What do you think?
Rate this book
Formulation
Are you searching for a dark, twisted psychological horror that will make your skin crawl? Look no further!
Trapped amidst the aftermath of inebriated and forgotten deeds, an unfaithful man promises himself that this will be the last time he betrays his family.
While struggling to untangle himself from a web of his own making, he notices that all is not what it seems. A lingering sense of unease haunts every conscious moment, as does the sensation of something monstrous creeping steadily closer.
From the dark and unwelcoming corners of existence, a creature observes him patiently, gathering shape with every desperate breath he takes.
WARNING: This book contains scenes of psychological and physical horror.
Trapped amidst the aftermath of inebriated and forgotten deeds, an unfaithful man promises himself that this will be the last time he betrays his family.
While struggling to untangle himself from a web of his own making, he notices that all is not what it seems. A lingering sense of unease haunts every conscious moment, as does the sensation of something monstrous creeping steadily closer.
From the dark and unwelcoming corners of existence, a creature observes him patiently, gathering shape with every desperate breath he takes.
WARNING: This book contains scenes of psychological and physical horror.
- GenresHorror
100 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 28, 2025
5 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Lorn
7 books77 followersDaniel has been obsessed with horror since childhood and is particularly interested in the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Charles L Grant, H.P. Lovecraft, and M.R. James.
With his spine-chilling debut, Obsession, in 2022, Daniel marked his entry into the world of horror literature. The resounding acclaim for his unique brand of horror quickly fuelled his creative drive, leading to the release of PACT, See You Later, RED, and Sins of the Wronged.
Daniel has been commended on his ability to transform the ordinary into the monstrous. While he has primarily delved into psychological horror with Obsession, PACT, and RED, his true passion lies in the world of supernatural horror, as seen in See You Later. This genre will be the key focus of his future works, and Daniel promises many more spine-tingling tales to come.
With his spine-chilling debut, Obsession, in 2022, Daniel marked his entry into the world of horror literature. The resounding acclaim for his unique brand of horror quickly fuelled his creative drive, leading to the release of PACT, See You Later, RED, and Sins of the Wronged.
Daniel has been commended on his ability to transform the ordinary into the monstrous. While he has primarily delved into psychological horror with Obsession, PACT, and RED, his true passion lies in the world of supernatural horror, as seen in See You Later. This genre will be the key focus of his future works, and Daniel promises many more spine-tingling tales to come.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 11, 2025
Energy Can't be Destroyed...
It Just Shifts into Another Form
FORMULATION
by Daniel Lorn
5 stars. This story is about an unnamed man, an artist with a wife and child, fighting the demons of alcohol addiction as well as his lusts outside his marriage...
For the past few days, he has been trying to piece together the foggy memory of something bad...
Something he was responsible for, but he is unable to remember what it was...
Whatever he is guilty of...
He must set things right with his family, but going sober may mean losing his artistic creativity...
He's fighting the draw of a particular bar, a particular drink (whiskey), and a seductive barmaid working there...
If he could fantasize the perfect woman...
It is she. She disarms his anxieties, and he finds himself moving his wedding ring into his pocket while in the bar...
If all this weren't enough...
A malevolent entity enters his safe space with harmful intent...
His deep-seated phobia of spiders has him seeing one of the vile creatures in his home...
This potently precise translation of fear itself is called the formulation...
He could kill the beast, but energy can't be destroyed. It just shifts into another form...
Which sends him back to the bar and the barmaid, and the cycle seems to endlessly repeat...
He knows he must remove himself from this trap and go home to his family before the foundations of his universe collapse...
He really wants to get sober, but he just needs more time...
And whiskey...
Is this what sobriety feels like? Gazing into the abyss?
I anxiously awaited the release of this novella. I've read everything that this author has written to date, and IMHO, this is his most insightful story ever. The struggles of alcohol abuse, the spider (is it real, or is it a form of alcoholic DTs, or a figment of his guilt-ridden warring brain? This story is one of his best and was worth the wait! If you haven't tried Daniel Lorn yet, jump in with OBSESSION.
Recommended!
