Rhiannon Grist is an award-winning Welsh writer of Weird, Speculative and Dark fiction. Her novella, The Queen of the High Fields (Luna Press), won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella 2023. Her debut novel, Home Sick, will be published by Solaris in 2026.
“The symmetry should have tipped me off.”
After a violent incident at work, Tamsin goes looking for a fresh start in a remote cottage far away from her old life. Here she could make real friends, find a job she loves, become a whole new person, even.
But the solitary cottage is actually a semi-detached, with only a thin wall separating her from a total stranger. Her neighbour is an enigma. Dowdy one moment, vivacious the next, but always wearing that unnerving smile. Tamsin can’t shake the feeling that there’s something wrong with her neighbour, especially when she starts experiencing disturbances in her own home.
As locals share strange stories about her house, and her barely contained paranoia spirals out of control, Tamsin begins to suspect that the past she was so desperate to escape might never let her go.
“It is beyond a shadow of a doubt one of the best horror books you can pick up in 2026 and beyond.”
Johanna van Veen, author of Blood On Her Tongue
“A love letter to female rage with a thrilling subscript of dark folklore, Home Sick is about the unhomely which inhabits us all.”
Ally Wilkes, author of All the White Spaces
“Masterful… a wild spiral of madness and magic, and the brutal truth of our darkest shadows.”
Megan Bontrager, author of The Sea Hides Its Dead
“so beautifully and immersively written that you can almost miss the sharp edges, until they’ve snuck right up and pierced you.”
C.J. Dotson, author of These Familiar Walls
“psychological horror with a brilliant folkloric twist”
Lorraine Wilson, author of We Are All Ghosts in the Forest
“a claustrophobic domestic horror of the nastiest order with an unreliable narrator you can’t help but root for.”
MK Hardy, author of The Needfire
The Queen of the High Fields
Carys and Hazard spent their youth trying to reach the High Fields.
Ten years later, Carys returns to face the friend-turned-goddess she left behind.
The Queen of the High Fields is a Folk Horror, Dark Fantasy novella about domineering friendships, Welsh mythology and the search for lost cultural heritage.
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“Highly recommended!”
Runalong The Shelves
“a modern horror folktale which manages to feel epic in just under 150 pages.”
shoreline of infinity
“a page-turner that’ll take you to dark and fantastical places”
the middle shelf
“Anyone with an interest in Welsh mythology […] will find lots to love here”
Horrified Magazine
“a pleasing read for fans of atmospheric folk horror”
Gingernuts of Horror
Accolades
- The Best of British Science Fiction 2023 (‘A Change of Direction’) 2024
- Winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella 2023 (The Queen of the High Fields)
- Nominated for The Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards 2023 (The Queen of the High Fields)
- Included in Nerds of a Feather Fanzine’s Recommended Reading list for the Hugos 2023 (The Queen of the High Fields)
- Longlisted for the BSFA for Best Short Fiction 2022 (The Queen of the High Fields)
- The Best of British Science Fiction 2020 (‘The World is on Fire and You’re Out of Milk’) 2021
- The Best of Three Crows Magazine: Year Two (‘Potato Face’) 2021
- The Best of British Science Fiction 2019 (‘The Anxiety Gene’) 2020
“cool as fuck, black mirror-esque”
Monstrous Regiment
“acidly satirical (…) a rising star in sci-fi and speculative fiction”
Hedera Felix
Work
Home Sick (Solaris, 2026)
‘For Your Consideration‘, FOUND 2 (Oct 2024)
‘Dodos’, Nova Scotia Vol 2 (July 2024)
‘Salt your Stew with Blood and Tears’, Cloisterfox: Issue 4 (Nov 2023)
‘A Change of Direction’, Shoreline of Infinity: Issue 36 Climate Change Special (Sept 2023)
The Queen of the High Fields (Luna Press Publishing, Feb 2022)
‘Potato Face’, Three Crows Magazine: Issue 7 (Sept 2020)
‘The World is on Fire and You’re Out of Milk’, Gutter Magazine: Issue 22 (Aug 2020)
‘Every Morning She Makes Him Anew’, Mycelia: Issue 3 (Hedera Felix, Feb 2020)
‘The Anxiety Gene’, Shoreline of Infinity: Issue 14 (March 2019)
‘The woman who lived off sunshine’, States of Transformation (The Selkie UK, Jan 2019)
‘PezCo Helps’, Monstrous Regiment Literary Magazine: Emerald (Monstrous Regiment, Dec 2018)
‘Heads’, Strix Magazine: Issue 5 (Nov 2018)
‘Regent’, The Ampersand Project (Nov 2018)
“an absolute body horror banger”
Three Crows Magazine
“astonishing and vivid”
The Selkie
Rhiannon Grist 