There is no horror deeper, more profound, or more universal than losing a loved one. It is an experience we will all share in common, in time, no matter how virtuous, strong, or smart we are. Death is relentless. And once it sets its sights on a victim, there is no force that can intervene.
Susan Barker’s Old Soul (out January 28, 2025 from Penguin Publishing Group) is a literary meditation on this concept dressed in the trappings of an old fashioned horror story. At the novel’s start, two strangers discover they have a chilling commonality. Both have lost someone they love to a death that left their bodies reversed. Freckles and scars that were once on the right side of their bodies suddenly appeared on the left. Eyes, teeth, and hands – everything had changed positions, and their autopsies revealed their organs were also on the opposite side. Compelled by this chance meeting, Jake, our ersatz protagonist, sets out to track down others who share this story. Meanwhile, the woman responsible for these horrific deaths comes ever closer to her next victim.
Old Soul alternates between the testimonies Jake collects and the actions of the villainous woman responsible for the horror. Barker’s premise is compelling and her characters equally so, but it’s her mastery of prose that will draw readers into this story. Descriptions of the everyday (“her collarbone seemed excavated by shadow”) and the supernatural (“But something other than the woman’s deterioration disturbs her now, some presence she can sense lurking beneath the appearance of things”) ring with truth under Barker’s pen.
And yet, reading Old Soul is not without its challenges. The testimonies Jake tracks down are fascinating snapshots of fully realized lives. The characters he encounters are exquisitely fleshed out and grounded in deeply considered settings, but these chapters don’t always advance the plot. As a literary novel, this is not a prerequisite; however, after the third or fourth account, the story begins to lose momentum under its own weight. The same can be said for the chapters that follow the antagonist. Her perspective, which is told in present tense and details her actions over the course of a single day, begins with a delicious tension readers will love. Can the villain trap her next victim before it’s too late? It’s a wonderful set up and a delight to watch the cat-and-mouse game unfold. But by hour five in-narrative, readers may feel the story is treading water while it waits for the rest of the story to catch up.
Fortunately, it’s at these moments Barker injects Old Soul with its most compelling chapters. Jake’s account of his best friend’s death is rich with complicated relationships, poignant detail, and unsettling imagery. While the antagonist’s story is made more complex with the introduction of a character that quickly becomes the beating heart of the whole narrative. Barker’s love for her cast cannot be denied, and it’s that genuine care with the crafting of their stories that will keep readers turning pages until Old Soul’s shocking conclusion.
Looking for more chilling tales of terror? Explore Tales Accursed, a new collection of folk tales.
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