALD CROW

GRACE DALY

*****

Brigid—that’s the Irish Breej, not “Bridge-id,” though it’s not like she’d correct you—has had a rough go of it. Her mother abused her when she was little, her best friend (and secret crush) is too busy chasing some blonde to answer Brigid’s calls, and she lost her job thanks to chronic pelvic pain with no identifiable cause. As a self-doubting, disabled adult, she’s certain that everything that has happened to her is her fault.

Now her mother has gone missing and Brigid’s only option is to move back into her childhood home in the idyllic Midwestern town of St. Charles, Illinois. Soon the uncanny begins: A particular crow that once harassed her reappears, following her everywhere. A painting of Jesus keeps coming back, no matter how many times she throws it away. Frozen body parts show up in places rubber band balls and door stoppers ought to be. Every night the same nightmare repeats: her real mother is dead and decaying in the closet, and the identical mother who raised her is not her mother. But it’s all in Brigid’s head. It’s all her fault. It must be. What other explanation could there be?

After all, since when can a sick woman be trusted?

MY REVIEW

*****

There is nothing better than curling up with a horror book in the dark - and it’s a good job I feel this way because I could not put The Scald Crow down, devouring it in one sitting - most of which was through the night with the lights off!

When Brigid moves back to her childhood home after her mother goes missing, she is apprehensive. With memories of her abusive childhood fresh in her mind, and chronic pelvic pain which makes it hard to function, clearing and sorting the house seems like a mammoth task. However, there’s a bird that’s following her and gory objects begin to appear and there may be more going on here than meets the eye, either that or it’s the pain and the drugs at work – what’s real and what is just in her mind?

As I mentioned before, I could not put this book down and it’s an astonishing debut. From the author’s notes at the end, it seems Grace Daly has lived in experience of pelvic pain and the descriptions of Brigid’s pain melded with these real experiences and felt realistic and visceral throughout. From the days where she felt productive, to those when she could barely move, the light and shade of the storytelling really draws the reader in. The crux of this is that we are unsure how much of what Brigid is experiencing is real, and how much is imagined in her head, something that she also questions throughout as well. Added to this, the downplaying of her mother’s abuse which is slowly revealed with more and more memories and stories of her childhood leave us wondering if Brigid is an unreliable narrator.

What I particularly loved about the prose is that there will be a description of an ordinary task, such as cutting some bread for dinner, for example, and then suddenly something gruesome and gory appears without any warning. The novel is perfectly paced and as a reader you are kept off-balance throughout, unsure if another horror will appear, or if it will be a normal day. The progression of Brigid’s slip from reality starts to spiral until the action-packed climax which I did not predict.

Overall, The Scald Crow is a masterclass is horror story-telling - creepy yet grounded and keeping the reader off-balance throughout – a 2025 Kindig Gem from me! Thank you to NetGalley & Creature Publishing for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LINKS TO BUY

Amazon UK

Waterstones