LAUNCH PARTY: Until Death by Mary Berman

A deliciously dark and funny send-up of the wedding industrial complex—and a mother-daughter story unlike any you’ve read before...

Join us on May 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM as we celebrate the publication of the new novel UNTIL DEATH by author Mary Berman. Joining Mary in conversation will be author Kerry Cullen (HOUSE OF BETH).

About UNTIL DEATH:
"Say Yes to the Dress meets Rosemary's Baby" (Margie Sarsfield) in this fresh, darkly funny horror novel in which a woman finally agrees to marry the man of her mother’s dreams. . . only to discover that wedding planning will eat you alive.

If Ophelia Cohen learned one thing from her parents, it’s that getting married is a bad idea. But if she’s learning anything from her widowed mother’s dementia, it’s that dying alone is worse. So when she meets Luke—the man of her mother’s dreams—marriage suddenly doesn’t seem so crazy.

But none of Ophelia’s obsessive scrolling on wedding forums can prepare her for the nightmare of planning her own. Why is her mother-in-law going crazy over every detail? Why is Luke’s family so eager to host the wedding in their vineyard’s ancient chapel? And what exactly will Ophelia have to sacrifice if she and her mother both hope to survive her special day?

Shot through with wicked humor, pitch-black horror, and unexpected romance, Until Death is a deliciously dark and funny send-up of the wedding industrial complex—and a mother-daughter story unlike any you’ve read before.

“Recognizes the Gothic horror inherent to planning a wedding and creates from it a painfully incisive and genuinely haunting fever dream.” —Kay Chronister, author ofThe Bog Wife

“Completely unique, deeply unnerving, and deviously funny.” —Samantha Allen, author ofPatricia Wants to Cuddle

“Grabbed me like a creeping vine and wouldn’t let go.” —Kerry Cullen, author ofHouse of Beth

“Glistens with humor and horror. An electrifying and affecting debut.” —Samantha Hunt, author ofThe Seas

About the speakers:

Mary Berman is a Philadelphia-based writer. She earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Mississippi, where she was a Graduate Excellence Fellow, and she also holds a BA in writing seminars from Johns Hopkins University. Her short works have been published in Cicada, PseudoPod, Fireside Magazine, and elsewhere. Until Death is her debut novel.

Kerry Cullen’s debut novel, House of Beth, was a New York Times Editors' Choice and an Aardvark Book Club selection. Her short fiction has been published in The Indiana Review, Prairie Schooner, One Teen Story, and more. She earned her MFA at Columbia University, and she lives in New York.

Event guidelines:

Each ticket includes either a copy of UNTIL DEATH or a $15 Twisted Spine gift card.

Additional copies of the books will be available for purchase at the event.

A signing will follow the discussion.

If you have any questions about the guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact info@twistedspinebooks.com.