It looks like you in the dark by Mathilda zeller

⭐️⭐️⭐️ — 3 stars

It Looks Like You in the Dark by Mathilda Zeller is an atmospheric Indigenous horror debut set in a remote Iñupiat village in Alaska. It will be published October 13, 2026.

The story follows Tapeesa, a young woman newly out of high school who works at a fish processing plant in her small village. I loved the setting—Alaska is not somewhere I encounter often in fiction, and Zeller creates such a strong sense of place. The isolation, darkness, wilderness, and tight-knit community all work especially well for a slow-burn horror story.

At the center of the novel is a creature from Indigenous folklore, the kushtuka, which can appear in the form of someone you love. That becomes particularly terrifying for Tapeesa because her sister, Esther, has recently gone missing. At the same time, outsiders continue to descend upon the area, and some of them have disappeared as well. The novel weaves supernatural horror together with the very real history of outsiders exploiting Indigenous land and communities.

This is definitely a slow burn, and I think readers who particularly enjoy folklore-driven horror will appreciate it more than I did. I liked the story and thought it was a solid debut, but it never quite grabbed me enough to move beyond a three-star read.

I also had mixed feelings about the audiobook performance. Zorga Qaunaq has a pleasant voice, but the narration felt somewhat restrained to me. I tend to prefer more vocal variation and differentiation in tone, especially in a story with this much atmosphere and tension. Because of that, I suspect I might have connected more strongly with this one in print.

Overall, It Looks Like You in the Dark is an interesting debut with a wonderfully unusual setting, a compelling use of Indigenous folklore, and a strong sense of atmosphere. I’ll be interested to see what Mathilda Zeller writes next.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for gifting me the advanced listening copy.