When Emma and Caleb move into an old farmhouse, it feels like the perfect home for their growing family.
Then they find something unexpected in the attic.
It’s soft, adorable, and stitched together with something that calls itself love.
As the days grow shorter and Emma’s due date draws near, strange things begin to stir in the shadows. The dog growls at empty corners. The baby’s room never feels quite right.
And the thing they found in the attic? Some things get left behind for a reason.
Tense, layered, and quietly horrifying, Cubby weaves past and present into a dark tale of family, fear, and the things we carry—whether we mean to or not.
Told on two timelines, Cubby is the story of an evil toy and its demand for human sacrifice. In the present day, happy couple, Emma and Caleb, are moving into their new home and preparing for the birth of their first child. When Emma finds a soft, cuddly teddy bear hidden away in the house, she thinks it would be a perfect addition to the nursery. She was wrong.
In the not too distant past we have the former occupants of the house, a neglected, bullied child named Richard and his abusive, alcoholic mother. On one particular birthday, Richard's mother storms into his dilapidated room and throws down a gift of a soft cuddly teddy bear. It looks clean and brand new. He has never been given anything that didn't look used before. He names it Cubby, and it becomes the only companion he has ever had, but there is a steep price for this friendship.
Spooky occurrences and a weird neighbor tie the present day to the past.
This was a quick but chilling read that left me wanting more. I hope there will someday be a Cubby origin story because I have lots of questions. Did Richard's mother give him this bear because she knew it was evil? Or did the bear become evil because the mother was. Did something dark get called to prey upon Richard's trauma and possess the bear? Was it Richard himself who wanted to hurt people, and his using the bear as justification for so long gave it life?
If you like creepy toys with fiendish intent, this is for you. In the back of my mind, I can hear Chucky's voice coming from Cubby's plush furry body, threatening to be my friend til the end.
4 out of 5 stars.
My thanks to Jyl Glenn for the e-ARC
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