Novels
Novels
Cover art: Sarah M. Whittaker
Interior Illustration: Thomas S. Brown
The Crows (Canelo Horror 2024)
Contemporary British Gothic Horror with tentacles – a twisted triangle/queerplatonic why choose between a doomed woman, her sapient cursed house, and the asexual/aromantic eldritch cannibal next door.
A love letter to the golden age of Hammer Horror, Midsomer Murders, and British Gothic fiction.
“A fantastically surprising work of Gothic Horror. I loved it. Every single time I thought I had an idea of what the plot was doing the plot twisted around and bit me, gleefully.”
Meredith Debonnaire, Website Review
“Rosens’ body horror is sublime, and the scenes are repulsive and gorgeous all at once. There’s a transcendence of physical and sexual boundaries that is exhilarating rather than flatly grotesque, and I found myself yearning for the mutability of such a world.”
William J. Brown, Horrified Magazine (I saved the review here).
“I’ve just had the experience of reading a novel that could have been written for me… Finding someone doing such an awesome job of writing the kind of stories I was trying to write makes me enormously happy. Finding that it’s not just me who craves the twisting together of love and horror, comedy and gore. Hitting those perfect turns of phrase that are both funny and ghastly all at once, and feeling like I’ve come home.”
Nimue Brown, Druid Life
Cover art: Sarah M. Whittaker
Interior Illustration: Thomas S. Brown
Thirteenth (Canelo Horror 2024)
Eldritch coming-of-rage novel – a homicidal ‘Chosen One’, weaponised by her protector, finds herself at the mercy of her toxic, monstrous family when her protector is brutally murdered. Can she survive long enough to undergo her own metamorphosis, and fight back? After all: you can’t choose your family… but you can eat them.
What We Do In The Shadows meets The Worm Trilogy by Hailey Piper, with a good dash of Whybourne and Griffin vibes (Jordan L. Hawke).
“C.M. Rosens is in a league of her own… In Thirteenth, she takes the idea of the Chosen One by the horns and then covers it in eldritch tentacles and teenage rage. It was an absolute joy to read. Somehow, in the midst of some very gory transformation sequences and a lot of murder, it is incredibly emotionally touching.”
Meredith Debonnaire, Website Review
“Gory, funny, a bit on the viscous side of horror. LGBTQA+ rep, with ace, demi, and poly cousins dealing with their very messy family of eldritch cannibals. I read Thirteenth in about two days, barely put it down.”
“Horrifically enjoyable characters in a world I can’t get enough of. The family dynamics are ridiculously believable considering they’re eldritch cannibal murderers, and it all fits together so well. “
Cover Design: Rebecca F. Kenney
Interior Illustrations: Thomas S. Brown
The Day We Ate Grandad (2023)
Cosmic Horror Family Drama – a hedonistic, insanity-inducing playboy holds the key to saving the world, but will he risk death and face down the abomination that spawned his family, or let the world burn and become a cult leader, obsessively worshipped and adored? It’s not looking good for the world, until his childhood friend summons her mythological ancestor…
The Magnus Archives meets The Picture of Dorian Grey meets Merlin.
“The Day We Ate Grandad is a wicked delight full of compellingly awful characters, tangled family dynamics, grime, gore, tentacles, apples, and the spectre of Merlin disapproving of your life choices. It provides a deeply satisfying wrapping-up of the plots and stories brought up in The Crows and Thirteenth, and remains some of the best horror that I’ve ever read. Highly recommended!”
Meredith Debonnaire – Website Review
“I loved it. Serial killers and family-eating cannibal monsters shouldn’t be this loveable. Often gruesome but also funny in a dark shroud sort of way.”
“Glorious. I can’t tell if C.M. Rosens keeps getting better or if my love for her characters allows the storylines to cut deeper every time, but either way, I’m not complaining.”
Birds of a Feather (2022)
When Carrie loses both her beloved grandad and her job, her work-crush, Raven, gives her the opportunity to leave her toxic, cheating boyfriend and make a clean break. Carrie seizes her chance… and meets Raven’s asexual/aromantic-spectrum bit-of-rough ex, currently doing up Raven’s townhouse…
A Ko-Fi exclusive Contemporary Dark (a)Romantic Thriller, featuring the characters from The Crows in a world without eldritch horror. This started as an experiment and ended up as if Guy Ritchie wrote a romcom.
“An ace/aro romance with criminal shenanigans, plenty of fry-ups, homicidal fuckbois and the best dog in the world? Yes, please.”
“I don’t want to say relationship goals but… relationship goals.”
“Can’t get enough of this author and of Ricky’s adventures. Ready for the next one!”
Yelen & Yelena (2025)
Hope-Punk Dark Gothic Fantasy – A laundress (Yelena) and a Beast (Yelen) join forces to snatch moments of pleasure in defiance of curses and grief, and solve the mystery of the rot-plague destroying the countryside. But when Yelena shows symptoms of infection, will they find a cure, or will the rot claim another victim?
Beauty and the Beast but aromantic and bisexual (monster fuckery) meets Mexican Gothic and What Moves the Dead, with a sapphic riff on Orpheus & Eurydice subplot.
“Beautifully written, had me completely engrossed immediately. Still processing this one. My jaw was on the floor a few times, to say the least. Gothic horror lovers, you will love this one. You do not want to miss it. If you like monster smut, you will be very happy with this one. If you like that combo, this might be your next favorite read.”
