I think that Chuck Tingle is one of the most interesting writers alive today. He’s very authentically himself, and his message that “love is real” is something we really need now. You might think it’s weird that a guy who is all about love writes horror, but to me, his horror is very much like T. Kingfisher’s — terrible stuff is gonna happen, but it’s anchored by characters who actually care, and who you want to see survive.
Which brings us to Chuck Tingle’s latest traditionally published horror novel*, Lucky Day. This book goes hard. The gore, violence, and existential nihilism are off the charts. Honestly, I think the only reason it didn’t give me nightmares is that it’s so over-the-top, my brain imagined it more as a cartoon.
If you enjoyed the unlikely death scenarios in the Final Destination movies, you’re going to love the Low Probability Event that kicks off this story, as all of the most impossible things happen at once and ridiculous amounts of people die. Our main character Vera has built a career and a life around statistics and probability, and the LPE not only kills her mother, it kills her entire faith in the universe and will to live.
This is a story about not only trying to find out what happened, but learning to care again when your world has been utterly destroyed. When we meet back up with Vera years after the LPE, she’s an empty shell of a person. She’s pulled back into the world because a government agent is convinced that the casino that was the subject of Vera’s book is related to the LPE, and as much as she tells herself it doesn’t matter, there’s a part of her that is curious.
The post-LPE world is interesting. There are programs set up to support the survivors, and a shady agency that has very little oversight, but in general, life goes on. I feel like this book is definitely in conversation with society’s collective response to both 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as our ability to normalize just about anything.
It’s also, however, an important read for this current moment. No, we may not have experienced a Low Probably Event where people around us died in bizarre ways, but we have been living through Unprecedented Times for years now, and for those of us in the US (or those impacted by US policies), 2025 has been an especially challenging year. Every day seems to bring a new attack on human rights, the environment, the economy, and individual people who are standing up for what’s right. How do we continue to care, when some days it feels like nothing that we do ever moves the needle?
If you enjoy over-the-top horror and need some hope, this is the book for you. If you can’t handle gore, definitely skip it. Just check out Tingle’s Bluesky feed instead. If you’re on the fence, do be aware that this is on the shorter end, so it’s not like you’re committing to a Stephen King brick of horror.
Source and Format: I borrowed the ebook from King County Library System.
TWs/CWs: Oh my goodness, where do I start? Violence, gore, death of a parent, animal death, suicidal ideation, alcohol use, gambling, biphobia, homophobia, transphobia. Maybe a few others I’m forgetting.
Reading Challenge Prompts
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): For an Existential Crisis. This might cause an existential crisis, or it might pull you out of one. Vera’s journey is difficult but rewarding.
Book Riot: A work of weird horror. Not just because the deaths are weird, but because the explanation for what is happening very much felt like a “weird horror” element to me.
Reading Challenge Progress
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): 12 of 25, no bingos.
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): 19 of 25, 2 bingos.
Book Riot: 14 of 25.
Physical TBR: 8 of 12.
World of Whimm: 20 of 24, 5 bingos.
SAL/SPL/KCLS: 17 of 23, 3 bingos.
*Pretty sure he’s released at least one of his erotic “Tinglers” in the meantime.