A terrifying novel with a Native American mythological creature that will keep you up at night.

• Scare factor: ★★★★★
• Mystery factor: ★★★★★
• Creature factor: ★★★★★
• Folklore & mythology factor: ★★★★★

Stolen Tongues is a very scary story about an Indigenous mythological creature that torments a young couple. Filled with an uncanny, ominous vibe, strong realistic characters, sleepwalking and Indigenous culture this will truly terrify you and make you check outside before you go to sleep. 

It consists of 320 pages. 

Plot

Felix and his fiancee Faye are going to her parent’s cabin in the mountains in Colorado at Pale Peak. Faye always has suffered from nightmares, talking in her sleep and sleepwalking, but at the cabin this seems to get worse. It has something to do with the terrifying sounds they hear at night around their cabin, below their window and behind the door. It’s an ancient creature from Indigenous mythology, a creature most horrifying, violent and a mimic. The most terrifying part is that it seems to seek out Faye for some reason. 

After a horrifying ordeal they flee black home, in shock. They think that they left behind what tormented them at the mountain, but at home Faye seems different. She acts different and talks different and her nightmares, sleepwalking and talking in her sleep only have exacerbated. Felix knows it has something to do with the cabin, Pale Peak and that horrifying creature. He seeks help with her parents, but they are reluctant to tell him anything. Luckily he has made new friends in Tíwé and his son Nathan who try to help him. Things get more dire and dangerous and scary and Felix has to risk everything to save Faye, himself and others involved to get rid of this terrifying creature. What was supposed to be a romantic get away turns into a nightmare that follows them home. 

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Short Review

The story is told by Felix himself. He starts with an anecdote from his childhood. A story that sends chills up your spine. It has a connection to what you are about to read, but it also sets the tone. The whole book has an atmosphere of terror and dread. 

At the beginning nothing much happens directly, but the thought of a terrible creature that makes awful sounds, says very scary things and wanders around an isolated cabin, through a thick layer of snow, feels very vulnerable and is very scary. It feels a bit like Paranormal Activity (2007). It has the same vibe of something intangible but highly dangerous and even deadly, without any knowledge of what is happening or why and not in the least that there’s nothing you can do about it. 

Although Felix and Faye seem strong people, they are very human and prone to their own fears. Still they fight, especially Felix who is very afraid but also determined to do something about it. Faye feels more passive and merely endures what’s happening to her, although so it may seem at first. There’s something far more terrible happening to her, that will slowly be revealed. 

The setting of the cabin feels extra isolated and vulnerable, surrounded by snow and a tricky icy road off the mountain. But that same feeling and atmosphere continues when they are home in California. Without a thick forest and snow, but with palm trees, the atmosphere of isolation, dread and terror persists. And it gets even worse. 

Felix gets help from Tíwé a Native American who lives near Pale Peak and his son Nathan, who’s the same age as Felix. They immediately bond and although it’s a creature from their lore, the lore gets round by telling stories. And most Indigenous  people are reluctant to speak about it. They don’t know much but they try to help them. The story gives an insight into their culture, but without making them stereotype shamans who know everything, but real people who try to understand what’s happening. It’s never fully explained what creature this is. Why it’s targeting them, why it can be in California with them. It keeps the creature a mystery and more terrifying, although it leaves some questions. 

The combination of the absolute scary behavior of the creature, Faye’s sleepwalking and odd behavior and the way it’s all described makes it extra scary. With some gruesome scenes that are not described as they happen, speak to the imagination. It truly knows how to tap into fear. Not only suffer most characters in the book from different fears, but it also gets under your skin. The fear that a shadow looks like a tall man becomes real and palpable, and that feeling is fueled by the oppressive feeling of terror and dread that is continuous during the whole book. 

Stolen Tongues tells a terrifying tale of an elusive creature with an atmosphere of an uncanny and eerie feeling that turns into terror and dread.