“A tour de force. incredible mycelial hope-punk-romance-adventure-mystery-fantasy. the writing is gorgeous and lush, creating full worlds in my imagination. the story was so interesting, the spice so spicy, and I loved how the story played out in unexpected ways. the slow pace was new for me and I loved it for the way it allowed time to nestle into the world and characters.”
Novellas
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BKV2B4XW
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/s/ca4d3de407
cmorsens.com: https://cmrosens.com/shop/
itch.io: https://cmrosens.itch.io/the-sussex-fretsaw-massacre
The Sussex Fretsaw Massacre (2022)
It’s Halloween, and anxious, inexperienced Olly Wilson has been hired to drive five obnoxious people to a political party conference, but is hopelessly lost. Meanwhile, in a nearby manor house in the middle of nowhere, human-passing eldritch horror Ricky Porter wants to see his own future, but the ritual involves human sacrifice. The omens tell him five unfortunate souls are doomed to die before midnight – but his living, sentient house (and queerplatonic partner) just wants a quiet night watching films and bans him from taking their deaths into his own hands. When Olly and his five passengers show up on the doorstep unexpectedly after some car trouble, bodies are already doomed to hit the floor – and Olly’s life is about to change forever.
Tongue-in-cheek slasher, Tucker and Dale vs Evil comes to Sussex!
“For a novel featuring the grisly death of 5 people it is … hilarious. It also includes some surprisingly touching scenes between Ricky and Carrie (a queer platonic relationship). Love the new character Olly! Oh and… after the scene in the kitchen, I don’t think anyone is going to be sad about the fate of our five!”
“C.M. Rosens has once again managed to make me fall even more in love with Ricky and Carrie. … I adore the Pagham-On-Sea series and can’t wait for more.”
The Reluctant Husband (2023)
When Nathan Montague Porter, occultist and civil servant, catches the attention of Sir Jack Sauvant, he is invited to Sir Jack’s Sussex country house to attempt some grisly magical experiments. Little does he know that it is Sir Jack’s maid, Deirdre Wend, who actually holds the key to forbidden knowledge – but she won’t give it up unless he takes her to the pictures first.
“I just love the Pagham-On-Sea books and The Reluctant Husband is no exception. If you’ve wondered how outsiders get brought into the family, this short prequel will answer that question. I’d happily read more about the ancestors of the characters. The world-building is just so good.”
“This was a really fun, quick read! Set as a series of journal entries with an unreliable narrator in the 1930s, the protagonist starts out be dabbling in alchemy and ends up the pawn of otherworldly creatures. A mix of sci-fi and horror, I enjoyed the writing style as it had elements that really reminded me of Rebecca and Mexican Gothic. No gore, but definitely descriptions that will make your skin crawl when you learn what type of creatures control the manor! I definitely want to read the other stories in this series.”
Short Stories
The Snow Child (2024)
June 1917: In a sleepy English village reeling from its losses in the ongoing war, a grief-stricken father, Solomon Thorne, challenges the invisible forces of the moors, and little Alice Martin wishes on a wishing tree for her brother to come home. In the days that follow, an unseasonal blizzard brings Otherworldly creatures to their doors, and their lives will never be the same again.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09B5G9MNM
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/s/d275f06e53
itch.io: https://cmrosens.itch.io/the-sound-of-darkness
The Sound of Darkness (2021)
Alone in his Luton flat, Murat Yildiz finds his living room light has blown, and he is unable to go in. There is a distinctive sound in the darkness that he has wanted to hear since childhood – but growing up in the Jubilee council estate, Pagham-on-Sea, has left him with some gnarly memories of what lurks in the estate’s dark corners. Murat relives a memory from 1998, but what did he really see in the darkness that night, and is it time for him to face his fear?
Overexposure (2021)
When Charlie, an affluent, award-winning photographer, catches sight of a glamorous man at a party and immediately forgets what he looks like, she has to see him again. And again. And again. When he realises the extent of her obsession, is it already too late?
Collections
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08DFGQTJB
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/s/481fa0da81
The Folklore of Pagham-on-Sea Vol. I (2020)
A companion book to The Crows that stands alone as a short volume of folk stories and urban legends from Pagham-on-Sea, East Sussex. This volume features local variants of English folktales, as collected by Rev. J. D. Allardyce (1832-1920).
Extracts from Fairwood House: A History, by Harold Bishop (Basingstoke University Press: Basingstoke, 1987), and Harold Bishop’s translation of the Chronica Majora of Fairwood Abbey, are reprinted with kind permission.
The Sussex Fretsaw Massacre & Other Stories (2025)
A stand alone collection of short stories featuring Ricky Porter, including the novella The Sussex Fretsaw Massacre, and its audio files (as aired on the Eldritch Girl podcast).
This collection could be read as an entry point to the Pagham-on-Sea series, or companion to the novels.
It includes incidents from Ricky’s monstrous childhood and disturbing adolescence, featuring the Ricky/Wes relationship referenced in the novel Thirteenth, and includes flashbacks from The Day We Ate Grandad alongside new stories that were previously Ko-Fi exclusive material.
The collection also features an illustration by Tom Brown that was previously found in the first edition of The Crows (2020), prior to its re-release by Canelo in 2024.