It Just Shifts into Another Form
FORMULATION
by Daniel Lorn
5 stars. This story is about an unnamed man, an artist with a wife and child, fighting the demons of alcohol addiction as well as his lusts outside his marriage...
For the past few days, he has been trying to piece together the foggy memory of something bad...
Something he was responsible for, but he is unable to remember what it was...
Whatever he is guilty of...
He must set things right with his family, but going sober may mean losing his artistic creativity...
He's fighting the draw of a particular bar, a particular drink (whiskey), and a seductive barmaid working there...
If he could fantasize the perfect woman...
It is she. She disarms his anxieties, and he finds himself moving his wedding ring into his pocket while in the bar...
If all this weren't enough...
A malevolent entity enters his safe space with harmful intent...
His deep-seated phobia of spiders has him seeing one of the vile creatures in his home...
This potently precise translation of fear itself is called the formulation...
He could kill the beast, but energy can't be destroyed. It just shifts into another form...
Which sends him back to the bar and the barmaid, and the cycle seems to endlessly repeat...
He knows he must remove himself from this trap and go home to his family before the foundations of his universe collapse...
He really wants to get sober, but he just needs more time...
And whiskey...
Is this what sobriety feels like? Gazing into the abyss?
I anxiously awaited the release of this novella. I've read everything that this author has written to date, and IMHO, this is his most insightful story ever. The struggles of alcohol abuse, the spider (is it real, or is it a form of alcoholic DTs, or a figment of his guilt-ridden warring brain? This story is one of his best and was worth the wait! If you haven't tried Daniel Lorn yet, jump in with OBSESSION.
Recommended!
August 23, 2025
I can think of one word to best describe the feel of this story…dread. Pure, unfiltered dread. Our lead was trying to navigate his life without falling into temptation, revisiting his old ways. Twisted visions and blurred reality made it all continually more difficult. The style of the writing brought me back to Edgar Allan Poe. Strong writing, carefully chosen wording, and an incredibly slow burn, symbolism-heavy type of story. It boasted some incredible visuals and made the most of the horror elements. Much like Daniel Lorn’s other works that I’ve read, this was also a unique experience that fans of old school macabre will soak up.
July 28, 2025
A penny for my thoughts . Dark and twisted and freaking great!! I think i would read the phone book if Mr Lorn wrote it. 5 big stars!
July 28, 2025
Dark and immersive
I couldn’t put this book down. Lorn’s writing is so lush and evocative, it is a pleasure to read. This was a nightmare that I felt I was trapped within and I had to keep on reading until the end.
Even though I’d a good idea of the events underpinning this physiological horror, I couldn’t stop reading as the protagonist barreled towards his fate.
The imagery of the spider was so clever. I loved how it was used.
I highly recommend this dark delight.
I couldn’t put this book down. Lorn’s writing is so lush and evocative, it is a pleasure to read. This was a nightmare that I felt I was trapped within and I had to keep on reading until the end.
Even though I’d a good idea of the events underpinning this physiological horror, I couldn’t stop reading as the protagonist barreled towards his fate.
The imagery of the spider was so clever. I loved how it was used.
I highly recommend this dark delight.
July 15, 2025
Daniel Lorn's "Formulation" is a novelette full of ambiguity, loss, and frustration. Narrated in first person, it chronicles the psychological torment of a father and husband as he keeps trying to understand the feeling of wrongness possessing him and disturbing his daily life. An alcoholic, most probably a cheater as well, he promises to discipline himself and never betray his family again. But his thinking is irreparably marred by self-doubt and guilt, without being able to grasp what he has to be guilty about. And then, he starts seeing spiders...
The hallucinatory realism and the confessional though ultimately subversive writing style of the author fits this story perfectly; it manages to portray a man's self-undermining relationship to his family in exactly the right colors such a tale needs: a blast of white, slowly shot through with dark holes, out of which the nightmarish truth can break through. The explanation of the title's meaning was also a nice touch, chipping away on male self-confidence, assigning responsibility exactly where it belongs.
This is a gripping though emotionally too upsetting story to read in one sitting. Remarkably, it feels repetitive and claustrophobic, but there's nothing really to justify this impression: every turn adds a new detail, till the awful reveal. What an achievement! Highly recommended!
