Author: Anna Kovatcheva
Publication: February 10, 2026 by Mariner Books
Genre: Historical Fiction, Folkhorror
Find it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | Waterstones
Rating: 5/5★
You cannot fight a poor harvest, but you can banish the demon that threatens your land.In 19th century Bulgaria, Yana is an unconventional helper. A self-proclaimed vampire hunter, she travels the desolate landscape, and in each struggling village that she visits, she stages a grisly tableau in a public square. She tells the stricken villagers stories of monsters that stalk the nights. Then she eliminates the threat, and sows seeds of hope in its wake.The village Koprivci thinks itself cursed—plagued by illness and dark fortune, its children seldom survive infancy. There, Yana meets Anka—an isolated, lonely girl desperate to escape the threat of sexual violence in her home. Together, they hatch a plan to spirit Anka away. By deception, theatrics, and animal sacrifice, they manifest a village vampire—and work harmoniously until their strange public service clashes with urgent personal need. 🩸
🕯️Gothic
⛪ 19th century Bulgaria
🌙 Inspired by Slavic folklore
🗡️ Vampire slayer (or con artist?)
🔥 Feminist
🔮 Witchy
She Made Herself a Monster is Anna Kovatcheva's debut novel and I was utterly obsessed with it. Set in ninetheenth-century Bulgaria it blends haunting folklore, a dark atmosphere and unflinching female rage.
We meet Yana who goes from town to town proclaiming herself as a vampire slayer when in reality she’s a con artist ridding villages of imaginary monsters. When Yana arrives in Koprivici, she finds a village afflicted by illness, hardship, and children who rarely survive infancy.
There she meets Anka. As Anka comes of age, the village Captain, who raised her, is forcing her toward a marriage with him that she does not want. Together Yana and Anka device a plan together to conjure a monster so fearsome, even if it's only imagined in the villager's minds, that it might cover Anka’s escape.
Not only had this book some amazing and complex female characters from all walks of life, Anna Kovatcheva's writing was also beautifully haunting. The unstoppable feminine rage sweeping through the story made everything about it all the more visceral and powerful to read.
The audiobook was narrated by Helen Laser and she couldn't have done a better job in my opinion. It was the first time I listened to this narrator and it just made me eager to listen to even more of her work as a narrator.
She Made Herself a Monster is an undeniably powerful debut where Anna Kovatcheva emerges as a promising new voice in folkhorror. And I can't wait to see what she'll do next!
About the author:
Anna Kovatcheva was born in Bulgaria and holds an MFA in fiction from New York University. Her chapbook, The White Swallow, was selected by Aimee Bender as the winner of the Gold Line Press Chapbook Competition and published in 2015. Her short fiction has been anthologized in Best American Nonrequired Reading and has appeared in The Kenyon Review and The Iowa Review. She Made Herself a Monster is her debut novel. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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