Meghan Douglass’ short indie sci-fi horror that is dark, bleak, and utterly disturbing in all the right ways.

Coming in at around the 50-page mark, I blasted through Humanity Lost really rather quickly. You might think that’s not enough time for a story to make your skin crawl, but, oh boy, this did exactly that.

Blurb

The fate of humanity rests on their shoulders, but when the crew of the Valhalla awaken prematurely from stasis, things go horribly wrong. What must they all sacrifice to save the rest of humanity? Desperate times call for deadly measures.

Review

In short, Humanity Lost is a delightfully disturbing debut sci-fi horror. The plot centres around the crew of the Valhalla, who are awakened from stasis months too early on their return trip to Earth, carrying a precious cargo that will save humanity. Initially I thought the book would go in a similar direction to Dead Space, with the cargo being an artefact which drives them all mad—but this is not the case at all. In fact, the cargo is inconsequential, but I loved the way the book shattered my expectations. Instead, the direction it took was arguably so much more horrifying. Even a few weeks later I still shudder to think about it. I feel like human horror which examines the depths of depravity people are capable of in an emergency, and how malleable morality and ethics become in those situations, can be more unsettling than an external force.

There’s a small cast of characters to play with here—fitting for such a short book—but they’re all well-realised and distinct. The author does a fantastic ob getting your invested in them and sympathising with them. I loved how the initial descent into depravity was handled, as it made pragmatic sense. They only needed to buy themselves enough time to get back into stasis. Their mixed feelings about what they had to do; the guilt, the discomfort, the rationalising, maintaining a semblance of their humanity and professionalism while secretly beginning to enjoy it. All brilliantly unnerving. Fantastically handled. Extremely dark. The twists and turns and betrayals were excellent.

The only thing that pulled me out of the story a little was the timeline. The stated timing made it seem like they weren’t making the best use of the resources at their disposal, which was a bigger deal than it seemed, given they were supposed to have carefully and meticulously planned what they were doing. Though, honestly, the way that the book has made me try to think about this in a pragmatic and dispassionate manner makes me feel queasy, so I can’t help but think it was intentional.

The pacing of Humanity Lost is perfect for its length. There was no wasted space at all, and being so short you can read through it very quickly indeed—I think I managed it in just over an hour. I love those kinds of books that stick with you long after they’ve finished, and this is definitely one of them! The ending was so horrible, and satisfyingly inevitable. It really kept me off balance throughout.

If you’re a sci-fi horror fan who doesn’t mind an extraordinarily bleak tale, then you absolutely cannot go wrong with Humanity Lost. Pick it up. Highly recommended.