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The burning girls : a novel
by C. J. Tudor
"Welcome to Chapel Croft. 500 years ago, eight Protestant martyrs were burned at the stake here. 30 years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And two months ago, the vicar of the local parish killed himself. Reverend Jack Brooks, a singleparent with a 14-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping to make a fresh start and find some peace. Instead, Jack finds a town mired in secrecy and a strange welcome package: an old exorcism kit and a note quoting scripture. 'But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.' The more Jack and daughter Flo get acquainted with the town and its strange denizens, the deeper they are drawn into their rifts, mysteries, and suspicions. And when Flo is troubled by strange sightings in the old chapel, it becomes apparent that there are ghosts here that refuse to be laid to rest. But uncovering the truth can be deadly in a village where everyone has something to protect, everyone has linkswith the village's bloody past, and no one trusts an outsider"
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| After the Rain by Nnedi Okorafor; adapted by John Jennings; illustrated by David Brame What it is: a gruesome graphic novel adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor's short story "On the Road."
Starring: Nigerian American Chioma, a Chicago cop who must embrace her heritage to best the menacing supernatural entity plaguing her family's Nigerian village.
Art alert: Bold colors, crowded panels, and an emphasis on facial expressions heighten the foreboding atmosphere of this evocative tale. |
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| The Upstairs House by Julia FineWhat it's about: Unable to finish her dissertation on Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown, delirious new mom Megan discovers that her upstairs neighbor appears to be the ghost of Brown herself, who's intent on settling unfinished business.
Read it for: an eerie supernatural allegory exploring the trials of new motherhood and postpartum depression.
Try this next: For more suspenseful books that tackle similar themes, read Little Darlings by Melanie Golding or The Need by Helen Phillips. |
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Children of Chicago
by Cynthia Pelayo
How it begins: Rookie Chicago detective Lauren Medina investigates a grizzly crime scene that is eerily reminiscent of her nine-year-old sister's murder years ago. Has the killer returned?
Why you might like it: This twisty reimagining of the Pied Piper folktale features a complex and unreliable narrator, breakneck pacing, and immersive worldbuilding that draws on Latinx history and culture.
Author alert: Poet and author Cynthia Pelayo is a two-time Bram Stoker Award nominee and a finalist for the International Latino Book Award.
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The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
by Grady Hendrix
Starring: bored housewife Patricia Campbell, whose sole respite from her stifling life in 1990s suburban Charleston is her true crime book club.
The monster next door: When sunlight-averse James Harris moves into the neighborhood, Patricia's suspicions are dismissed as flights of fancy. But when children start disappearing, it's up to Patricia to convince her book club to help her stop James before it's too late.
Media buzz: At turns horrifying and heartwarming, this gruesome New York Times bestseller is set for a TV adaptation at Amazon Studios.
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Mexican Gothic
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Welcome to...High Place, a decrepit mansion in the remote 1950s Mexican countryside that's home to a racist English mining family.
What happens: After her newlywed cousin Catalina sends a letter from High Place claiming abuse, resourceful 22-year-old socialite Noemà Taboada arrives at the estate, where she's quickly swept up in its nightmarish goings-on and deadly secrets.
Want a taste? "This house is sick with rot, stinks of decay, brims with every single evil and cruel sentiment."
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The Only Good Indians
by Stephen Graham Jones
Ten years ago: A quartet of 20-something Blackfeet men embarked on an ill-fated elk hunting trip on tribal lands meant only for the elders' use.
Now: Still processing their lingering feelings of guilt and shame all these years later, one by one the men find themselves at the mercy of a vengeful entity that stalks their every move.
What sets it apart: This incisive own voices novel explores themes of cultural identity and intergenerational trauma while offering plenty of eerie supernatural scares.
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The hollow places : a novel
by T. Kingfisher
"A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle's house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel from the author of the "innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling" (Mira Grant, Nebula Award-winning author) The Twisted Ones. Pray they are hungry. Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she's discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle's house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area-only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts...and the more one fears them, the stronger they become. With her distinctive "delightfully freshand subversive" (SF Bluestocking) prose and the strange, sinister wonder found in Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, The Hollow Places is another compelling and white-knuckled horror novel that you won't be able to put down"
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| Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin; translated by Megan McDowellWhat it is: a surreal, character-driven story of a young mother reflecting on her life and her fate as she dies slowly in a hospital bed.
Why you might like it: The unreliable narrator's tale is as compelling as it is disturbing, and features spare writing that serves to heighten its already menacing tone.
Book buzz: Fever Dream is the haunting debut novel from Man Booker International Prize-nominated Argentine author Samanta Schweblin. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Keene Public Library
60 Winter St.
Keene, New Hampshire 03431
603-352-0157
http://www.keenepubliclibrary.org/
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