Incredibly enjoyable modern American Gothic with a very unsettling setting.

This story has everything that a good gothic story has- dark, gloomy manors in dilapidated states, isolated families of quirky weirdos, mysterious rituals, missing mothers, and nature at odds with humans.

The author winds these elements together in a way that doesn’t feel overdone. In fact, the Appalachian setting and strange rituals being an overt fact of the story make it feel so transparent.

The book moves very quickly and isn’t particularly long, making it a wonderful choice for October reading.

It reminded me very much of Grey Gardens meets the Wicker Man meets Little Women. That’s a really strange comparison but it does have really specific elements of all of these.