Benothinged
Unemployed, depressed and grieving, all Mask wants is to be left alone to enjoy their misery. But they are haunted: in the day by a tea-obsessed elderly neighbour and in their nightmares by a spectral shapeshifter.
Then there’s V, a secretive busker who regales Mask with stories about The Nothing, a soul-sucking monster who bears an uncanny resemblance to the spectre in Mask’s dreams.
When The Nothing makes its spectacular debut in the real world, Mask must race to destroy it before it destroys them. But after years of isolation, who can Mask truly trust?
To survive, Mask needs to do the impossible: find a reason to live.
Benothinged is an ambitious horror-comedy that confronts grief, isolation, mental illness and poverty. Told with cleaver-sharp wit and insight, Benothinged will consume whoever opens its pages.
Alvar Theo
Alvar Theo lives in Wolverhampton with a cat who doesn’t let them write and a dog who doesn’t let them do anything.
They started writing at five years old, making Red Dwarf fanfiction in the form of picture books. They’ve written sketches for podcasts and have a folder full of feature screenplays unlikely to ever see the light of day. Benothinged is their first novel.
They have a degree in Psychology and Creative Writing. They have previously worked as a bookseller, library attendant and administrator. At the time of writing, they are horrendously unemployed.
Author portrait © Alvar Theo