I’ll Make a Spectacle of You

One of my most anticipated horror novels this year has been I’ll Make a Spectacle of You, the debut from Beatrice Winifred Iker. Set at a Tennessee HBCU, it follows Zora, a grad student in Appalachian Studies who’s researching religions, folklore, and hoodoo… and a beast that supposedly lurks the university woods at night. A century-old diary pertaining to the beast also outlines the mysterious disappearance of several students, and it seems that students are again going missing now, in 2027, as Zora is conducting her research. Can her conure abilities help her uncover the secrets of the monster in the woods and the disappearing students?

What I Liked:

• Intersection of African Baptist Church, folklore, and hoodoo. I’ve never been religious myself, so I’m no expert on any of this. But I thought it was interesting how a variety of spiritual beliefs come up against each other in this novel. Some of the characters are devout Christians, while others lean more towards hoodoo, conjure, and herbal remedies; many combine these different approaches. What happens when a preacher collaborates with the devil to make a beast? Are his sacrifices genuinely in the name of God… or something more sinister?
• Appalachia setting. Bricksbury University is in Tennessee’s Appalachia region, bringing with it a strong dose of the local folklore and superstitions. I loved getting absorbed into this setting and the ominous history of the town, the university, and the many students who have gone missing over the years. This has dark academia vibes from start to finish.
• An old diary, dual timeline, and the past colliding with the present. The chapters go back and forth between Zora in 2027 and events in the 1800s and 1900s that led to what’s going on now. I loved the epistolary portions, the research Zora is doing for her thesis, and the erased memories of those on campus. There are interweaving themes of immortality and sacrifice in the name of protection, but is the cost worth the reward?
• A queer cast of characters. Zora is a lesbian, while many of the people she connects with here are also queer, trans, or nonbinary. I always like seeing more diversity in sexuality and gender identity in the novels I read.

Audiobook:

Ozzie Jacobs narrates I’ll Make a Spectacle of You. Though it took me a chapter or two to get used to her strong delivery, ultimately I found her narration to be engrossing. She gives accents and personality to each character, making them all vivid, and her brassy tone demands your full attention until the very end.

Final Thoughts

I’ll Make a Spectacle of You is a twisting Southern Gothic for anyone who likes a blend of religion and folklore, beasts in the woods, and a dark academia frame connecting the timelines. This book is eerie and strange, though not very scary. Regardless, I enjoyed the setting and the interconnecting themes. This is a strong debut and I look forward to more from Beatrice Winifred Iker.

Special thanks to Orbit Books, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy I’ll Make a Spectacle of You here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

I’ll Make a Spectacle of You by Beatrice Winifred Iker
Audiobook Narrator	Ozzie Jacobs
Audience	Adult
Genre	Horror; Southern Gothic
Setting	Tennessee
Number of Pages	400
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARCs)
Original Publication Date	November 18, 2025
Publisher	Run For It

Official Summary

This heart-pounding Southern gothic horror debut from Beatrice Winifred Iker, takes readers to Bricksbury University, the oldest and most storied HBCU in the nation. But as one student is about to find out, a long history comes with a legacy of secrets.
 
Zora Robinson is an ambitious grad student in her dream program, Appalachian Studies, at Bricksbury University. When her thesis advisor hands her a strange diary and suggests she research the local folklore about a beast roaming the woods surrounding campus, Zora finds a community uneager to talk to an outsider.
 
As she delves into the history of the beast, she uncovers a rumored secret society called the Keepers that has tenuous ties to the beast…and Bricksbury itself. Zora soon finds herself plagued by visions of the past, and her grip on reality starts to slip as she struggles to uncover what is real and what is folklore. But when a student goes missing, Zora starts to wonder if the Keepers ever really disbanded.
 
There’s something in the woods and it has its eyes on Zora.