The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Occult & Supernatural

Spotlight on: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

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Andrew Joseph White, photo credit Alice Scott

“I think the best horror is a combination of the fear of something inside themselves and something external, especially when one of them inherently feeds the other. However, external horror is what speaks the most to me as both a writer and reader. I can’t speak for all marginalized identities, obviously, but external horror for a lot of marginalized identities is terrifying because it’s real. The world is always lurking, waiting to make a horror movie of our lives or the lives of those we love. It doesn’t care about your internality. You’re different, and therefore a target. For me, the best horror acknowledges that, illustrates that, and allows the internality of both the character and the audience to expand from there.” ― Andrew Joseph White, Interview, Scifi Pulse

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

What booksellers are saying about The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

  • White’s brutal tale of a reimagined 1880s London where some people can commune with the dead is harsh and captivating. Silas wants nothing more to escape his family’s plan to marry him off to the highest bidder and force him to behave like the girl they think he is. But he has other plans. However, when his plan blows up and he’s sent to a sanitarium/finishing school to heal his sickness, he finds that things can always be worse. But there are a few bright spots in the cast ugliness.
      ― Jennifer Jones from Bookmiser, Inc. in Marietta, GA | Buy from Bookmiser

  • Andrew Joseph White’s phenomenal debut, “Hell Followed With Us,” would seem like a tough act to follow but White’s fans won’t be disappointed: “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” is just as incredible. White tackles the overlapping ways in which misogyny, transphobia, and ableism manifest in society through a ghost-infested finishing school where protagonist Silas Bell must work with the spirits of deceased students to expose the school’s medical and psychiatric abuses and break free of the system’s tyrannical rule. Gut-wrenching yet gorgeous, “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” is a necessary and impressive addition to both LGBTQ and horror lit.
      ― Charlie Williams from Square Books in Oxford, MS | Buy from Square Books

  • Absolutely amazing gothic exploration of ableism and transphobia in a Victorian context. Heartwarming, vindictive, and vicious.
      ― Minna Banawan from Park Road Books in Charlotte, NC | Buy from Park Road Books

About Andrew Joseph White

Andrew Joseph White is a queer, trans author from Virginia, where he grew up falling in love with monsters and wishing he could be one too. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University in 2022  and has a habit of cuddling random street cats. Andrew writes about trans kids with claws and fangs, and what happens when they bite back.

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Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

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Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca
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Eric Larocca’s newest novel Everything the Darkness Eats weaves cosmic horror with small town prejudice into a tale of creeping dread. Larocca never shies away from the gruesome or the traumatic and weaves these darkest parts alongside love. This Connecticut town is neither cozy nor warm, and is instead full of mysterious and bizarre disappearances, unrestrained bigotry and the dark effects of its most powerful resident Mr. Crowley. Interweaving two resident’s attempts to uncover and stop the horror, Larocca forces his characters to reckon with what means the most to them and to what lengths they’ll go for closure, revenge, and love. Perfect for fans of Clive Barker and other cosmic horror.

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca, (List Price: 16.95, CLASH Books, 9781955904278, June 2023)

Reviewed by Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier

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Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier
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After the death of her father, Kit discovers a grandmother she never knew she had. Invited to visit her grandmother in Rosemont, Kit’s father’s hometown, Kit quickly finds herself entangled in a mystery that her family has had a long involvement in. Eerie and engrossing, Starlings is a rosey-tinged gothic where monsters lurk and secrets can’t stay buried.

Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier, (List Price: 18.99, Delacorte Press, 9780593572337, June 2023)

Reviewed by Charlie Williams, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

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She Is a Hauntingby Trang Thanh Tran
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A February 2023 Read This Next! Title

A gothic ghost story set in Vietnam. A modern family who have been torn apart by time and a house possessed by its former occupants. Haunting is the perfect word for this story. I was engrossed from the very beginning and now that I have finished it I can’t stop thinking about it.

