The Haunting of Velkwood
From Bram Stoker Award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste comes a chilling novel about three childhood friends who miraculously survive the night everyone in their suburban neighborhood turned into ghosts--perfect for fans of Yellowjackets.
The Velkwood Vicinity was the topic of occult theorists, tabloid one-hour documentaries, and even some pseudo-scientific investigations as the block of homes disappeared behind a near-impenetrable veil that only three survivors could enter--and only one has in the past twenty years, until now.
Talitha Velkwood has avoided anything to do with the tragedy that took her mother and eight-year-old sister, drifting from one job to another, never settling anywhere or with anyone, feeling as trapped by her past as if she was still there in the small town she so desperately wanted to escape from. When a new researcher tracks her down and offers to pay her to come back to enter the vicinity, Talitha claims she's just doing it for the money. Of all the crackpot theories over the years, no one has discovered what happened the night Talitha, her estranged, former best friend Brett, and Grace, escaped their homes twenty years ago. Will she finally get the answers she's been looking for all these years, or is this just another dead end?
Award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste has created a suburban ghost story about a small town that trapped three young women who must confront the past if they're going to have a future.
"Sure to be one of the most original and riveting horror novels of 2024." - Booklist (Starred Review)
"Breathtakingly original modern ghost story laden with humanity and heartache." - Library Journal
"Kiste kept her page-turner relatable. She made it fun. And memorable. It hints at lies and secrets... Kiste is a damn good story teller!" - Horror Tree
"One of the most original ghost stories you will ever read. Phenomenal." - Rachel Harrison, national bestselling author of Cackle and Black Sheep
"A totally original ghost story, filled with chills... I absolutely loved it." - Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Road of Bones and All Hallows
"A spellbinding accomplishment in modern literature not to be missed... you won't be able to shake the ghosts of Velkwood for a long, long time." - Jess Landry, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Mother Wound
"Heartbreaking and hopeful. Kiste's The Haunting of Velkwood is as compelling as it is chilling. A perfect modern ghost story." - Angela Slatter, award-winning author of The Path of Thorns
"A disturbing new stroke on the canvas of horror, and a reminder that no matter how far we run, the past knows just where to find us." - Eden Royce, Walter Award Honoree and Shirley Jackson Award Finalist
"Mercurial and wrenching... Kiste's latest continues to define her as the modern mistress of horror." - Lindy Ryan, author of Bless Your Heart
"A compelling read that reinvents the haunted house genre." -- A. C. Wise, author of Wendy Darling
"Deeply felt, exquisitely weird, and dripping with ache." - Margot Douaihy, author of Scorched Grace
Recently reviewed at Narrative Species, Nightmare Magazine, Vocal, Akron Beacon Journal, Paste Magazine, Cemetery Dance, New York Journal of Books, Library Journal and Booklist!
Featured at CrimeReads, Book Riot, Yahoo, Gizmodo, Jump Scares, Psychopomp, Books and Review, The Page 69 Test, CrimeReads, Men's Health, SFF180's Anticipated Horror 2024, The Fandomentals, The Week, SFF180, Publisher's Weekly, Books, Bones, and Buffy, and Jump Scare's massive list of 2024's New Horror Books!
For full reviews, check out Reading Malone, The Book & Nature Professor, It's a Jumble, California Reading, FanFiAddict, The Fandomentals, Ginger Nuts of Horror, Midwest Book Review, Vi the Librarian, The Ink Blotters, RA for All, The Horror Tree, The Horror Maven and Her Infinite Archive!
You can add The Haunting of Velkwood to your bookshelf at Goodreads!
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