My Darling Dreadful Thing

Johanna van Veen
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"Dark and decadent, with the haunting allure of a true gothic tale, My Darling Dreadful Thing is a sensation that horrifies as acutely as it delights. Johanna Van Veen is a force to be reckoned with and will stain your thoughts a brilliant shade of crimson."
— Rachel Gillig, New York Times bestselling author of One Dark Window

Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears. Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom séances, and the two strike up a connection.

Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable.

Then, someone is murdered.

Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who—or what—is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.

"A Sapphic séance of preternatural proportions, My Darling Dreadful Thing summons a stunning new literary voice to be reckoned with. Johanna van Veen reaches beyond the veil to conjure up a gothic shocker like no other."
— Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters

Common tropes in sapphic speculative fiction

Speculative fiction combines romance with adventure and conflict. Certain narrative patterns recur.

• A princess guarded by a loyal warrior or knight who begins to question her duty.
• Rival soldiers from opposing factions are forced to work together.
• A scholar and a fighter navigating a dangerous quest.
• Political enemies are forming uneasy alliances during a rebellion.
• Explorers encounter unfamiliar worlds and build trust through survival.

These tropes create tension, intimacy, and emotional growth while the larger story unfolds.

Why these stories expand the imagination

Speculative fiction does more than entertain. It shifts perspective. When readers step into worlds built on different assumptions, the systems shaping their own lives become visible. Gender roles, political hierarchies, and family structures reveal themselves as historical constructs rather than permanent truths.

Sapphic speculative fiction takes this imaginative shift even further. Queer women appear not as side characters but as central figures in the story of the world itself. They lead revolutions, build communities, explore unknown territories, and fall in love while reshaping the societies around them.

These stories ask readers to imagine something larger than representation. They ask us to imagine entirely different ways people live together.