ITCH! by Gemma Amor

Something moves on the forest floor . . .

Josie is at rock bottom. Burned out and heartbroken, she lives a haunted existence after returning to her isolated hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean.

When she stumbles across a decaying, ant-infested body in the woods, Josie plummets into a downward spiral, facing uncomfortable truths about the victim and her own past – all whilst battling an infestation that seems to have burrowed into her mind . . . and her flesh.

Desperate for absolution, Josie scratches the surface of an age-old mystery – a masked predator stalks the forest around Ellwood, a place deeply gripped by folklore. So when the village prepares for its annual festival, and Josie gets closer and closer to unveiling a monster, she begins to ask herself:

Are these dark crawling insects leading her to uncover the truth?

. . . Or is she their next victim?

A darkly feminist folk horror about the psychological turmoil of a woman who discovers a dead body in the woods infested by a horde of ants that then seem to crawl under her skin and infect her life.

About the Author: Gemma Amor is a Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award-nominated horror author, editor, illustrator, and podcaster based in Bristol, UK. She was named one of Esquire‘s Writers Shaping Horror’s Next Golden Age, and recently featured in Ellen Datlow’s prestigious Best Horror of the Year anthology, Vol. 15.

Gemma loves to write about misunderstood monsters, both human and supernatural, as well as feminist horror. Itch! is her first novel with Hodder & Stoughton.

09 Oct 2025
 

ITCH!: The darkly feminist horror novel crawling under your skin for Halloween 2025 by Gemma Amor ISBN 9781399745376