She Waits Where Shadows Gather by Michelle Tang
Poison Pen Press (May 2026)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
He came back from the dead, but he didn’t come alone.
She Waits Where Shadows Gather is a haunted house story with spine-chilling Filipino folklore and lush gothic imagery that will appease fans of Mike Flanagan’s hit Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, as well as horror books such as Daphne Fama’s House of Monstrous Women and Amanda Jayatissa’s Island Witch.
Michelle Tang’s debut novel combines elements of classic gothic literature with supernatural frights to create a heartbreaking, infuriating, and terrifying story that will leave readers every bit as emotionally spent as the newest occupants of the malevolent Salcedo Drive.
Avery and Carlos move from Canada to Carlos’ ancestral home in the Philippines after his family reports a sighting of his grandfather’s ghost. Avery agrees only because this is her last-ditch effort to have a child, something she so desperately wants, and Carlos so obviously does not. But they soon discover that Salcedo Drive is everything it is rumored to be, everything Carlos remembers from his haunting childhood. Spirits stalking the halls at night, shrouded mirrors, the inescapable feeling of being watched. Then, there’s a horrible accident that leaves Carlos bedridden and unable to communicate. He’s trapped inside his own body, but he isn’t alone. The whispers that terrified him as a child return and speak in a voice only he can hear.
There’s so much tension and unease seeded throughout She Waits Where The Shadows Gather as it explores themes such as generational trauma, grief, the inescapability of the past, and what it means to love selflessly. Tang utilizes these themes to keep readers on the edge of their seats even during the slower investigative scenes and those in which Carlos and Avery reflect on their marriage. Despite not initially loving either Carlos or Avery, I found myself rooting for them in the end. Not necessarily for the restoration of their relationship but for Avery to realize what she deserves and to cease it, and for Carlos to get the wake up call of his life and learn from it.
Tang takes her characters through emotional extremes with every reveal that intensifies the impending dread and shatters the barrier between past and present. The way everything comes together in She Waits Where Shadows Gather is satisfying and memorable. I devoured the last seventy pages.
A stunning debut and a must-read for gothic horror fans.
