Horror is a big, beautiful genre with a sub-genre for every type of reader—slasher, gothic, psychological, supernatural, folk, the list goes on and on—and I like them all, but one of my personal favorites is body horror. There a select few authors who are capable of doing things to the human body on the printed page that can make you set the book down, back away slowly, and go for a long walk.

One of the very best when it comes to crafting body horror is Nick Cutter, the pseudonym literary fiction writer Craig Davidson uses when writing horror. His novel The Troop is a masterclass, a stomach-churning, virtuoso performance that makes you read things your brain absolutely does not want to process.

Late last year, Cutter released The Queen, and it just might equal The Troop in balls-to-the-wall, gonzo, body horror mind-fuckery.

Margaret’s lifelong best friend Charity disappeared over a month ago after a traumatic event, and the missing persons case has gone cold. That is, until the morning Margaret discovers a new iPhone on her doorstep, with a text message from Charity. What begins as a harrowing scavenger hunt, a cat-and-mouse game with deadly consequences, reveals secrets that have been long buried.

Cutter tells this story over the course of just one day, and it’s a bravura performance, ratcheting up tension to an almost unbearable degree. At this point you may be asking yourself, hey Dave, sounds great, but where does the body horror come in? Here’s the thing…I’m not telling. I had to learn it for myself, and so do you. Suffice to say that it involves insects, and you may never look at those little creepy crawlies the same way again.

As long as you have the stomach for it, literally, The Queen is a helluva ride. I loved every minute of it.