My Ex, The Antichrist

Love can be hell…

When a rock musician learns her ex-boyfriend is the Biblical Antichrist, she must find a way to stop him before he grows powerful enough to end the world. Daisy Jones And The Six meets The Omen in this novel about music, free will, and the apocalypse.

“It’s a familiar story: the starry rise and tragic fall of a rock band. This is not that story. This is one you haven’t heard—a tale of divine prophecy and a breakup. Oh, and the apocalypse…”

1999: At the Armageddon Battle of the Bands, pop-punk group the Shivers fought Universal Priest in an epic musical showdown. What started the shocking riot that claimed the lives of nine teens?

2010: At the height of stardom, the Shivers’ frontwoman Lily Lawless walked into a police station to confess to murder. Why did she do it, and why did she wait ten years to confess?

2011: The band broke up after Lily’s arrest, its members refusing to talk to the press. What secrets were they protecting?

NOW: In this oral history, Lily and the rest of the Shivers finally tell all about how a rock band that inspired a generation might have saved the world.

One of “12 Must-Read Horror Books of 2025” —Novel Suspects, here

“Outré even by the standards of supernatural horror fiction, DiLouie’s ostentatious, 1990s-set latest proposes that the Antichrist is the front man for a Pennsylvania art band and that the apocalypse he threatens can only be averted through the intervention of a punk pop group headed by his ex-girlfriend… DiLouie seeds the narrative with enough pop theology to undergird its tongue-in-cheek excesses, which include a cabal of rogue clergy wielding rocket launchers and a Universal Priest stage performance that unfolds like a mash-up of The Omen and This Is Spinal Tap. It’s a wild ride.” —Publisher’s Weekly

“Craig DiLouie uses music as a framework in this dangerous, outrageous good versus evil headbanger of a story… This is a fun one, folks, don’t miss it!” -Books, Bones & Buffy, complete review here

“Craig DiLouie has been on a roll lately, and My Ex, the Antichrist is yet another reason why he’s become one of my must-read authors of horror who doesn’t just think outside the box—he kicks the hell out of it like a rock star trashing the stage. The premise alone caught my attention, with its promise of punk rock, doomed love, and the possible end of the world. But even then, I wasn’t at all prepared for how compulsively readable this novel turned out to be. I didn’t want to put it down, so I didn’t. I must have devoured it in a matter of hours.” -Bibliosanctum, complete review here

“Cheekily playing off of the age-old accusation that harder-edged music is satanic, DiLouie spins a story that is fresh, entertaining, and intensely unsettling. Is Drake Morgan actually the Antichrist? The answer may leave readers existentially unmoored. An easy hand sell for fans of Grady Hendrix’s We Sold Our Souls or Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate, but don’t forget those who loved the discomforting verisimilitude of The Ghost That Ate Us by Daniel Kraus.” — Booklist

“I can’t thank Craig DiLouie enough. Not only was this a kick-ass book, it also reminded me of some of the best years of my life.” – FanFiAddict, complete review here

“A tale of love, self-discovery, and following your dreams, all told through the twisted lens of a rockumentary about Armageddon. Craig DiLouie brings his sharp mix of heart and horror to the end of the world with this clever story about rock n’ roll, relationships, and destiny.” —NYT bestselling author Peter Clines

“I am a massive DiLouie fan and wait patiently for every new release. And when My Ex, The Antichrist showed up in my mail box, I was giddy. And as a kid that grew up listening to pop-punk and devoured musician biographies under my high school desk–this was everything I needed … I just loved everything about this book.” -Horror Bound, complete review here

“My Ex, the Antichrist is a rollercoaster of emotions, with moments of creepiness, heartfelt sincerity, and outright goofiness. DiLouie balances these shifts with ease, hitting a variety of emotional notes that make the experience deeply enjoyable.” -Capes & Tights, complete review here

“One hell of a performance! With My Ex, the AntiChrist, Craig DiLouie once again proves he is a master of the epistolary genre. Immersive, compelling, and chillingly plausible. It’s as if you were there. Resounding.” —Lee Murray, five-time Bram Stoker Awards-winning author of Grotesque: Monster Stories

“The ultimate battle draped in rock and roll… DiLouie’s latest novel is an exciting glimpse into music history and the enigmatic 2000s with a timeless tale about the end of the world and love, of all things, as its connective tissue. What a wild ride.” —L. Marie Wood, author of The Realm Trilogy and The Promise Keeper

“Where DiLouie takes this story is fun, fascinating, and an absolute blast. With three of DiLouie’s novels on my bookshelves, he’s become a writer who I can trust to tell an entertaining and uniquely horrific tale.” – SFFWorld, complete review here

“Thrumming with energy and tension, My Ex, The Antichrist is a horror-filled love letter to music and how it can save our souls.” —Kaaron Warren, author of The Underhistory

“My Ex, the Antichrist is quite literally a dream book for me … If you’re like me, and love the horror genre above all others, and you possibly read Daisy Jones and the Six, and loved it too, but thought, ‘where’s the murder? Where’s the chaos?’ This book is for you!” – Meg’s Book Rack, complete review here

“DiLouie assuredly weaves a punk band’s rites of passage with the dark arts, crafting an occult love story from burnt-out memories and scavenged, sacred hearts.” —Andrew F. Sullivan, author of The Marigold and The Handyman Method

“Craig DiLouie is the sly officiant presiding over this marriage of heady theology and anthemic punk rock. This book weaves age-old philosophical conundrums into a sensitive, aching, and raw portrait of a band’s rags-to-riches tale. With its lively oral history format, reading My Ex, The Antichrist is like letting Behind the Music take you to hell and back.” – Andy Marino, author of The Swarm

“I love this style of storytelling. Through interviews and transcripts to tell the story and get all of the POVs of those who lived through it. Everyone fills in the gaps that others didn’t experience, and it makes you feel like you’re watching a documentary. I also loved the increasing tension with each performance. Things got bloodier, more violent, and more intense. This helped build up to Armageddon, and you were almost flinching at the thought of what could be coming next…” – Jessicamap Reviews, complete review here

“The writing is great and I love the format. DiLouie makes an excellent job of keeping everyone’s voice different and really bringing the band to life … This is such a unique story that it really hooked me and wound me in quite effortlessly.” – Lynn’s Books, complete review here

“A diabolical twist on rock and roll saviors, My Ex, The Antichrist conjures a horrifying riff on the classic question: Can rock and roll really save your soul? Craig DiLouie spins a lush account of late 90s rock, a talented but struggling band, and a harrowing brush with the divine conflict between good and evil into an atomic-powered concept album of a novel that shreds the literary walls. Thoughtful, heartbreaking, and unsettling, My Ex, The Antichrist is a rock and roll parable for our times.” —James Chambers, Bram Stoker Award and Scribe Award-winning author of On the Night Border and Three Chords of Chaos