The Macabre

Since reading A Dash of Salt and Pepper a few years ago, I’ve been wanting to read more from Kosoko Jackson. My second foray into his work is The Macabre, his debut fantasy/horror novel for adults. Lewis is a struggling artist who suddenly gets tasked with entering magical paintings to put a stop to their malevolent curses. But the line between who’s good and who’s evil gets blurred along the way, and Lewis will have to learn who to rely on in his race to complete this deadly mission.

What I Liked:

• Paintings as curses and portals into different forms of grief. I loved this whole concept! Lewis is able to travel into paintings, into a memory or a nightmare, and see what dark emotion is embedded into the paint and brushstrokes. But the curses these paintings come with need to be destroyed, even with all the harm that will inevitably cause.
• Discussions of race, colonialism, and international geopolitics. This book is set all over the world, from the US and England to France, Australia, Japan, India, Nigeria, and Brazil. I was surprised at how it dove into politics and colonialism, but it added thoughtful layers to the whole narrative and differing motivations for the characters.
• Who’s a villain vs. the hero? What about a victim of their own circumstances? As the book progresses, good and bad might not be so clear-cut. Who can Lewis trust? Whose intentions are good… and who is just power-hungry? Was the original painter behind these cursed works of art an evil person, or a victim of grief?
• Grief and loss. Both Lewis and his painter ancestor Edgar have suffered the loss of a loved one. Both want to bring that person back, even if dark magic is involved. But is it worth it, or is the price to pay too high?

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• I went into The Macabre expecting horror, but it’s really more of a dark fantasy with some occasional (and gruesome) elements of horror. The marketing for this book seems a bit off, which can be a disservice in getting the book to the right readers at the right time. I think if you know what the genre actually is, The Macabre will be far more enjoyable from the get-go.
• Readers are thrown into a world of magic without quite enough world-building at the beginning. Lewis seems to immediately accept this new reality… but I needed another chapter or two.

Audiobook:

Kevin R. Free does an excellent job narrating The Macabre! I was especially impressed with his ease moving between American, English, French, Japanese, and Nigerian accents. He captures the humor and horror present in the novel, bringing the story to vivid life.

Final Thoughts

The Macabre is an interesting and multi-layered novel that fans of dark fantasy and even superhero narratives will enjoy. Although it has elements of horror, it’s more of a quest-driven contemporary fantasy that explores art history, colonialism, and vengeance in the face of grief. It also has a good dose of humor and a romantic subplot, and is it just me, or does the ending open up the possibility of a sequel? With the right expectations going in, this is a winning novel.

Special thanks to Harper Voyager, HarperAudio Adult, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Macabre here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson
Audiobook Narrator	Kevin R. Free
Audience	Adult
Genre	Fantasy
Setting	US, England, France, Australia, Japan, India, Nigeria, Brazil
Number of Pages	400
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARCs)
Original Publication Date	September 9, 2025
Publisher	Harper Voyager

Official Summary

DELUXE LIMITED EDITION features red sprayed edges, a reversible jacket that readers can color in and make their own, and endpapers featuring two more paintings from the book! Available for a limited time while supplies last.

From award-winning and USA Today bestselling author Kosoko Jackson comes his adult speculative debut, a stand-alone novel blending time travel and globe-hopping adventure, art history, and dark fantasy about magical paintings and the lengths people will go to collect them, destroy them…or be destroyed.

A picture is worth a thousand nightmares.

Art has always been an escape for struggling painter Lewis Dixon. But other than his mom, who has recently passed away, no one has ever praised his work. If he is being honest, there’s really no one in his life. So he is shocked when the British Museum shows an unusual interest in his art. This is his chance to show the world what he’s capable of…he just has no idea that he might also be saving the world at the same time.

As Lewis soon learns, he has not been invited to participate in a curated show, but rather a test: to see if the fugue-like exhilaration he experiences when painting is actually magic, a power that allows him to enter nine very special paintings—paintings made by his great-grandfather. Spread across the globe, these paintings have unbelievable eldritch abilities…and not necessarily beneficial ones. In terms of power, these are the most valuable works of art in the world, and there are those out there who would do anything to possess just one.

And Lewis, upon passing the test, has been asked to destroy them all.

Partnered with an alluring agent in museum’s employ, Noah Rao, Lewis must travel to Japan, Australia, Nigeria—and the past—plunging himself into a world of black markets, gothic magic, ancient history, and cursed objects to save those unlucky enough to call any of the paintings their own—or to free the world from those who would misuse the power of the paintings. In doing so, he will need to discover if he has what it takes to truly be an artist, the confidence to finally open himself up to someone who could give his lonely life meaning, and the strength to enter and navigate a reality where magic is everywhere.