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran (List Price: $18.99, Bloomsbury YA, 9781547610815, February 2023)

Reviewed by Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

Spotlight on: Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

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Leigh Bardugo, photo credit Christina Guerra

“I have never met someone who reads only from one shelf. I don’t think young people read that way and I am always wary of what people may deem “too much” for younger readers because I think they actually have a pretty good barometer of what they can handle and will happily set a book aside when it starts to go places they don’t want to go…I suppose when I’m writing adult, I feel a little freer to take my time with the world and the lore, and to dig more deeply into the grotesque. I also swear more.” ―Leigh Bardugo, Interview, The New York Times

 

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

What booksellers are saying about Hell Bent

  • Welcome back to the hidden darkness of Yale’s campus, and the magic that soaks its architecture and history. Though society leaders have declared Darlington dead and gone, Alex and Dawes know better – and they will go to any end to save him. Hell Bent is magical, resplendent with fierce characters, a devious and twisting plot, and at its core a deep interrogation of the cost of power and the lengths at which the privileged will go to maintain it.
      ―Jordan April from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC | Buy from Flyleaf Books

  • I don’t think I’ve eagerly anticipated a book as much as I have Hell Bent, and let me just say that the wait was worth every. Damn. Minute. Diving back into the world of Galaxy Stern and Lethe felt like being wrapped up in my favorite childhood blanket while also sitting just a bit too close to the fire. Leigh Bardugo somehow managed to create a story that is both intensely dark and strangely comforting and I look forward to devouring every last book in this series.
      ―Kassie Weeks from Oxford Exchange in Tampa, FL | Buy from Oxford Exchange

  • Imagine if you will, me opening a window and screaming “DARLINGTON” at the top of my lungs. No that’s not my review, I just needed to make my feelings known. Hell Bent is a bloody, brilliant continuation that forces found family on the most ill fitting of individuals that somehow just work. It’s an exploration of grief, growth, and is somehow sexy despite it all. Rife with tension and lore desperate to be discovered, I can’t help but hope that book three won’t be the end. Now, if you don’t mind, I must get back to screaming out of my window about Darlington.
      ―Caitlyn Vanorder from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

About Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, The Language of Thorns, and King of Scars—with more to come. Her other works include Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Ninth House (Goodreads Choice Winner for Best Fantasy 2019), which is being developed for television by Amazon Studios. She lives in Los Angeles and is an Associate Fellow of Pauli Murray College at Yale University.

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Spotlight on: Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman

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“ I love to be scared. And I love telling spooky stories. It’s a book that kind of explores all of these somber topics like addiction, like grief, exploring the kind of outer parameters of death and loss. I love ghost stories, the oral tradition that you find down South. I feel like there’s just this great value to spinning yarns and kind of immersing your, your listener, your reader, your audience in this notion that they are kind of being pulled into a story around the campfire.” ―Clay Chapman, Interview, Virginia Living

 

The Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman

What booksellers are saying about The Ghost Eaters

  • This creeping horror novel will down right terrify you. A southern ghost story that won’t let you go even after you’ve turned that last page. All while dealing with the anxiety of love, grief, and addiction. I’ve never read anything like it
      ―Rayna Nielsen from Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, LA | Buy from Blue Cypress Books

  • Reminiscent of Boy Parts and Ninth House, this novel is exceptionally dark, anxiety-inducing, relatable, and oh so very addicting. Ghost Eaters is by far my favorite horror read of 2022!  ―Kassie Weeks from Oxford Exchange in Tampa, FL | Buy from Oxford Exchange

  • “Do you want to get Haunted?” Ghost is a drug that haunts a person instead of a place. Lost a loved one? Take Ghost and you can see them again. The problem is that you can’t take just one. This is a story of addiction, revenants, and imagery so grotesque that your skin crawls. This book is INTENSE and I recommend it to all horror fans!  ―Suzanne Carnes from Underground Books in Carrollton, GA | Buy from Underground Books

About Clay McLeod Chapman

Clay McLeod Chapman writes novels, comic books, and children’s books, as well as for film and TV. He is the author of the horror novels The Remaking and Whisper Down the Lane. Visit him at claymcleodchapman.com.

