Sweetside Motel
|
FREE ONLINE BOOK LAUNCH PARTY! Join us for a reading with E.L. Chen March 2, 2026Sweetside Motel
by E.L. Chen With the pandemic sweeping the globe, Sarah Ng makes a desperate escape from Toronto to start a new life. But when her car breaks down in Sweetside, an isolated country town, she is forced to quarantine with two charming but disquieting brothers who run the local urban legend: a decaying roadside inn nicknamed the “Suicide Motel”. Trapped between the threat of xenophobic violence and her dark past, she must convince the brothers to help her escape. But how can she know who to trust when everyone, including herself, has their ghosts? E.L. Chen’s contemporary twist on the gothic novella is an unnerving exploration of fear and what it means to be haunted. About the Author
E. L. Chen is the author of The Good Brother and Summerwood/Winterwood, the latter of which was longlisted for the Sunburst and recommended as a Best Book for Kids and Teens by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Her short fiction has been published in venues such as Strange Horizons, On Spec, Lackington’s, and The Dark. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her son. Praise for SWEETSIDE MOTEL *A BOOKS IN THE FREEZER PODCAST pick for most anticipated horror of 2026! “Sweetside Motel is a terrifying and totally engaging modern Gothic, ending in a pitch-perfect finale.” —Devan Barlow, author of the Curses & Curtains series “Immersive and captivating, E. L. Chen’s Sweetside Motel is unbearably tense and refuses to let you go. An unputdownable exploration of how abuse changes the human psyche in a pandemic hit world, it felt like it seeped into my soul. One of my favourite reads of the year.” —Sarah New, author of Amissis Liberis and Hypochondria “This dark, atmospheric book has all the initial hallmarks of a classic gothic novel, updated for modern times. And indeed, it is that. But it is also something stranger and more unexpected—a twisty psychological thriller with plot turns I couldn’t predict, where no one and nothing is quite what it seems, and with complicated characters who are by turns charming, endearing, surprising, and horrific. I loved it. If you decide to follow Sarah on her road trip to (and from) darkness, buckle up and be prepared for the ride.” —Vanessa Fogg, author of The House of Illusionists and Other Stories |
