Some mothers don’t raise daughters—they remake them.

“What if this time I die?”—Jocelyn dreads her birthdays.

Each odd-numbered year, on the eve of her birthday, she struggles to breathe—as if something inside her is being taken away. Her mother, Idris, insists it’s a flaw in Jocelyn herself.

But Idris has a secret.

A self-taught sorceress obsessed with perfection, she uses magic to remove Jocelyn’s “undesirable” moods —anger, sadness, defiance—essential parts of her very spirit—and traps them in balloons, determined to raise a flawless child.

Over time, as Jocelyn’s essential spirits are removed—those qualities that make her who she really is—she becomes a pale shadow of her true self.

Inside a house ruled by rigid expectations, strange rules, and a mother who calls control “love,” Jocelyn must navigate fear, isolation, and the growing sense that something is deeply wrong.

And, as Jocelyn approaches her thirteenth birthday, she must decide:

Will she surrender to her mother’s control—or reclaim the parts of herself that were taken?

Strange Is a Hazard Here is a haunting coming-of-age fantasy about identity, emotional control, family expectations, and the courage to become your authentic self. Blending dark fairy tale, magical realism, and psychological suspense, it explores how love can become possession, how conformity can masquerade as virtue, and why every emotion—even the difficult ones—is essential to becoming whole.