The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson

 

Nona McKinley raised three boys in the Hester Gardens section of Medford, Michigan, an impoverished community divided by those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate.

Her second son Marcus is on the right path. He's a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school. He can get out.

But then, strange things start happening to Nona and mysterious footsteps are heard when she’s alone, people have phantom encounters in the streets, unattended appliances go off at all hours. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, is hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus becomes moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a different person entirely.

Nona has her secrets too. Her affair with the married church pastor has been weighing on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone—or something— is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price...

The sun never shines in the apartments on the north side of Hester Gardens. This leads some to believe that those apartments are haunted. And they are right. People who don't survive life in these housing projects tend to linger there. A shadow, a figure, or sometimes more. A pervasive feeling of something wrong, footsteps, and appliances that turn themselves on and off. Something is going on here. But does that mean Nona is cursed? It sure feels like it.

 The supernatural horror in this story is secondary to the horrors of poverty, drugs, and crime, so it was not really what I was expecting or hoping for. Nona has lost her eldest son to gun violence. Her husband is in jail, and now something seems to be coming for her middle child.

This turned into more of a social commentary than the horror I was hoping for. I did care for Nona and her boys, but she seemed a very contradictory personality, which felt off to me. At times, she seemed strong, but then some of her actions were naive and gullible. The pace was very slow and made the book feel longer than it needed to be. You may enjoy it more than I did, but this was just an ok read for me. 

My thanks to Erewhon Books for the e-ARC

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Dig by J.H. Markert

 

Eight years ago, a boy took up an axe and slaughtered a dozen people. That odd, troubled boy, Jericho Dodd, has been dead and buried in his father’s yard for years, but ever since that massacre, Crow Island has been a dark and unsettling place.

When Jericho’s father begins digging up the past he buried, a compulsion to dig sweeps over the island and soon everyone else is obsessively churning up dirt, desperate to uncover buried secrets. The compulsion leads to violence and as neighbors turn against each other, the island’s famous tupelo honey, harvested from trees deep in a swamp, changes too.

As dread and paranoia seep up from the ground, it becomes clear that the island itself needs something from its residents–before it digs itself apart for good.

Be careful what you unearth from the dirt before this surreal horror novel can worm its way into you, too.

Dig is small town horror, but on an isolated island with only one helicopter and a ferry as a means to escape should the need arise, and of course it does. The island is abundant with wildlife, fish and produce that grows bigger and better than anywhere else, and most of all the sweetest, purest tupelo honey.

Crow Island has had more than its share of tragedy. Eight years ago a young boy took an axe and murdered a dozen people. This was not the first massacre on the island and will not be the last.

This is a story full of larger-than-life characters and an otherworldly mystery that pulled me in from the start. The island is ripe with past trauma and folklore. Specifically, the Gullah-Geechee folklore of the Boo Hags, ominous creatures much like vampires that drain you not of blood but of your very life essence through stealing your breath while you sleep. Supernatural beings like this are why I never trust movies where someone says they will stay until you fall asleep. What good are they then? Sleep is when you are vulnerable!
You will want to set aside enough time to read this one because once you "dig" in, you won't want to stop until the end.

My thanks to Crooked Lane Books for the e-ARC

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Alphabet of Oddities: A Gothic Bestiary by Ronald Porcelli

Jump down the rabbit hole into the world of artist Ronald Porcelli—terribly twisted, delightfully dark, and frightsomely filled with an alphabet of oddities, creepy creatures, and macabre folklore.

A is for Adzooks that walk with no head.

B is for Boo-zoins that feed on the dead.

C is for Crackings—sweet, they just look gruff.

In Ronald Porcelli’s Alphabet of Oddities, haunting rhymes and frightsome black-and-white illustrations reveal a ghastly world of legendary creatures. With F for Fxchopxtinks, L for Loomis, and X for XyLongs, this ABC book brings macabre folklore and fantasy art together in a collectible package.

Wrapped in ornate foiled patterns with black page edges, this gothic bestiary is a luxurious gift that will send chills down your spine, perfect for Halloween, fans of creepy creatures, collectors of unusual curiosities, and anyone who loves delightfully dark fantasy.

But beware! You might find that some of these monsters are best left in the shadows.

This is a gorgeous illustrated poem. Think Dr. Suess on the more macabre side. The rhymes are fun for all ages, and the black and white illustrations bring them to life. I read an e-ARC but I imagine the foiled patterns and black-edged pages would make it beautiful to display on a shelf or coffee table. Each imaginative and creepy creature has its own illustration and rhyme.

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Palmetto Boy by D.A. Jobe

She thought she’d escaped the monster that tormented her family decades ago…

Alane is determined to give her 12-year-old son, Ray the stable childhood she didn’t have. After moving into a new apartment, Alane works two jobs to make ends meet, leaving Ray alone in the evenings. Ray loves his new independence, but soon that love turns to fear as he begins to hear strange sounds from the attic crawl space. Doors slam where there aren’t any. Something is chewing a hole in his bedroom ceiling.

Long-buried memories of an old family tale surface, a monster Alane and her little brother called Palmetto Boy. Alane must confront the creature that has haunted her for years and destroy it for good—before it rips away her son and the future she’s fighting to build.

Palmetto Boy is a novel about the inescapable legacy of family folklore and the risks we take to keep those we love safe.

 

Alane has separated from her husband and moved with her 12-year-old son, Ray, into a small but cozy apartment owned by the parents of a friend. Alane doesn't take much with her, but she does bring the burden of childhood trauma. It is part of the reason for her separation, and the entirety of the reason that she takes the doors off the hinges in her new home. 

She works days as a substitute teacher and some nights serving food for a caterer, which leaves Ray alone more often than she would like and still leaves her struggling to make ends meet. Ray doesn't mind being alone at first, until the scratching noises start and something chews a hole in his bedroom ceiling.

I'm sure you've heard the proverb that time heals all wounds. You probably know that's a useless and dismissive expression. Sometimes things happen that we can never get over. Alane's unresolved trauma contributed to the breakdown of her marriage, and now it is coming for her son. Time has not healed Alane; it has allowed her trauma to fester and grow into something monstrous.

I loved this book! I cared about these characters, and as the creepy happenings escalate, and a storm begins to brew, I never knew which danger had me more worried. The eerie atmosphere and the mystery of what really happened in Alane's childhood home had me barreling through the pages at all hours of the night to get to the end.

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Timber Ghost Press for the e-ARC

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