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The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond by Amanda Glaze

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The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond by Amanda Glaze
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When I say I inhaled this book…Edie and Violet are twins. And mediums like their mother was. When they were forced between being institutionalized in an 1880s asylum and leaving in the dead of the night, they of course chose to run. And they joined a traveling Spiritualist show—a group of women who buck the oppressive treatment of females (which unfortunately we’re feeling again ??) by hiding their real talents (like oration, doctoring, etc) under the pretense of trances where they commune with spirits. The turn-of-the-century Spiritualism movement has always been a fascination of mine and the sister bond between Edie and Violet is wonderful. Sometimes I wanted to shake some sense into Edie when she treats Violet more like a little sister but of course that added to the suspense & tension. The romance between Edie and Laws was perfect. It didn’t take over the story nor read weird with the feminist vibes.

The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond by Amanda Glaze, (List Price: $18.99, Union Square & Co., 9781454946786, October 2022)

Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

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The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
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Mandanna’s novel is reminiscent of timeless stories like Mary Poppins, Nanny McPhee, and Practical Magic. It’s heartfelt, hilarious, vulnerable and cozy. The characters in Nowhere House are sure to make you smile and believe in magic again. It made my nostalgic, witchy cottagecore heart so happy.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, (List Price: $16.00, Berkley, 9780593439357,  August 2022)

Reviewed by Miriam Meeks, Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi

The Problem with Prophecies by Scott Reintgen

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The Problem with Prophecies by Scott Reintgen
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A May 2022 Read This Next! Selection

When Celia Cleary “comes of age” in her magical family, she inherits a gift for prophecy–and all the problems that come with it. While The Problem with Prophecies raises questions about fate, free will, and magic, it is at its core a sweet story about family, friendship, and first crushes. Scott Reintgen writes insightfully about the liminal space between childhood and adolescence.

The Problem with Prophecies by Scott Reintgen, (List Price: $17.99, Aladdin, 9781665903578, May 2022)

Reviewed by Heather Jeziorowski from Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia

Book of Night by Holly Black

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Book of Night by Holly Black
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Holly Black has returned with a darkly enthralling new world where shadows are more than just a trick of the light, and magicians are the thing that go bump in the night. With everything from a kick-ass female lead, grand heists and blood magic, this is an urban fantasy that comes with a bite and leaves with a door slam to the face. I can’t wait to see where Black takes the rest of the series. Readers with a taste for the macabre won’t be able to put this one down. Black’s foray into adult fiction feels like a breath of fresh air for the modern fantasy reader, with a dash of dark academia and a new magic system that begs us to ask the question: what really is a human soul?

Book of Night by Holly Black, (List Price: $27.99, Tor Books, 9781250812193,  May 2022)

Reviewed by Emma June Wood, Main Street Reads in Summerville, South Carolina

Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece

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Wildwood Whispers
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Once I started this book I did not want any interruptions until I finished reading. The mysticism of Appalachia comes to life on the pages of the book. Mel is in the foster system and has learned all the pitfalls of the system, but cares for no one until Sarah arrives at her foster home. Sarah is otherworldly to Mel, she is kind, timid and becomes Mel’s family. They bond and escape terrible situations together, but Sarah always wants to return home to the Wildwood where she was born and raised. Mel would do anything for Sarah so she grants that wish and begins a journey with a cast of characters she could have never even imagined. I won’t go into detail here as the discoveries are best made when you read this touching and heart-grabbing book.

Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece, (List Price: 28, Redhook, 9780316591768, August 2021)

Reviewed by Jackie Willey, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman

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Whistle Down the Lane
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Clay McLeod Chapman has not disappointed in his second novel! Eerie in the best way, the story follows five year-old Sean in 1983 and Richard, an art teacher, in 2013. What is supposed to be a fresh start for the boy and the man thirty years apart leads to horrific events for Sean/Richard and everyone around them. Chapman’s impeccable writing brings the scenes to life. From the first page, Chapman skillfully peppers humor throughout, making you comfortable before the inevitable horrific snap of the plot. It is an intriguing look at how actions in our childhood can haunt us into adulthood–sometimes literally haunt us.

Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman (List Price: $19.99, Quirk Books, 9781683692157, 4/6/2021)

Reviewed by Karyn Cumming, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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