Such a Pretty Smile

One of Goodreads Most Popular Horror of 2022

Named one of Esquire's Best Horror of the Year

"Compulsive and horrifyingly entertaining." - Liz Nugent


“Razor-sharp. This one will cut you.” - Christopher Golden

In this biting and electrifying novel from bold horror talent Kristi DeMeester, there’s something out there that’s murdering young women—until an overwhelmed mother and her secretive daughter refuse to live without answers any longer.

He’s known as The Cur, and he leaves no trace—except for the victims he most viciously slays every fifteen years. Young women who refuse to conform and don’t know when to shut up.

2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can’t share with anyone. But when young women around her begin dying in horrific ways, wild speculation ensues. Soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice—until she’s in danger of being punished for using it.
2004: Caroline Sawyer sees dogs everywhere. Snarling, barking, teeth snapping that no one else seems to notice. As these delusions begin to take shape in the violent, visceral sculptures she makes in a trance-like state, her fiancé is convinced she needs help. But Caroline’s past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that others around her can’t understand.

As past demons become a present threat, both Caroline and Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting, oppressive power to its malignant core. Brilliantly paced and unapologetically fierce, Such a Pretty Smile will make you want to stand up and rage at everyone who ever told you to sit down, shut up, and smile pretty.

“A righteously angry fever dream.” - Paul Tremblay

“Darkly feminist.” - Karma Brown

"Brutal and shocking." - emily m. danforth