The hallucinatory realism and the confessional though ultimately subversive writing style of the author fits this story perfectly; it manages to portray a man's self-undermining relationship to his family in exactly the right colors such a tale needs: a blast of white, slowly shot through with dark holes, out of which the nightmarish truth can break through. The explanation of the title's meaning was also a nice touch, chipping away on male self-confidence, assigning responsibility exactly where it belongs.
This is a gripping though emotionally too upsetting story to read in one sitting. Remarkably, it feels repetitive and claustrophobic, but there's nothing really to justify this impression: every turn adds a new detail, till the awful reveal. What an achievement! Highly recommended!
July 25, 2025
This was a genuinly spine tingling read. Although I do not share a fear of spiders, the heavy atmosphere of this story genuinly caused me to feel uneasy at times.
I do not want to give too much away here, but hell.......this is one you dont want to miss! What a finale!
I have recieved this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I do not want to give too much away here, but hell.......this is one you dont want to miss! What a finale!
I have recieved this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 21, 2025
Well. Ok. Well.
Don’t even know where to start.
Nightmare stuff, of the great kind.
Daniel Lorn is now in my top 10 for horrors because of this. I will be reading all his other things now. Coz this just horrified, entertained & twisted my head.
So thanks….i think!
Don’t even know where to start.
Nightmare stuff, of the great kind.
Daniel Lorn is now in my top 10 for horrors because of this. I will be reading all his other things now. Coz this just horrified, entertained & twisted my head.
So thanks….i think!
July 18, 2025
What a bloody, grotesque and spooky read. I still have the heebie jeebies from this story. Everything about the slow progression to absolute carnage made so much sense yet none at all. A fever dream I still cannot get out of. Brilliant writing.
August 3, 2025
Everything you'd come to expect from a Lorn novella; evocative, unsettling and thoroughly gripping. Daniel Lorn could write nightmares in his sleep, and this is no exception. One can only hope you see no spiders when you go to bed after reading this eerie tale...
August 10, 2025
This book is filled with psychological horror that dives deep into guilt, temptation, and internal collapse. The main character is a recovering alcoholic trying to resist destructive urges, but it’s clear from the start that something sinister is lurking beneath his self sabotage.
What begins as a story of infidelity and shame quickly twists into something darker. The mounting paranoia and creeping dread are brilliantly executed. When the full picture is revealed, the emotional weight hits hard 🥴🫠
This one has heavy internal dread, sharp guilt themes, and unsettling imagery that slowly builds until you’re suffocating right along with him. Highly recommend for fans of a quick, but slow burn psychological horror that ends with a nasty twist ☠️
What begins as a story of infidelity and shame quickly twists into something darker. The mounting paranoia and creeping dread are brilliantly executed. When the full picture is revealed, the emotional weight hits hard 🥴🫠
This one has heavy internal dread, sharp guilt themes, and unsettling imagery that slowly builds until you’re suffocating right along with him. Highly recommend for fans of a quick, but slow burn psychological horror that ends with a nasty twist ☠️
August 11, 2025
Oh, this was brilliant.
What an eeire and nasty read this was, and packed into very few pages.
Dark, tragic, brutal stuff!
What an eeire and nasty read this was, and packed into very few pages.
Dark, tragic, brutal stuff!
August 3, 2025
'Formulation' by Daniel Lorn is a short sharp shock into great horror writing.
This novella tells you the story of a an struggling with alcohol addiction and guilt of things he has done.
This is a descriptive and chilling novella and will have you gripped.
The language is what grips you in this story. The language adds to the sense of dread you feel until its explosive final moments.
Well written and very frightening! Highly recommended to fans of horror writing.
Thanks to the author in sharing the book in return for a review.
This novella tells you the story of a an struggling with alcohol addiction and guilt of things he has done.
This is a descriptive and chilling novella and will have you gripped.
The language is what grips you in this story. The language adds to the sense of dread you feel until its explosive final moments.
Well written and very frightening! Highly recommended to fans of horror writing.
Thanks to the author in sharing the book in return for a review.
