From the outset, Dig by J.H. Markert pulls you straight onto an island that feels truly alive with such creeping dread. The dark history of the island and its eerie folklore settle in quickly, giving this horror tale a weight that makes every page turn feel even more unsettling. Dig set its hooks in early and never let up.
Eight years ago, a boy took up an axe and slaughtered a dozen people. That odd, troubled boy, Jericho Dodd, has been dead and buried in his father’s yard for years, but ever since that massacre, Crow Island has been a dark and unsettling place.
When Jericho’s father begins digging up the past he buried, a compulsion to dig sweeps over the island and soon everyone else is obsessively churning up dirt, desperate to uncover buried secrets. The compulsion leads to violence and as neighbors turn against each other, the island’s famous tupelo honey, harvested from trees deep in a swamp, changes too.
As dread and paranoia seep up from the ground, it becomes clear that the island itself needs something from its residents–before it digs itself apart for good.
Crafting a horror or thriller story just right a lot of times relies on the setting itself, what Markert does with Dig does just that. The tale has a real sense of place, an island that has a gradual sense of dread throughout that creeps in over the course of the story. The island’s past history, including the slavery and plantation economy, gives depth the horror vibes, using folklore to grab us and hold on tight. Truly atmospheric and chilling.
Dig has a great pace to it, quick enough to appease the thriller reader in me, and slow enough to generate the unease I want to feel in a horror story. When reading a story like this it’s important to grab me early on and Markert grabs me from the start and doesn’t let go. I was horrified, while also guessing the entire time, a balance that can be hard to achieve, but the author makes it seem easy.
While basing a supernatural horror story on an island with a massacre involved is not groundbreaking storytelling, Markert definitely makes this story his own. Adding the digging elements along with honey, whoever thought honey could make you so uneasy?, the story felt super fresh and thrilling from start to finish. This is what makes stories like this so special.
Dig by J.H. Markert takes some familiar pieces of horror stories and twists them into something truly fresh and thrilling. The creeping dread and fantastic setting makes this book a chilling and horrifying read. Markert keeps the tension tight and the atmosphere heavy, keeping me hooked to the end. It’s the kind of horror story that sticks with you, no pun intended, long after you close the book.
Dig hits bookstores everywhere on Crooked Lane Books from March 24, 2026.
