Is The Fisherman Worth Reading?
by John Langan
Ada’s Score
John Langan's 2016 novel follows two bereaved men who bond over fly-fishing in the Catskill Mountains, only to hear a terrifying tale about a mysterious figure called the Fisherman who haunts a local reservoir with connections to ancient, malevolent forces. The book is structured as a novel-within-a-novel, embedding an elaborate supernatural history that feels as inevitable and old as myth. Langan draws on Lovecraftian cosmic horror and nineteenth-century weird fiction while writing prose of unusual literary ambition for the genre, blending grief and the uncanny with genuine emotional resonance. It is one of the most celebrated horror novels of the past decade and a landmark of literary weird fiction.
“Genuinely unsettling and genuinely moving — rare for horror to do both. The nested storytelling structure is a slow burn that pays off magnificently.”
Ada Brief
AI reading intelligence“Genuinely unsettling and genuinely moving — rare for horror to do both. The nested storytelling structure is a slow burn that pays off magnificently.”
Book Details
- Publisher
- Word Horde
- Published
- January 1, 2016
- Pages
- 304
- Language
- English
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Affiliate linksISBN: 9781939905215
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Ada’s Score Breakdown
4.3
This breakdown reflects how Ada weighs the book’s strengths and flaws, not aggregated reader data.
Common Questions About The Fisherman
- Is The Fisherman worth reading?
- Genuinely unsettling and genuinely moving — rare for horror to do both. The nested storytelling structure is a slow burn that pays off magnificently. Ada rates it 4.3 out of 5.
- How many pages is The Fisherman?
- The Fisherman is 304 pages long — around 6–7 hours at an average reading pace.
