Review: Humboldt Cut - Allison Mick

Genre: Horror Published: Erewhon Books, January 2026

My Rating: 2/5 stars

On a semi-objective level, Allison Mick’s eco-horror debut deserves about 3/5 stars, so that’s the rating I settled on for now. However, on a personal level, I had more of a 2-star experience with it. This is not a bad book, but it’s a type of horror that’s not for me. Unfortunately, I would’ve known to avoid this beforehand, had the marketing been a little different. More on this later in the review.

The Story:

Humboldt Cut tells the story of multiple generations of the Bay-family, following Jasmine Bay in our current timeline, as she returns to her hometown deep in the Californian redwoods, following the death of her Godmother. In the lead-up to the funeral, she’s reunited with her estranged brother James and his wife Tilly. This reunion, as well as a series of harrowing events in the surrounding woods, force Jasmine to delve deep into her family’s history.

Told through multiple generations - going back to her grandfather, who built a hardwood empire on the backs of the local community – we uncover a family-saga drenched in blood and resin alike…

What I liked:

The book was off to a fantastic start with a prologue and first third rich in descriptive and lush scene-setting. It follows through with a story that could be very entertaining in a B-movie-kind-of-way, with some strong scenes of body-horror and gore, and elements of folk-horror.

The generational story and its themes of greed, prejudice, eco-conscientiousness and blood-debts to be paid to the land, add a deeper layer to what might otherwise be a sloppy creature feature. That being said, none of these themes felt explored deeply enough for me to elevate it above B-movie level. The characters are archetypical and most of its thematic messages could be summarized into one or two sentences.

What I didn’t like:

The main source of disappointment for me is in this books marketing. I chiefly picked up this book because of its comp-titles (Jeff Vandermeer, Stephen Graham Jones and Richards Powers’ The Understory) and tagline (“a Redwood Gothic”), and frankly don’t think those are helping the book find its intended audience. I would comp this book more for readers of The Troop, or They Fear Not Men in the Woods.

The novel is also anything but gothic. It relies heavily on gore, shock, rather than the lingering dread, ambiguity and psychological suspense that characterize gothic literature. Neither style is better than the other; one just really never works for me. The marketing made me expect a more psychological and gothic tale. Had I known it was going for more of a folk-horror-creature-feature style, I would’ve steered clear, saved myself some time, and saved this book a review that might be poorer than it deserves…

Even if I meet the book on its terms, I still had a few bones to pick with it. The intermixing of comedy and humor was very hit-or-miss, and in places quite jarring as a contrast to the extremely brutal topics that were being discussed just sentences before it.

I also felt the book outstayed its welcome a bit in part three. At the end of part two, you basically have all the information to piece together a coherent picture of the story, and the parts of the mystery that remain in the shadows were frankly what kept made them scarier to me. In part three everything is explained – multiple times - including the parts that you likely already picked up on earlier. Horror thrives in uncertainty, and this felt like it killed that in the final third.

Overall, a recommendation if you’re in the market for a gory eco-/folk-horror in the style of Nick Cutter or Chuck Wendig. If you’re expecting a “Redwood Gothic” filled with psychological suspense and deep character-exploration, like I did; look elsewhere.

Many thanks to Erewhon Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

You can find this book here on Goodreads.