The Decadence

An unnerving novel of summer debauchery

By: Leon Craig

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Paperback | 6 August 2026 | Edition Number 1

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'Lush, complex, and close to the bone, The Decadence filled me with horror in the best way'

Krystelle Bamford, author of Idle Grounds

'A genuinely creepy and evocative contemporary ghost story . . . this novel intrigues and unsettles'

Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti
'An exquisitely claustrophobic exploration of the places we do and don't belong... This is a triumph of the queer gothic'

Jane Flett, author of Freakslaw

At the height of lockdown, a group of flailing twenty-something friends makes an illicit break for freedom.

A grand country house stands empty. Once the home of Theo's great uncle, it seems like the perfect place to get high and hang out in the spring sunshine, as they eschew adult responsibilities.

Since meeting as teenagers, rifts have grown amongst the group. Even as they are determined to enjoy themselves, tensions cast shadows between them - politics, sex and lies. The house, too, has its own dark history and exudes a palpable sense of menace.

Where do the drugs end and the supernatural begin? Will anger and jealousy tear the friends apart, or will it be more ominous forces? Their stay at Holt House will change them all...

'The Decadence is both a deeply unnerving read and a sly commentary on the skeletons in Britain's closet'

Victoria Gosling, author of Bliss & Blunder

'Lush, sinister, and blackly funny ... Rich, intelligent prose underpins delicate exploration of some of our most profound moral quandaries'

Kate Collins, author of A Good House for Children

'Layered, observant and genre-bending, The Decadence is darkly funny and aware of the complexities of modern friendship'

Timothy Ogene, author of Seesaw

Industry Reviews

A clever, contemporary take on the classic "haunted house" story ... The Decadence is incredibly unsettling, yet undeniably seductive and surprising at every turn

Thought-provoking, terrifying and startlingly intelligent, this is a novel of horrors that hide in the shadows and those that exist rawly in daylight for all to see

An unflinching look at the destructive allure of belonging and the perils of abandoning oneself to achieve it. You may never find your way back

Sequestered in a pressure cooker of hedonistic excess, the horror creeps in insidiously - from the first tendrils of unease to the final horrible denouement. This is a triumph of the queer gothic

Lush, complex, and close to the bone, The Decadence filled me with horror in the best way - the horror of a classic haunted house tale, but also the horror of your twenties, with all its dead-ends, debauchery, self-doubt, and longing

The Decadence's group of late twenty-somethings bicker, seethe and hard party their way through a genuinely creepy and evocative contemporary ghost story which weaves together queerness, lockdown flouting, and the malevolent inheritances of history with deftness and aplomb. Leon Craig has a keen eye for observation and a very dark and distinctive imagination and this novel intrigues and unsettles

Layered, observant, and genre-bending, The Decadence is darkly funny and aware of the complexities of modern friendship in relation to class and politics and the present moment in our shared history

Seeking a reprieve from the drudgery of the COVID pandemic, a group of twentysomethings sneak into an isolated medieval manor for a week of debauchery, only to find themselves very much not alone. As old wounds are reopened and friendships pushed to the breaking point, Holt House draws the revellers deeper into its hateful history, gradually exposing their darkest selves. A drug-fuelled cross between The Decameron and The Haunting of Hill House, The Decadence is Craig at her unsettling, gothic best

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