Titan Books snaps up Ryan's 'utterly terrifying wintery tale'

Titan Books has snapped up Lindy Ryan’s "chilling" novella, Cold Snap.

Managing editor George Sandison bought world all-language rights from Italia Gandolfo at Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management. The novella will be published in October 2024.

"The bleak, shadowy days of winter serve as an ideal inspiration for delving into the more sombre aspects of human emotion," said Gandolfo. "In Cold Snap, Lindy navigates the desolate landscape of despair and the unquenchable thirst of guilt, framed against the backdrop of a quintessential winter setting. This chilling narrative spirals into the hidden depths of your psyche – and nothing is more haunting than that."

Cold Snap follows Christine Sinclaire who runs away to the Pennsylvania Wilds with her 15 year-old son after her husband falls to his death while hanging Christmas lights. But at the cabin, Christine begins to hear strange noises in the forest and is stalked by a horned figure who calls her name with her dead husband’s voice.

Ryan commented: “Cold Snap strips away the bright lights and shiny glare of the winter holidays and looks instead at the darker things we can’t wrap up in pretty packaging and bows. Grief, guilt and isolation are haunting enough, but add in a sinister presence that won’t let you look away and suddenly the cold, dark days of winter are even bleaker than we could have imagined."

Sandison added: "Lindy Ryan has crafted an utterly terrifying wintery tale of isolation in the festive season. Cold Snap is a profound and powerful exploration of the exploded moments we survive in our grief and trauma. It is gorgeous and heart-breaking."