BOOK LAUNCH: MILKTEETH by Caitlin Starling

Motherhood is a horror all its own... "Fascinating, compelling, impossible to look away from... This is an aspect of vampire lore that's rarely mined, and as usual Starling pulls no punches. If you think you're vampired-out, think again." ―Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of All These Bodie We're thrilled to welcome Caitlin Starling (The Death of Jane Lawrence) to The Twisted Spine in conversation with Kailee Pedersen (The Minimalist) on October 25! About MILKTEETH A dark, seductive tale of hunger, love, and transformation from the bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence. The only thing more terrifying than a brood's hunger . . . is its mother's. Beatrice is a broodmother: a vampire responsible for nursing newly made fledglings through the first years of their unlife. She nests in an abandoned, isolated warren of office space beneath her patron's skyscraper, where she raises her fledglings―two difficult, hungry children of the night. But when she takes on a third, the balance ruptures. Her hunger swells beyond control. Her body alters, betraying its purpose, transforming her into something even more monstrous. Desperate to master herself once more, Beatrice courts a mortal OBGYN who might be able to unravel the secrets of her unnatural anatomy. But soon their connection threatens the secrecy of her vampiric coven as well as the safety and development of her dependent nurslings… and in a world governed by secrecy, even the smallest revelation could prove fatal. About the speakers: Caitlin Starling is the nationally bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence, the Bram Stoker-nominated The Luminous Dead, and Last To Leave The Room. Her newest novels The Starving Saints and The Graceview Patient epitomize her love of genre-hopping horror; her bibliography spans besieged castles, alien caves, and haunted hospitals. Her short fiction has been published by GrimDark Magazine and Neon Hemlock, and her nonfiction has appeared in Nightmare, Uncanny, and Nightfire. Caitlin also works in narrative design, and has been paid to invent body parts. She’s always on the lookout for new ways to inflict insomnia. Kailee Pedersen writes haunted, unsettling speculative fiction. She graduated with a BA in classics from Columbia University, specializing in ancient Greek. Kailee was adopted from Nanning, China and grew up in Nebraska, where her family owns a farm. She is the author of the queer poetry chapbook Pastorale and the novel Sacrificial Animals, which was named one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2024 and a finalist for Best Horror at the 2025 Libby Book Awards. When not scribbling down her next book, you can catch her studying opera performance at the Mozarteum University, playing video games, or working as a software engineer in New York City. The Minimalist is her second novel. Event guidelines: Each ticket includes either a hardcover copy of MILKTEETH or a $15 Twisted Spine gift card. Limited additional copies of the books will be available for purchase at the event. A signing will follow the discussion. If you have any questions about the guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected].