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Tor UK acquires ‘deliciously dark’ literary horror debut from Bar Fridman-Tell
Tor UK, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, has acquired a “deliciously dark” literary horror debut from Bar Fridman-Tell in a two-book deal, for its boutique horror list Nightfire. The deal for Honeysuckle was done by Tor publisher Gillian Green, via Rachel Mann at CAA on behalf of Hillary Jacobson at CAA for British & Commonwealth rights, with US rights going to Bloomsbury and Canadian rights to Simon & Schuster.
Honeysuckle, described as “Katherine Arden meets fem gore” by the publisher, is a “dark, twisted” horror-tinged fairytale that is loosely inspired by the Welsh Blodeuwedd myth.
In Honeysuckle, a lonely boy is given a girl made of roots, branches and flowers as a playmate but every season she slowly rots and must be remade. And as the boy grows up he takes over the seasonal rebuilding of his best friend and his thoughts turn to darker things.
Nightfire will publish simultaneously with North America in March 2026.
Green said: “Imagine the literary folklore retellings of Katherine Arden put through a horror blender – this is a feminist Frankenstein with flowers – a dark, beautifully written fairytale with rot at its core. Honeysuckle will appeal to femgore fans as well as readers of Eowyn Ivey, Alice Hoffman and T Kingfisher, as well as anyone who grew up reading Alan Garner!”
Fridman-Tell said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that Honeysuckle has found its perfect home in the UK. It still feels surreal that my debut novel will be published by Tor, the home of authors I deeply admire, both as a reader and a writer. I’m incredibly grateful to be working with Gillian and the amazing teams at Tor Nightfire UK, Bloomsbury US, and Simon & Schuster Canada.”
