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Dead of Winter

A snowstorm traps Christa and eight strangers in an abandoned Rocky Mountain cabin. With a killer among them, surviving the cold means deciding whom to trust.

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USA TODAY BESTSELLER * JULY 2023 LIBRARYREADS SELECTION

It's not the snow you should fear―it's the person next to you.

Christa hoped a retreat to the Rocky Mountains would help her escape her haunted past, but a brutal snowstorm strands her in an abandoned cabin with eight strangers―and a killer who won't stop until no one is left.

From the very first page, Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates plunges you into bone-chilling isolation and a relentless fight for survival. This visceral locked-room horror blends graphic, inventive suspense with an atmosphere so intense you'll feel the icy air and hear every creak in the darkness. The claustrophobic cabin becomes a trap, where trust is a luxury no one can afford, and betrayal lurks behind every fearful glance.

If you crave snowstorm survival and unrelenting dread, this is your next obsession.

First published: 2023
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Pages: 352
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Book tags

Content warnings

No content warnings are recorded. Missing warnings do not mean the book is warning-free.

Horror profile

Scary: Not rated
Creepy: Not rated
Gore: Not rated
Disturbing: Not rated
Weird: Not rated

How we calculate this

These are editorial estimates of intensity, informed by reading and review evidence, then checked before publication. They aren't star ratings, reader-vote averages or a measure of quality.

Each dimension runs from 1 (low) to 5 (exceptionally intense). A 5 is reserved for strongly consistent evidence. People experience horror differently.

Scary: Fear, tension and immediate threat.
Creepy: Unease, dread and an uncanny atmosphere.
Gore: Graphic injury, blood and bodily detail.
Disturbing: Upsetting ideas and lingering psychological impact.
Weird: Surreal, strange and reality-bending elements.

We draw a filled profile only when all five scores have been reviewed. Unrated does not mean mild. Missing scores are not estimated from genre tags or your saved taste. This profile isn't a complete content-warning guide.