Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World

Like Peyton Place, like Derry, there is something dark under the surface of the seemingly idyllic small town of Wilson Island.

Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World by Cullen Bunn is an engrossing thriller and cosmic horror novel that follows the inhabitants of Wilson Island as the community is terrorized by a serial killer - until they realize that’s the least of the horrors that they face.

The novel follows multiple characters through the horrific events, some through their gruesome ends.

There are a few obviously connected folks such as Willa, who has just discovered she’s pregnant, her boyfriend, her best friend, and her mother and father - head of the town’s mafia (sure, why not?) and some of his goons. We also follow the sheriff, Buck, and several of his deputies as well as a group of pest exterminators.

It’s not immediately obvious how some are connected including The Warlock - a former D&D dungeon master turned unlikely hero and The No-Face Man - yes, we get some of the story from the serial killer’s perspective.

Yeah, there are a lot. Having so many perspectives slowed down the action at points, but it also raises the stakes for the reader that we had time to care about these lives that were in danger.  It really came together in the later chapters as all the threads were woven together and the action - and the body count - kicked into high gear.

I don’t mind a bit of a slow start if it means I get to know the characters, and it just made me want to read faster - and stay up past my bedtime - to find out what was really going on and how it was going to turn out.

Stray thought: Cosmic horrors are one thing, but I can only suspend my disbelief so much. A D&D group that meets successfully not once, but twice, per week?

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advance copy for my honest review. Pub. date: 11/11/25

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