ANNIHILATION By Jeff Vandermeer (4th Estate; R266)

If you prefer your frights more sciencefiction-shaped, then the first instalment of Je Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy is for you. A group of four women are sent into a pristine wilderness called Area X. There have been 11 expeditions into Area X already, all of which have failed. As the team travel deeper into this wierd environment, their personalities start to disintegrate, and we are left with a sense that a huge, undefinable thing is stalking them. If you’d like to check out a live-action version, the 2018 film stars Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson.