The Nudge by Joseph Fink
Publication Date: September 1st, 2026
Podium Publishing
144 pages. Hardcover.
On the open road, evil doesn’t chase you. It waits . . .
Late one night, a wounded man checks into a remote roadside hotel. He’s running from something he can’t explain or escape. And over the course of a night, he’ll tell the hotel’s proprietor how his life fell apart.
It started with his wife. Subtle changes. Smiles that didn’t belong to her. Then violence―sudden, intimate, almost casual. Therapy offered hope. Recovery seemed possible. Until it wasn’t. He believes a hidden influence has attached itself to him, one that never forces, never commands. It whispers. It suggests. Nudges people toward their worst impulses.
Now the man wanders the country as a fugitive, hoping to break free from the evil that’s wormed its way into him. But as our narrator’s story unfolds, he begins to question whether he’s fled far enough . . .
Tense, atmospheric, and chilling, The Nudge is a slow-burn tale of suspense that will linger like a whisper in the dark, long after the story is over."
The Nudge is a short little horror novella that I sat down and read in one sitting--something that I very, very rarely do, which I think is very indicative of how much it captured my attention. I had not read (or listened) to anything by Joseph Fink prior to this and stumbled upon it one day, requested it from my library, and then, as has been noted, immediately devoured it. And although I'm talking about how quick it was to read, it's not exactly a fast-paced story, either, but feels like a bit of a slow burn that moves quickly because you can't put it down, if that makes any sense. Regardless, because it is so short, I want to do my best to avoid giving away too much about the story, so I'll try to lay out my thoughts in the most spoiler-free way that I can.
Our story starts when a man shows up to a tucked away motel while on the run from something--and no one, not even this man, really seems to know exactly what it is, though of course he has some idea. As the man checks in and is led to his room by the hotel owner, he begins to slowly share his story about he has ended up at this particular hotel.
The entire novella is formatted as a conversation between our protagonist and the hotel owner, so there's a nice mix of storytelling from our protagonist with some added in conversation and commentary from both men as they navigate the hotel (a seemingly more arduous and complex task than one might anticipate, but we'll get to that) towards the man's room. I really loved this narrative style and found it entirely engaging, as I already love listening to people talk and tell stories about themselves and their experiences, so I found myself pretty hooked on this conversation between thee two. I found that it created a delightful amount of suspense and tension, as something about hearing the terrifying and unnerving experiences straight from the person themself added some element of rawness and true fear to the experience. It was easy to put yourself in his shoes, and that is what really made this feel so intense at times. There's also a required level of patience as we wait for him to let the entire story unfold while at the same time moving through the hotel, which of course added to the suspense of it all.
It also doesn't hurt that what this man shares was deeply unsettling, and imagining something similar happening in my own life is truly a horrifying thought, as this story's horror really plays with tweaking the norm and turning the things we most love in our lives and that we find most comforting into the things that are now causing us the most terror. Fink does an excellent job of somehow conveying this through the conversation between the two men, while also interspersing some occasional humor and wit that acted as a perfect balance.
And while our protagonist tells his story, we're also somewhat experiencing a secondary story around the hotel itself, as it certainly is far from normal. It's quite a journey that the hotel owner leads our storyteller on to make it to his room, with confusing hallways and many peculiar bits about the hotel that make it far from normal. We also get to learn a bit about the hotel's own history, which adds a greater slanting sense to this story and managers to make everything feel just slightly off and crooked (as if our protagonist's story didn't do that enough on its own).
I won't say too much more about the story itself because I don't want to give away anything, but I wanted to make sure to share my general thoughts about The Nudge because of how much fun I had with it. If you're looking for a quick little horror that you can easily add to your TBR and that has a really nice bite to it, then this is one you should absolutely pick up. It's not the most terrifying thing I've ever read, but I think it lands firmly as one I would recommend for anyone who enjoys when their horror is just a little bit weird, but still enjoyably scary and definitely captivating.
And last but not least--there are illustrations! I love when books have any illustrations of any kind, and I was delighted by the occasionally images interspersed throughout this story, as I felt they were exceptionally fitting and added so much more depth, dread, and connection to the story in their own unique manner.
**A quick content warning note: there is technically a dog death in this one that I really hoped wouldn't be the case, but it's also the type of thing where it isn't technically the dog... but still, just keep that in mind. It's brief and only a very small bit of the story to where I still made it through okay, but I find it important to share so people who are sensitive to those things (such as myself) are forewarned.
Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org
No comments:
Post a Comment