Summer usually has me reaching for Southern horror. This summer has been extra stormy, with dramatic lightning, flash floods, a few power outages, and lush weeds taking over our usual desertscape. This extra gothic summer brought me four Southern horror stories and a unique Southwestern gothic tale. This post will focus on just three of the stories, because they’re all by the same author and even though they’re separate, stand-alone novels, they have a lot in common.

Until I picked up these books, I had no idea T. Kingfisher did Southern horror. I guess she lives in North Carolina, so I shouldn’t be so surprised she’s set a few books there. These were the perfect way to scratch that Southern itch I get every summer.

I started with A House with Good Bones, which I bought in Durango months ago and finally read as summer began. This one is about a woman who normally studies insects at archeological digs, who has to go home to small town North Carolina to deal with some family stuff. Her visit quickly takes a turn toward the supernatural and becomes much more than she bargained for.

Next, my daughter bought me The Twisted Ones for my birthday. She knows I’m into horror and that I like T. Kingfisher, so she scrolled through Kingfisher’s books online and bought the creepiest looking one she could find. Solid way to choose a gift for me, to be honest. This one is about a freelance editor who has to go home to small town North Carolina to deal with some family stuff. Her visit quickly takes a turn toward the supernatural and becomes much more than she bargained for.

Third, just as I was finishing The Twisted Ones I found myself killing time in a bookstore in Albuquerque. That’s where I picked up The Hollow Places. I had no idea this one would be about a freelance graphic designer who has to go home to small town North Carolina to deal with some family stuff, and of course ends up dealing with the supernatural as well.

I trust the pattern is clear by now, and if there isn’t a fourth to the pattern yet there probably will be some day. Each book is actually quite different in the details, though, and I enjoyed each of them immensely.

The Twisted Ones is the first written of the three books, even though it’s not the first one I read. This one was inspired by an Arthur Machen story, The White People. I did not know this until I was finished reading; there’s a note about it at the end of the book. You can read The White People for free on the internet, and when I did the connections were really clear, but you don’t have to read it to enjoy the novel.

In The White People, a man named Frederick Cotgrave reads a diary in which a girl describes ancient pagan rites and visits to a creepy and mystical realm. In The Twisted Ones, Cotgrave has moved all the way to North Carolina and married the meanest, least magical woman he could find so he can put all that creepy mystical stuff behind him. After he dies, and then his mean wife dies, her granddaughter Mouse is asked to sort through her hoard of belongings and see if the house can be salvaged and sold. Knowing nothing of this mystical diary or of Cotgrave’s former life in the UK, Mouse is confused and eventually terrified to find representatives of this mystical realm creeping through her backyard and trying to enter the house.

These representatives are cobbled together from old bones, sticks, stones, and other bits of natural material. They’re grotesque and fascinating and seem to have some sentience and feelings of their own. Mouse and her new friend from across the street have quite the harrowing adventure, trying to figure out what these creatures want and how to keep Mouse safe from them.

This was a nicely chilling story with fun characters and a fairytale feel in the old sense, reminding me of the original and much more gruesome versions of Grimm’s tales.

The Hollow Places, the next to be written and the last one I read, was also inspired by a classic British horror story. This one I had read before, and I caught the references right away. Once again, you don’t need to read the original inspiration to enjoy the novel.

This one was inspired by Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows, which is a haunting story about some friends trying to boat all the way down the Danube River. Before it empties into the Black Sea, the Danube spreads into a wide delta full of marshes and lakes and ever-changing channels of water. As they navigate this delta, the friends find themselves deeper and deeper in the realm of frightening and largely invisible forces.

The Hollow Places fleshes out and reimagines this delta realm as a world between worlds. While caring for her uncle’s kitschy Wonder Museum, she finds a hole in the wall and decides to explore, eventually finding herself in this delta realm full of invisible forces and willows that seem to rearrange themselves when her back is turned. It’s very difficult to find her way back and when she eventually does, it feels like some of the malevolent forces have followed her into our world. She and her new friend from next door have a harrowing time trying to close this hole between worlds and make sure everything is on the right side of their new wall.

This book wasn’t all that scary, but it had a lot of grotesque and haunting touches that kept it interesing. It was fun, with pleasant and quirky characters. As someone at home with the odd and the morbid, I appreciated the fact that the odd and morbid Wonder Museum is a comforting safe space for the main character.

The last book, though, was my favorite. A House with Good Bones is the tightest, most moving and mature book of the three, and the only one not inspired by another story. The characters are more subtle and emotionally resonant, and the plot is simple but gripping and original. This one begins as a more traditional haunted house but ends up in unexpected places.

This one is a bit more of a traditional Southern gothic, with most of the action and emotion centered around the weirdness and darkness of family and ancestry. Samantha has been worried about her mother for a while, and when a sudden delay in her work leaves her at loose ends, she decides to visit and figure out what’s going on. As a scientist, Samantha is reluctant to believe her mother’s house is actually being haunted by Sam’s grandmother, but over time she’s forced to open her mind to the magical forces at work in this seemingly ordinary neighborhood and possibly within herself.

If you’re looking to be terrified, T. Kingfisher is not the author for you. If you’re looking for quirky characters, if you’re looking for amusement and emotion mixed with otherwordly adventure, any one of these books will satisfy that craving. All three are enertaining and easy to read, with hints of deeper emotion and connection throughout.

I’ve been remiss in my updates for quite a while, which is a major reason for squishing three book reviews into one post. Now that the Olympics are over and kids have started school again, perhaps I should prioritize writing more than I have been. Until next time, happy reading. I hope your weather is less destructive than ours has been. –Corvus