She put the cone on as a joke. Now she can’t take it off.

Polly Parker has a rash. And when she turns up at a party with friends, one of them – who happens to be a veterinarian – offers a simple solution: a plastic cone that will stop her scratching herself.

As soon as she puts the cone on, however, Polly finds herself drawn into an increasingly dangerous world. Having made a bet, she's determined to keep the cone on for an entire week, but she has already attracted the attention of a mysterious man who has been looking for someone like her for a very long time.

And he's not prepared to wait.

Snatched from her home, Polly finds herself trapped in a race against time with a man who knows exactly what he wants. She can't take the cone off, but she's determined to find a way to escape from the maniac who's keeping her tied up in his basement. But if she doesn't get away soon, will she ever want to leave at all?

Cone is a horror novel about two very messed-up people who find each other in a very messed-up world, about the different ways we discover love, and about the lengths someone will go to when they think they've found the person they're destined to be with forever.

First published: July 2025
Genre: Dark Psychological Horror
Series or Standalone: Standalone