Book Review: It Looks Like You in the Dark by Mathilda Zeller

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

It Looks Like You in the Dark by Mathilda Zeller

Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Nightfire (October 13, 2026)

Length: 288 pages

Author Information: Website

Set in a remote wilds of northern Alaska, Mathilda Zeller’s It Looks Like You in the Dark blends Indigenous folklore with supernatural horror and a story about greed, environmental destruction, and the struggles of a small, isolated community. It has an interesting premise and some genuinely creepy moments, but I ultimately found the actual reading experience a little uneven and slower than I’d hoped.

The story follows Tapeesa, who has just finished high school and is now working at the local fish processing plant in Chukchi, the Alaskan village where she was born and raised. Between keeping an eye on her unreliable mother and looking after her younger sister Esther, she already has plenty on her plate. Even if knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, she wouldn’t have the freedom or the means to pursue it. But then their quiet village life is soon disrupted by a series of strange and unsettling events. Like the other children in the village, Tapeesa grew up hearing stories about the kushtuka, a creature that can take the form of someone you love to lure you away. It’s the kind of folklore that’s easy to dismiss as a childhood tale, but as people begin to disappear, Tapeesa starts to wonder just how much truth there might be behind the legend.

Adding to the tensions, a mining company has also arrived in town with plans to extract resources from the surrounding land, promising to revitalize the economy and provide jobs. However, the community is divided over the announcement, concerned about what this means for their future and how all the mining activity would impact the environment around their home. But when Esther suddenly goes missing, Tapeesa has more immediate concerns. Determined to find her sister, she is forced to make uneasy alliances and consider compromises she never imagined making. But no matter what it takes, she will do anything necessary to bring Esther home.

It Looks Like You in the Dark had a lot of things going for it, particularly its Alaskan setting and the incorporation of Inupiat folklore. I really enjoyed the sense of place and how the story draws on the history and traditions of the community. The isolation makes for an interesting backdrop, with its bleak and unforgiving landscape and the self-reliance that comes with living so far removed from the rest of the world. There’s also a quiet sadness in the way the story portrays life for younger people like Tapeesa, who struggles to eke out a living while feeling as though there are few opportunities to build a different life. But at the same time, the book recognizes that Chukchi is more than a place people feel stuck in. It’s home to a community with its own traditions, connections, and ways of life, as seen in the way one of Tapeesa’s friends prepares for the Iditarod. There’s a deep balance between the hardships of living in such a remote place and the deep ties that make it meaningful to the people who live there.

Unfortunately, I had a rougher time connecting with the story itself. The pacing was slow, and there were stretches where I found things a little tedious waiting for things to pick up. Some of the plot points also felt repetitive, with similar conversations and conflicts coming up more than once without adding enough to keep them interesting. I sympathized with Tapeesa’s struggles with her responsibilities to her family and community but also felt like the book spent too much time circling these concerns. Meanwhile, I was especially intrigued by the concept of the shape-shifting creature that lures people away from the safety of their homes by taking the form of someone they know and trust. There’s just something deeply unsettling about the idea of a monster that can exploit the love and bonds between people, but while this was one of the story’s strongest elements, we honestly didn’t get much of it. There was so much potential to create a stronger sense of paranoia and dread, but it never became as central to the horror story as it should have.

At the end of the day, I thought It Looks Like You in the Dark had the ingredients for a much more effective horror novel. But while its underlying elements made it good, the overall execution never quite pulled everything together in a way that made it great. Still, although it landed somewhere in the middle, the interesting ideas and themes made it a worthwhile read.