August 22, 2025
I didn’t expect how good this novella would be from the synopsis, and I can say that it surpassed all my expectations, both from the story point of view and the delivery!
It is psychological/body horror and I have lapped it up like I breath air. Whilst reading it, the whole story felt like an out of body experience, a nightmare fuelled trip, where the reader is placed into the main character’s skin, with the same life’s perception and the same fogged brain by alcohol and guilt.
It was actually sad at times, upsetting and enraging at others, and overall just a nightmare, in the best possible way! There is a lot unpacked in this novella and the internal garbled monologue is so well written, it pierced my brain, and its sensation still lingers.
This is my first book by this author, although I’ve been eyeing his books for a while. I now regret not having started reading him sooner!
If you want a short read that feels like a wholesome hallucinogenic experience, this is a great one!
Thanks to the author, Silver Thistle Press and Booksprout for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
It is psychological/body horror and I have lapped it up like I breath air. Whilst reading it, the whole story felt like an out of body experience, a nightmare fuelled trip, where the reader is placed into the main character’s skin, with the same life’s perception and the same fogged brain by alcohol and guilt.
It was actually sad at times, upsetting and enraging at others, and overall just a nightmare, in the best possible way! There is a lot unpacked in this novella and the internal garbled monologue is so well written, it pierced my brain, and its sensation still lingers.
This is my first book by this author, although I’ve been eyeing his books for a while. I now regret not having started reading him sooner!
If you want a short read that feels like a wholesome hallucinogenic experience, this is a great one!
Thanks to the author, Silver Thistle Press and Booksprout for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
July 11, 2025
You WILL have feelings of dread after you finish this novella. It's inevitable because it is a dark, twisted psychological horror with certain...creatures...as a focal point and, fair warning, they'll have your skin crawling.
The main character is a man who lost his job and dove into a lifestyle of alcoholism and extramarital affairs. His wife and two year old son love him very much and his feelings of regret, guilt, and remorse are themes throughout the book. He's vowed to do better, stop drinking, and be the father and husband his family deserves. If only he could remember the things he's done while intoxicated. There are parts of him missing. Being sober brings some side effects. Like a strange loud buzzing sound only he can hear, a particular bar calls to him along with a sensual bartender, yet he tries to resist alcohol and other women.
But when these aforementioned creatures show up, well, let's just say some very horrific things are going to transpire.
Bleak, dark, and absolutely crawling with dread this is a must read novella and I highly recommend it.
I received an ARC of this book from the author. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
The main character is a man who lost his job and dove into a lifestyle of alcoholism and extramarital affairs. His wife and two year old son love him very much and his feelings of regret, guilt, and remorse are themes throughout the book. He's vowed to do better, stop drinking, and be the father and husband his family deserves. If only he could remember the things he's done while intoxicated. There are parts of him missing. Being sober brings some side effects. Like a strange loud buzzing sound only he can hear, a particular bar calls to him along with a sensual bartender, yet he tries to resist alcohol and other women.
But when these aforementioned creatures show up, well, let's just say some very horrific things are going to transpire.
Bleak, dark, and absolutely crawling with dread this is a must read novella and I highly recommend it.
I received an ARC of this book from the author. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
July 12, 2025
When i recieved the arc for this today, i counted the hours until my lunch break then marched straight to COsta with my kindle. Even In broad daylight, this terrifying story got under my skin!!
With Daneil Lorn i can always rely on the writing quality and imagery and this is no exception!!!
Could just be my new favourite from the author!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
With Daneil Lorn i can always rely on the writing quality and imagery and this is no exception!!!
Could just be my new favourite from the author!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
August 28, 2025
Loved it. 100 pages of creepy storytelling that flows like quicksilver over an exquisite corpse.
August 30, 2025
Well, this was pretty disturbing. But I really liked it. It was a good horror book and I would definitly recommend!.
I
I
August 11, 2025
I received this as an ARC, I alas am someone who suffers a chronic phobia, this story was a very difficult read for me. I have an abject fear of the creature/creatures described within. I managed to make it to the end. It was for me, a nightmare. It's incredibly well written It would be 5 stars if it wasn't for the creature
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews