Review: Inhalation - Michael Boulerice

Genre: Horror novella

Published: Dead Ink Press, June 2026

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Every now and then I like to take a chance on an indie-horror book on Netgalley, with a unique premise and little to no context otherwise. Sometimes, this flops phenomenally, and other times I discover a hidden horror-gem such as this one.

Inhalation follows Milo, a man in the terminal stage of his battle with cancer, haunted by fragmented and distorted memories of his disturbed childhood. Seeking closure from this half-remembered past, he returns to his childhood home for his final days of life. Here, one by one, pieces of the past resurface; either distorted by childhood fear, or too real entirely… And they involve a series of mysterious deaths of his siblings, his sisters imaginary friend whom she worshiped with almost religious devotion, and the image of the wicked Alice-in-Wonderland-Inspired image of a grotesque hookah-smoking caterpillar…

What I loved:

With a story this short, I have to be extra cautious to avoid spoilers, but let me tell you this: some of the images this book evokes live rent-free in my mind now, and they show no signs of moving out any time soon.

Whether you take them at face value or not is ultimately up to the reader. To me, these images were the perfect representation of what a child’s mind might conjure up in order to make sense of the horrors they faced, completely beyond what a child should be able to deal with. Childhood truly can be a cosmic horror, and so can loss and uncontrollable illness. This novella understands that, and gives image to those feelings.

Hookah-smoking caterpillars aside, it added a layer of realism that deepened the horror for me. (To the point where I’ve actually had critically ill patients with delirium-dreams quite similar to this, so there goes my sleep for tonight…)

Although the prose and structure are quite simple, the atmosphere and mental pictures it paints are strong enough to stand on their own.

It’s worth mentioning that there’s a small element of mixed-media, in the form of images at the end of chapters. Normally, I’m not a big fan of this, but in this case, it was unintrusive enough to add to the atmosphere without distracting from the story.

What I didn’t love:

Inhalation’s novella-length is both its strength and weakness. It forces the horror to be trimmed down to its essence and prevents the cosmic elements from “overexplaining themselves”. On the other hand, it leaves little room for the reader to grow attached to the characters. During the flash-back chapters, we see some incredibly traumatic events and losses from Milo’s childhood. Yet because none of (Milo’s relationships with) these secondary characters have been properly developed, we’re kept at an emotional distance from the true tragedy and horror. That could have elevated the story from “good” to an absolute emotional gut punch for me, and I feel the latter would’ve been a perfect fit for this books themes. It also would’ve made Milo’s final decision hit with more impact.

Overall, very recommendable, especially to readers who enjoy their horror with a unique thematic blend of the cosmic, the strangeness of childhood imagination, faith/religion and the fragility of life itself.

Many thanks to Dark Ink Press 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.